What Do You Wanna Talk About? - Triple H

36:22You know, the outdressing everybody thing. No. No. It's not a pet peeve. It's the, sometimes there's frustration of being able to have the perspective of looking back over a long career and so many people's careers and so many different talents and all different levels of success. And then wanting to say to a talent like, dude, this is meaningless. and you are arguing and wearing yourself out mentally and wearing yourself out emotionally over this point that is meaningless. Like literally by next Monday's show, no one is going to think about this again. And it's so many people, they get so caught up in the minutiae of the little tiny things that don't really make the difference.

37:25And there are big things sometimes that go by the wayside, but it's like these little tiny moments, and guys will like, you know, there used to be a saying here is like, pick the hill you want to die on. This isn't it. Like pick the hill. If you're going to die on that hill, it's got to be worth it. And there's so many things sometimes where guys, and it's not for me necessarily. I see them, there are moments in time when agents or other talent come up to me and they're like, I swear to God, if this person says this one more time today, I'm going to lose my mind. Right? Because they're just so obsessed with this one little nugget of something

38:11that everybody else around them is like, who cares, right? Yeah. That's the biggest thing for me. It's like I don't want guys, because I see it in so many people, they're going to get to the end of what is a magnificent career in so many levels, creatively, successfully. your, it's like the guy that played in the NBA. He makes it to the NBA. He plays in the NBA. He's a top player in the NBA. But his name doesn't get mentioned next to Michael Jordan's, and it just eats him alive. And it's like, dude, that success that you have, like the misery that people create for themselves based around certain places like where they don't get to or they're right there, but yet they have this unbelievable run.

39:11I think you might have even been there at the time. I heard Arn one time talking. These guys were putting him over, and there was this conversation about mid-card guys, and he's never going to be champ and all this stuff. And Arn went off on this huge promo about, like, I don't understand all of you. like he said you guys all see me as a big deal right and everybody's like yeah you're fucking arnand anderson yeah one of the greatest of all time but like he said i got a hall of fame worthy career i've got all this stuff right he said mid carter nothing more ever i never main evented a thing unless i was in the ring with flair i never main evented a thing if i was tagging with flair I was in the main event if I wasn't nothing I was a mid carter I was a guy there to get guys over on the way to getting up to the dusties and the flares and the people like that I was a mid card guy you guys see me as this unbelievable legend that you all listen to and all this stuff but when it comes to your own careers and many of you have already surpassed the position I was ever in you're miserable about it because you think that you haven't reached the success of other things but Yet, I see myself as having this amazing career.

40:23I fed my family. I got to do things I would have never done. All this stuff, incredibly successful. Man, what a journey I've had. But if I used your metrics to measure it, I'm nothing. I never amounted to anything. They wasted my talents. They wasted my ability. They never gave me anything. They never did anything with me. you create your own bitterness and it's that is the thing that is a pet peeve to me not because it bothers me because it bothers me for them there's so many talent that i go like dude you have so much going on you're so in a position that there's a small handful of people on the planet are in that spot and millions behind you that would cut off a limb to have that.

41:17And you're miserable every day because you're not considered the next guy. Now, that's not me saying you shouldn't be ambitious to want to get to the next level. That's not me saying. But I don't believe the misery of I didn't get that makes you miserable for this. be thrilled and excited about the stuff that you have and proud of the accomplishments and proud of the things you've done and all that stuff. Yeah, always strive for more. I'll never tell a talent you're never going to get past the point you're at, ever. Because I don't know. And things can flip on a dime and you can be in that spot because the right things happen at the right time and you can be in that spot.

42:01but even then that doesn't it doesn't change the other things and I get that feeling of wanting to walk in the door and have a held the elevator for you I get that but the I'm just telling you at the end of it it's the journey along the way is more meaningful than the moment that you sort of get there and land on it and that journey and the people and the moments and the time and you don't realize it until it's done no one tells you it's the good old days until later when you look back at it and go man that was the good old days yeah right if somebody would tell you that then you wouldn't think it you know we didn't know the attitude era i mean we kind of felt like something special was going on but at the same point in time you just on thursday and i got to be in toledo or whatever you know what i mean like it didn't do the thing and you were thrilled to get it and you were working your ass off but I don't know I just I wish I wish people could have that perspective because I think it lands you to bitterness and angry over things that don't man you should just be thrilled at the at what you accomplished in the career that you had when I was preparing to come back to WWE at Wrestlemania 38 I had some doubts and some nerves but choosing to bet on myself was clearly one of the best decisions I have ever made.

43:28If you're starting a business, you might feel the same. So much work goes into this thing that you are not entirely sure will work out. That's why it's helpful to have a partner like Shopify by your side. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses all around the world and 10 % of all e-commerce in the United States, from household names to brands just getting started. You can get started with your own design studio. with hundreds of ready-to-use templates, Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store that matches your brand's style. Shopify is your commerce experts with world-class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond.

44:11It's time to turn those what-ifs into... With Shopify today, sign up for your$1 per month trial today at shopify.com slash Cody. That's Shopify.com slash Cody. You mentioned something, the producers, talking about the producers. If it's okay, I just wanted to shout them out because I've noticed and watched you work very differently with our producers than in the past and how the producers were. And we got a great crew of producers. for people who don't know the producers or help agents. Help us tell the story. Help us put this match together. And not only that, but help put the story and the match together.

