WEBVTT - I’m Starting a Wrestling Company 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:08.240 M H. Welcome back everyone to Wrestling with Freddy. And 0:00:08.280 --> 0:00:12.040 today's episode isn't even it's not the past, it's not 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.280 even the current product. It's the future. I did an 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:18.200 interview on the Aerial Helwani Show where I had mentioned 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:21.439 one of my dreams, which is now a plan, was 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:25.720 to start my own small, little indie wrestling federation, and 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:28.960 we'll go into what my goals with that are. But 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:31.639 a lot of wrestling fans saw it. Some of you 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:33.680 thought I was full of crap. Some of you really 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:37.360 believed in the idea. But we got so much feedback 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:39.800 that we're gonna deep dive into the plan and the 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:43.040 philosophy behind it, and I'm gonna share way more with 0:00:43.120 --> 0:00:47.520 you that I'm probably even comfortable sharing, minus the financials, 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:49.600 and we're gonna get it started right now. Welcome to 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.839 another episode of Wrestling with Freddie. Now stuffing up to 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:59.520 the mic. The host of Wrestling with Freddie Freddie Prince June. Yeah, 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:04.080 all right, you guys. So a few months ago I 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:06.520 was on the m M A Hour with Ariel Helwani, 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:09.200 who I like very much. I think he sells the 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:12.160 sport of mixed martial arts very well and he's randomly 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:15.360 a huge wrestling fan and if you go back a 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:19.039 few episodes, he was a guest on here. He's a 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.280 really good part of our family over here. And he 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:25.160 talked about being at the actual Montreal screw Job with 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:28.840 Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Because he is a France Canadian. 0:01:29.160 --> 0:01:31.319 We were having a conversation and I had never really 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:33.600 spoken publicly about it before, but it had been a 0:01:33.680 --> 0:01:37.399 dream of mine for a long time. And and uh, 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:39.440 I'll tell you kind of how that dream came to 0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:42.199 pass right now, because you can watch all the arial 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.080 stuff on his channel. Nobody really knows this, but I 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:51.360 almost became a showrunner for another wrestling federation whose name 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:55.440 I will not say. A friend of mine who financed 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:57.760 the company asked me to come help them try and 0:01:57.800 --> 0:02:01.160 get a TV deal. So I was happy to help. 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:04.840 I love wrestling. I love the person who had this 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:08.400 promoters back and was financing the company. I have a 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:10.280 lot of I have a lot of respect for this person, 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:12.400 and so when they asked me for something, which is 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:16.040 very rare, it's an easy yes for me. There's someone 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:17.880 I liked doing favors for, and I don't feel they 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.840 asked enough. So I came in, no contract, no money, 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:25.680 no anything, and saw their product, saw the good stuff, 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:29.239 saw what I thought I could improve, and had another 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.920 conversation with the finance. Here I met the promoter. By 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.280 the way, it was an old school promoter. The promoter 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:37.560 was very professional and polite to me, look me in 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:39.400 the eye when we shook hands, that kind of stuff, 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.720 and then started selling me on on their their brand. 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:48.280 And it was an oversell too to my eyeball anyway, 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:50.560 and there was no need to oversell it. I feel 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:54.280 that people should always be very straightforward when dealing with 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.000 with other professionals in this in the same industry, that 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.280 being show business. Not that I'm a wrestling expert, but 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:03.000 I do you know what quality television and quality film is. 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.400 So I tried to relax him and put him in 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:08.959 ease and and well now you know it's a guy, 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:11.720 and and tell him that, uh that I was, you know, 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.120 a fan of the product and all this stuff, and 0:03:14.160 --> 0:03:16.800 I mentioned where I thought I could help um who 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:19.400 I knew that I thought would come in and be 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:24.440 friendly to us and help improve you know, everything from 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:28.359 our on camera stuff to putting some credibility on commentating 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:30.640 to training, to to all kinds of things. Not that 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:32.920 I would train, but I knew, you know, some of 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:35.200 the best wrestling trainers in the business, because I treated 0:03:35.240 --> 0:03:37.880 them with respect, the travels of the world that have 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:40.120 trained a lot of people. So and I wanted the 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:44.240 good people to work, So I didn't push on anything. