Roman Reigns

30:18but then once you've done it enough, I no longer think about this thing because that's just, that's done. Now it's second nature. And then that thing, we've already kind of made that a process and a system so we don't think about that. And then that other deal over there, we delegated it so now that's not even on my plate. So you get like where you've done things so many times, you know how to clean it up. Make it like when we're talking, we do our promos, I'm always thinking like how do I tighten it up because I'm so wordy. How do I make it more concise to the point so I'm not lulling? How do I get, you know, and then have another good point to like serve that, you know?

30:54And even the looks you give, you know, and the timing of it. Yeah. And the time in between of a silent pause and how you can actually just bring the crowd in and it's just a look. You know, like how much do you think about that in advance or is that just a feel when you're out there? that used to be stuff i would think about but it kind of like to compare it to something when i first started wrestling like in the shield and i would watch the film like of when we were in the ring i would watch every step every single step like my wife wouldn't be able to watch it back with me because it would annoy her so i would watch it yeah i watched like football tape and like but we didn't have like the good right yeah yeah yeah film stuff so like i'd miss the rewind and then I'm like, oh, God, sorry, hold on, one more time.

31:47But I would just keep watching that. There's no scrolling. I'd be like, why did I take that step? Why did I do that with my arm? I was so precise and meticulous on all these little things that I saw. And I would do the same thing with my facial expressions. And your dad used to be like, oh, don't do that so much. Your face can be too expressive sometimes. And it can be. And sometimes I have to reel it in and make it get a little less. But that just became a system to where we don't think about it now. Now I've been in enough, you know, environments. I've been in enough, you know, segments to where I've probably done that type of look before.

32:24And if I haven't, I'm excited about giving a new look. You know what I mean? Blue steel. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Was that what it was?

32:33You saw it here. But rock music. Cut that. Cut it. Cut it. That's the clip. I saw the person. That's when Brock's music goes off. That's the face right there. The Zoolander look. But yeah, those just become instincts and they become experiences that become instincts. And I just try to rely on those. I try to trust them. Isn't that the whole point of doing all the preparation, right? It is. It's doing the reps over and over and over again. So it becomes second nature. So when you're in the moment, you don't have to think. You just react. You can say, fuck it. And go for it. Yeah. You know, that's, I mean, at the end of the day, that's what it is.

33:13Like, do it, do it, do it. Rep it out, rep it out, rep it out. Don't let your brain get too far in front of you. And then at the end of the day, it's time to jump. Let's go. You know, what happens, happens. And, you know, it's in God's hands now. And we always hope for the best. Say your prayer and then get in there and do it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. And how important is saying your prayer? How important is faith in your life? It's everything. That is the, we've talked about a lot of main things, but nothing's possible without God. You know, and whether you're a Christian, Muslim, whoever your God is, if you believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, you know, I think at the end of the day, it's important that we have like a true North Star, a belief in something bigger.

34:08Um, because I think that's just, I don't know. I think there's just human, uh, you know, we're just wired that way. We, we need something that's bigger than us, something, you know what I mean? That, that, that we're working towards, I believe. Um, and then it also brings in community. So yeah, I think it's, I mean, it's everything. I think any Any successful family or person understands that God is making all this happen. So whether you're religious or not, I think it's important to believe in a higher power. And I specifically believe in God. I believe, you know, Jesus Christ is the son of God.

34:50He died for our sins. I was born and raised Catholic. I'm not as practicing as I'd like to be, you know. Us Catholics never are. I know. And we got the good setup, too. We're not, man, I go to, my wife is Russian Orthodox, and we're up in there forever. Yes, like three hours in, it's like, man, are they serving too? Are we going to eat or what? Like, at mass, at Catholic mass, 45 minutes. If, you know, father's a little long-winded and he's trying to get his promo in, it might go an hour. You know, then you got your religious days, you know, your holidays. But yeah, we really have it the best and still can't get my ass to church.

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36:17Feel the difference. no matter your routine. You absolutely need to get this product today for a healthier lifestyle. It's quick, simple, and delicious that ultimately can change your life. Eat smart at factormeals.com slash steph50off and use code steph50off to get 50 % off plus free shipping on your first box. That's code S-T-E-P-H-5-0-O-F-F at Factormeals.com for 50 % off plus free shipping. Get delicious, ready-to-eat meals delivered with Factor. I was going to mention before when you brought up Georgia Tech. so obviously you're a big name in WWE but I don't know if you know how big of an impact you had on two different people that you played with and played for so first we'll bring up now coaching the Rams Giff Smith when I reflect back on Joe Anway back in the days at Georgia Tech You know, probably the biggest thing that stands out to me is just how tough he was.

37:35He had the ability to understand the game, execute the calls up front, and bring a toughness that still is so important in this game. Joe had just a unique ability about himself. You know, he grew the hair out, looked cool, big, strong, athletic, smart. He had all the intangibles. I remember going down to Auburn. I mean, he about killed a guy in that game, one of the hardest hits until this day even being in the league that I've ever seen. You know, he's an awesome family guy. I get to speak with him every so often and grateful for that friendship and grateful that it's lasted throughout these years.

38:14He's somebody as a dad that I have a husband, tremendous respect for. But, man, what a joy. Joe has excelled in his career, but there's so many special things about him. And, you know, I can't say anything other than nice things about him. Just grateful for my time with him. He made me a better coach. He made Georgia Tech special in that run. And, you know, he's a legend. And I wish him nothing but the best. And like I said at the start, I'm just grateful that I got to be a part of his life. He made a huge impact on my life. and he was a dog now there's no two ways to say it that man was a dog not just in the ring of wrestling but on the gridiron he was the real deal yeah that that's my that was my defensive line coach uh coach gift smith um he came to georgia tech my sophomore year um and my freshman coach wasn't a bad guy we just weren't gelling he was i was a freshman i probably deserved he was all over my ass all the time.