44:58But then when you're in the ring doing it, help make sure that your vision is caught on camera and relayed to the world, right? Because you can have the greatest vision in the world, but if we don't show it and we don't capture it, right, then it doesn't happen. So they're sort of the link between it happening live and what people see. Yeah. And the link to you in a sense of here's what the vision that Triple H has for this is the vision that creative has for this. We need to accomplish this. Well, let's collab with yours. Let's see where we get that. How do we manifest it in a way that all those words sounded great, but now people see it and know what we're talking about.

45:34But Bobby Roode works really closely with you. and I've really enjoyed working with Bobby Roode. Is there something you see in Bobby that there's more to, or is it just a sponge? Is he someone the game-like in a sense of learning and going? He's a sponge. It's funny, when I very first, I didn't know Bobby at all, and he came into NXT when we were there, and a couple things I realized very quickly about him was, one he had an innate ability for this two I don't think he'd been taught a whole lot not from the wrestling standpoint he knew that the television standpoint and the psychology standpoint I think because TNA was sort of hey just go do it that's what comes out nobody did TV like here so guys would come in AJ Styles said this to me after he'd been with us for like six months and he made a comment to me pulled me aside he was like hey mind if i give you something i noticed he said don't ever let anybody come here that didn't go through nxt first i said why why you say that he said because man if you'd have told me that when i was coming here i would have been like how do you mind i know what i'm doing and then i got here and i spent the first six months lying to myself and to everybody else thinking well i know what's going on i was just trying to hang on to the tiger by the tail i said i didn't yeah i didn't get it I couldn't see it.

47:05Like you guys were saying and doing stuff that I was like, what are they talking about? And then later I realized, oh, man, that's great. I never even heard that before. And he said, you guys shoot a movie, right? Like everybody else is just following wrestling. Whatever's happened, they're following it on camera.

47:30Bobby was a guy that, same thing, he had learned it. He just knew what he was doing, and they were following it, doing all this stuff. But when he came in, man, he was like a sponge. And I would see him picking everybody's brain just for his own stuff. When his career started to wind out, at that time, I remember thinking to myself, when he wants to be done taking bumps, he's a good guy for this. I always start out with it. He's a grown-up as well. That's a huge part of it, yeah, growing up. He's not a kid just looking to get another paycheck. He understands the difference between business and being one of the boys and all that stuff.

48:17Grown up but gets it and just has a great demeanor for it and is a sponge for it. And then the more I got to work with him, once he got, he unfortunately had a neck injury that wasn't subsiding. He and I spoke about it. I said, why don't you come in and start learning to be an agent? And if the medical stuff clears up, great. It'll help your career. If it doesn't, we'll start using it. But he jumped on it. And just very quickly, I started moving him up the line and then having a conversation with Michael about mentoring him. You know, like Michael Hayes. Had a birthday yesterday, Free Bird. Had a birthday.

48:57Yes. which had a birthday on Sunday. He told me about many times because he was very pissed off at the fact that he, with all the TSA issues, that he was going to, he can't stand in line that long and he's not sitting in a wheelchair. I'm like, I can't change TSA, right? So he goes to the airport three hours early and then sends me a note pissed off that there was no line and now he got through immediately and now he's stuck at the airport with three hours with nothing to do. Happy fucking birthday. The plot thickens on his birthday. I texted him while he was at the airport. Hey, I got a jet. Don't feel like doing TSA.

49:39And he kind of, this is when you tell me? Hey, for that reason, if you'd have told him that, it would have been phenomenal. Even if you didn't have a jet and you just called him and said, hey, I got a jet, at that point it would have been the best. So I got to tell him, I'm going to tell him, I'm going to give him a lot more, like, advanced. notice on those things. So to go back to Michael, because if Pat was the be-all, end-all, finish guy, psychology-wise, in-ring guy of that generation, Michael is this generation's Pat. And as Pat was winding down, Michael was very quickly becoming, so even at the end of my career, Taker's career, Sean's career, Michael was the guy and still is.

50:27the guy put all his michael hayes isms aside uh and i often think if he hadn't done all the stuff he'd done to him throughout the 70s and 80s man he'd be a certified genius because clearly he's killed a lot of brain cells and he's still at that level um but uh yet i can't say enough about how good michael is at that and now bobby is sort of to me picking up that he's sort of running side by side with Michael right there and learning from him at an incredible rate, much like Michael did from Pat, right? Like that's the fun aspect of our business. Michael's one of the guys that I try really hard to impress and I don't think I've got there yet.

51:14And now at this juncture, because he's been part of some major moments, at this point, I kind of have to always, hey, Michael, what's wrong here? What can I do? Because he is one of the certified super geniuses that you have that surround you. You have Mr. Heyman, and you have Michael Hayes, and you have Bruce, and you have these people who have done it at the level and actually seen that play before and how it works and can feel the crowd psychology. And what if we did this? Also great what if guys, which is like the road of what if is sometimes very, hmm, what if we did that? But Michael's one that I actually look forward to his enthusiastic outlook on what I did because I know he's honest.

