Royce Keys

6:17Steph McMahon:Oh, I love that.

6:19Royce Keys:So their nicknames are Bubba, Bam Bam, and Mookie.

6:22Steph McMahon:Love it.

6:24Royce Keys:Mookie, she's just, she runs the show. So I heard she's got the snarl. She does. She runs the show. Like she's quick with it, has a response to everything. I'm like for a five-year-old, I'm like, have you been here before? She's just, yeah, it's wild.

6:42Steph McMahon:You want them to be bigger, stronger, smarter, faster. Oh, yeah, they are.

6:46Royce Keys:They definitely are. But at five? At five, I don't know. She's been here before because she reminds me of my grandmother that raised me so much.

6:55Steph McMahon:Really?

6:55Royce Keys:Like the big eyes and just like she'll just stare at you like, are you talking to me? Like she'll just stare at you.

7:04Steph McMahon:Who do you think you are, Dad?

7:05Royce Keys:Yeah, cut your eyes and just like she reminds me of my grandma so much. Like my grandma, her name was Evelyn.

7:14Steph McMahon:So was mine. So was mine.

7:16Royce Keys:Okay. There we go.

7:18Steph McMahon:That's a trifecta right there. Okay. Okay. That's actually wild. Yeah. Yeah.

7:24Royce Keys:So it's.

7:24Steph McMahon:My dad's mom. She's still with us. She doesn't know it, but she's...

7:29Royce Keys:Man, that's wild. Yeah. Okay.

7:31Steph McMahon:My youngest, her middle name is Evelyn.

7:33Royce Keys:Okay.

7:34Steph McMahon:After my grandmother. Okay.

7:35Royce Keys:Yeah. She's just... Man. Everybody knew my grandma didn't play.

7:40Steph McMahon:Yeah.

7:41Royce Keys:It was one of those things around the neighborhood. She didn't play. My grandma's little 5 '5 redhead lady from Mississippi.

7:48Steph McMahon:Mine was also redheaded.

7:50Royce Keys:Okay. Yes. Mine was not. Hey, two out of three ain't bad. Two out of three ain't bad. It ain't bad. it ain't bad but she didn't play I think my grandma was the second of sorry I'm trying to name all my aunts and uncles in my head second of seven and she had a twin

8:11Steph McMahon:brother my uncle Doc

8:14Royce Keys:like I didn't know his name was Eddie until he passed away I thought his name was just Doc you're like who are they talking about yeah we just always called him Uncle Doc so we would go to Mississippi be every summer as a kid. Like, go to his farm and go see cousins and fireworks 4th of July. That sounds like fun. Riding in the back of the truck and you know, I had cousins tell me, oh, run in this little sand pit, but I'm trying to be cool and hang with the big kids and my dumb ass just runs in and sees all these red ants just bite my leg.

8:48Steph McMahon:Oh no.

8:49Royce Keys:Yeah. You ever bit by those?

8:51Steph McMahon:No, I haven't, but Have you seen them? I've seen them. I stepped into, we were in South Carolina, I stepped into. Yeah, yeah, you know all about that. Like getting the kids out of the car, I didn't know. And was like, ow, ow, ow, and looked down and my flip plot was just covered.

9:06Royce Keys:Yeah. Yeah. I forget. I didn't run into a full pit. And get the pink calamine lotion and rub it on you. Oh, yeah. And look like you bought two or three different colors because it don't rub in. But when I had chicken pox, man, that was.

9:19Steph McMahon:So now who took care of you?

9:21Royce Keys:My grandparents.

9:22Steph McMahon:Yeah. No, but I mean in that particular moment.

9:24Royce Keys:Oh, I had older cousins that would and my grandma would. And some of my aunts who are from Mississippi who didn't see me, they would like baby me. Yeah. You know, you get an extra peach soda and coming out waving my peach soda. Everybody's mad at me.

9:42Steph McMahon:Like Eddie Murphy with the ice cream.

9:44Royce Keys:Oh, yeah, yeah. I was bad.

9:47Steph McMahon:Like I would make fun of everybody than go right run up underneath my grandma.

9:51Royce Keys:Don't touch him. have nothing.

9:52Steph McMahon:Oh yeah, because nobody messed with your grandma.

9:54Royce Keys:No, nobody could touch me. I could do no wrong, but I've done wrong and she made me pay for it.

10:01Steph McMahon:Yeah, nobody could touch you except her.

10:03Royce Keys:Yeah, not even my grandpa. Leave my baby alone.

10:08Steph McMahon:Big news WWE and sports fans. The world's number one sports fan festival Fanatics Fest is making its return to New York City. Fanatics is bringing you closer to the leagues, teams, superstars, and athletes you love across four action-packed days in July. Meet your favorite WWE superstars, get your hands on exclusive merch, catch live podcasts, and interact with the biggest names in sports. Then fans of the show can get a 10 % discount by using Steph10 at checkout. That's S-T-E-P-H, the number one, the number zero, at checkout. And you, so when did they move from Mississippi to California?

10:56Royce Keys:I want to say it was about 1963. Oh, okay.

10:58Steph McMahon:So long before you were born, you guys would just visit Mississippi. Yes.

11:02Royce Keys:So they took a Greyhound bus from Mississippi to San Francisco. And why? Daily City. Daily City. Just for a better living, because at that time, Mississippi wasn't so fair. and it was rough segregation so yeah they moved across the street from the cow palace so what was familiar with it yeah me too i saw my first wrestling show so they lived uh not too far from there um and what caught their attention was wrestling so every other week they would go to a pro wrestling show so it was roy shire promotions so before i knew wwe wcw all the other things that were coming on, I would hear stories about

11:44Steph McMahon:Pat Patterson, Ray Stevens,

11:47Royce Keys:Pepper Gomez, Kenji Shibuya, the great Mephisto. So, like, you know, my grandpa told me he had to pick my dad up and carry him over his shoulders because he was crying because Pat Patterson turned on Ray Stevens.

12:03Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah. That was a big deal.

12:05Royce Keys:Yeah, the blonde bomber and the great Mephisto put a spell on Ray Stevens and, you know, And I got an argument with my grandpa because he would tell me Pepper Gomez, he was the man with the cast iron stomach, right? So he would have guys jump off a ladder and like give him an elbow drop or knee drop to the stomach. And I'm like, no. I'm like, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramones are the first ladder match. He's like, you know, tell me. But yeah, wrestling was always big.

12:32Steph McMahon:Yeah, wrestling tends to rewrite itself. Yeah, it was always big.

12:37Royce Keys:My mom's side of the family enjoyed wrestling. So it was either whatever side I was with was always wrestling.

12:45Steph McMahon:I learned the most about, you know, that particular territory from talking to Pat and reading his book.

12:53Royce Keys:Yeah, I have his book because we actually did a show. We did an indie show at the Cow Palace and it was a little tribute to him.

13:01Steph McMahon:Oh, how cool.

13:02Royce Keys:So, yeah, I got to meet him, get a book signed. Oh, that's so awesome. So it was it was cool.

13:08Steph McMahon:Who did you work with?

13:10Royce Keys:I teamed up with my old partner, Marcus Lewis. We were called Lion Power because he was the flying lion and I was Will Power. Oh, I love it. I love it. Lion Power. So it was cool, you know, to wrestle in a building I grew up going to. Absolutely. Yeah. So it was real good.

13:27Steph McMahon:And were your grandparents there?

13:29Royce Keys:No. They had passed on by then. But it was kind of like any time I go there or drive past or think about it, I think of them, like all the stories they had. Yeah. There was a riot when, who was I think it was High Chief Peter Mavia and Rocky Johnson lost against Moondog Maine. And I forget his partner. That's amazing. But it was like a full riot. And my grandpa and my uncle were like arguing with some guys in the third row. And it's just like my grandparents were serious about their wrestling. Yeah, they believed it. Yeah. It was crazy. You couldn't tell them any different. No, you couldn't. You couldn't.

14:14Royce Keys:And we didn't have a lot growing up, but we had, my grandpa had a friend that had the black box.

14:19Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

14:21Royce Keys:I don't want to tell on myself, but he would record all the wrestling for us.

14:25Steph McMahon:Statute of limitations. It's all good.

14:27Royce Keys:You know, my grandma would come, you know, I come home and there's a VHS tape, you know, it's like SummerSlam. And, you know, she's, you know, we will re-watch stuff. And, you know, it wasn't WrestleMania. it was Wrestle Maniac and I'm like what the hell is this like you know but you know she didn't know what it was called you know but it was cause she had written

14:48Steph McMahon:the label yeah yeah like my childhood

14:50Royce Keys:was just great with wrestling like wrestling was always on was always a memory of my cousins my dad would tell me stuff like it's

15:02Steph McMahon:any injuries for me yeah from reenacting it like when you were a kid

15:06Royce Keys:oh man yeah I got this I don't know if you can see it up here. I got a scar right here on my forehead. I guess my sister thought my grandma's marble table was a turnbuckle.

15:16Steph McMahon:And she bounced your head off it? Oh, yeah.

15:18Royce Keys:Just bam.

15:19Steph McMahon:And how old are you?

15:20Royce Keys:I don't remember. That means it was before five, I think. I don't remember. I think I might have been like three or four.

15:28Steph McMahon:Oh, like you don't remember any of it?

15:30Royce Keys:I don't remember what happened. Yeah, you don't remember her grabbing you or anything? No, I just walked by and bam. what else me and my neighbor poncho we would uh for some reason my grandpa had some sheetrock in the back and we thought it was a good idea you know we have a table match so we climbing on the side of the house the fireplace and jumping off the roof and my neighbor across the street you know Miss Hawkins called uh oh called my grandma like these boys are jumping off the roof my grandma come out just cussing.

16:05Steph McMahon:I thought you were going to say she was calling the match from across the street. I'm sure she would. I'm sure she would, but this is like

16:11Royce Keys:sheetrock from the store my grandpa bought. I guess they were going to build something, but they didn't build it. Yeah, we would do that. I don't know how many times, how many ironing boards we broke because we thought they were tables.

16:24Steph McMahon:Oh, that's kind of clever. I bet it didn't hurt as bad because the ironing board. It just folded and bent. Spring loaded, right? Like, just go right down.

16:34Royce Keys:Man, we were bad. But it was just because we watched wrestling. It's what we wanted to do. Where I'm from, like, wrestling was cool, but it was nothing you ever wanted to be when you grow up. Because for me, I did. But, you know, you have other people make fun of you because it was all about football, basketball, soccer, baseball, where I grew up. And it was just like everybody loved wrestling. It was cool, but you didn't want to do that. So it was like, you're going to excel at sports or you're going to hang out on the corner, you're going to sell dope, you're going to become a pimp. You know, you're going to do something because wrestling wasn't it.