39:22And then when Giff came in. Probably because he saw something in you. 100%. And I ended up being even closer to, this was Coach Spencer, actually, down the road. So it was nice to be able to reconnect with him. But, man, having Coach Giff come in was just godsend because he just knew how to communicate with me. And that was just one of his. And you would have never known it, you know, but he was a great defensive lineman for, I believe, Georgia State at the time back in his day. just someone who understood and to hear those things from him, they were coached into me from him. I mean, that was something as a defensive lineman down in the trenches.

39:58It's a little bit different than it is today. It's still a violent sport, but it's much safer. We use the word aggressive. No, we don't. No, in WWE, we don't say violence. That's all WWE. Yeah, yeah. You can't say violent. He told me that before. I know. They're like beating into my head. It's violent as hell. My character wasn't kidnapped. I was abducted. I know, right? Because there's a big difference. At the local medical facility. Yes, yes. Not a hospital. But yeah, Giff was, he was just, he was the man I needed in my life at that time that just was able to connect with me. His communication with me was flawless.

40:44Everything that he was trying to get into my head, it sank in. Like what? everything i mean at that age you know what i mean at 20 18 19 20 years old a young man like that especially like a young alpha bull you know yeah pretty dumb young man you know like no it doesn't matter it's not gonna hurt me i'll run through that like you know just very too much uh testosterone going on but um everything a young man needs to hear it seemed like gif always had a cool way of doing it to where it wasn't like oh he's lecturing right and he wasn't ever like that and he was just a storyteller oh yeah absolutely for sure and i think that goes back to any great communicator any good coach any good public speaker they're always able to like do analogies or like pull their own personal story and connect those dots for you.

41:41But, yeah, he, I mean, Giff was, Coach Giff Smith was, and still to this day I still speak with him. I need to hit him up now. I'm actually going to do it today. You definitely need to. But, yeah, he's still coaching. He's still a great coach. And he's at the Rams now. He's been with the Rams for a while. I think he was with, well, they're LA too. He was with the Chargers. Yeah, he filled in, I think, as an intern coach, interim coach a couple years ago, I want to say. But yeah, just a great guy. Really great guy. Well, he clearly loves you. Man, and he was one of the many coaches that I had. And that kind of ties back to those years where I didn't have my dad around.

42:21All these other men, whether they were in my community or at my ballpark, one of my, you know, growing up, one of my greatest coaches of all time was my baseball coach, Coach Kevin Freeland. he coached me on dive pros for like eight years in a row we were that was our team the dive pros yeah they were sponsored by a dive shop his dive shop and this man would just i mean he would give me a ride home any day we needed it the twins too they know coach uh coach freeland um but we had so many of those men in our in our lives that helped out and were great mentors great coaches i uh I was fathered by a random set of coaches throughout my entire life.

43:05And like your dad, I took little pieces from all these men. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I'm a thief. I steal all the good stuff. Right? All the good stuff. I try to at least. That's important. Yeah. Yeah. You got to steal the best. I mean, that's just being human right there. You're passing it on, but I just didn't wait for you to actually do it. I just got it before you knew you were going to teach me it. So has coach Giff ever seen you in the ring? Yeah. He's come to a few shows here and there. Um, but yeah, he's been in the back and everything. Did he give you a hard time? At first. Thank God. I mean, we came in as the shield, so we came in cool.

43:41And there was never a point where it's like, man, you're just out there in underwear. Never had that like just trunks. All right. Cool. It was always kind of a cool look. And then, you know, we did the post shield and then finally we came out of the vet. years later but uh i never had you know where it was like too embarrassing but fcw i did that that's right yeah i was in the skimpies and you felt more confident in the pants um i don't know it's not a confidence yeah i well at that point i don't know if confidence was even in yet yeah okay we hadn't we hadn't like we were just trying to fake it like i'm confident.

44:27Well, you used to talk a lot of shit to me in the ring. Only because I knew if I didn't, you'd slap me 15 times in a row. We were on the same page at first.

44:41Busted my eardrum, too. Oh, man. You know, I believe it. Shattered that sucker. The doctor was like, oh, yeah. Well, don't fuck with me. That's right.

44:52That's right. Hey, if you're going to hit somebody, hit them. I'm just saying, well, and you guys all taught me that. It was, I think it was Foley the first time. I won't know. Your first few were good. They were good workers. And then I just got carried away or something. I don't know who's like it. Because you weren't selling for me and I was like, I'm making a sale. Young bull, now I just, oh, down for a day. Oh God. Finally. I'll be in the theater. Leave me alone. Where's daddy selling in the theater? I was going to say, I feel like you caught a spear back. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, you got me at WrestleMania.

45:27We left it for the big one. We did. We did. It was big pop. That was awesome, yeah. Yeah. My hair was stuck in my jacket. You had all kinds of stuff going on. I did. Jackie, yeah, you were working hard that day. Yeah, yeah. But you had the out, yeah. I had. Because you did the full intro that night, too. Yeah, that was crazy. The Skull Queen. That was so fun. Oh, my God. to be able to write that promo too and just make everybody sheep and bow down. I love it. She's practicing in the office. We all were. Yeah, it's good. As a bad guy, if you just imagine your royalty. I think we come from the same we have the same mindset of like I know that like prime tribal chief run or championship run, same people were beneath me.

46:25It felt good. It was just a good character feeling. Yeah, I loved it. WWE on Netflix is truly the best thing ever. But there's one catch. Not everybody gets that. A lot of you are still watching WWE the old school way, on cable, dealing with boring commercials while I'm enjoying uninterrupted action. Let's fix that with today's sponsor, Surfshark VPN. Surfshark lets you change your virtual location with just a few clicks. Just set it to Canada and boom, you unlock the Canadian Netflix library, which includes all that awesome WWE programming, commercial free. And while you're there, you can also check out other shows exclusive to Canadian Netflix.