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:47.840 I knew I was there just for story stuff, and 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:50.360 and so I started breaking it down. And then I 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:55.760 started being very honest about how Hollywood perceives the wrestling business. 0:03:57.080 --> 0:04:00.400 And it's not favorable, and it hasn't been ripple in 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:03.080 a very long time, or they would have pulled a 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.320 ton more professional wrestlers and lured them with with money 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:10.000 and Beverly Hills and and girls named Beverly and everything 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:13.520 and guy's name. Whatever you desire is here in Hollywood. 0:04:13.520 --> 0:04:16.400 They can steal your way. They've done it countless times. 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:18.760 John Cena used to talk smack about the Rock for 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.880 being a part timer, and then Hollywood said, oh, I'm sorry, 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:23.960 you talked crap about the biggest star in the world. 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:25.920 How would you like to be one as well? Yes, 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.920 yes I would, And he pieced out. So it's it's 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.240 a foul temptress. But it can be. It could be 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:36.160 a beautiful temptress at the same time if you already 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:38.880 know who you are. So we talked about what I 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.520 thought needed to be done for TV based on conversations 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.440 that I've already had with executives, and I said, look, 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:46.840 I don't have the connections that I had in the 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:51.599 nineties when I was hot shit, but but the relationships 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.839 that I that I had, I'm there's only one producer 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:56.839 I've worked with that I really wouldn't work with again, 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.560 I have solid relationships. I'm always pro alway is on time, 0:05:00.600 --> 0:05:02.960 always knew my ship, never was a drug addict, so 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.279 I didn't cause any problems. There was no reason for 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:07.400 people not to dig me. So the people who had 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:10.600 advanced up and we're in positions of authority now to 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:12.719 say yes, some of them were my friends or at 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:16.120 least acquaintances. So I said, here's the three places that 0:05:16.160 --> 0:05:19.640 I could take us to, and he said, I have 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:22.680 a friend who maybe getting a promotion at this other 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:25.680 place as well. I said, cool, if it happens, let's 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.440 let's go there too. So we set up the three 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:31.640 meetings and all three and I want to write a 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:33.560 pilot for them as I say, look, you have You're 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:35.560 gonna have to have something. They're gonna want to see 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.200 something because they don't know wrestling. Now, well we don't. 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:39.719 We don't really write it like that. We don't. We 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.039 don't write the w Wilay I said, I don't have 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:43.680 to write at the w W E way. I just 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.279 want to show them a format so they can understand 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.960 how long the show is, how long the matches are, 0:05:49.160 --> 0:05:51.120 what the back states. He goes, well, you can just 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.280 pitch it. You're a great picture. And I think he 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:56.320 did like me for that, but he really just wanted 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.200 my name to help sell his show, which we found 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.559 out down the room. So we go into the first 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.800 meeting and it was I believe the first one was 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:06.760 at the c W. And the gentleman that I knew 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:10.520 there was Mark Petowitz. See I'm comfortable saying. And Mark 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.080 was one of the original execs on Buffy the Vampire 0:06:13.120 --> 0:06:15.680 Slayer like way back in the day, and he runs 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:18.960 the CW and his business model is what keeps the 0:06:18.960 --> 0:06:21.479 CW afloat. It's how they can afford to make all 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:23.440 their DC shows, whether you think they're good or not. 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.279 They have a very He came from their business affairs department. 