17:10Royce Keys:But for me, I always knew I wanted to do it. And I know that's kind of like cliche with wrestlers. It's not cliche. It's something that I enjoy talking about. Like I love it. Like it's kind of, I'm kind of obsessed with it because like when the TV's off or, you know, like Paw Patrol ain't on or Bubble Guppies or, you know, Henry Danger. Whenever all that stuff has gone off, it's just me watching wrestling.

17:43Steph McMahon:And studying.

17:44Royce Keys:And studying and like, okay, I can bring this back. And it was cool. What got my attention. What are you watching right now? Right now I'm watching a lot of big man stuff. I love watching Mark Henry, his Hall of Pain era. I watch him a lot. I've been watching some Bam Bam Bigelow. Have you met Taker yet? No. When I was younger, I met him. So I had this little black Undertaker mug with a little purple top. I'm sitting way at the top at the Cow Palace and he came out he was wrestling he was wrestling Kamma Mustafa I know he couldn't see and I'm holding my mug up and everything my smart ass sister is like you know he can't see you and I'm just holding it up and it's just like whatever don't tell me nothing

18:42Steph McMahon:like it was the urn coolest entrance ever right

18:47Royce Keys:We had an urn in my house growing up.

18:49Steph McMahon:Oh.

18:50Royce Keys:And we almost broke it.

18:52Steph McMahon:Wait. You had an urn. Was anyone in it?

18:56Royce Keys:Yeah, I don't know who. I don't know who. I don't know who. But it was just like, you know. But for you, it was the undertaker's urn. Yeah.

19:05Steph McMahon:It was the source of power. Like, did you walk by that urn like?

19:09Royce Keys:Sometimes with my sister, man. My sister was like, tormented me. She would like.

19:14Steph McMahon:And she's older.

19:15Royce Keys:Yeah. How much? Two years.

19:17Steph McMahon:Okay. Okay, so enough, close enough.

19:19Royce Keys:Yeah. Yeah. She would like touch it and just start like rolling her eyes. I'm like, all right, I'm good with this.

19:27Steph McMahon:You're young enough that you're like something's happening. Yeah, I'm not going to mess with that side of things.

19:31Royce Keys:I'm good with this. I'm good with this. So, well, she's three years. Sorry, I'm bad with math.

19:36Steph McMahon:All good. All good.

19:37Royce Keys:But yeah, she would torment me. Like there was times we would have fireworks and you'd get them illegally. Sure. Where we're from. As one does. I'm not telling myself again. But, you know, like the bottle rockets.

19:51Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah.

19:52Royce Keys:I guess she was mad at my grandma. I don't know, whatever reason. She decided to light one in the house. My grandma just got a new carpet. It was burning. She decides to step on it, and it's a fat hole in the carpet like this. Oh, my God. And this is the point where I'm like, I swear to God, I didn't do anything.

20:08Steph McMahon:It really wasn't me this time.

20:10Royce Keys:She pointed at me, and my grandma knew I didn't do it. Oh, okay. She could tell.

20:13Steph McMahon:Your sister pointed at you?

20:15Royce Keys:Yeah.

20:15Steph McMahon:So she had the same I didn't do it mentality.

20:18Royce Keys:Yeah, yeah, yeah.

20:19Steph McMahon:Maybe you got that from her.

20:21Royce Keys:Maybe. You ever knew you were in trouble and you just started sweating?

20:26Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah.

20:27Royce Keys:Like your insides? Yeah, that's how I was feeling. It's a terrible feeling.

20:30Steph McMahon:Yeah. But when you really didn't do it. She believed me. Yeah. Yeah. My baby can't do anything wrong. What happened to your sister?

20:37Royce Keys:I had to get a switch.

20:41Steph McMahon:That's no fun.

20:42Royce Keys:No, I mean, we had an apple tree, a lemon tree. a plum tree in the backyard. So we had a variety of ass whooping.

20:50Steph McMahon:Yeah. Which fruit was the worst?

20:54Royce Keys:The plum tree. Plum tree. Why? It had this little whip. Yeah, it just was like a thinner branch or something. It would just bend. You could just, you ever took a pencil and went like this? It was like that. Like it just had some whip to it. So it is, yeah.

21:08Steph McMahon:My mom had a, like a leather flip flop.

21:11Royce Keys:Your mom was like that?

21:13Steph McMahon:Well, not often. Okay. all respect to my mom

21:17Royce Keys:I just can't picture her doing that I don't know her well

21:22Steph McMahon:my older brother and me when we were kids and you know very older brother he was trouble I was an angel I can tell

21:31Royce Keys:I would not put that past you see I believe it

21:36Steph McMahon:yes that was great she looks at the camera

21:41Royce Keys:I believe it I wrote whatever you say

21:43Steph McMahon:yeah yeah Yeah, but my brother was, he was the one running around on the roof and doing all kinds of stuff. And he's seven years older than me. Okay. So he was at home watching me a lot because my parents were busy trying to build the business. And yeah, my brother, he took great care of me, but he also was, you know. Jumping from the roof? Jumping from the roof. All right. Playing tag with his friends. And they were like, eggs were involved at some point. One of them broke their ankle. one time my mom came home and one of my brother's friends had fallen through the attic oh wow that was bad did he get hurt yeah no he didn't get hurt just stuck there just yeah got up just dusting his self i mean i didn't see it right but i i have okay my mom man she was mad i actually i'm just remembering i wrote a college essay on how mad my mom got at us one time i'm so sorry

22:37Royce Keys:What was your grade?

22:39Steph McMahon:What was the grade? Oh, I don't know. I was in like middle school maybe. And so my brother's in high school. And I think it was the day we had moved from Massachusetts to Connecticut or something like that. Like the long drive. Anyway, we had, she was at her wits end. And we had these three stairs that went up like from the second floor, from the first floor to the second floor. and she jumped with both feet and said, I can't take it anymore. And she's screaming and she gets down on the ground and she is like reenacting a temper tantrum and beating the carpet with her hands or fist and showing us what we look like.

23:24Steph McMahon:But she had clearly just been pushed too far. And I was scared. I was absolutely horrified. I was terrified. because you've probably never seen like that I've never seen my mom lose her cool my mom's the coolest and like she lost her shit and I was young enough too where it really scared me and then my brother starts to

23:48Royce Keys:laugh that's the worst

23:49Steph McMahon:because he thinks it's funny but she did eventually laugh with him and went in his room and they were like laughing and then she comes in my room and she's not happy you know it's like that's unfair Why? With, I guess, mothers and sons, you know? Yeah, it's a different bond.

24:33Steph McMahon:you won't find anywhere else. See superstars like Drew McIntyre, Liv Morgan, Jey Uso, Dominic Mysterio, Tiffany Stratton, and many more with even more appearances still to come. Tickets are on sale now at www.world.com. Save 10 % with promo code YOURSTORY10. I did write a college essay on that though, on that breakdown. Oof. I might try that

25:04Royce Keys:I gave you an A just for the whole year that's not entertaining

25:07Steph McMahon:just lose your mind sometime I probably will tonight or tomorrow we'll see how tonight goes

25:14Royce Keys:jump up stomping and start pounding

25:16Steph McMahon:I mean god bless her can you imagine what it would have taken because we've all been there as parents and moving kids in the car and my dad's always on the road so it's just my mom and the dog's in the car and I think the dog may have thrown up. It was like a whole series of events. Well-earned breakdown. It was scary, though, seeing your mom get mad like that. Yeah, yeah. Or your grandmother.

25:46Royce Keys:Yeah, man. I've seen her hot a few times. I don't know, for whatever reason, she swore somebody was throwing something at the window and somebody kept calling and hanging up, crank calling. And my grandma had a Saturday night special. So she actually opened up the door and just pop, pop, pop.

26:15Steph McMahon:Started

26:15Royce Keys:shooting in the sky. She took it to another level. And we were scared and the neighbor called the cops and the cops came to the house. And what did she do? She said yeah, I did it.

26:28Steph McMahon:somebody was calling my house driving me crazy

26:32Royce Keys:they're like well you know you can't do this and that and they had to take the piece from her and my grandpa had to go down to the police station

26:39Steph McMahon:did she get it back?

26:40Royce Keys:oh yeah she got it back it was just funny she just came out gangsta with it and opened up the door and it was pop pop pop

26:49Steph McMahon:that's way better than my story I just was going to say that

26:54Royce Keys:I don't even want to repeat the stuff she was saying But it was like, oh, man, a lot of MFs going out here, you know. And how old were you then? Oh, man, I was maybe 10. Yeah. And what'd you do? I hit the floor. That's what you got to do. You know, that's what you got to do in the hood. You hear it, you just got to get down.

27:15Steph McMahon:But that's a real thing, though. Yeah. Yeah, because how often would you hear gunfire?

27:21Royce Keys:Oh, man, like almost every night.

27:23Steph McMahon:Yeah.

27:23Royce Keys:Like, if we didn't, like, it could be daylight. If the street lights is on, you never, she would say, get in the house. Like, it was no plan. You get in the house. There's a lot of gang violence, drugs going on. Like, it was like where I'm from is a two-square-mile city, and it was the murder capital of the United States. So it was like, it's cleaned up now tremendously, but it was like you didn't play. didn't play you always read about people dying gangs and it was like that was something she didn't mess around with you couldn't joke about it or anything you know I tried joking around about it um when he got into like some discussion I was like well I'm just gonna join a gang and you know I'll walk out the house with my pants sagging and she's like no bring bring your ass back here like we're not doing that so it was man it was scary at times yeah you know it was I mean you would hear like occasional New Year's guns going off, but it was like consistently like every night you would hear guns going off.

28:30Royce Keys:You know, you hear about people getting shot and, and where I live, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Like where I live, we had, um, wasn't a big city, East Palo Alto. Um, uh, Devante Adams said it the best. It was like, there's Palo Alto, which is like we're Stanford university and all that stuff is. And there's East Palo Alto. So it's like pride rock. in elephant graveyard like you didn't cross sides you didn't you didn't do that um so it was rough man like I've had a tons of friends that have died um family uh people like you're gonna you're either gonna get involved in this or you're gonna end up in the penitentiary I've known tons of people that are in San Quentin that are still there so it's if it wasn't for my grandmother I would probably be in one of those two places

29:28Steph McMahon:and not a lot of people I would imagine had someone as strong as your grandmother to keep them in line

29:33Royce Keys:my grandma they struggled in Mississippi so they knew the meaning of nothing not having anything seven kids at that time it was like, you know, my grandpa would tell me like he would pick cotton and come home with 15 cents and keep a nickel for himself and give his mom a dime. And he could go to watch two movies and get a popcorn and get a pop and, you know, have a penny or something left over for some junior mints or something, you know. So it was rough. We appreciate everything, but we didn't know we were, didn't have a whole lot. We had everything we needed, you know. So it was one of those things like as you got older, you're like, man, we didn't have this, but we had this instead.

30:21Steph McMahon:Do you think the difference maker is, aside from experience, but is love?

30:30Royce Keys:Oh, yeah. She loved us.