47:14It's a win-win. Even better, you can try Surfshark risk-free thanks to their 30-day money-back guarantee. And here's the best deal. Go to surfshark.com slash Steph and you'll get four months extra when you sign up for a two-year plan. Again, that's surfshark.com slash S-T-E-P-H to get four extra months on a two-year plan. Huge thanks to Surfshark for sponsoring today's video. Now let's get back to the interview. Well, there is somebody who talked about your faith. Arguably one of the best, Calvin Johnson. What up, Joe? So Joe Anawa, I remember meeting Joe my first time at Georgia Tech. When I was coming in just on my official visit to meet all the guys and the coaches.

48:11and I just remember seeing Joe in the corner and just sitting down there. And I was like, who's this guy? Stoic expression on his face, swole, long flowing hair, Samoan dude, just looking like he's ready to break somebody in half. I'm like, my next thought was like, well, at least he's on my team. But anyways, we became co-captains together. And I just think about all the times walking out to the middle of the field with our mirror advisors on, the intimidation factor that we had to elicit upon the other team. And, you know, just thinking about Joe as a player, Joe was obviously a leader on our defense.

48:45He made plays for our defense. He was constantly getting his hands on the quarterback, getting his hands on the ball. And, you know, Joe was an effort guy. He was a great attitude guy. He was a relentless guy. And he was a man of faith. And that's what I love most about Joe. Because with that faith, without that faith, I don't know where Joe's story goes. You know, Joe had this cancer battle, and I truly believe that it was through his faith, his family, all his support system, you know, that he was able to take, you know, what some people might view, you know, as a failure or something that or a huge obstacle and turn that into a big win.

49:24Joe, I commend you. I admire you from watching your story. Obviously, like I say, you're a hardworking guy, an effort guy, a man of faith. But it was that faith, I feel like, you know, that turned you around, allows you to realign after your health struggles and really refocus in on your goals, on your family. and you can tell the love that you put into the love, the work that you put into everything because of where you are now. Because these things, they don't just happen. You know, they're not just overnight successes and it takes work, it's a process. And I understand that you went through a process to get to where you are today.

50:02So kudos to you, man, because I know it wasn't easy, but you showed everybody it can be done, man. Stay blessed, brother. yeah he's a man he just described himself too so like that that's what was cool about tech is for the most part especially my class he was a year younger than me um we're all very like-minded and when you can get a those type of young men together it's great coaching too 100 yeah and you know they always say it um you know you have your fraternities and sororities in college but That's what a football team, a sports team is its own frat, you know, and to have that type of brothership, to have that type of fellowship, to be able to lean on those type of guys.

50:46And we're all going through stuff. We weren't talking about mental health back in the day, but like we were all going through our growing pains of becoming young men. Everyone coming from different places. Absolutely. And all meeting up in Atlanta. You know, I'm just a little beach boy, you know, from Pensacola, Florida, thinking I'm going to like figure it out up here in the city. but having you know just as he said only God can like position things like this where it's just that overall that eagle view that we just don't understand we think we are good storytellers until we hear God's story for us and they're like man I need to keep working with this that's how you twist and turn right there that's how you write creative that's how I feel about my story man honestly I could have never wrote If it was up to me, it would have been defensive tackle for the 49ers, probably got eight years, and I don't know.

51:43I probably would have blew all my money by now. I would have been out of league for 10 years and be thinking about what's next. But God's plan was just so much greater for me. And as CJ said, I believe in putting in the work and going through the process and trying to do it. But you're never alone. You're never doing it by yourself. God's always got us under his wing. You know what I mean? No matter what I do, before I flew out today, I said kind of the same prayer I always say. I told him how many we have on the jet today. We had three other solos, so I told him, be my fifth. There's plenty of room on here.

52:24Take any seat. I'll get up if you need me to, but ride with me. Fly with me, perform with me, speak with me, and then get me home. And then even when we get in the truck, make sure I'm driving good, too, if you don't mind. Yeah, God, I mean, I don't know. You know, I've been very, very fortunate. He's kind of smart. A guy told me a while ago, you know, that we're blessed men. You know, are your children healthy? Yeah. We're blessed men. You're a blessed woman. And that's all just due to God, you know. Not to get preachy or nothing, but that's just how I feel. Yeah, no, that's your faith and your belief, and it's beautiful.

53:03Thank you. And how did it, you know, if you're comfortable talking about it, like you said, right, you have unexpected bumps in the road, unexpected things, twists and turns that happen, and here you were, this very strong bull, you know, who's very successful in football, clearly going to have a career in football, and then you find out that physically you have cancer,

53:34especially as a young man. How do you deal with that information? How do you overcome the fear, the change, the unknown? you know how do you how do you deal with that or how did you deal with that i compartmentalize to my mama honestly i mean that's when so i'm at the minnesota vikings camp all that's like football is like crescendoing it's like this is it like it's all boiled up boiled up to this point of what you've worked towards need to make this team yeah yeah i mean it it was all the marbles were in the basket so i was so full on that that i don't think i even accepted the news properly i don't even think i took the diagnosis and they found it because you did a physical i yeah well with the physical we did extensive blood work and it wasn't even like in like the molecular testing or it was just in the blood lab like the cbc my white blood cells were what were they this time i think they're like 70 000 at that point and you i mean healthy people you're not fighting off any like sickness or anything i think you sit them between like 4 000 and like 10 11 000 something like that so i was i was my body was fighting something yeah um and you didn't feel sick no that's the thing it's because it's cancer of the blood was i a little tired probably but i was also 300 pounds college guy you know we were drinking beer every other day um going hard yeah yeah going college stuff and being a football guy um but yeah that it was just one of those situations because i didn't feel it i wasn't going through chemo i didn't have to do like true radiation um there was a large bit of like what I believe they call imposter syndrome of people feeling bad for me.