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:28.920 So he was a lawyer negotiating contracts, which is not 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:31.560 usually a guy that I like. But he knows that 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:33.800 I'm very straight up about it. And they have a 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:39.040 crazy contract structure there as well. But those actors are 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.680 still making way more than wrestlers, so as far as 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:45.039 budget and what these these wrestlers would be paid, because 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:47.320 it wouldn't have be a license deal like US, a 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:50.680 licensed Monday Night Raw. They don't own Monday Night Raw, 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.640 so this would still be on the cheap for them, 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:56.920 an affordable show. They said, we don't want to script, 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:59.320 so we go in, we pitch it, and the promoter 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:03.320 takes over the pitch. I'm about maybe four minutes in 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:05.679 and he and he and he takes over the pitch, 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:08.560 and so I stopped talking. It doesn't work if we're 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.880 both talking at the same time. And he goes and 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.320 he goes, and it's about fifteen minutes in and I see, 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.280 I see Mark shaking. Is not shaking his head, but 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:21.240 it's an internal head shake. I've normally had twenty plus years. 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:24.120 And I see the other exacts, and I know when 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.280 they're tuning out on a pitch because I've had plenty 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:31.080 of bad ones myself, and so he finally finishes up. 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.760 And the last thing you wanna have happened at the 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:37.240 end of the pitch is say well, thank you, we'll 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:41.000 be in touch. That means that sucks and we don't 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:42.680 want it. It doesn't mean your idea sucks. It just 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:45.920 means they think it sucks. If they ask questions, there's 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:48.360 obviously interest. So I already know where this is going. 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:52.840 And the meeting stops, and right away Mark and this 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:56.000 other guy I don't remember his name in stereo, they say, well, 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:58.840 thank you very much, we'll be in touch. And I 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:02.040 shake my head and we're walking out and Mark puts 0:08:02.040 --> 0:08:03.480 a hand on my shoulder and he says, hey, come 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:05.600 back in here after you say goodbye if you can. 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.320 I say, yeah, okay, So I go and I talked 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:12.960 to the sales group right and uh, I say, all right, 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:16.160 you know the next time, and and he's even apologizing, sorry, 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:17.760 I kind of I barreled on there and you were 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:20.360 doing great. He did not care if I was doing great. 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:21.840 I think he just was looking for a door to 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.240 get opened so he could try to sell a show. Right, 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.280 they leave, I go back in and Mark goes, what 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.080 the hell was that? He actually didn't cuss. He rarely cusses. 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:41.880 He goes, what was that, Freddy? I say, I don't know, man, 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.240 it wasn't the meeting that I thought it was gonna be. 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.320 I said, I have a different pitch if you want 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.760 to hear what I think wrestling could be. Although I 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:51.920 know you guys aren't in the market for this. He goes, well, listen, 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:53.560 we don't want to buy a wrestling show, but let 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.240 me let me see what you got. Say all right. 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:58.719 So we go back and the financier, the one who 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:01.880 called me, who me for help. I said, oh my gosh, 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:04.040 I'm so sorry. So and so is not going to 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:07.760 do that again. Uh, please don't leave, Please come to 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.720 the next pitch. I say, I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry. 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:14.280 I made a commitment work good. So I have a 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.600 good conversation or what I think was a good conversation 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:20.559 with the promoter and uh, I say, look, I'm not trying. 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:22.319 I'm very directed him. I say, I'm not trying to 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:25.200 steal your your show. I don't have a contract. I 0:09:25.240 --> 0:09:27.600 get no money if we sell this, none, not a 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.480 not a single dollar. I just want to put my 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.160 friend in a position for this type of wrestling to 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:37.600 succeed because the ku genera can be because I believe 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:43.000 in this type of wrestling, so stupid and uh he says, yeah, okay, 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:45.080 you know or all on the same. So the next 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:47.720 place won't take a pitch without a script, which is 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:50.560 what I thought. So I write one up and I 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:52.439 try to give even the wrestlers that I can't fit 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.400 into the show wrestling a moment backstage, a little time 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.280 to shine. Right without telling me before we go into 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:03.600 the pitch, dude rewrites everything that I did to make 0:10:03.600 --> 0:10:06.480 it fit more what he wants. Now you can look 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:10.880 at this two ways. This is his baby. It's his baby, 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.360 and here comes this jerk with his ideas and what 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:17.080 he feels are major changes. Even though I stayed true 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:20.920 to every single character. I spoke with every wrestler before 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.360 I wrote for them, and noticed I didn't say before 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:26.160 I made changes because I made zero. I worked with 0:10:26.200 --> 0:10:28.560 what I was given because I didn't know that I 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.120 wasn't being paid. It was a favor. So you show 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.720 me what you think your best self is, and that's 0:10:33.720 --> 0:10:35.560 what I'm gonna work with. I'm not going to change 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:39.200 the thing and I didn't, so the whole script gets rewritten. 