30:32Steph McMahon:Because a loving household, I think, is not so common.

30:36Royce Keys:No, no. I think love conquers all. And, you know, just she loved us no matter what, no matter what we did. no matter what my dad did, no matter what anyone in her family.

30:49Steph McMahon:Because she was your dad's mom?

30:50Royce Keys:Yeah, no matter what any of her family did, she loved them.

30:54Steph McMahon:Yeah, unconditional.

30:55Royce Keys:Yeah, like I've heard her talk to people that were in jail and talk them up and just make sure you say your prayers. Nobody can judge you but God. And it's just, you know, I have to remind myself of that sometimes because, you know, there's so many things out there that can derail you and just live rent-free in your head. Our own demons. Yeah. I mean, we all have them. Sure. We're all human. It's just some of those things. Like I sit back and just think about how she took care of us when we were sick. Like it was just all about us. you know how she would watch our shows you know how you know she would like the slightest thing like if she thought we were sick she'd keep us home from school you know we'd be right up under Big Mama watching The Price is Right

31:59Steph McMahon:or always that was the best

32:01Royce Keys:watching The Young and the Restless or Bold and the Beautiful I'm in elementary school and I know these characters names

32:09Steph McMahon:I was the same.

32:10Royce Keys:So it's just like, you know, I heard my grandparents talking about, oh, I think it might have been Sheila. But I forget what show was she on. I'm thinking they talking about a real person, but they talking about my lady on TV. Yeah. So, you know, it's just my childhood was great. But, you know, if it wasn't for those two people, I guarantee you I wouldn't be here.

32:32Steph McMahon:Yeah. and you answer however you would like to you went to live with your grandparents why?

32:43Royce Keys:I just think my parents were they had their own thing going on my grandparents wanted us to be together I never really cared to answer or ask why

32:59Steph McMahon:you never did?

33:02Royce Keys:No, Big Mama and Papa were there. They were the ones. Yeah, they were the ones.

33:05Steph McMahon:And did you see your mom?

33:06Royce Keys:Yeah, yeah. My mom, man, I go to therapy because it's good to get things out. So growing up for me in the African-American culture, like you couldn't talk to a therapist because people thought you were crazy. So as I got older, I'm like, dang, I need somebody to talk to who's not going to judge me. You know, my parents had their issues. It doesn't change how I love them or anything. I love them the same because if it wasn't for them, I would not be here. Those are my parents. We all have our demons, as we said, but they had their own stuff going on. But, you know, my mom passed away in 2021. 21.

33:58Royce Keys:Me and my mom, our relationship got, like nothing ever happened. And you know, she got sick. She passed away. And that still eats me up to this day. Because I mean, I've had great times with my mom. Like my mom knew all the wrestlers. Like she would, she took me to Super Brawl, eight or nine. She took me to. And like she knew all that. When I was younger, she made sure I had my, as my family will call them, and it irritated me so much, my little wrestling men. No, they were action figures. Like, these ain't little men. What's she talking about? At least she didn't call them dolls. My grandma did.

34:45Royce Keys:Oh. Yeah, yeah.

34:46Steph McMahon:But you could forgive Big Mama. I could. I could. She's a lot. But I was like, man. She does no wrong.

34:50Royce Keys:I got this Easter basket one time. It had three wrestlers in it. Yeah. Which three? It was a Goldust, Shawn Michaels, and a Razor Ramon. Good ones. Solid basketball. Yeah. I had my own little pay-per-view and all that. Three ways forever. But, yeah, just, man, I think about my grandma, my mom, and my dad's still here. And, you know, my dad got to see me wrestle, you know, not on TV, not just on TV, but live. And it's just, man, like I just, like I.

35:29Steph McMahon:And were there bad periods where you weren't necessarily with them and then you reconnected with them? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

35:37Royce Keys:Like the times I wasn't. Because through therapy. Times I wasn't with them growing up, they would always call and check or stop.

35:45Steph McMahon:They were always there in your life.

35:47Royce Keys:Yeah, they may be gone for a few periods, but they would always call, check on us. I love you. I love you too. But it was I had Big Mama and I had Papa.

35:57Steph McMahon:Yeah.

35:58Royce Keys:You know, like.

35:59Steph McMahon:And your sister and your brother.

36:01Royce Keys:Yeah. And I had my grandma's sister lived right around the corner from us. So I had my Aunt Coco. Coco. All right. I had Aunt Coco and I had Uncle Frank. And then I had her younger son, which is, you know, he's like my brother, Greg. And then I had her two older sons, Uncle Mitch and Uncle Carl. So I always had somebody. And my mom's siblings and her grandma lived about three blocks away. My Nana, my Auntie Joy, my Uncle Boogie, my Aunt Kiki. So I had people. It wasn't like I was just sitting there like, you know, like, dang, I ain't got nobody. No, I had people. And they went through the same stuff.

36:43Royce Keys:that I went through. And man, I sit and I'm thinking like now, man, like man, I was loved. It's just, man, we didn't have a lot, but we had love. We had each other going on bike rides and taking breaks, drinking out the water hose. And my grandma, you bring your ass in the house, you're not going back out, so just stay out. So that's how she was. So we'd be going on missions all day, like riding everywhere. That's what we call it. We going to go on a mission tomorrow? Yeah, we going to go on a mission tomorrow.

37:17Steph McMahon:What's one of your missions?

37:18Royce Keys:Oh, man. We went, we probably went on a like 12-mile bike ride. I don't know why one of my friends decided to steal something from Target, but we just, man, we were on a mission getting back home and just, you know, I had my boy on the pegs in the back. Yeah, I was going to say,

37:39Steph McMahon:what kind of bike?

37:40Royce Keys:I had a beat up BMX.

37:43Steph McMahon:All right.

37:43Royce Keys:Didn't have any matching pegs or anything. Like I got it for$15 from the bike man.

37:48Steph McMahon:There you go. The bike man.

37:50Royce Keys:The bike man. I don't know his name, but it was the bike man. I don't know where he got it from. He had the bike. He ain't going to ask. There's a reason he's called the bike man. But I'm like, Papa, the bike man got this bike, got pegged on it, need$15. Okay, here, cool. We're just buying an$89,$90 Huffy bike. You know what I'm saying? We go to the bike man. That's right. Get your inner tubes changed and you get all that. The bike man had it all.

38:09Steph McMahon:A bike man will hook you up.

38:10Royce Keys:He would. We had a watermelon man. Mr. Henry would drive the watermelon truck. Drive so slow.

38:17Steph McMahon:Like the ice cream truck, but it's the watermelon truck?

38:19Royce Keys:So it's like a truck reminds me of the truck from Sanford and Son.

38:22Steph McMahon:Okay.

38:23Royce Keys:But it had like wood around it, you know, to hold the watermelon. He would drive so slow, just honking a horn. My grandpa would come out and be like, hey. He'd be like, hey. And it'd be a little pause. I'm like, okay, what's next? And my grandpa would be like, you got any yellow meat? Like the yellow watermelon. Yeah, yeah. You know, you come over to my grandpa, knock on it, pick one out. You know, I got these peanuts, too. Roasted them, get a bag of peanuts. So it was all that stuff. Like, none of that exists anymore. Right. And I miss that. But it's just like.

38:56Steph McMahon:But how great you have those memories.

38:58Royce Keys:Yeah, yeah. Like, my daughter now, like, I'll take her to Five Guys. You know, she likes the peanuts.

39:04Steph McMahon:Yeah.

39:05Royce Keys:Like, I get a bag, put them in, fill it up. another bag, fill it up. They ain't going to miss it. They got boxes everywhere. Let me take two, three bags home. So it's crazy. Man, I'm proud of everything that I've went through. Good, bad, the struggles. I've struggled a lot. So I appreciate all that because it made me who I am. It got me to this point. I don't know how many Royal Rumbles we had in the backyard and throwing each other over a four-foot fence.

39:43Steph McMahon:Not the top rope, it was a fence.

39:44Royce Keys:It was a fence. It was a fence, like a metal fence, you know, that was like painted so many times and, you know, got little parts.

39:55Steph McMahon:Was it at least on grass or concrete?

39:58Royce Keys:It was grass that led into concrete.

40:01Steph McMahon:Yeah, yeah.

40:01Royce Keys:So you had about this much space between the grass and concrete. yeah but it was like we didn't throw each other over like most of us would like run and hop over it or you know tip each other over except your sister she well she's right over there out right off the marble yes so it was you know it was good times growing up like i got so many texts and messages from just you know i got a video from my boys at the barber shop going ape, you know, watching me in the Royal Rumble.

40:37Steph McMahon:Oh, that's so cool.

40:38Royce Keys:It's wild. And then, yeah, I can't believe it at times, so.

40:44Steph McMahon:Well, you made it happen.

40:45Royce Keys:Yeah, yeah. I had no choice because there was no plan B.

40:49Steph McMahon:Yeah, failure wasn't an option. No, I can't, you know, from East Palo Alto and, you know,

40:55Royce Keys:grew up in Oakland, like, there's no plan B. Like, see, you're going to do it or not. You're going to sink or swim. Like it's, you know.

41:04Steph McMahon:And you made it out.

41:05Royce Keys:Yeah, I made it, but it's not going to stop. Like just because I did this, like I got so many goals I want to do here. Like what? I want to become a champion. I want to become a legend. I want to be in the Hall of Fame. Like I want to be remembered as one of the most dominant and feared competitors. Like what I've dreamed of. and the moment I had talks about coming here and signing here, like this isn't a one-off. This isn't me like, hey, I'm a WWE superstar now. Let me gloat. No, I still have to work. Oh, yeah, you have to earn it every day. Yeah, it took me years to get here. Like this ain't, I mean, yeah, okay, honeymoon phase is over.

41:54Royce Keys:Right. You know, let's get with it. Let's do work. Like, you know, I got people that depend on me. I got people that I can't let down. You know, I got people I take care of. So if I fail, they don't eat. Right. And I'm not about to have that on my conscience and shoulders. There's no excuse. Like now, I got people trying to hold me back now, you know, and I'm not with that.

42:21Steph McMahon:How do you tune those people out? How do you tune out?

42:25Royce Keys:I just always remember my grandma telling me, like, I remember, like, people wouldn't play with me growing up as a kid. And you tell me, I remember being five sitting in her 69 Mustang, like, her telling me not everybody's going to like you. Not everybody's going to be your friend. And I tell my kids that. Like, it sucks to hear, but it's the truth.

42:46Steph McMahon:My dad told me the same thing. So important.

42:48Royce Keys:There's someone that's always going to be envious of you. there's someone that's always not going to like what you do, the decisions you make, but it's up to you to let it take over you. Now, are you going to sit and mope around or are you going to get busy with it?

43:04Steph McMahon:So it's her voice you hear.