55:46And I'm like, don't, don't, don't feel bad. And you shouldn't have something because like there's little children who are going through, you know, I'm thank God I'm lucky enough to take a medication, but I don't know. I think it was just more mental. Absolutely. Yeah. But it was just a situation I think because I had so much going on in my life and it's just honestly always been that way that I've never been able to just let it sit on me and just be that rain cloud. It's always been like, well, I have this thing pulling me over here, so that bad part of my life is kind of over there somewhere.

56:16But I'm currently over here dealing with this other stuff. So I've just always stayed on the positive stuff. You never felt sorry for yourself or anything? Oh, sure, yeah. I'm sure there was definitely, but never wallowed in it. Stayed there. Never stayed there, yeah. Always, I mean, to this day, I mean, there's times where you're battling whatever it is, you know and it could be something far less serious something i used to go through a couple years ago was like post performance downs a little bit because i went from working every single night almost every show so like we always had another show so like i had to get juiced up for this next show but then once everything changed pandemic all of that and then the contract started getting and restructured and the dates became less, and I would do a big date, and then I would be home for a month with no crazy stimulus, no dopamine, no adrenaline rush, no pop.

57:14And it would put me in the dumps a little bit. So I learned how to structure my way through that. Like, well, no, no, no, we don't just, we didn't finish, we're just working towards the next date now. So we're just right back in now. So I built things to fix that. but yeah we're always going to do stuff all the time yeah right yeah I'm never trying to stay like I understand happiness is not a constant state we experience moments of happiness but whatever that is that middle ground or where you're not feeling much at all that's kind of where we're at all the time and you have to figure out how to spike that happiness or know when it's happening and then also know when you're not in that mode and you need to you know get yourself out of whatever whatever it is i think just being truthful with yourself and being completely honest of where you're at mentally helps where you don't yourself right because we'll do that to ourselves greater than anybody i'll buy my better than anything oh yeah we can convince ourselves of i sold myself water earlier you know yeah yeah but yeah it's it's uh yeah it's just one of those things i think um that was different though because it was very real so heavy yes and like i guess anytime mortality kind of gets put on the you know on the line and you have to think about that that sends you down a different type of head trip but i think i was just so young and thank god for my mom i can't give her enough credit the the fact that i had her shoulders to like put this burden on and have her like carry the brunt of the stress.

58:51God bless her. God bless her. Yeah. Over and over and over again, because to this day, she's probably worried about me. I mean, what's he doing? I've got goosebumps right now because I can't imagine, you know. I don't ever want to imagine how my mom felt. And I don't, you know, I don't want to ever go through any of that with my own. But thank God I had her. Thank God I had all of my family, all of them. because like Calvin said, it was my mom, it was my sisters, it was God just gluing it all together to make sure that this safety net that was surrounding me wasn't, there was no holes in it. They weren't going to let me slip through.

59:27So that was...

59:32It was a hell of a time. It really was. Do you think that going through that is probably one of the main reasons why you are the successful family man, huge, giant megastar and family man that you are today that you, you know, you know what matters. You know what matters most to you. and how important is that is knowing what matters most. I think that's, I mean, for anybody, I wouldn't say just for a young man, anybody in leadership, you need to know what the goal is, where you're trying to go, because you have people in tow. And as a father, as a husband, And that was something that wasn't learned fast enough or early enough, but it was learned.

1:00:33But I can't just credit it to one thing. All these things happen for a reason. Yeah. And I do regret stuff. I do regret decisions, behaviors, many things that I've done through my life. Well, we're all human. Absolutely. That's why I don't judge, because I get it. Like I understand it, but I'm one of those type that beat themselves up. You know, I, I, I always remember, you know, I'll forgive, but I will remember. And I'm talking about towards myself, you know, I'm, I'm actually very easy to forgive others, but for myself, I hold onto things. Um, and I will torture myself a little bit too much, a little bit.

1:01:14Yeah. A little bit. Um, but I think that's good. And it keeps you honest. Yeah. Well, I think the reminder, as long as it doesn't rip you down. Exactly. Yeah. Once you start, if it becomes a cycle, then that's not helpful. If you can't, then you're just losing. There's no lesson there. Then you're just losing and you're just staying in that state. And I don't like that. But if I can learn from the mistake, I don't like saying, oh, I had to make that mistake. Maybe you'll make enough mistakes that it'll be like reps and you can just learn the lesson and not have to dwell on it so much that it hurts you.

1:01:49Mm-hmm. And then I also, well, what irritates me is you could have learned that from the guy in front of you. You know what I mean? Sometimes you can. It's an old football thing. Like when I'm on the cans and we're doing our walkthroughs, that's how I learned how to play football was watch the guy in front of you. Mm-hmm. And I've been blessed with that opportunity to watch many great men in front of me. And then I still touch the hot stove. You know what I mean? Yeah, but you're going to. I know, I know, I know. Come on. I know. I know, I know. Just give me a little bit of what goes on. There's probably a lot of examples that maybe weren't the best also.

1:02:22Sure. That way, hey. Yeah. There's many paths. That's the other side, too, is knowing. That's a great example of knowledge. Learning what not to do. Exactly. Seeing mistakes and identifying those as others' mistakes and not repeating that. It is what it is. But it's all a part of that process. Like you said, it's all a learning process. and as long as you are learning from it, you can get knowledge from anywhere. That's right. You can become better in any capacity as long as you're just willing to review God's tape a little bit. Watch your back and think about it. I wouldn't want someone to treat me like that.