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:41.160 We go and we have the pitch and he lets 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:43.240 me pitch, which was really cool and it's a great pitch. 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:45.560 We killed it. They seem actually into it, which I 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.320 was surprised by. And this woman says, you know, Freddie 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.400 called me afterwards. So I call her and she says, Hey, 0:10:52.440 --> 0:10:54.880 we're actually excited about this. I'm excited to read your 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:57.040 your pilot. I said, yeah, quit. I go. Look, it's 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:58.599 just a temporary thing, just so you can kind of 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:00.760 see what the flavors are and how the show goorks 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:05.000 goes okay. So I get a call that night from her, 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.360 which is weird. It would always be an email, and 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:09.439 it would never be that night unless it was like, 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:11.600 oh my god, we love this and we have to 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.120 buy it, in which case it would be a phone 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:15.200 call because they don't want to avoid my lawyer cost 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:19.320 the more money. So I say hello, and I know 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:22.120 who it is, and she goes, Freddy, did you write this? 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.559 I said yeah. She goes, and we have a good 0:11:26.640 --> 0:11:28.880 enough relationship. She goes, I really didn't respond to this 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.199 at all, and I was like, really, what about this? This? 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:34.520 So and so monologue. I thought that was a promo 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:36.040 we call it, but monologue they called. I go. I 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.120 thought that would be right up your alley because there's 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:40.160 no there's no monologue at all. I did say monologue. 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:41.800 Be goes, there's no monologues at all, Like, what do 0:11:41.840 --> 0:11:45.520 you mean? Send send me the script because now I'm like, 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:50.079 I already know what's happened, and everything has changed every 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:54.280 single page. And I called my friend back. I got yed. 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.280 This old man is trying to sabotage me. I don't 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:59.640 know why. I don't have a contract with him. You 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.400 don't what I don't. I was doing a favor, but 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:04.960 clearly he does not want my help. So I'm gonna 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.079 step back. I go, if you want to read my pilot, 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:09.280 I'll send it to you. She goes, don't even send 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:11.080 it to me. I'm not buying this show, said, all right. 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:16.800 So it's the third meeting that's coming up, and I 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:20.559 text dude to UH to talk about the pitch, and 0:12:20.600 --> 0:12:24.000 I don't hear back. And then Uh. I texted him again, 0:12:24.080 --> 0:12:27.640 it's about a week out. I don't hear back. Third 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:33.000 fourth fit text nothing. I text the boss the finance 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.280 here and I say, hey, what's going on. So I've 0:12:36.280 --> 0:12:38.680 texted homeboy a few times. I haven't heard anything back 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.200 our meetings in like two days or this was a 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.000 text that I wrote. And I get a phone call 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:47.280 back and she says, uh, Freddy, I'm really sorry. I 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:49.160 thought he told me he was gonna he was gonna 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.360 talk to you, but he doesn't. He doesn't want to 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.480 work with you, and he's really uncomfortable, and so we're 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:56.680 just gonna walk away. And I said, let me ask 0:12:56.720 --> 0:13:00.880 you something. Did his friend get the promotion that he 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.640 was talking about? And it's dead client on her end 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:07.120 of the phone, and I literally almost said the name. 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:10.400 I literally go, this is insane. I said, I was 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.199 doing this for free, and now that he doesn't need 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.760 me to get a meeting at a TV network because 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:19.760 his friends there, he's just kicking me out. And she goes, 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:21.600 oh my god, I'm so sorry. Da da da dada. 0:13:21.640 --> 0:13:23.120 I go, it's all right. I go, I'm not mad 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:25.200 at you. I go, you know, it wasn't It wasn't 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:27.480 a job anyway. Best of luck, good luck. And they 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.920 actually got a TV deal without any of my assistants whatsoever. 