43:05Royce Keys:Oh, I hear her voice all the time. I'm like, it's her, you know, my mom, you know, my brother. Like, I just, I hear it and I replay things. and I can close my eyes and just think of stuff like, what would they do in this situation? Like, okay, let me stop. Let me not react to what's happening. Let me just think because I know personally that there's a consequence to every reaction. Like I've had good and I've had bad. So I got to, like I said, I got people that depend on me. So I got to stop, take a minute, take a breather, think, okay, walk away, turn around, something.

43:56Steph McMahon:Like when someone makes you upset. Yeah. You know, or you feel disrespected in some way. Take a beat.

44:03Royce Keys:I used to be the type that just pop off quick.

44:06Steph McMahon:Yeah.

44:06Royce Keys:You say something to me, I'm going to get you back.

44:08Steph McMahon:Yeah.

44:08Royce Keys:And that was me for years and years. And it's just, can't do it now.

44:13Steph McMahon:Yeah. Because of those kids. I got babies. Kids change that. You act different. You think different.

44:20Royce Keys:You want to be the best person for them. Because they look at everything you do. I can remember being in the backseat of a car witnessing something. You know, somebody, excuse me, cut off my dad, how he would react. You know, somebody pissed off my grandpa, how he would react. You know, so I remember those things.

44:47Steph McMahon:Did they react similarly? Yeah. They got hot quick?

44:52Royce Keys:Yeah. Yeah. It runs in the bloodline.

44:54Steph McMahon:Yeah.

44:55Royce Keys:Like it runs.

44:56Steph McMahon:But they weren't carrying in the car. No shots fired.

44:59Royce Keys:I ain't going to say nothing. I plead the fifth. I plead the fifth. You know? You know, but it's just, man, just, I've seen things where people get in arguments over a dice game.

45:11Steph McMahon:Yeah.

45:11Royce Keys:And something happens.

45:12Steph McMahon:And it's stupid.

45:13Royce Keys:And it's stupid. Yeah. Or$15? Right. Like dice game, like somebody's life is more important than$15. You know? It's just ego, right? It is. In that moment. And so I'm not going to be a punk. I'm not going to let this person disrespect me. Well, sometimes it pays just to turn your ass around and just walk away. I've done that plenty of times.

45:35Steph McMahon:It's a hard lesson to learn. It is.

45:36Royce Keys:It is.

45:37Steph McMahon:And all your friends, don't let him punk you out. Yeah.

45:40Royce Keys:Yeah.

45:40Steph McMahon:To be the bigger person and have a cooler head in that situation, that's tough.

45:46Royce Keys:Because believe it or not, everybody's got something to lose. Like you do something, you lose your life going to jail. Like you have somebody telling you what to do. Get up, wake up, do this, do that. Like you got somebody telling you what to do. That's something you lost. You don't have the right to wake up and, you know, cook breakfast at 3 p.m. if you want to. Right. You know, like you don't have that decision anymore. So it's, I've seen a lot of things that it's just like, man, I'm not going to act like this because this will happen. My brother was a big drug dealer, lost his life. You know, so it was.

46:29Steph McMahon:He lost his life saving you?

46:31Royce Keys:Yeah. So it was one of those things like it was. I don't know if I should say like it was meant to happen but if you play a certain game you win certain prizes right so it's it's one of those things like you look what he sacrificed was himself to save me and it's just like I replayed in my head it's just like to see somebody like laying there just gasping for air, just blood just coming out of them, and you don't know what to feel like. Someone that's trying to get by, do what we have to do to survive,

47:33Royce Keys:to lose their life. So it's like I kind of, I go through these moments where I hear certain things and like I hear certain things and it reminds me of him. I felt guilty for so many years. I felt guilty for wanting to be like him. But if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have certain things growing up. Like, I feel guilty for her.

48:13Like, not being the son maybe I should have been for my mom. Like, maybe she would still be here.

48:24Royce Keys:maybe I could have not been mad at times at her and just just like like man like my mom like cared me for nine months first person to ever put an outfit on me but I like had to pick her last outfit and it's just like Like, being in the room, like, having to sit with my dad and my sister and be like, okay, well, we got to make the decision. What are we going to do? Why are we going to let her live like this? We can't. Or, you know, we have to tell the doctors, you know, what we don't want to. And my sister and my dad, you know, I love them. They left the room because they couldn't handle it. And me being the man, like, I got to, I sat there and thought, like, my mom held me, watching me breathe, and I watched her take her last breath.

49:29So it's like I have, still have guilt, because maybe I, like, certain things I could have done

49:37Royce Keys:to prevent these things, but I know that, I know none of it was my fault, But it still eats me up at times. I'm so sorry. I just think about like maybe if I maybe would have pushed him out the way. Maybe he's better off here than me.

50:09Royce Keys:Just like I just, my mind's going everywhere. and I'm like backtracking.

50:14Steph McMahon:Survivor's guilt.

50:15Royce Keys:Yeah, but it's just like, I remember being on the couch and my phone going off because I was sick with COVID. I'm getting like these messages from people I don't know. Like, hey, your mom's in the hospital. You need to check on your mom. And I ain't talking to my mom for like two weeks just because I was busy traveling. And I'm like, okay, someone's telling me your mom's at this hospital. So I call the hospital. me like you know you know telling my name and i'm asking you know tell my mom's name they're like okay hold on and instantly like my heart dropped and i get on the phone with a doctor and they're like yeah your mom's here um she's unresponsive pretty much brain dead because my mom you know overdosed you know so it's like damn maybe if I would have called her and told her come live with me like it just it

51:16Royce Keys:I'm a mama's boy and a grandma's boy like I just it sucks to get to the hospital and see her there and I just want to just shake her and like tell her to wake up there's nothing I could do. And I remember the first time my mom seeing me on TV wrestle wrote me this long paragraph. She sent it to me and I still have it. And I messaged my mom last year on her birthday. And I'm like, I know she can't read it or anything. It's just like... Yes, she can. It was a way for me just to get out and tell her how I feel. I'm going to send her this message. And it's just, you know.

52:07Steph McMahon:She sees you. And I just, you know, and I remember getting on the phone

52:16Royce Keys:and I called Cody. Like, Cody Rose would tell him, like, I don't know what to do. I just got off the phone. My sister, my dad, my mom's sister, my auntie, Joy, and she went straight up to the hospital and it's just like I guess maybe Cody thought I was talking about wrestling because I always bug him with wrestling and I'm like no my mom is sick he immediately dropped everything and called me he called me he checked on me I believe his daughter might have been a month old and he still called me and I remember having a match with CM Punk a month after my mom died. And he goes, none of this shit matters.

53:05Royce Keys:Your mom's sitting front row to there tonight. And just like, after the match, he, you know, he pins me and he's just, he taps me on the chest. And, you know, my mom's nickname was Nita. And he goes, this was for Nita. And I just lost, lost it. just lost it but um everything that's happened to me whether it's just like being shot losing my mother you know I've I've had guns pulled on me knives like guns jam up in my face where I shouldn't be here like it it all that has shaped me to be here And I think to myself, like, there's somebody out there in this big world that if I tell them my story, it could help them.

54:05Yeah.

54:05Royce Keys:I didn't have, like, I didn't have an outlet of people to talk to growing up. Because, like I said, like, talking to a psychiatrist or, you know, just, you know, what it was looked frowned upon of. It was like, get up, smile, go, go do your thing. Like, you're fine. You know, like.

54:30Steph McMahon:Dust yourself off.

54:31Royce Keys:Yeah. And go. Like me being 6 '3", 270 pounds, like obviously I cry. You know, I cry. That's good. And I tell my kids it's okay to cry. But it's— Makes you stronger. Some people need that. And if I would have had that growing up, you know, it would have made me feel better at times. It took me years to talk about this, and I still get choked up about it. I eat lemon cake I think of my mom I hear the OJs playing I think of my mom I hear

55:10Steph McMahon:Think of her in the kitchen? How do you think of her?

55:12Royce Keys:Just singing and dancing I had this blue Mustang GT My mom had just came home And I'm Shoring it off We just hitting wherever we want to go Listening to New Edition her younger brother my uncle boogie is in the back seat you know the three of us is just jamming well we want to go here okay let's go here we doing that like certain stuff reminds me of my grandma like thanksgiving reminds me of my grandma how she just used to what was her favorite food to make oh man she would make cornbread dressing collard greens yams macaroni and cheese like it was sweet potato pie. Like, you know, there's times.

56:00Royce Keys:The good stuff. Yeah, like times I would piss her off because I'm like, I'm tired of eating collard greens. And I remember one Thanksgiving is some family all together. And they were at my aunt Coco's house and me and my cousin Greg decided we ain't gonna eat this. Like, we're gonna take a stand. So we go in the kitchen, get a ball. We eat some Frosted Flakes.

56:22Steph McMahon:Oh, really?

56:24Royce Keys:Yeah, yeah. You talk about everybody being quiet and just looking. I see some of my uncles just laughing and smiling. We taking a stance. Got that ass beat.

56:39Steph McMahon:So with the plum tree.

56:41Royce Keys:Yeah, yeah. So what is, everything I've been through, man, it's happened for a reason. Like, it shaped me to help me get to this point and even things before this point because I've—there were times where I didn't think I was going to get there. Like, it's just—you tell someone you've been shot, they're like, oh, really? You can see it. You've been stabbed, yeah. You've been shot at, you know, you've seen people get shot, you've seen—

57:14Steph McMahon:Real intent to end your life.

57:16Royce Keys:There's times where I'm with my Uncle Boogie, who's my best friend, and people tell us, hey, you need to walk that way. Don't come this way. Because some things are about to pop off. So it's, man, I just, like, I know there's somebody out there who can benefit hearing from me. You know, it just doesn't matter who. Like I'm to the point now where I'll tell anybody my story. Like it just has to, it's going to help somebody.

57:53Steph McMahon:That's the whole point of this, what we're trying to do is, I mean, that's the whole thing. What's your story? And yours is quite remarkable. And I can't imagine everything you've been through. I can't. And I'm so grateful that you're sharing it. Because there are a lot of people who have come from very hard circumstances who do need to hear it. And they do need to hear what's possible and how you got through it. Like, how have you gotten to this place where you are making your dreams come true? And what is that? It's love. It's what you've talked about a lot. Is love, is it faith? Are you a man of faith?

58:41I do.

58:42Royce Keys:I grew up going to church. I do believe that there is a higher power. You know, I believe that at times you can get you can get signs of things. You just have to pay attention. You have to. You know, I sit and think about things all day. This was a sign. Okay. But I noticed that now and noticed it then when it happened. But you just, like, all it takes is one person to help you out. Yeah. Like, I've had a lot of OGs that I call this business that have helped guide me. You know, I've had people in this business that tell me you don't need to take this next move. Stick where you're at. You know, I've had people tell me, oh, you'll, okay, you've had one indie match.

59:45Royce Keys:This is as far as you're going to go. I've had teachers tell me, oh, okay, well, you graduated. Well, I'm sure I'll be at your funeral in two to three years.