1:03:04Maybe I shouldn't do stuff like that. Simple stuff. You learn. Kindness matters. 100%. Steph and I were talking about this earlier. you probably do not remember, but when I started with WWE, I was working in talent relations. It was when you and Triple H were main eventing at WrestleMania 32. So at the time... The aforementioned. Yes. Yes, we're going back there. So at the time, I was told that you were a big deal, and I'm new in talent relations, and they're like, you need to make sure this guy has a suite, like you need to talk to him to take care of everything. So I'm like, okay, he's a big deal.

1:03:47Like I'm preparing to talk to some asshole, honestly. Oh no. Some very demanding person. Yes. What were these things I demanded? I don't think I was demanding anything back in the year. My point was you were not that at all. And just talking about being kind and true to who you were. What year was this? I think I know who was talking to you. Yes, you do, yes, you do. But so like, just the simple, I was set up poorly, but you were so kind and I'm like, okay, this guy's a huge deal and he's just talking about feeding his family and making sure they're all set up with tickets and I remember that, because I'm expecting someone who's, yeah.

1:04:35A monster to come by, yeah. I'm glad I wasn't that. No, not at all. and he's like, oh, shit. You've heard that. You were a straight asshole. Fun times. So glad you've learned. Yeah, yeah. That was not one of your last things. You didn't have to do what we last made you, huh? No. Ten years ago, though. Vegas is different than Dallas now, yeah. A lot of Samoans in Vegas, you know. I've since last. That suite needs to grow. Yeah, yeah. You don't want to be in that department either. Trying to relate to talent is one of the hardest things to do. It really is. That's not an easy job. but probably who's given you direction wasn't very good at it yeah maybe maybe maybe not the best not that's okay though but i'm glad i wasn't an asshole no no and that's why i was like all right i wouldn't let her tell that story put on like a do another little georgia tech interview well you lost all those great qualities from tech yeah this guy told me yeah but yeah those football guys are liars because he's an asshole.

1:05:33Play the third tape. But you talk about, you know, your family and your bigger family too because you've talked to me a lot about what it means to represent the bloodline. Oh yeah. You know, and all of those who have come before you and all of those yet to come and all of those who are there right now and that pool seems to just be growing. How heavy is the head that wears the crown? And And how do you have to think about your decisions differently as it relates to even just work, right? And leading the way as the OTC, right? Like, what does that mean to you? What are the different facets you have to think about?

1:06:24What are the lenses that you go through? because you are so meticulous in how you approach things. I don't think anything's light. You know, I'm just going to go out and do this. It always seems very intentional. Yeah, I mean, I try to be very well thought out. I try to, you know, think a couple times before we make the cut. But, yeah, that's the, you know this role, the role of leadership, having people that you work with that, And it doesn't matter if they're under you or supporting you. We're all in this together. And I come from a team mentality. That's the way I learned. And I played like a not glorious position by any means, defensive tackle.

1:07:10So a lot of times I was taking the heat for other guys to make the play. But I see that same, you know, I can see how that process works here. That's exactly what we do. That's right. You have to, you know, you're given your body, you're given, you know, this creative, you're laying down essentially for another performer. You're doing everything you can to make them a bigger deal than they were before. So, yeah, it's stressful. It's definitely, you know, I'll get calls, ask, what's your opinion on this? I'm like, I had no clue I was involved in that. You know, so, but like, you want my opinion?

1:07:48Here's what I think about it. You have to show up. Yeah, you have to show up. You have to be a part of it. You got to be present. In all things, right? In all things, yes. Because you never know which thing's going to be the thing you're most interested in. There was a point where I could not ever stop thinking about wrestling and these little things that I'm learning or crowd control or public speaking. There's just so many different facets to go down the rabbit hole and try to master. um but yeah i mean it's it's one of those situations where i just try to lead by example i try to represent my family at the highest level that way my cousins can see what i'm doing and then i might steal a page from his playbook because he seems to be pretty successful at it like oh joe's doing all right like let me see if i can take something that he's doing and make it a lot easier on my life and my family.

1:08:43So I'm always just trying to represent and some of it's a little bit competitive. I want to be the best too. I'm not trying to just like, I've had to compete with the twins my whole life and I'm not trying to just be another twin, no offense to them. I'm trying to stand out. And I've heard Josh say, I've heard Jay say it like, you don't want to be the dull animal in the zoo. You want to be the one that gets all the attention. And that's what this place is, is a giant zoo circus. And we're trying to get as many eyes on And circus. Yeah, it's a boat. It's a little bit of both. Yeah, yeah. It's crazy like the circus, but it's big, you know, and there's all kinds of different exotic animals here.

1:09:20That's the truth. Yes. So I just, if I do, if I take care of my business right, I will be able to lay out a beautiful blueprint. And obviously they've got to do it their own way. But there's a lot of things. Look, your dad wasn't like a wrestler per se. He did wrestle back in his day, but he wasn't running a system where I could pull all these wrestling things from him. I had to take from a different angle and like, oh, well, let me repurpose that and make it fit into my life or into the hat that I wear. So, no, they're not going to be able to just copycat me 100%, but they can see all the different things I've gone through and hopefully use that as just a boost of experience to help them out.

1:10:06Or just ask me. That's another beautiful thing is I'm just a phone call, a text away. Anything that they ever need to pick, you know, out of my brain and figure out my take on it, I'm available. So whatever we have to do to continue to keep my family synonymous with WWE, to be, you know, in business with the McMahons, you know, and even more so than that, the Khans, the Hemsleys, the Emanuels. The Lil' Max. I know I call him H I'm one of them Occasionally I call him Paul too But yeah for the most part When we first were dating I knew him as Hunter To start calling him Paul was only after we got engaged Totally weird Yeah he was Hunter That's a weird little relationship thing Right And we were married and divorced already So yeah Practice See, you know what to do.