52:01Yeah. Well, that's the thing with him, too. You're going to get the, that was awesome, or you're going to get the, I would have done this different. Everybody else can be coming back. And I think you have to have that to some degree. Yeah. Nobody wants to come back and just this or the, you know, like, well, what's, because we're in the stage where i feel like when records started being broken and again wrestlemania 40 wrestlemania 41 these are stadium record gates massive the revenue report tko just put out this these numbers are wild i think explaining that to my mother it just it sounds like i'm just lying yeah it's so the numbers are so wonderful but with that in mind and with the thing the first thing i think is okay okay great what what do we do so what do we do next yeah we come up against your own records yeah and then you know you're like oh man like how do you how do you surpass that how do you top that how do you get it to that next level and it's difficult and the other aspect of that too is this is what people don't care so talent come back and they're immediately like you know looking for that thing and sometimes you don't want to kick him yeah in that mug talent come back to like that was pretty good it was pretty good here's how we could have made it better sure you don't want to say that in the moment where the guy like just hit the home run and you're like could hit it further yeah you know what i mean where it just like yeah take all the wind out of somebody's sails and i think about our business a lot about like it's um you'll see this as your kids get older like your kid can be playing basketball and stinking the joint out yeah right and no confidence head down just kind of like running through the motions, playing basketball, whatever.

53:47And then all of a sudden they throw a shot up and it goes in. Everything about them changes. They're standing taller. All of a sudden they're Michael Jordan. They're running down the court. Their confidence level's up. Now they steal the ball. Now they're like, right? Like confidence is such a motivating factor for people mentally. confidence in that capitalizing on that success and knowing that you're good, knowing all these things. And when you start to have a decline, that's why in baseball it's hard to get out of a hitting slump. It's also hard to derail a guy that's on fire, right? There's these mental moments.

54:31So you don't want to take that out of talent. You don't want to put them over. You want to make sure that they know when things were good. You just want to make them know when things were bad, but maybe sometimes not in the exact moment that you're like, you know, just call them over. Like you just went out there and did really well, and then you come over like, God damn, what the fuck are you doing? You know, like it's tough. It's a tough thing. So having that sort of middle-of-the-road approach and going back to guys later or, you know, even for me sometimes, like if I say it just because of the spot, it's a different weight than if.

55:15So sometimes I'll be like, tell them later when everything is calm. Talk to them about this. Right? So then they can go back to them. Maybe talent will come back to me a day later to talk to me about it or something. But like it's an easier way to do it than like, I forgot that that was good and he hated it. I didn't hate it. I just wanted it changed, but it's taken differently. I have a joke with the writers, which is more sports confusion for me because I say quarterback, but then my joke is baseball-related. They're always like, yeah, that was a home run. I always tell them, yeah, it was a double.

55:50It was a triple. We're not going to hit the home run. I don't like the conversations that are so quick where it's like, it was great, and it's over. No, especially with the lack of live events in a sense of this is my moment. I got, I want, teach me something. And we can learn stuff in the ring. You can learn stuff. I need that all day long. It's a funny thing. Sometime talent are coming back looking. You said it yesterday. Like, do we really need somebody to tell me that was good? I did. Right? Like, did I need that? Or I fucking was out there. I knew. Yeah. Like, I knew. I'm out there. I know when it stinks.

56:24Yeah. I know when it's pretty good. I know when it's really good. I know when it was phenomenal. Yeah. I might be asking about things I couldn't see. right like hey how did that come across because i can't see the camera cuts i can't see sure yeah the moments right but sort of you know you know what i mean for that moment i wanted to make it because there was a lot of are you sure are you yeah yeah because it felt a hundred percent real and we heard him yeah and we're still we're and we're i didn't want the uh my dancing partner to there's a lot of critics and again I love hypercritical great but it was funny I was basically saying something you say to me or actually Sean said to me much differently when I came back from something and asked was it great and he went in to me a little bit of bullshitter you know we you were out there you already know you know because it went awesome thankfully he was talking I was like oh got it fair enough I won't ask in those settings again And he was 100 % right.

57:29He just. Sometimes talent, they just want you to tell them. That was great. Yeah. Right? Like, I know it was great. Everybody else said it was great. I want to hear it from you. Yeah. Tell me that was great. It's important. Please. Yeah, it's important. Yeah. So, you know, when stuff's a home run. And look, there's times when, for me, sometimes you guys do something. I'm like stuck in the next thing trying to make sure that doesn't fall apart because anytime I walk away there's something else going on yeah so I'm trying to do that and then I realize like hey where'd they go oh they left they're gone all right now if I go chasing it's that's that's I now I'm out of pocket for longer or if I ask them to come back now they're like they asked us to come back well it must have been bad like you know so it right it it's a sometimes a tough scenario but when stuff is really good, I try to get up and come over there either really good or really bad.

58:26If I come up and come over to you, I'm like, feel like that's my, that's my tell. Otherwise I'm like in a pretty good place with everything, you know, spring is a season of change, but it doesn't have to throw off your foundation reset with one simple daily habit that supports your energy gut and immune health. Even when everything else is shifting, AG one is a daily health drink clinically shown to support gut health and fill in common nutrient gaps. With over 75 ingredients, including five clinically studied probiotic strains, AG1 replaces the need for a multivitamin, probiotics, and more. Spring brings daylight savings, packed calendars, and changing routines.

59:07One scoop, 20 seconds. That's all it takes to keep your gut routine steady so you can reset, recharge, and embrace the season without missing a beat. Most supplements overcomplicate things. A pile of pills, confusing timing, an impossible schedule to stick with long-term. AG1 simplifies it. Multivitamin, pre - and probiotics, superfoods, and antioxidants all in one scoop. I'm always on the go, especially in spring with WrestleMania. The superfoods and B vitamins and AG1 provide daily energy support to keep me moving. The daily immune supports help me stay at my best too, powered by antioxidants, probiotics, and functional mushrooms.