59:54Steph McMahon:And they're not trying to inspire you to do something different. They mean what they say. Yeah. Yeah.

59:59Royce Keys:Yeah. I've had teachers tell me why are you in this class you know because I like math you know I like counting money true I'm trying to figure out all the ways but yeah this is growing up where I'm from man it's rough like you can YouTube things about East Palo Alto or Oakland you can see how it's rough

1:00:28Steph McMahon:Yeah, but if you haven't experienced it, you don't know.

1:00:31Royce Keys:Yeah, no. Like we thought it was a thing to hang out in front of the G market, the liquor store. It was the garden supermarket. Like it was a liquor store. They had produce, you know, your deli. They had everything you needed. But, you know, you got people, you know, buying drugs and selling drugs in front of the liquor store. We thought it was the normal. Yeah, because it was for you. It was. It was the norm. Then you got the, you know, the little taco truck right down the street from it. You go get you some tacos, get on your bike and you go. Then you got the barbershop right down there at the gas station.

1:01:09Royce Keys:Like it was. That was life. It was life. It was a norm. And when we would go outside of this, we would be like, what is this? You know, it was, it wasn't normal for us. So it was, it's one of these things, man. I'm just like, I love it. But being a professional wrestler or sports entertainer, this is what I've always wanted. I believe people are put on this earth for certain things. I tell my kids, you guys are remarkable at doing this. Maybe you should do this. My son Royce is so empathetic and cares about his friends. he will stick up for his friends. He's a big boy, but he will stick up for anyone.

1:02:03Royce Keys:He will tell anyone, like, okay, this is okay. I'm like, man, this dude is like something special. Like my son, Julian, is just so creative. Like Mookie, my daughter, Naya, she is just some of the things she says and how she's a storyteller. Like, it's just like, man, like, I created y 'all. What the hell happened to me? But it's, man, they just.

1:02:34Steph McMahon:They're your everything.

1:02:35Royce Keys:Yeah.

1:02:35Steph McMahon:They're your why.

1:02:36Royce Keys:Man, if I wasn't, man, if I didn't have them, like, I don't know.

1:02:43Steph McMahon:Man. But you do.

1:02:45Royce Keys:I do. And I love it. Yeah, it's, you know, it's one of these things. I'm just like...

1:02:58Royce Keys:It's, yeah, life is good, but it will get better. Like just coming home and, you know, the way they look at you or, you know, watching them as they watch me enter the rumble or if they watch me wrestle, it's just, I've never seen anybody look at me like that. So proud. Yeah. It's just, eyes just lit up. It's amazing. and just, like, think about the way I used to sit in front of the TV and watch it or just sit and just look at my grandma or my big mama and papa, you know, or, you know, how I would listen to my dad. Like, my dad's favorite wrestler was Ray the Crippler Stevens. Like, I remember my dad wrestling with me, and he'll tell me, jump off the couch and give him the bombs away, elbow drop or knee drop.

1:03:51Like, you know, I remember, you know, just fun times. Like, I really think that I was meant to do this.

1:04:00Royce Keys:And I'm sure there's tons of people who think I shouldn't do this. But it doesn't matter what they think. And, you know, and I try not to go on social media.

1:04:09Steph McMahon:Oh, you can't read the comments. It's so toxic. I know. It is bad.

1:04:13Royce Keys:You know, and I tell my kids that because they get curious about it. you know and it'll make them upset too

1:04:21Steph McMahon:when my kids read the comments yeah it's awful you don't want to read people talking about someone you love like that

1:04:28Royce Keys:I had my daughter like she'll see me wrestle on TV or get hit and she just gets so mad oh yeah I bet scratch his eyes out I'm like yeah that's daddy's friend

1:04:42Steph McMahon:Paul used to describe it as he's going to push me down yeah we're gonna play around he's gonna push me down yeah i remember talking about the big show in particular and she was so little and she was meeting you know paul white with my husband paul and um and that's what they were talking about and then she went she was watching that match

1:05:06Royce Keys:she got so mad yeah they will she did not and she was not afraid no they will defend you to the to to the end of the earth and it's just like man i just like earlier today i was just sitting back like man just i wonder if you know my brother my mother grandparents you know aunt and uncle like oh my nana how proud of me they are like did they ever think i would do this like after having watching all the the wrestling matches and and playing with my action figures and did they ever like think about this or did they think this was a phase or or did they know you know maybe they knew because they kept buying me all these toys like all the video games like maybe they knew but it's

1:05:58Steph McMahon:do you ever get signs from them yeah

1:06:01Royce Keys:anytime I see a butterfly I know it's my mom or my grandma.

1:06:12Royce Keys:You know, I just, I know, like, I can be at a red light, and I used to ride around in a car with my Uncle Johnny, my grandma's, whatever, younger brothers, and he would sit there and just be like, change light, and it would turn green. And I catch myself doing it. Before I can even say the light turns green. I'd be like change and it just automatically turns green. You know, so it's just like I know that I can feel.

1:06:44Steph McMahon:Yeah, that's the thing. You feel it.

1:06:46Royce Keys:Yeah. It's a good feeling.

1:06:48Steph McMahon:They're with you.

1:06:49Royce Keys:I believe it. You know, and sometimes I need to remind myself that, you know, that.

1:06:57Steph McMahon:And they sacrificed for you.

1:07:00Royce Keys:Oh, yeah. 100%. 100%.

1:07:03Steph McMahon:And yes, you're making them proud.

1:07:05Royce Keys:Because I think about it as like, I know some of my friends that ended up in foster care or group homes. Because, you know, it's a situation with their parents. The grandparents didn't want to. Yeah. I mean, I can't deal with this. Mine didn't do that.

1:07:25Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:07:26Royce Keys:No. They're mine. Give them to me. And are those the friends that wound up incarcerated or others otherwise? Some of them, a few of them have turned out great.

1:07:40Steph McMahon:Great. You know, but some of them just, most of them went down the wrong way.

1:07:47Royce Keys:And it sucks, but it's just.

1:07:50Steph McMahon:You don't know any other way. Sometimes if you're not shown. You are a, you can be a product of your environment.

1:07:59Royce Keys:You know. Yeah. I refuse to be a product of my environment. Like my grandma was like, no. So I had no choice.

1:08:09Steph McMahon:Yeah, she wouldn't let you.

1:08:10Royce Keys:No. I'm like, I took enough beatings. Like this woman talked about shooting me. Like I've seen her come outside and pop, pop, pop. Yeah, you were not messing with Big Mama. Like no, like she's come up to the school. why aren't you listening to the teacher in front of everybody and she put the whole class in check that's how she was

1:08:36Steph McMahon:do you remember a specific time

1:08:38Royce Keys:yeah I think it was man it was we were we had a new teacher we had this thing where you know we didn't like one teacher so we heckled the teacher until she quit we did that three times in the school year

1:08:58Steph McMahon:and how old are you what grade?

1:09:00Royce Keys:oh man this was 8th grade okay we run to school we about to go into high school next year you can't tell us 8th grade there was nothing and like we ran this teacher out like she we like yeah like okay your car's on flat you know you don't have your lunch I'm gonna open up your bag and you know eat your lunch in front of you.

1:09:25Steph McMahon:Oh, that's rough. We're not doing nothing. Teachers have it not easy.

1:09:31Royce Keys:No, no. Open up the science book and just rip one page out. The next person rips the page out. The next person rips the page out. And it was bad. It was like little dangerous minds. Right. That's the first thing I could think of. We didn't care. And my grandma came up there and was like, I'll beat you. I'll beat you. I'll beat you. You can tell your mama I'll beat her. I babysat your mama. And, you know, it's just like my grandma. She knows I'm not playing. She didn't play.

1:10:08Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:10:08Royce Keys:She didn't play. Good. You know, my grandma had this big old purse that had everything in it. Whatever you need, she had in it. You need a bobby pin. She got that. You needed some medicine. Oh, she's got medicine for whatever you got. It's just like you reach in the bag.

1:10:27Steph McMahon:And it was a loaded pocketbook, too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't want to get hit with that pocketbook. No, no, no.

1:10:31Royce Keys:She got everything in there. And it was like, man, she had this wooden stick with a metal ball probably about this big. And would just do this. And it was just like, yeah, yeah. Like, my ass was good.

1:10:51Steph McMahon:It was the last teacher that left.

1:10:53Royce Keys:Class was in check, you know, but, you know, it was one of those things I think we needed. And the other parents were for it.

1:11:01Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:11:02Royce Keys:You know, because they're like, oh, I ain't got to talk to you and you need to listen to her. Right. So, and it was, man, acting up during Christmas performances. Like, I remember we sung sixth grade. We sung We Are the World, you know, and I'm acting up. because I got a crowd. I got a show out. And I had Ray Charles' part and there's a part where he goes, oh, let me hear it now. I'm in the microphones like this and class is over here singing. You got the little, you know, the first row, second row, third row. And I'm just like, oh, shit, let me hear it now. And you see people do this. And like, as soon as I got off stage, just whoop.

1:11:45Royce Keys:Yeah. Like this, if I had a crowd, I showed out.

1:11:49Steph McMahon:yeah but now you're doing it

1:11:52Royce Keys:yeah I'm getting paid to do it I'm getting paid

1:11:56Steph McMahon:you gotta do what you're good at you were naturally inclined to entertain

1:12:01Royce Keys:my kids love to entertain as well and I'm just like my grandpa would be like man if I had four or five or more y 'all man we could be like the Jackson 5 put y 'all to work so it was like you know I'm blessed. All the stuff I went through. The good, the bad. I call it the good, the bad, and the ugly because I love westerns. I used to watch westerns all the time. My grandpa, sometimes I turn on background noise in the bed. I turn on the Rifleman. Black and white. I know what happened this episode. I get sunk into it.

1:12:47Steph McMahon:What's the best western?

1:12:48Royce Keys:Ever. In your opinion? I love the Magnificent Seven. Original. With Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson. Oh, yeah. Like, man, if I could pick a theme song, like, I would come out to that. If I could ride a horse, I'd come out to that.

1:13:09Steph McMahon:Have you ever ridden a horse?

1:13:11Royce Keys:Yeah, yeah. The most terrifying thing.

1:13:14Steph McMahon:Like, I feel like we're creating an entrance.

1:13:17Royce Keys:This dude puts me on a horse. I see everybody get on a horse.

1:13:20Steph McMahon:And how old are you?

1:13:22Royce Keys:I'm a grown ass. So you're a big man. I'm a grown man.

1:13:24Steph McMahon:Big man getting on a horse. Okay. And I'm wearing white shoes and I'm like, we got to go through all this mud.

1:13:31Royce Keys:Sorry, I'm trying not to curse. We got to go through. I got on my fresh forces and I'm thinking we going to ride on some sand or something. And I'm like, all right. And everybody's got their little horse. And I'm like, okay, I can probably do this. And he comes out and brings this big ass black horse. And I'm like looking at this thing. I'm like, hell no, I'm not getting on that.