1:11:07I did. We knew what to expect. A little dry run. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, we've talked about some serious things, but there was a very serious family drama that, you know, we learned about recently, and that has to do with your sister and a guinea pig. Oh, shit. We're going. It was a gerbil. What did the friends tell you? What did they say? I was like, where is she going? Yeah, no. That's a heavy setup. Which one said that? This is Jim, wasn't it? Yeah, maybe Big Jim had a comment or two. Yeah, a lot of comments. He did. The internet was telling him. What did he say? What did he say about my gerbil?

1:11:45Yeah, my sister was so mean to this gerbil. Yeah, that's pretty much the story. She kicked it. She kicked it. And then he thought that was maybe why. All right, internet. This is what we're going to do. You're going to take my side and not my sister's, all right? So, all right. I had a little gerbil. ugly little thing but it was it was my guy yeah and i just thought it was so cool like you know in the little aquarium all the little wood chips you give him the little you know he's got the stuff the little playground yeah yeah little wheel um and then and then we bought him the little clear ball that he could be out exactly and i don't know what my sister we were you know but We were doing that thing.

1:12:28And she just went and kicked it off. She did a full kickoff and Pat McAfee'd it across the living room. Yeah. And thank God this thing was sturdy. It didn't break. I forget the gerbil's name, but I was hot. Sunshine. And then what else did he tell you? Did he tell you about the retaliation? What I got in trouble for? No. Okay, good. We'll just leave that out. All right. We're going to tell you the even worse stuff. But so I'll just tell myself anyway. And first of all, let me let me just say this first. I was not going to hurt her. First of all, she was bigger than me. She was already going to mess with my sister.

1:13:09Yeah, my sisters are six footers, by the way. Yeah. They're tall women and strong women. And I don't think I hit puberty at this point. So I was quick work by then. Summer was beating my ass at this point in my life. but we had like any place we had the state fair and I was terrified to ride the rides I only like to play the games and there was one particular game that I really loved to play as my sister was riding all these stupid rides that get taken down every two weeks because they break exactly so I would play the knife game and you just ring the knives and I just sit there all night like curly fry would you win?

1:13:48oh yeah oh yeah I was ringing those things I was sinking them. Yeah. So like it got to the point where like I'd come home with like five knives a year. You know what I mean? So after a few years of this, I got like a collection. I got a little collection going on here. And she pissed me off so bad. I went and got those knives and I came out like a ninja turtle. Oh, boy. Yeah. And then Junior found out. And I think this was one of the, this was the first time he had to like talk to me. Junior being Rikishi, the twins dad. Yeah. was very intimidating for us back in the day. I'm sure. I'm sure. A talking to is.

1:14:25Yeah. Yeah. I hated that. Yeah. And Junior was just, he had that. That, yeah. Just that look that we were terrified. There were times we got trapped in a room because we didn't want to walk by him. Yeah, I know. Yeah. And this is us. Yeah, yeah. Like, we're not like little runts running around here. But, yeah, Junior used to have us intimidated. But, yeah, he had to sit me down like, Joe, what are you doing? What's going on here? you pulled knives on your sister? She kicked my turbo. It was in the clear ball. Kicked it. Did you guys ever talk about it? Was he ever like, he had to cover his mouth talking to you because it was.

1:15:05No, well, he was mad. He was mad. He didn't. Did you actually come at your sister with the knives or you just held them like a threat? I approached for sure. We closed the distance. There was a potential bloodbath. But we were working it back then. You know what I mean? She didn't let me get too close. We kept a little buffer there. But yet, you know. We had good blocking going on there. Hard cameras about it. But yeah, he was not cool with that. And nor should he have been. No, definitely not. I wasn't going to do anything. I just needed to pop. Yeah, you had to have some kind of. It was messed up.

1:15:43Yeah, that is messed up. It was messed up. Yeah. I would never do that to any pet. No, I thought my brother was bad when he ripped. I had Big Dog was my big stuffed animal protector and slept with me and was my go-to love. I loved Big Dog, right? And he had this little red tongue that stuck out. And my brother thought it was the funniest thing to rip Big Dog's tongue off while I watched and begged him not to. And it was like a little bit at a time. so it was like torture yeah and then finally he rips it off and I hate you and then oh now his feelings are hurt oh you hate me oh and like talk about a psychological I did that to my youngest boys yesterday I think it worked too I was like my acting's on point yes well I go in I had like a little nest set up in the theater where I just had been laying down and taking my day naps and uh they were up in there yeah it's like a little like little skinny mattress that just can roll up and go down you know we put it away but they knew I was in there and I was coming back to lay back down and usually they like hang out with me play and like they'll jump on me and all that and then I come in and it is just completely messed up all the stuff all over it's a neat area but then they put all the toys all the pillows, every blanket they could find, one of my sons likes to just rip stuff up and there were just all kinds of cardboard all over the place and I said that's funny you guys took my spot oh no you didn't do that to him just like that I milked it and did the slow turn around oh they're five and a half and what did they say daddy we're so sorry something like oh no daddy didn't like that and then yeah that is sad and I just kept going yeah once I got out of it they like the doors shut in the theaters So like when I got out of it, I was like, oh my God, I'm going to tell my eyes.

1:18:08I got him. And you just hear the door slam behind me. Right. Nothing. Just cold. Yeah. They just wanted me out. And that door shut. And then you look back. What are you? You're supposed to invite me back in. Yeah, right. This didn't work the way I thought it was going to work. See, they're smarter than us. They felt me for a second. They did. Yeah. Almost got him. You almost. This is close. Yeah. That's the way we feel as parents. We're always so close. Are you ready to hold WWE history in the palm of your hand? Topps is bringing you closer to the action than ever before with WWE Topps Now. Highlighting the biggest matches and milestones from WWE shows and PLEs throughout the year.