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.240 They didn't need it. I didn't have anger when it 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.199 was over because it was just more weird and the 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:38.280 kind of guy he was was so old school and 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:42.280 and transparent that you know, I wasn't trying to smash 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.240 on the guy before or after the fact, because it's 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:48.679 just a different were from different generations, and neither one 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:52.720 of us is going to change. So instead of getting angry, 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:58.160 all that energy started, Like I don't know, man, It's like, 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:02.520 do you know when you're in a dream and you 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:07.080 know you're about to wake up and reality starts to 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:12.320 slip into the context of the dream, so all of 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:16.400 a sudden, whatever you were dreaming feels much more attainable. 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:19.600 Does that make sense to anyone out there at all? 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:21.880 It's happened to me a million times in my life, 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:23.880 and I feel like it's one of the main reasons 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:29.160 why I've never not accomplished a goal that I set 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:32.120 my mind to. Every everything I wanted to do in Hollywood, 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:34.760 I did everything I wanted to do. In wrestling, I did. 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:36.880 I'm not even done with jiu jitsu, but every goal 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:38.840 I said in jiu jitsu, I've accomplished so far and 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:41.280 that journey will never in thank God. So I started 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:47.040 dreaming about wrestling. I started dreaming about men's wrestling, women's 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:53.400 wrestling bodies smashing together, or as Biggie would say, medi men, 0:14:54.600 --> 0:14:58.080 media manly men slapping meet against one another. That's a 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.480 Biggie would say. Shout out to Biggie, I'd love you. 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:05.040 So I start having this dream, and I remember my godfather, 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:08.200 Bob Wall Rest in peace. He said, dreams are what 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:13.040 happens when other people are making plans, and that philosophy 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.120 is one of the main reasons. Now it's one of 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:20.680 many reasons that I've been able to find success. I 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.720 don't spend too much time dreaming. The moment I have 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.760 the dream and I know it's something I want, I 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:31.200 start planning. So the first thing I did was call 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:35.440 my accountant and I said, Hey, I'm gonna try to 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:38.280 figure out how much money I need to uh to 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.440 start a wrestling promotion, and I'm gonna hit you back. 0:15:41.440 --> 0:15:43.480 And he said, you better go get a job because 0:15:43.480 --> 0:15:45.920 I'm not gonna let you spend any of the money 0:15:45.960 --> 0:15:48.880 that you saved up over the years for wrestling promotion. 0:15:49.720 --> 0:15:52.480 And I respect my accountant. I called my manager, I 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:54.280 called my agent. I said, yo, man, I want to 0:15:54.280 --> 0:15:58.880 go back to work, and they said, great, Why And 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.760 I told my manager the reason why you started laughing 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.240 at me. You said, you're absolutely insane. I said, I know, 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.400 man as, but I'll have fun doing it. I only 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.080 want to work with, you know, good people. We don't 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.600 have to be, you know, desperate for stuff. But let 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.240 people know that I'm that I'm hungry. And I had 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:18.480 never worked for Netflix before. I didn't really know anyone 0:16:18.520 --> 0:16:21.520 over there. So I had like a video general meeting 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:24.600 with them and it went well, and they offered me 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.000 this romantic comedy. Of course, it's it's always a romantic 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.920 comedy if it's for me, if it's if I audition 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.760 for your movie it's an action movie, or like I 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:37.480 want to be a tough guy or something like that. 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:40.960 If it's Sweetie sweet Cakes, then they're like, oh, man, 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:44.960 give that crap to Freddie. So I read this script 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:50.280 and it's charming as all hell. It's a Latino family, 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:53.680 and you gotta remember that's always been something I've been 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:57.440 insecure about because my father was half so I'm only 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.960 a quarter, right, So I was never really fully except 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:04.480 did I felt by a lot of the Latino community. 