1:13:52Steph McMahon:The horse is thinking the same thing, looking at you.

1:13:53Royce Keys:He's looking at me up and down like, what you going to do? And I'm like, man, all right, it's too many people out here and too many females. I can't be a little chump and not get on it.

1:14:13Steph McMahon:And my heart is just like, man, I'm not getting on it. And the horse can feel you. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

1:14:19Royce Keys:I think that horse purposely did stuff, just like pulling back and running through the water a little extra. Running you into the wall. Yeah. I'm like, man, like, man, somebody need to tell this horse to.

1:14:33Steph McMahon:But it's not going to be me. No. Man. But you made it. You didn't fall off. Nothing.

1:14:39Royce Keys:Nah, I didn't fall off. But there's times I thought about jumping off. Yeah.

1:14:42Steph McMahon:First and last ride.

1:14:43Royce Keys:Yeah. There's certain things I won't do. I ain't getting on a horse ever again. But you did it.

1:14:48Steph McMahon:You could check that box.

1:14:49Royce Keys:I did. I didn't want to check it. But you did. I can promise you it won't happen again. That's not going to happen again. It reminds me of, I felt like Bobby Heenan on that camel WrestleMania 9. That's how I felt.

1:15:08Steph McMahon:Well, they're unpredictable animals. No. It's like my grandma told me.

1:15:14Royce Keys:my grandma used to tell me anything with teeth will bite that's true yeah anything with teeth humans, animals I took it literally they will bite and I'm just like man there's been times I've been on roller coasters didn't think I would make it there's been times on roller coasters when it wouldn't close, I'm too big I'm like sorry I can't get on y 'all go ahead you see I made

1:15:44Steph McMahon:260 something pounds I can't sorry

1:15:47Royce Keys:shoulders is too wide it won't come over like I got nope sorry so skydiving

1:15:54Steph McMahon:is out for you hell no

1:15:58Royce Keys:not ever like it was skydiving no like me having another person attached to me and having to rely on them rely on them to pull it and not rib me and have a parachute and that thing. I just imagine myself like I'm a big dude. That not opening up and if it does open it up it just starts twirling.

1:16:24Steph McMahon:Worst case scenario.

1:16:25Royce Keys:I'm gone.

1:16:26Steph McMahon:I'm not even going to try to fight it.

1:16:28Royce Keys:Just splat. Just splat. I'm done. I'm not there's a certain thing like if I was on the Titanic I'm not going to hoop and holler. I'm just going to hey. peace out let me just drink this water and suck it up and just go there's certain things like I'm serious I'm not trying to make you laugh

1:16:50Steph McMahon:but it's just

1:16:52Royce Keys:like hey if I know I'm going I gotta go you might have pushed

1:16:55Steph McMahon:what's her name off the door in that moment I went to say Kate but that's her real name and I was totally not there Titanic I'm not gonna sink

1:17:08Royce Keys:I don't know I don't know if I'm going to climb over some bodies to freeze it's just like I've never seen Titanic

1:17:19Steph McMahon:oh you haven't it's too long

1:17:21Royce Keys:I know what happens it was a long movie

1:17:25Steph McMahon:it was a romantic movie

1:17:29Royce Keys:except for the part where

1:17:30Steph McMahon:they didn't share the door

1:17:32Royce Keys:aren't they playing violins and everybody's playing what's going down.

1:17:36Steph McMahon:Yeah, they know what's going down. And the women and children are being taken off. Save my baby.

1:17:41Royce Keys:Save my family. I'm just...

1:17:42Steph McMahon:Well, some of the guys are sneaking on. I'm just not going on a boat

1:17:45Royce Keys:ever again. I ain't going to sneak on. But Jack and Rose,

1:17:48Steph McMahon:yeah, they were on that door, right? And then she doesn't let him on. That's what I'm saying. Get in my back. I don't know. Should have picked a different one.

1:17:57Royce Keys:Should have picked a different one. You know, I'm just... We do this what ifs like with some of my friends. Like, you know, what would you do in this situation? like, okay, well, you're in the car, you're stuck in, you can't get the windows open, you're going to waste all your energy trying to bust out a window? Nope. They have a tool. I have one in my car.

1:18:16Steph McMahon:What if you don't have the tool? Then you're fucked. Yeah. I ain't going to be trying to do all this. Life advice, yeah, right? Life advice with Stephanie McMahon.

1:18:25Royce Keys:I'm just gone. You're fucked.

1:18:26Steph McMahon:No, but I have this tool. It's a great tool. So what is the tool? It's like you can cut your seatbelt with it. It has a, looks like a bullet on the end of it that you can get the car windows open, break them if you need to under pressure. Yeah. Cause I've thought about that too. What if I'm in my car and I'm sinking? I'm going down. How am I going to get out? I don't know what I've thought about this, but I have, and I love this tool. I'm very happy I have it. Can you share it with us? Yeah. I don't even know where I got it. No, I feel like I need it. But it's in my car right now. Did it come with your car?

1:18:55Steph McMahon:No, it was a gift, but I don't remember who gave it to me, but I thought it was fantastic. I mean it may not actually work

1:19:02Royce Keys:I need that person in my life I hope I never know

1:19:07Steph McMahon:but you know if you're stuck in also just that whole razor blade for the seatbelt thing if you can't get out you gotta be able to get out I feel like I need to start preparing more I'm just trying to make it through the day

1:19:21Royce Keys:I'm thinking of stuff now what do I need to go to Home Depot and buy it Right? A lot of stuff.

1:19:30Steph McMahon:Home Depot's got good stuff. And I get pulled over and they're like, why do you have all these supplies in your truck? Just my friend told me that if it was burning in the water.

1:19:40Royce Keys:Yeah, just like, you know, just, I don't know, man. I just, life is good.

1:19:47Steph McMahon:What's the most important lesson that you want to teach your kids?

1:19:52Royce Keys:Think before you act. Love. Be patient. I don't think there's one. It's just a whole mixture of things. If you're in this situation, this is how you need to act. If you're ever feeling sad or lonely, people love you. You know, that's always good to hear and mind yourself. Like it's always good to remember those things.

1:20:27Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:20:28Royce Keys:So I constantly tell myself, okay, I'm loved and, you know.

1:20:33Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:20:34Royce Keys:Always grabbing my kids, kissing them, even though they don't want it. Even a big one.

1:20:40Steph McMahon:That's right. Make him anyway.

1:20:43Royce Keys:Yeah, he's huge. He's 6 '11". Oh, wow. It's like, go take the garbage out.

1:20:51Steph McMahon:He is 6 '11", because I listened to a podcast, Chris Van Vliet, that I think you did like three years ago. And you were talking about how big he was then. And you said he's supposed to get to be about 6 '10". He is. He's 6 '11".

1:21:05Royce Keys:Yeah. Size 17, 18 shoes. That's crazy. Don't look at me to buy you shoes. You're on a basketball team. You're getting all the free shoes. You better start doing what you got to do.

1:21:18Steph McMahon:Is he interested in the business at all? I don't think so.

1:21:22Royce Keys:No. No.

1:21:24Steph McMahon:He's got great size. She does. Yeah.

1:21:26Royce Keys:She does.

1:21:28Steph McMahon:Athletic?

1:21:28Royce Keys:Very. Yeah. You know, I think the thing Naya is the one.

1:21:35Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah.

1:21:35Royce Keys:Yeah.

1:21:37Steph McMahon:So is the girl. It is.

1:21:39Royce Keys:No, let's go. Like she talks about, oh, let's go. Let's go play the dollhouse. Let's go. Let's have a tea party. She's like, uh-uh. Let's not talk about wrestling. Oh, you want to get a baby doll from the store? Let's get in the car and go. You know, it's just, let's not talk about it. But, yeah, I just, everything is good. It's great, I should say. And it's happening for a reason.

1:22:05Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:22:05Royce Keys:But, like I said, I think everything, every chapter that I've had in my life has gotten me to that moment. Yeah. Well, that moment first.

1:22:19Steph McMahon:Yeah. Many more to come.

1:22:20Royce Keys:Yeah. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I was telling Paul when he came into my hidden room in Saudi let me backtrack I didn't know I had a hidden room like okay and you're in Saudi yeah hell long to get there hell long I wake up and I still got 6-7 hours

1:22:46Steph McMahon:it's a very long trip yeah

1:22:49Royce Keys:and then I'm in my seat like god dang this is hella long I don't like shit I'm just getting worked up and getting hot

1:23:01Steph McMahon:it's a long flight you can't do that

1:23:05Royce Keys:I got the lay down seat I'm still white and it's so funny because the lady next to me I could tell she was like laughing and getting she was chuckling and it was funny to her because I laid out and I can't just turn like this to my side. So I'm going to slap my mic back. So I got a dude on it.

1:23:26Steph McMahon:And everything just shakes.

1:23:27Royce Keys:And I'm just like, man, I'm like, I'm just she's just having a ball laughing at me.

1:23:33Steph McMahon:She had to be entertained too.

1:23:36Royce Keys:This big ass dude in here, they got no extra, extra room. But it was funny because I asked him, like, I love working out. It's a stress reliever for me. And I'm talking to Paul like hey I'm here you know I was like do you think I can you know maybe use the hotel gym and it's just like I knew what was coming next I asked him about five seconds of silence I'm like damn and then he's like well and it was more silence I'm like damn and he's like because he's trying

1:24:15Steph McMahon:to figure it out a way to get it for you probably

1:24:17Royce Keys:He's like, well, we don't want you to be seen. You're a surprise. And I'm like, man, like, okay. I know this whole silence thing growing up.

1:24:26Steph McMahon:Silence means no. It's a no.

1:24:29Royce Keys:It's never good. But he was cool. I had a bench delivered to my room, some bands. Oh, all right.

1:24:35Steph McMahon:All right, good. See, that's what I told you. He was trying to figure out.

1:24:38Royce Keys:Yeah, he took care of me. Yeah.

1:24:40Steph McMahon:The silence is like, no, but how can I help you? Because I know what you're talking about. We're going to build you a gym. Yeah.

1:24:46Royce Keys:I'm just like, I'm like, he's like, we don't want anybody to see you. And, you know, once it gets out, it's just out there. And I'm like, I understood that. Yeah. I'm like, man, I don't know what type of workout I'm going to do. And I'm just like, I call my peoples on the phone. Like, what the hell am I supposed to do? I got these dumbbells. And my uncle's like, man, he's like, just relax. He's like, just hit everything. Like, just.

1:25:07Steph McMahon:Just start doing something.

1:25:09Royce Keys:Hit your chest, hit your legs, hit your shoulders, your back. He's like, man, just come up and get creative. So I'm doing stuff and I was keeping track of the reps and the sets I was doing. So I ended up doing like 524 reps and I'm jamming. I got a little Michael Jackson playing. I got a little E-40. I got some Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle playing, a little Doobie Brothers, you know, Eagles, you know, ACDC.