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1:19:34Be sure to subscribe to the WWE Topps Now mailing list on Topps.com and follow Topps on all social media platforms so you never miss a single moment. Do you have any good five-year-old boy stories? I mean... Recently? I know, I'm like, God. But I mean, my son did come to SummerSlam. Oh, yes, this is cute. First show he's ever been to. Oh, okay. Cool. He comes again. He's going to be let down because he was backstage. He was meeting, I mean, experience of a lifetime. Not even by me because I was back with you. So we were at the lake this past week. We're in Maine for a little vacation. And he constantly is running around.

1:20:24and I was showing Steph a video and he's like, everything he does and we're like, taking bumps though. Throwing himself on the float just constantly and my daughter's almost two and he walks by and he's like, in her face. And we're like, all right, all right bud. Maybe take it a little easy. See all you weird workers slapping your leg nuts to see what you're doing. That's what happened. Undertakers just pissed off about this. And I was always like, what with the slap? Are you, they're just slapping. Just clap, kick, like, yeah. Learn how to work. Terrible. Terrible, right? Setting the example.

1:21:00One show. Right, yeah, yeah. It's one show. Just drive-bys, slapping the thigh in the face. In the kitchen. Innocent children. Did you watch Triple Mania? Super fun. And I know Taker and Sean. I did see some clips and stuff like that from the internet. Yeah, yeah. They were working on it together. Awesome. Yeah, it was really cool. The next. That's not something you would have thought. No. like Heartbreak and Taker, Triple A. You know what I mean? It went good, though? It went great. And, of course, the local promoters and the team there and everybody. It was an incredible team effort. Mexico City.

1:21:36Yeah, it's always been. We were just there, too. So good house and everything. Yeah, they were hot. Hot, hot, hot, hot. Mexico City, I've only been there a few times. And it's always, anywhere we go, it's always just in and out. You know the deal. But there's always seems to, I mean, they always talk about, you need to be safe down there. But there's always like a vibrance about that city. Yes, so much. Yeah, they're doing it down there. And it's a huge city. It's so big, so big. So many pockets of it. And they love their culture. Oh, yeah. You know? Yeah, yeah. For the most part, you know, it's different.

1:22:13We're in America, so we have such a melting pot. So many different, yeah. Yeah, but I mean, when I'm around on my Samoan side, most cultures are very proud. I agree with that, yes. And I'm not mad at that at all. No, you should be proud of who you are and where you come from. And if you think y 'all are the best, then think you're the best. Great, yeah. Have some pride in it. Especially cultures that we have now, a lot of them have been around for so long that we should be proud of them. I agree. We should be completely interested in them. Yeah, I don't know, that's cool. And I think how they beautifully blend.

1:22:46Absolutely. You know? Yeah. And our country is a great example of that. Like we're like the living proof of it. So, yeah, that's good. How now is that just like a one-time thing or are they going to stay heavily involved? No, no, I think they're involved. Okay, good. Yeah, for sure. That's awesome. Yeah, I mean, at this point, you know, I've seen you probably, well, a little bit different ends of the business growing up. But it's important to be able to spread out the veterans and the people who actually know what they're doing. Because so many kids waste money and time and health learning from the wrong people.

1:23:22Yeah. Putting themselves through the wrong training. To have people who were the very top, understand the business, every aspect of it. And who can relate to you, just like you were saying. It's not easy to be TR. It's not easy to relate to us weirdos. You know what I mean? we're a different group different breed for sure you know it's where like when performer meets athlete you know like stage performer meets athlete that that's a lot going on there you know what i mean um so yeah anytime you can tap into the experience before you and kind of back to full circle there but yeah that was cool well i i can't thank you enough for for doing this podcast i mean really like you're it's funny because i've known you for a very long time but we haven't ever like sat and chatted for a long time.

1:24:09It's been a while. You know, it's like, and I remember various stages because, you know, God, I'm really getting long in the tooth. And I've been around generations now. No, but I am. And one of the things that was always so different about you two is when we were working together and I would like try to give you cheap lines, you know, like easy, you know, go stay in the kitchen or, you know, stereotypical type stuff. And you never wanted to do it. And I'd always be like, oh, I'd get such a big reaction. Like, I know it would work. But you never, it was never comfortable for you to do that. And I always respected so much that you wanted to do it your own way.

1:24:52But I felt like I couldn't get through to you. Like, what is it I'm missing? Like, how can I help him? You know, how can I help get him what he wants? Because, you know, I was the heel, obviously, and I wanted you to shine. and I'm like, oh, what can I do for him? No, that was a weird time. It was, those were weird performance waters to navigate because, you know, and like everybody looks at that time and they'll be like, oh, they just booed him. You know what I mean? He was like a failed baby face, but, and I still say this to the state. I wasn't. So some nights, yes, but pretty much every night I want them by the end of the night if you were you know like in Houston Texas or you know in whatever town on a Saturday live event no cameras you would go through that process with me every single week um but we're just in a place that the fans were just doing what they were doing and we were a little more you know not combative but we would hold friction with that and not necessarily go with the flow when it feels like we should probably just go with the flow here but man it taught me so much and I had to do it on my own time but that's something that I just even to this day Paul you know he would come up with all kinds of stuff when we were in the middle of the title reign and I'd reject a lot of like that or I'd make it my own right right I don't like low-hanging fruit um okay maybe that's what it was because that's what it well yeah and that's from a promo uh standpoint a lot of those cheaper digs i feel a little more sophisticated than that i feel like my communication can be a little more intellectual i don't know i'm from georgia tech i should be able to like you know put put some stuff together that isn't necessarily the stuff you'd hear on the corner you know what i mean so i just always and your dad was that way too the way he wrote and the way he thought about writing and being a little more sophisticated and and things of that matter so I don't know that was just a challenge of mine that I've always taken you know being in a PG product um and I you know I no disrespect to anybody chugging a beer flipping birds you know shove this up your ass that up your ass you know that that's not that hard you know what I mean it can be hard to stick something up someone else I knew she was going to say it.