59:47Go to drinkag1.com slash Cody to get an AG1 flavor sampler. We'll also throw in a bottle of vitamin D3 plus K2 for free in your AG1 welcome kit with your first AG1 subscription order. That's a$72 value, yours free, only while supplies last. Go to drinkag1.com slash Cody. We talked about Bobby and being close to you and the sponge and learning. looking at the field now it's a whole new ball game for wwe in terms of you and the chief content role leading and directing the ship do you see anyone in in our current you know and all across the board producers i mean that hq people don't realize the amount of talent yeah adam panucci's just sitting in a room genius talent you know there's there's there's such talented people just on every floor around there do you see anyone that you think will help kind of lead the company because I've heard Bruce say it before, when Bruce is not there, when Heyman is no longer around, when Michael goes, and we talked about Bobby.

1:00:54Do you see others in our current space? I do. Yeah? I do.

1:01:01There's a certain passion for the business that begins to, I think you begin to see it shift in the way that people look at it differently. Where it's not just about me and what I do next. It's about the product and what the product does next and the questions that are asked and the things that are asked. You know, I saw that with Bobby. Yeah. It was a different level of that. I see that in the now. And it's an interesting thing. It's like AJ Styles just retired. Yeah. So at the end, AJ was like, I don't want to just be done with the business. I want to be done wrestling. Yeah. And I don't think I'm betraying confidence here, but even in his last match, he was telling me, I so know I'm done because I was out there in that last match thinking, let's just get over with.

1:01:59I just want to get to the end. Oh, wow. Yeah. But he wants to participate in the business, right? But being an agent or a producer, it's a different world. being um being in what we do there's different fits for different people yeah aj came in he sat in on some creative meetings he sat in on some you know um production meetings and i think he realized like the writing thing's not for me the producer thing i don't think is for me what i really like is getting to these young kids and spotting talent and then trying to help you know fan the flames of the little spark that's there and try to make them into something more the developmental side yeah so great let's utilize him in that great and grab those talents there there are some guys that just sort of get done the business and just want to be done yeah with it they don't want to be on the road they don't want to be the hassle they don't want all the other stuff but I do see a lot of you know and it's your show and I'm not trying to blow smoke up your ass but like oh no no we're good with that go ahead blow away um not like

1:03:17you're one of those guys that i believe as you come to the end of your career it behooves you to start to pay attention to the other things I remember very early when Vince and again, I've never asked him this but I don't know why I guess he just just if he creatively saw like he's got a little something there and like let's cultivate that okay, come to the production meetings and we'll start talking about other things and then I know that he told Pat, mentor him help him teach him same with Lanza Um,

1:04:01And once that started for me, I very quickly realized like, holy shit, I know nothing about this business. I know this tip of the iceberg of what I do as a performer. But it's like saying, I'm a very good actor, but how many actors become great directors or do other things in Hollywood? How many great players make great coaches? in sports like nick talks to me about that all the time i'm not the biggest sports guy but nick talks to me about it all the time like great players struggle to become great coaches because they can't understand why people just can't can't be great the way they did it they just don't get it like just do this you know like it's just not that simple for everybody right you have to be able to get that greatness out of them in a different way once you realize that and then you begin to become fascinated with that.

1:04:59If guys will cultivate that and want to know and the other stuff, and you've asked me about it numerous times, which is why I say, like, I know you're going to be good at it because you've asked me that numerous times. How can I do this? How can I do that? I also know the difficulties of being in the position you're in as a talent and then trying to do the other things, which is really difficult to do and not have it change everybody's perception of you. But there was a moment even for Taker with me where when, you know, now he's in Mexico working on AAA and doing extremely well with it. But there's a moment where he was talking to me about it and saying like, man, I used to think seeing you do all that stuff and why, man, he spends all that time and he doesn't have to do it.

1:05:48And he's like in there and it's hours and time and frustration and all this stuff. And it's really the end of the day, mostly making most everybody hate him or have a different opinion of him. It's really like a detriment to him in some manner, but he's just still doing it. Now I look at it and go, I wish I'd have done that because you have this skill set now to where you're still so ingrained. And I say it a bunch, like this end of my career is almost more gratifying to me than the other end of my career. Learning that stuff, this stuff, this all seems like it goes on forever. and it doesn't.

1:06:28And that's the good old days thing, right? And no one tells you it's the good old days until after they were over. And then you realize, fuck, that shit was great. I wish I had paid more attention to it then. But it's almost like while you're doing it, you've got to be preparing for the other side because very quickly there's this moment where you're like, man, the top of it passed me by. Now I'm on the downswing and I'm a legend or whatever that is. Sure. But I'm here, but I'm not grinding. You're landing to go the next level up. You're landing the plane. Yeah, landing the plane. And then what happens when the plane lands?

1:07:03You want to try to explore some of that skill set. It doesn't mean you have to activate it. It just means you have to explore that so you know what it is so that when the time comes. And for those guys, I try to put things in their head of how they could do other things on the other side as the business moves on. But there are a lot of guys that are so passionate about this, and it's in a different way. You, Punk, Seth, right? That I see this when that day comes when you're like, I don't want to take another bump, and I don't want to be in that spot anymore. Great. You know how to help other folks get there and do it.