1:25:35Steph McMahon:Whatever you needed.

1:25:35Royce Keys:I'm going through it all. I even had, what was it, K-pop Demon Hunters come up. Wow. Wow. And I'm jamming with it. I'm turning it up loud and on my phone. They have a little speaker on my phone. I'm like, okay. Got a good pump. Got my pre-workout with me. I call up room service. Can I get this and this and this? They're all, yes, yes, Mr. Hopson. Bring it up.

1:25:56Steph McMahon:I'll see.

1:25:57Royce Keys:And I'm like, and I didn't know how to doorbell. And that was something like this. In the room. Yeah, that was like some of the illest shit. Like they didn't run the doorbell. And I'm like, and it's just like, man, people on the big, big tray and everything. It's warmed up. and man, they pull out the thing, set up the whole table for them. I'm like, dang. I'm like, okay, they treating me real nice, real five stars. So I'm just like, man, I'm loving it.

1:26:24Steph McMahon:I'm taking videos and FaceTiming my family.

1:26:28Royce Keys:I was just like, man, this is cool. I'm like, oh, man, I'm in this room for 24 hours. What am I saying here? Another 24 hours. And the room service was 24 hours.

1:26:39Steph McMahon:Oh, that's a big bonus. So I'm like, man, it's about. And the food was good.

1:26:44Royce Keys:Yeah, yeah, yeah. When you're hungry, like. Yeah, that's true. So it's the difference between hungry and hungry. Like, I was hungry. Yeah. Eating everything. I wake up like. 524 reps. Yeah, I'm like, hey, can I get about five eggs over easy and, you know, three egg whites? Within 30 minutes. No problem. All right. Yeah, they had like different. I'm like, oh, let me get some pineapple juice. And I'm just.

1:27:08Steph McMahon:What's your favorite cheat?

1:27:09Royce Keys:I love cereal. It's a common theme.

1:27:12Steph McMahon:It is. Common theme. What's your cereal? Frosted Flakes? Cinnamon Toast Crunch?

1:27:17Royce Keys:Fruity Pebbles. Fruity Pebbles. Fruity Pebbles. I love Corn Pops, Apple Jacks.

1:27:24Steph McMahon:Corn Pops are awesome. I even like Raisin Bran. I do too. I grew up on Raisin Bran. What was that look for? That was like what my mom, the only cereal she would get. What? I was made to eat Raisin Bran, but I liked it. It's good. I was still... Two scoops.

1:27:39Royce Keys:Yes. Come on now.

1:27:41Steph McMahon:Well, you're also a generation behind me.

1:27:45Royce Keys:I'm trying to think of the other one I absolutely hate, and I used to want to fight people over it, was my grandma got it for us because she thought, oh, it's okay, eat hot cereal. Grape nuts.

1:27:59Steph McMahon:Oh, my grandmother ate nuts.

1:28:00Royce Keys:This is for old people. Yeah.

1:28:03Steph McMahon:I didn't like that either.

1:28:04Royce Keys:I got no fiber issues.

1:28:06Steph McMahon:Yeah. You know, I'm. I didn't like that either that's the really tiny grainy one right yeah like I need Metamucil I was gonna say it was in the cabinet next to the Metamucil yeah I vividly remember that that's so funny

1:28:20Royce Keys:well I'm not getting any other cereal till y 'all eat this okay when you go to sleep down the garbage then we learn okay we can you know put this in some Ziploc bags and flush it down the toilet oh

1:28:33Steph McMahon:okay

1:28:34Royce Keys:cause she can't sit like my grandma would dig through the garbage she would She thought you did something.

1:28:39Steph McMahon:She'd hear you in the middle of the night.

1:28:41Royce Keys:She had a lot of energy. She did.

1:28:47Royce Keys:She took care of the household. She took care of us. My grandpa worked. But she just, yeah, she thought you were up to no good. She was going to find out. No expense. No expense. Get that ass beat if you deserve it. But yeah, it's, yeah, I'm like, I had to get tricky with like trying to get away with stuff.

1:29:08Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:29:08Royce Keys:Like the toilet was a good thing.

1:29:11Steph McMahon:What else went down that toilet? Nothing alive, right?

1:29:17Royce Keys:Goldfish.

1:29:18Steph McMahon:Were they alive? After.

1:29:20Royce Keys:Some of them were alive. Some of them dead. We thought some of them were dead, but they were alive. So they went down like we would have funerals for my goldfish. It wasn't sad or nothing. Yeah, but just like a ceremony. You know, like we would play boys to men every time we had to flush a goldfish and then we would be like oh man I don't remember any of them it's so hard to say goodbye I don't remember any of their names but like 10 minutes later I'm like man I miss him and you know

1:29:53Steph McMahon:it sounds like you couldn't keep the goldfish

1:29:55Royce Keys:alive no I mean I didn't know you had to change the tank yeah I know right

1:29:59Steph McMahon:there's actually a lot of stuff you have to do

1:30:00Royce Keys:get a filter and put drops in the water

1:30:02Steph McMahon:A certain temperature the water's supposed to be.

1:30:05Royce Keys:Yeah. Yeah. I mix goldfish with tropical fish.

1:30:08Steph McMahon:Yeah. They get eaten. Yeah.

1:30:10Royce Keys:Sometimes they just stay alive.

1:30:12Steph McMahon:Some of them are like cannibal fish. Yeah. Yeah. I thought the water runs low.

1:30:16Royce Keys:We fill up the pitcher, put more water in it. What's this green shit on the glass? Oh, we can buy an algae eater. Yeah.

1:30:23Steph McMahon:There's so much. Yeah. Yeah.

1:30:25Royce Keys:Yeah. But. Yeah. Just, yeah. Silly, silly putty went down the toilet.

1:30:31Steph McMahon:Oh. That sounds good. I don't think that's good.

1:30:34Royce Keys:No, it's not. I don't know how many times my grandpa, my papa, I had to buy some Drano.

1:30:40Steph McMahon:Yeah. Would the Drano work on the Silly Putty? No.

1:30:43Royce Keys:Yeah.

1:30:45Steph McMahon:Silly Putty is tough. Like from another planet, actually.

1:30:49Royce Keys:I had to call a plumber. Yeah. For some reason, like we had a garbage disposal and my grandma would dump the coffee down the garbage disposal.

1:30:57Steph McMahon:No ice shells, no coffee grats.

1:30:59Royce Keys:Yeah. Just jack it up.

1:31:02Steph McMahon:Yeah. and who'd fix it the plumber okay

1:31:07Royce Keys:if Drano if Drano didn't work

1:31:08Steph McMahon:yeah the plumber would come

1:31:10Royce Keys:and I have to hear my grandpa just just talking about oh you guys must think I'm rich and just just talking to Blue Street yeah talking to himself shaking his head and then but he didn't

1:31:25Steph McMahon:he wasn't handy he didn't try to take it apart he would he would yeah

1:31:28Royce Keys:but it got to a point where he knew better oh well that's good

1:31:31Steph McMahon:because some people don't mess it up worse.

1:31:34Royce Keys:I tell them, you know.

1:31:35Steph McMahon:I'm not speaking from experience.

1:31:36Royce Keys:I tell them, I get a job and help you pay for it. You're like, what job are you going to get? I'm like, awesome. So get a paper route, you know. How many papers do you got to route? And it's just like.

1:31:51Steph McMahon:But you have no concept.

1:31:52Royce Keys:No, it's just me trying to, you know, poke at them a little bit, but kind of make them laugh and calm them down. So that was also me just like to poke and get a laugh.

1:32:07Steph McMahon:So you have that ability. When people are mad, you can kind of make them laugh by joking with them? Yeah, I'll make an ass out of myself sometimes when people laugh.

1:32:16Royce Keys:I don't mind. It's wild just thinking about all the stuff we did and just, you know, it's just, man, like, you can't do that stuff now. like I was telling a ton of the story earlier but anytime we got sick I had bronchitis growing up call it a chest cold right my grandma made me swallow licks vapor rub yeah

1:32:48Steph McMahon:I thought you were going like some sort of liquor

1:32:52Royce Keys:I'll get to that too she'd rub it on her chest neck under the nose temple sometime feet put an onion in it or garlic wear the socks but she made a swallow Vicks vapor rub did it work yeah hand to God scoop it don't do that

1:33:12Steph McMahon:no no I'm a trained professional

1:33:16Royce Keys:I'm a trained professional I'm over here and she used to make my dad do it how much

1:33:24Steph McMahon:like a spoonful no you kidding

1:33:26Royce Keys:You know how you scoop a little Vaseline? Maybe like a little gold like that. Or maybe like two fingers you put in the back of your throat. Swallow it.

1:33:34Steph McMahon:And tea fresh. And you were cured. Cures it all up, but you still have that taste in your mouth, right? I can't imagine. So, you know, me, I know everything.

1:33:45Royce Keys:Especially at that age. Yeah, I know everything. So I'm like, big mama, it says you're not supposed to eat this. She looks at me, cocks her head to the side and goes, how many effing kids have you raised? Well, I ain't got no choice. I ain't raised no kids.

1:34:04Steph McMahon:She got you there. Yeah. Yeah.

1:34:06Royce Keys:What am I supposed to do?

1:34:07Steph McMahon:Yeah. Hey, it worked.

1:34:09Royce Keys:It worked. I'm still here. Yeah, that's amazing. People don't swallow Vicks. Yeah. Just do not call poison control.

1:34:16Steph McMahon:My kids do it. Yeah. Whatever it takes.

1:34:19Royce Keys:Yeah. Hey, do not call poison control on me saying Royce Keys made me swallow Vicks. Right, right. You know. Yeah. It's bad, but it's one of those things like you had to do that. I remember being five years old drinking a hot toddy.

1:34:34Steph McMahon:Yeah. You know? Yeah.

1:34:36Royce Keys:And it wasn't like no expensive brandy. It was Irkin Jerk.