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.040 I think I've touched on this before. It used to 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:08.600 be called the n c l A or the National 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:13.280 Council for Larrassa, and now it's something different. But screw 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:16.520 those guys straight up. I told them I didn't speak 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:19.760 Spanish on purpose, just to hear what they would say 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.800 about me and my father, and they said it all baby. 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:26.359 So anytime I get an opportunity like that, and it 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:29.960 isn't often, at least a lot of times, I'll change 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:32.679 the name after the fact, Like on his name was 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.800 not Cole Ortiz. Coal is not a Latino name. His 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:38.160 name was like Cole McGuire and they're like, oh, look, 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:40.080 we hired Freddie and this will look like we're a 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:43.880 diverse show. Ha ha. It's Ortiz And that's what Hollywood does. 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.240 That's diversity for them. Everyone's white until you hire someone 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:54.080 that's not and then you change the name. So anyway, um, 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:56.479 I take this this joy. I meet with the director, 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:00.040 female director who I just Her name is Gabriella, and 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:01.520 I just fell in love with her. Man. She gave 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:03.800 me some of the Granted I hadn't worked in forever, 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.080 so notes weren't fresh in my head, but some of 0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:08.040 the things she said to me just unlocked a ton 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:10.840 of ship. I got to work with this great actress, 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.280 Amy Garcia. You guys know her from that show Lucifer. 0:18:13.359 --> 0:18:16.719 She plays the nerd. She basically plays Shakira in this movie, 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:21.040 and it's like sexy and the opposite of her character 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:25.120 on Lucifer. She's just a stone assassin and she's partners 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.879 with a j who we've had on this show. They're 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.959 too crazy Puerto Rican girls and their writing partners, and 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:32.760 I swear in ten years they're going to be running 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:46.560 the business. I'm doing this movie and it's making me 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:50.080 fall in love with acting again. And as hungry as 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:55.800 I was getting to act again, it never outweighed the 0:18:55.920 --> 0:19:01.720 desire to start the promotion. So long winded story. Notice 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:04.119 I didn't say long story short, because that was not short. 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:09.200 Here's the plan. I was talking with Sam Roberts, who 0:19:09.240 --> 0:19:12.600 has a lovely podcast as well, the Sam Roberts Show 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:17.359 last year Professional in the Damn Business, and he mentioned 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:20.639 g c W. He goes, you have to watch it. 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:23.640 They tell a story every single show and it's great. 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:25.879 He goes, they're gonna ask some stuff that that you 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:27.800 don't vibe with, and they're gonna have some stuff that 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:30.760 you love, I know it go okay. So I watch 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:34.000 a g c W show and sure enough I see 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.680 a death match, and I'm freaking like, it's just too much. 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.520 It was too much blood for me, right, too much, 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:41.480 and there's room for blood and wrestling. I believe that 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:45.640 it's a it's a big, big part. And it wasn't 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:47.520 every match in g c W, which was smart, but 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:50.600 I was not. I was not prepared. I watched the 0:19:50.640 --> 0:19:52.800 rest of the show and I thought they did a 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:58.120 great job. And I started watching other shows, older shows, 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:01.560 old Ring of Honor. A started listening to Jim Cornett 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:05.119 and his philosophies on wrestling, started listening to other promoters 0:20:05.119 --> 0:20:08.440 and people in the business and their philosophies on wrestling. 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:12.160 I started watching what other wrestlers were trying to do. 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:16.879 I started asking everyone I knew in the business questions. 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:21.480 Then I started looking at arenas locally here and and 0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:25.639 what it would cost a rhom. And then as I 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:30.160 saw what my opportunities would be in this business, as 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:31.919 there would be more of them after I did the 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:36.480 Netflix one, I started saying, well, I can accelerate the plan, 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:42.040 or I could keep the plan as it is, do 0:20:42.160 --> 0:20:47.800 a couple more of these and own the space, which 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:50.560 I believe right now is the plan that I'm going 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:54.919 to execute. I've already have a commercial realtor that I 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:58.159 know and love. She's already looking at properties for me. 0:20:58.680 --> 0:21:01.240 I would love to have a all time home for this. 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:04.720 The plan was originally a two year plan. Now I 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:07.000