1:07:48And not everybody's going to be amazing at it, but there's a spot in this. It's a big, big wheel that keeps on going. And you want to be a part of that wheel. Because I think the worst thing in the world can be, not for everybody, but can be. Or it would be for me if one day you just said, all right, you're done. And then you just go home and you're like, now what do I do? I don't know. What other skill set do you have? Right? And so it's there. It's just cultivating it in guys and having them. You can't make somebody do it, though. They have to want to step up and take it to the next place. It's wild to think about, oh, you're done.

1:08:34Because my acting coach, I remember him saying, he was describing the craft in terms of acting and whatnot. But a lot of people were there for the, of course, want to be famous, want to get a big movie. That all makes sense. but what he was saying is you'll do much better if this is your life's work you'll do much better if this is the whole thing the whole enchilada the entire thing that commercial is taken just as seriously as the big get that you're trying to get this is your life's work you've learned from every every step along the way and just i couldn't imagine it i go home for two days and it's you you've received some of my texts but you think about it those pre-workout You know what drove me nuts when I first came up here?

1:09:21Trying to find your way, right? Like find the people that you want to hang out with. How, you know, some people think like how I landed with the click, right? Yeah. Because I'd rode with all these other people. And what I found out really quickly is most of them want to get in the car after the show's over and never talk about wrestling again. Sure. Don't mention wrestling. Don't talk about the show. Don't talk about anything about it. They just want to drive to the next town, train, whatever, or do whatever they're going to do, and there's no conversation of it. And I hated it. That's all I wanted to talk about.

1:09:52That's all I wanted to think about. So I wanted to – I'd watch every single – when their match was over, they'd be like, hey, let's get out of here. I'd be like, no, hold on. There's three more matches. I want to watch the whole show. I was going to the shows that I wasn't booked on because I just wanted to see what was going on and take all of it in. It drove me nuts when people didn't want to engage in it. And the first trip I took with Kev, Scott, Kidd, take the hospital excursions out of the equation and all that stuff. But all we did was talk about wrestling. And Scott would be the first guy to talk about it, but he would say, can we just not talk about wrestling tonight?

1:10:28One night, can we just not talk about it? Great. But before that, did anybody notice in the third match? That's all we talked about the whole way, right? Like I immediately in the car with those guys, like I said, take all that other side stuff and put it aside. It was just this moment where I was like, dude, that's what I want to do. I want to sit in the car and just dissect this stuff, right, wrong, and different. But like that's, I want to be immersed in it. I almost stole something from your fellow Click member, Kevin Nash, the other day just because I always heard every now and then he'd come back and say, follow that.

1:11:07Or just, that was... That was a big... You know, have to shift the thing. Like on a not great thing. Yeah, yeah. Like, just so confident about it. It was so terrible that you came back like, follow that guy. Yeah. Yeah, good luck with that one. Yeah. That was, you know, talk about good old days and all that stuff. Everybody had a perspective. Sean had the worker's perspective. Kid had like this indie worker perspective. Yeah. Kev was like, Kev thought of everything in like movie scenes. Scott was like the basics. Scott would hit you with this like, let me get this straight. And then he would say something so profound, simple, but like profound that you were like, wow.

1:11:55Yeah, that makes no sense. Or like, holy shit. Like the levels of people's in that car was just, again, talk about Learning Tree, right? Vince, Pat, Lanza, all those guys in that car. Then, you know, my friendship with Regal and just all these different things just all makes it what it is. I love a Regal post segment just because he'll talk to you for quite some time. But I always tell you, man, he said something, though, that I can never do that now. I know I won't do that again because it was so simple, but needed it. In WWE, every road leads to one place, WrestleMania. And every journey starts on the road to gold.

1:12:42Now that journey comes to life with WrestleMania Road to Gold only at Fanatics Casino. The game features 20 WWE superstars, from Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley to Seth Rollins, John Cena, and me. Get your money in the bank or win the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber with bonuses every step of the way. Every reward brings you closer to the biggest stage there is. This is WrestleMania Road to Gold, and it only lives at Fanatics Casino. Must be 21 and over. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Not available in all states. See Fanatic's casino app. I know we have had you for extremely long. Are you okay hanging out for a few more minutes?

1:13:27You sure? Okay. Awesome. What do you want to talk about? We, myself, Wheatley, American Vodka, we like to consider ourselves the American Dream Team, and I ask everyone who comes on the show, who makes up your dream team? And often I have to throw a qualifier in there because at the first it was all over the place. Animals, sports teams. You can really do anything with this. But also if it becomes difficult to lock down, then sometimes I just say, hey, you're War Games team. You're Survivor Series. What is your dream team? Who's going into this battle with you? I guess what is the battle? Just life?

1:14:07Well, I'd say because you brought it up multiple times in a way that I think everyone in here really thought. The good old days. In our case, we're going into WrestleMania 42, and these are good days. This is an unbelievable time. So in this moment, who's coming with? Who is there with you leading this event, leading our event? Well, I mean, God, that's a long list of people. And it's funny because as you even say it throughout this entire interview, like you well you lead this you lead that it's such a big team yeah and i don't even like that term sometimes with the leader it's yeah it's the responsibility of it at the end of the day you have to make the final call when it's a you're the tiebreaker whatever that is you have to set that final guidance but it's such a team and there's so much nuance to making the team even even to the point of you know you want to encourage people to throw ideas out all the time so you don't want to ever not take, you know, like if they're throwing out 10 ideas, you want to take at least a couple of them because otherwise you're going to just stop throwing stuff out there, right?