1:34:40Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:34:41Royce Keys:E &J. You know, VSOP. You know? That's what we had. Had to fit the VSOP. Yeah. A little lemon peppermint. Stir it up. Take it to the back. There you go. Five years old. Drunk. I don't think I was drunk but you know it was we thought we was cool you know we would cough around the house we were like oh I need something I need one of those toddies

1:35:11Steph McMahon:stir it up make it up

1:35:13Royce Keys:you know my grandparents had a little they had a little makeshift bar in the den and you know my sister would come up and sneak the shot glass a little hot tub throw it back you're some fast ass kids you know and there was no measurement

1:35:32Steph McMahon:of the liquor in the bottles

1:35:34Royce Keys:I mean shit I guess she knew because she was just standing there and do this

1:35:37Steph McMahon:no no your grandmother like she didn't notice no no I mean when you were drinking it not when she was actually making it for you I mean if she did

1:35:45Royce Keys:she didn't say that you know she liked to

1:35:47Steph McMahon:get her a little well you were saying how on to everything she was well I mean

1:35:51Royce Keys:we always had company over and she liked to get a little taste every now and then

1:35:56Steph McMahon:so maybe she wasn't paying as much attention

1:35:58Royce Keys:no not with that

1:35:59Steph McMahon:versus like high school me refills it with water which is also not a smart move then it freezes

1:36:05Royce Keys:see

1:36:10Royce Keys:hot toddies man hot toddies five years old hot toddies I can't think of a better way to end

1:36:18Steph McMahon:this podcast that's it hot toddies and bicks for everybody

1:36:23Royce Keys:I'm with it I'm with it all that stuff

1:36:26Steph McMahon:but thank you so much thank you

1:36:29Royce Keys:for this was this was a good to get some of this stuff out because I worked out today here at HQ and I'm just

1:36:37Steph McMahon:and how's the gym

1:36:38Royce Keys:I love it

1:36:39Steph McMahon:yeah it's a good gym right

1:36:40Royce Keys:I worked out here last week when I came and yes it's my second time here you know mad to get me an apartment you know you know anybody Hook me up with a badge.

1:36:50Steph McMahon:Maybe.

1:36:51Royce Keys:Hook me up with a badge. Maybe. But it's good, like, talking, like, it's good for me to get this stuff out. Because, you know, I read certain stuff about me. And it puts me in a mood and brings me down. But just, you know, anyone listening, like, talking, you know, get it out. Well, and to that point, what is, you know, I know mental health is very important to you.

1:37:14Steph McMahon:Very important. And what message would you have for people? I've had family that have unfortunately taken their own lives.

1:37:22Royce Keys:And, you know, I know there are hotlines out there, but, you know, maybe seeing an individual like myself, you know, knowing that you can actually talk to people and there's people that actually care, that people want to listen to you. Like, reach out. Like, you don't. I'm sure you can be anonymous with some of this stuff. Like, reach out. Talk to people. And you won't be judged. No, no. Like, I've had, I've done signings, and people come up to me and cry and tell me, like, I got them through this. And I'm like, wow, I did that? You know, just by.

1:38:00Steph McMahon:You never know the impact you have on somebody.

1:38:02Royce Keys:Just by saying that I cry and, you know, and the stuff that I've been through. And, you know, my brother died of gun violence. You know, my father, you know, committed suicide. side like I heard you talk about your family like I'm I'm all for anybody that has a story that says little old me from two square mile East Palo Alto California helped you out like I'm all for hearing that like I got my own day in East Palo Alto about two years ago and it happened to fall a proclamation it happened to fall on my mother's birthday which was special like I take pride in that You should. I say a little two square mile city, East Palo Alto, like gave me my own day.

1:38:56Royce Keys:And what is the day? It is March 29th. Coming up? Yeah. When I go out there, like it's people in the town, they know me. They like, I can go into the G market and get me a bag of corn nuts and, you know, energy drink or water or whatever. And like, they still know me. The owner still knows me, still tells me every time. Same stories about my grandpa. Telling me stories about, oh, remember when you tried to steal these now and later? You could have just laughed. I saw you, but you just stood there. It's like, you wanted to get caught. like it like that's just man and just to think that that i'm making my dreams come true and i tell people like i've done an interview like i'm not satisfied with this i love it it's a great introduction like i love it but i plan on rewriting things and being here till I say you know what I think I've I want to step away I want to help this company out in a different way you know whether it's like backstage or whatever

1:40:16Steph McMahon:yeah like I have

1:40:17Royce Keys:goals and plans and a lot to give that I've written out things like it's you know make sure you keep you some Vicks

1:40:28Steph McMahon:and a hot toddy That's right. That gets you through a lot. There's a quote, I didn't come this far to only come this far.

1:40:36Royce Keys:Yeah.

1:40:37Steph McMahon:And as you were saying that, like, you're just not content with just this one moment.

1:40:42Royce Keys:Like I said, this is a hell of an introduction. Better than what I imagined it was going to be. Like, I knew it was going to be big, but it was better than what I thought it was going to be. but this isn't it. I got so much more to give. I got so much more. I want to entertain more. I cannot wait to...

1:41:14Steph McMahon:Are we going to see that funny side of you? I don't know.

1:41:17Royce Keys:Just be me out there. I'm real competitive. I grew up playing streetball. I talk a lot of shit. Like, I'll look at you and tell you I'm going to beat you up. Like, I'm— And then do it.

1:41:32Steph McMahon:And do it.

1:41:33Royce Keys:I'm a different breed. Like, I'm—in some ways, I'm a product of my environment because I don't quit. I don't give up. Like, you either—like I said earlier, you're either going to go to San Quentin or you're going to be buried in Skyline Cemetery or Ulta Bates. that's where you're going to go. Like, I see a lot in myself. I saw a lot in myself in certain wrestlers, you know? Like, I just, I'm me in the ring. Like, I'm funny at times, but I'm still serious and we'll kick your ass. Like, that's just me. There's a side of me that very few have seen, and I just like, and it just takes every negative and horrible thing to me, and it just, I bring it out.

1:42:26Steph McMahon:Yeah.

1:42:26Royce Keys:You know, but I know to turn it off. Yeah. So I have control over that. So it's just like, you know, like when I'm in there, it's all business.

1:42:38Steph McMahon:Well, I'm very grateful that I will never be in the ring.

1:42:41Royce Keys:I mean, I got your back. Sure, we're vixen, vixen hot toddies, girl. That's what we all do. Anytime you get sick, anytime y 'all get sick, I want y 'all to think of Royce Keys. I want y 'all to think of Vicks and Hot Toddies.

1:42:55Steph McMahon:That's literally my dinner tonight. I'm telling you.

1:42:58Royce Keys:Maybe there'll be a hashtag, Vicks and Hot Toddies.

1:43:01Steph McMahon:I mean, you heard it here first, right? You know, I'm just saying, yeah. They're going to be our new sponsor.

1:43:06Royce Keys:You know, I'm not, y 'all can Google how to make a hot toddy. You know, you got to make sure, you know, you're perving or swerving a little bit and feeling good. It will knock you out. But, you know, just, you know, Vicks and Hot Toddies.

1:43:19Steph McMahon:All right.

1:43:20Royce Keys:You know, I'm with it.

1:43:21Steph McMahon:All around.

1:43:21Royce Keys:Yes, let's do it.

1:43:23Steph McMahon:I have nothing but respect for you. Thank you.

1:43:24Royce Keys:I appreciate y 'all having me. Like, this whole experience is, like, means the world. Like, this is, you know, like, you know, I say I ate a lot. And it's on my T-shirt, nothing, you know. I say I ate, and I take what I want. I've been living by that since, you know, ever since I could do things on my own. you know so it's something I live by like you know I want to keep going but my son plays flag football and I've you know have talks with his team and you know when he played basketball you know I'm just like we gonna do this we gonna do that I'm like alright and then the kids will be like alright and I'm like nah alright and I'm like alright then you know that's just me and then I take everything I want because If I don't, somebody else is.

1:44:23And it may sound wrong, but I want everything I want.

1:44:30Royce Keys:Like, nobody's going to stop me.

1:44:34Steph McMahon:I believe you.

1:44:35Royce Keys:I like, look, as long as there's air in my body and I can move and my heart is still pumping, like, there's no fear in me. I believe in the saying my heart doesn't pump Kool-Aid I've been through hell and back there's not much that makes me being feared and scared except horses skydiving

1:45:01Steph McMahon:horses and planes

1:45:03Royce Keys:and boats

1:45:06Steph McMahon:yeah

1:45:10Royce Keys:I had to say that I don't know how many times I'm going to say that No, this is the new thing. You should just go to Paul and be like Vicks and hot toddies. Oh, yeah. He'll be like, what? But, yeah, just tell the story. I was staying in my gorilla yesterday, and they got the oil and everything, make it shiny, do your hair and all that. And I saw some Vicks there.

1:45:32Steph McMahon:Oh, yeah.

1:45:32Royce Keys:And I'm like, I don't want to open it in front of everybody and be like this. I'm addicted to Vicks. I'm like, no. You know, why does Keys keep eating Vicks?

1:45:44Steph McMahon:So we're going to talk to you about this new guy. Yes. Jackie over there is the head of that crew, so she's going to make sure you're stuck.

1:45:51Royce Keys:Okay, better hide the Vicks. Yes, no Vicks.

1:45:54Steph McMahon:It comes in the big tubs now. It does. You've seen the Costco side? You've seen the Costco side?

1:46:01Royce Keys:One thing I do is a pre-warm-up ritual is like when I'm ready to go, I listen to my music, stretch and all that. I take Tiger Balm. Sticking in my nose to open up everything. When I rumble, I took too much Tiger Balm. Had too much. Swallowed it. And then I'm in the rumble and I'm working, boom, boom, getting everybody down. Still got it on my fingers. I'm like this. Oh no, oh no. My eyes are burning during the rumble. Yeah, that's not good.

1:46:34Steph McMahon:I thought you were going to say you were breathing on someone. They went out.

1:46:38Royce Keys:They might have. Yeah. It knocked you out.

1:46:41Steph McMahon:Whatever it takes by any means necessary.

1:46:43Royce Keys:Vicks and hot toddies.

1:46:44Steph McMahon:All purpose Vicks.

1:46:46Royce Keys:Yes.

1:46:47Steph McMahon:The edible one.

1:46:48Royce Keys:I like that. That could be a new line. That could be a new line.

1:46:51Steph McMahon:Mm-hmm.

1:46:52Royce Keys:Yes. Everybody's just going to go home and be like Vicks and hot toddies.

1:46:56Steph McMahon:No, it is. Driving home.

1:46:58Royce Keys:Vicks and hot toddies. Vicks and hot toddies. Yes.

1:47:01Steph McMahon:Fix you right up.

1:47:02Royce Keys:Hey.

1:47:03Steph McMahon:Cure what ails you. It cured me.

1:47:05Royce Keys:I'm still here.

1:47:06Steph McMahon:Yes.

1:47:07Royce Keys:I'm still living and breathing. Yes, thanks to Big Mama. Vicks and Hot Toddy. I'm telling you, just be a nice little combo. You put on the shelves. Got your Vicks and your Hot Toddy mix. Almost like Theraflu. You put it in the pack. Throw it back.

1:47:22Steph McMahon:There we go.

1:47:23Royce Keys:Yes.

1:47:23Steph McMahon:This is the new remedy.

1:47:24Royce Keys:Okay, I'm going to stop. I'm going to stop. I'm going to stop. I'm going to stop.

1:47:28Steph McMahon:Well, again, thank you.

1:47:30Royce Keys:Thank you so much. Just, there are no words. This was awesome.

1:47:36Steph McMahon:and I can't wait to see what you do next

1:47:38Royce Keys:thank you thank you