1:27:31Not that I know from experience. And you're going to take anything away from today. Kids. Getting that thing up your ass ain't that easy, all right? Just saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean. I stand corrected. Especially when it's sideways. Good God, it's so hard. Yikes. But yeah, that was just always my take is like, How can we just be a little more clever? Yeah. And I just kind of try to stick to that. And sometimes, though, to your point, less is best. Keep it simple, stupid, and just go out there and kiss it. You know what I mean? And that works, you know, because it doesn't have to be highbrow every time.

1:28:12Sometimes you need to, you know, people just want to laugh. Sure, sure. People just want some. Relief. Exactly. Yeah. They don't want to overthink everything or have to go on this crazy ride. But sometimes it is good. But that's kind of the weird creative labyrinth we're in. But I love that. No low-hanging fruit as much as possible. You don't have to. I mean, everybody's different, though. And mastering your craft. 100%. Because that's a word you used that I thought was really important is mastery. It's not just reps. It's not just learning. It's true mastery in every facet of whatever it is you're trying to do.

1:28:48Oh, yeah. And that's a particular mindset that I don't think many people have. well it's there's and then the discipline to do it well it's an art form too so it's just it's like i don't know i don't play violin but i would imagine so the brother that does knows how to hold that you know i don't even know what they call the boat yeah but like he knows how to mesh those strings on strings a lot differently than i know how to i know the friction of the wrestling strings that need to be had out there you know i know how to angle my wrist or you know what I mean yeah like the that's my art form yeah 100 that's my art form and that's what wrestling is that's what professional wrestling sports entertainment is is it's a performance art beautiful art form yeah I performance fight that's what I call it yeah again you're just at the top of the game and I know you said you have many rungs yet to climb more work um and I just look forward to watching you and supporting you in whatever way that I possibly can and hopefully this isn't the last conversation that we have and I have so many more questions that I could ask you.

1:29:59Part one. Yeah. There we go. There we go. Thank you for joining part one of our Fanatics WWE original production. We'll get Elise's video of the opposite. I know. Yes. He's a total asshole. He wanted a four-room suite and everybody knows they stop at three-bedroom suites. I was like, I'm not going to tell the real story because he's looking at me. She started getting nervous. Don't get nervous. I'm not office. I was, but I am no longer. Also no longer. We're not office. Married to. Does that count? But he's like creative. Yeah. Yeah. So you got to kind of stay hip with that. You can't be full.

1:30:44Half office. Quarter office. Is he wearing a tie today? Office-ish. No tie? No office. No office. Okay. No tie, no office. All right. Okay. That's the rule. No tie, no office. Keep it casual. I have a fanatics question for you. Oh, okay. Yes. All right. So if you could go back in time and gift your younger self one piece of team wear, signed memorabilia, or something you would have flipped over, what would it be and why? Honestly, I was just thinking about this because I have a Tom Brady helmet signed, acknowledged by their GOAT. I would love an MJ Michael Jordan basketball. Wow. I mean, that would be a beautiful compliment to be on that mantle.

1:31:33That's a good one. I don't know if I'm going to be able to make that happen.

1:31:40but hopefully MJ we can get that ball over to the tribal chief real quick you know what I mean that was it yeah MJ for sure signed basketball to go next to the helmet next to that Tom Brady helmet and then is there another sport another athlete I mean we can baseball just do them all baseball is hard I loved baseball growing up and that was actually one of my favorite sports I thought that was going to be – I played third base, first base, left field, a little bit of center here and there. It's a little bit of everywhere. But I think third base was probably my best position when I was in – I stopped playing my sophomore year of high school.

1:32:23Did you have a gun? Just to get that ball right to first? Oh, yeah. Well, I pitched too. So my arm is double-jointed. Oh, my goodness. So, yeah, like my elbow pops up. This is the clip right here. Yeah, yeah. Can you? Yeah. So, yeah, my elbow can hyper extend. So when I would throw, my fastball had a crazy movement. I bet. So I didn't have to, like, throw a slider. I didn't have to throw change up. Because it already was wiggling through the air. Yeah, yeah. And I could throw pretty hard. But I was the type of guy, after two innings of, like, throwing as hard as I can, I felt it. And so I could have maybe like been a reliever, but my shoulder would have given out for sure.

1:33:09But yeah, I mean, due to the double joint. I mean, that's crazy. It was now. And then like after years talking to like some of the kids I grew up with and they, I had no clue about this until I was an adult. They told me, Oh God, I hated hitting against you. And we were, I was like, I used to hate hitting against you. We had kids in my ballpark. The twins can tell you that. I mean, they were like, we thought like you're going pro for sure. but yeah they used to tell me this was years ago when they told me as we were adults that yeah it was miserable hitting against me because I threw hard and they weren't sure where it was going I wasn't wild or anything I threw in the strike zone but yeah but baseball yeah that was my jam for a long time but baseball is like one of those sports I don't know Barry Bonds would probably be Mark McGuire I'm like naming off all the ones Sammy Sosa Sammy Sosa yeah Who else was on the gas?

1:34:04But Barry and Mark, I mean, those are the guys. Football, so many good ones. I mean, I played the sport, too, so it's hard to tell. But, yeah, I mean, that would be cool to have, like, all the – Yeah, hockey. Get a Messi, get a Ronaldo. Yeah. Are we writing this down? Yes, we are. We are. Yes, we are. So by next year, we'll have all this stuff. This is great. Part two. Yep. By part two. Boom. All the goats sign all the stuff Perfect Awesome Deal Thank you so much My pleasure thank you Thanks for having me