1:15:21That's an important lesson that I learned along the way too.

1:15:27There's a moment when I look back, there was this moment where a bunch of us were in a room and Vince was there famous meeting Indianapolis and And Vince took out a roster and was like, who leaves, who stays? And this is a point in time when I was kind of newish, right? Like, I didn't feel qualified to even be making that thing. But I remember there were some people on there that their names came up. I remember one in particular, and it was Bam Bam Bigelow. Yeah. Right? And Bam Bam hated the clique. I think, I don't know that anybody had an issue with him per se, but he's just for whatever reason.

1:16:10Sure. He ate it. And his name came up. And we had all written down our stuff on paper and given them to Vince. And he's like, you guys all unanimously want him here. We're like, yeah, he's fucking really good. Yeah, but he hates you guys. So what? He's good, though. I want him on my team. Yeah, yes. Yeah, I want him on the team. Yeah. Like, it's not about that you don't like us, or it's not about, it's like, he's fucking good. So he should be here. There's some other guys on there that we like a lot. I like him as a person. Yeah, that's a hard one. Yeah, I like him as a person, but come or go, doesn't matter.

1:16:49Those are tough decisions to make. So when you say, who do I want on my team? God, that list is long. It's a long list of people. First and foremost, Nick.

1:17:03Smartest business guy I've ever been around. Yeah. Just, yeah. Like I couldn't imagine the last few years of trying to do this without doing it with him. Yeah. Even when you're unsure, when you're not positive, like that reassuring guidance that, hey, you want to relook at that? Like where you're like, oh, you relook at it and you're like, oh, yeah, that's good. Right, right, right. He's just so good, and he's such a great businessman, but also such a fan of what we do, and he has the ability to look at it from an outsider's perspective. But, man, there's so much talent in this, whether it's producers, agents, people at the office, people that I just...

1:18:00I wouldn't even want to make a list because the list would be so long of people that I would want here. And to be honest, it really comes down to desire to do this. This is so busy. You know how hard it is. You have to want it. You can't be here filling space. You can't just be phoning it in. You've got to be all in. And those are the people you want in the foxhole with you. Yeah. You want a blind rank? You good with a blind ranking? This is my first. We've never done a blind ranking. All right. This is a hell of a moment. All right. I'm sure this will be controversial. I think we try to keep everything not controversial on this, but then the one thing you're like, I did say that.

1:18:40Okay. We're going to blind rank. You have some of the most iconic WrestleMania entrances of all. We're going to blind rank these. We have 10. This is a random order blind rank. Where do you think WrestleMania 30, you versus Daniel Bryan on the ranking? That's you, the throne, Charlotte, and Alexa are part of that. There it is right there. Yeah. Where's that one at? It was like one or two. Yeah. Just because the imagery of it was so cool, the timing of it, like this authoritarian figure against the sort of the guy bucking the system, B-plus player, plus the Charlotte, Sasha, Alexa, like when this idea came up to do this entrance, I was like, oh, can I use them to do this entrance?

1:19:32because when I wanted him to stand on that stage, I remember saying it to him right before we walked out there, like when you walk out there, this will probably be the last time you ever get to walk out there without the responsibility if you're about to go have to do what we do. But know this is coming your way and just, man, take that all in and feel it. I love that. Okay, so that's one or two? I'll put that at two. That's at two. WrestleMania 25, that's you versus Randy Orton. I remember you throwing the sledgehammer through the mirror. Yeah, there it is. I'll put that down around eight or so because I almost slipped and killed myself when I threw the hammer.

1:20:09It was all wet on the floor. And I was sure that I looked like one of those cartoon scenes where I was like and caught myself and didn't fall. Like, thank God I didn't fall. But I bet you that looked ridiculous. Okay, so we've got that at eight. WrestleMania 33, you versus Seth Rollins. That is the bike ride with the police escort. and then of course that up there at three that's a three yeah yeah steph with me the the police escort was yeah it was just cool cool cool visual entrance yeah yeah and then you did the thing where you basically just put it in neutral like you're not actually or were you driving it on the way down yeah no i was driving it on the way down there's motor vehicles and yeah no it's tricky those those uh boss hoss uh yeah trikes also don't have gears like a motorcycle okay they have like two speeds it's an automatic nice so that you you sort of got to put it in gear okay but you got to be careful with it because it's like crazy so that's that's our number three yeah okay uh oh wrestlemania 12 uh the ultimate warrior and this is your first wrestlemania uh so i'll put that like uh i'll put that like a seven seven yeah okay it's not the coolest of entrances of all time, but it was my first WrestleMania, and I'm about to walk out there with the Ultimate Warrior, which I know a lot of people talk about that match over time and all that, but Vin's coming to me at that point in my career to say, hey, the Ultimate Warrior's going to come back, but he's not going to come back until the day of Mania, and I want you to be the guy in there with him, and you're going to get to do all the media and all that stuff, so this will be huge for you.

1:21:51I was like, dude, I worked 64 straight days before WrestleMania every single day on a media tour and in between shows and all that, just because I was like, I'll do everything. So walking out there, WrestleMania facing the Ultimate Warrior was a cool experience. Also, that thing you came out of, that stage, that entrance that was used for, that's one of those things like the winged eagle that at a certain point, I'm going to get all pre-workout up and send you a text. If we just did it for one night, i'm telling you um okay um it's a funny thing like that's where our business is like you know you're like i'm gonna get pre-workout up like you know well that's what i i always try to say like because you know sometimes you get so the endorphins are flowing you get super going and then you send something and then an hour later you look at it what was i thinking because it's it's the hill you want to die on but also sometimes it's i don't want him thinking this was my of all the things he pitched you know you know usually when i like if i get stuff from michael And I'm like, what is this?

1:22:51There's a different reason for it. It wasn't pre-workout. Oh, God. We love Michael. All right. WrestleMania 22. That is you versus John Cena and the throne. Yeah. So I'll put this up there. What I say, the other one was three. I'll put this up at four. That's four? This is one of those ones where they first, when we sort of first get into the like, hey, you guys want to do some kind of elaborate entrance? Yeah. I think this is where John does the - The Tommy gun? Yeah, the Tommy gun with the mobsters on the car and all that stuff and coming up from underneath the ramp and all that. And I think Punk was a part of that entrance.

1:23:38He's riding on the car. Yeah. And I'm backstage, and this is all like last second. I don't see the gear until the moment before. the quick story on it the the throne gets caught as i'm coming up like the throne gets stuck in the lift and it's like and it's like stuck and i'm thinking like holy fuck i'm gonna have to climb out of this hole dressed like you know what i mean like this is the most embarrassing thing and just when i'm like panicking like i have i have to get out of the seat like ellis is panicking next to me trying to and he like pushed it over and it fit in the hole and it like started going up again i was going like thank god like this could have been the most disastrous thing ever we we have uh we've never talked about it in the midst of these blind rankings i think it is you never once when i came back asked me about clearly taking your throne yeah making it imagery in my entrance away from here starting my own thing and taking your hammer to it yeah you never i saw it as your hammer because it was smaller than mine

1:24:56okay yeah no look look i did that kind of shit to me is like i remember when people brought it to me and like shown it to me and i was like fuck all right good for him you know what i mean like that's the kind of shit you do you're trying to make a name for yourself you're trying to get out there you're trying to do some cool shit trying to do some different stuff but believe me if i would have thought there was malice in it yeah and and and maybe indirectly there was some at the time i don't know but like no if i would have thought there was any serious malice and i would have called you and said hey dude it's like are we okay like like because i was i was you know I was so close to your dad but then I always felt like a connection to you and when you were here and it was difficult for me when you left because I couldn't say like I couldn't over the top go like dude get the fuck out of here and go out there and make a name for yourself and make yourself desirable and we'll fucking come chasing after you and bring you back sometimes you gotta get out of the rut you're in you just gotta take yeah just bite it off and go in a different direction make the left turn right and it was so difficult but but during that time i remember thinking like all right that's that that's that's getting out there that's being bold and making a statement you did tell me because you said you know go rattle the cages yeah and you kind of made yourself the the target for me to rattle in terms of the optics of wrestling and i there was no malice for sure because this is after i won the ring of honor title yeah one of the first texts i got back to was yours congrats as i was walking to the hospital in lowell because my lip was busted open holding my first world title yeah and um yeah no i just you know it's one of those things where you see somebody going off doing their own thing and having success.

1:26:53And I'm like, fuck, yeah. Fuck, Cody, come on. Get yourself in that spot where we're like, hey, we should go. I don't know what he did different, but let's go get him. Yeah. You know what I mean? I'm glad the feeling is good on it versus because I'm thinking, man, if he's mad about it, it's a long road to whatever the payoff is. He's waiting on that receipt. Oh, now it's happening. Nah, man. I never even thought about anything other than, yeah, good for him. You know, go get it. Ooh, WrestleMania 34. You, Steph, Kurt Angle, Ronda. This is the separate bikes in an all-woman biker gang. Yeah. I might put this up as one just for that moment right there.

1:27:50You know, I'm sort of at the end here, and I'm just enjoying the moments. And having the opportunity, Kurt, Rhonda, Steph's going to be in there. Steph is like out of her mind, nervous. Like I remember her thinking like, how the fuck do you do the water spit? and coming to me like, we've got to practice this. I don't want to box this. Yeah, you can't. Just a stream. Yeah, exactly. The whole thing. And it was just such, the whole thing was just so cool and to be able to do it with her. You know, it's. It's your tag team partner, man. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. You let. Sorry. you let brandy be part of wrestlemania 40 and same reason yeah it's it's it's don't get me started yeah i'm not uh okay i had to get my estrogen checked after the hall of fame i don't have to do it again okay wrestlemania 31 see you versus the stinger the terminator so what would which also seems like the most unsafe yeah platform yeah oh yeah yeah yeah You couldn't have got a 10-penny nail up my ass at this point where I'm up there.

1:29:13That thing's rattling around. It's shaking. And there's a little piece of thing holding me up there so I don't fall off. This would have been so much more epically cool at night. There's a couple of funny things on this. One, super cool that Terminator, the movie, they come to me and ask, hey, we want to sponsor the entrance, do the whole thing. I think the first one that really gets fully like full bake sponsored. Nice. Arnold does the read, right? Like they're like, Arnold won't do it. I said like, really? I'll call him. And soon I called him. He was like, fuck yeah, I'll do it. Yeah. Right.

1:29:48Like he gets into doing it. Funny story is we called to get all these props from the movie and they're like, sure. Then like a week and a half before they're like, hey, we don't have any of those things. Oh God. Like there was no robots. There was no, it was all CGI, right? Oh yeah. We had to go to a prop house and order every Terminator robot that they ever made that you could buy. Yeah. And bring them to the point where the Terminator movie, then when they did the red carpet for the movie, called like, hey, can we borrow those robots that you guys had to put them on the red carpet and stuff, right?

1:30:22The other funny piece is Sting goes out first. You know what it's like when you're down in the elevator and you're in that pit. They hadn't rehearsed Sting's smoke. so we're in there it's windy stings black smoke starts to go that entire underneath the stage fills with smoke but none of us know what the fuck is going on yeah i don't know if the shit's on fire should i get the fuck out of this hole like everybody's panicking nobody can see shit i mean it was crazy and then all of a sudden the lift started going up i was like i guess we're going you know what i mean but nobody knew what was going on things are okay yeah crazy um okay The next one.

1:31:04So that was four? I'll put that at four. Five, six, nine, and ten. Okay. Oh, I thought I put, no, that's not four? No, you put Barbarian at four. All right, I'll put this at five. Five or that? Yeah, see, this is hard, man. Yeah, I know, and I feel bad doing it. WrestleMania 29 versus Brock Lesnar, Giant Skullhead, and this is also where you were explaining to me, because that cryo can take a PC from time to time. I always seem to have cool entrances that somehow don't turn out epically in my favor. We had rehearsed this, all gone great. I get in the thing, and they blow the smoke on me. First of all, I'm about to go face Brock, which is, I love working with Brock, but it's physical.

1:31:50You're very. So I'm about to go do that, and I'm getting older here, and I'm standing in that smoke and all of a sudden as the smoke starts to blow, I realize, hey, this is really burning. Like it didn't, I don't recall it burning in the rehearsals like this. And now I'm like, boy, it's really burning. I gotta get out of here. And I step out of it and it like, you know, you can hear shit internally in your body. Like I can hear myself sizzling over the music. Like I can hear a sizzling sound and I am like, what is that? Like, and I start to walk and then I realize He's like, I'm still burning.

1:32:27And I'm walking down, but I'm in the zone, and I don't realize what it is until Brock is looking at me from the ring, and he's like, Brock is on you. And I'm like, oh, shit. I have stuff all stuck to me, and it had burnt the shit out of my skin. Oh, yeah. It was one of those things. Where does that one go? What I got left? 6, 9, 10.

1:32:52I'll go 10. Yeah. Yeah. I think you made the right call. The next one, these are going to be two back-to-back. You've got WrestleMania 35, Batista, this is Mad Max. It's riding to the ring on the post-apocalyptic vehicle. Yeah, this was a weird one. Cool imagery, a little weird. What do I got left? Six and nine. I don't go nine. Nine. All right. I think that probably was the right call because this is U21 also versus Batista. Motorhead is playing you down to the ring. Pretty high. Yeah. And I totally, not even thinking about this one. Yeah, like this for me, you know, I was a huge Motorhead fan growing up.

1:33:41They do my music. It's epic. They get to play me there. It's classically Motorhead. like they are so out of their minds yeah that i don't think lem sang one actual lyric like at the rehearsals were so bad that kevin dunn came to me he's like should we just kill this whole thing yeah and i'm like is it they hadn't they hadn't gotten right yet you know what i mean they were all just hung over from the night before and stuff and and uh kevin was like it's this is horrible and it can should we just kill it i was like i think once they get straight before the gig it'll be okay and it was it was epically powerful this is the lesson of it's not what you say it's how you say it yeah it was just yeah and for me coming up with those guys there and all this just really really cool oh man well there's our list and lem was such a good friend that, you know, meant even more.

1:34:42Incredible. Thank you for indulging that, of course. But also, this went very long. As when talking about wrestling, it often happens and goes. Yeah, and it's a funny thing because you talked about at the very beginning, like them wanting to do it and it taking so long because I never wanted to go like, yeah, I have an hour here. It's not going to go an hour. You and I are going to start talking and bullshit and it's going to go long and it's going to be fun and thanks for making it easy. No, thank you, and I'm very excited. Again, this is WrestleMania 42, and up against our own records, as we are saying here, and I'm very, very just, this is, it's an honor to be on this team, and I'm excited to see where we go, and this was just an absolute treat for me, so thank you very much for being here.

1:35:33I know we touched on it briefly, but the position that you're in was not easy, right? And people will tell you shit your whole career. Nepo, baby, whatever. Fuck them. You earned this and then some. You are one of the most diligent guys in that locker room of wanting it to be right with no stone unturned. You think about it nonstop. You're so engaged in it. And it's never really just about you. It's about the company and the product as a whole, which makes you a dream to work with. It really is. And I don't want this to sound in some way like I'm talking down to you because of the position that you're in, but I'm proud of you.

1:36:27And for all of it, for gambling on yourself, for taking that step that 99.9 % of the people in the world wouldn't do to get to where you are and doing it in a way that every single step of the way, you did it the right way and in a way that would make anybody, especially your dad, proud. Well, thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, what do you want to talk about? Triple H. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, my God. Thank you.

1:37:31Just a few hours away. And thanks to nonstop United Airlines flights from Chicago O 'Hare to Belize City, getting there is easy. Flights take just over four hours, making paradise closer than you think. Start planning your getaway now at TravelBelize.org. That's TravelBelize.org. The warmth of Belize is only one nonstop flight away.