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Speaker 1: M M. What's up everybody? Welcome back to Wrestling with Freddie. Today,

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Speaker 1: we have a special guest because he's a fan of

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Speaker 1: wrestling just like me. He may have zero zero in

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Speaker 1: ring experience, however, he's known across the world. In Mexico

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Speaker 1: they call him Elnarie, In Colombia they call him what

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Speaker 1: they also call him Elnars and everywhere else he's known

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Speaker 1: as the Great Hill. Wanni. Now stopping up to the mic,

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Speaker 1: the host of Wrestling with Freddie, Freddie Prince, Junior, Ladies

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Speaker 1: and gentlemen, A good friend of the show, Mr Ariel

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Speaker 1: Hall Wanni. How are you, sir? Oh? I'm doing so well.

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Speaker 1: It is such an honor to be here. I would

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Speaker 1: argue that I'm the biggest fan of this program. My

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Speaker 1: routine is every Wednesday morning as I drive to do

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Speaker 1: my show the May Hour, I listened to you and

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Speaker 1: I love story Time with Freddy. I mean, you are

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Speaker 1: one of the all time great storytellers. The ends are great,

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Speaker 1: A J. Lee's great, all the stuff, But to hear

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Speaker 1: you tell these stories with the passion and the detail

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Speaker 1: and the exuberance of something that happened eleven years ago.

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Speaker 1: You're telling it to us like it happened yesterday. It's amazing.

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Speaker 1: I love everything about it. I can't get enough. I'm

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Speaker 1: sad when it and so it's a huge honor for

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Speaker 1: me to be here. You, uh, you've encouraged me a

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Speaker 1: lot through this process. I told you about this project

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Speaker 1: before I told anyone outside my wife. UM, and you've

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Speaker 1: been so good to me throughout this and I appreciate

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Speaker 1: your advice and and just and just you saying yes

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Speaker 1: and come in to talk today. I always have fun

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Speaker 1: when I go and do your show. Um. I wish

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Speaker 1: I was like a regular guest that came in and

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Speaker 1: did like your bets or something, but I don't know

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Speaker 1: anything about gambling, so that wouldn't work out well. But

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Speaker 1: I'm glad to have you on because you love professional wrestling.

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Speaker 1: And I learned this by watching your show and seeing

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Speaker 1: you and the great Daniel Cormier go in on one

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Speaker 1: of the one of the great ones. Oh no the

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Speaker 1: rocks the great one, but one of the one of

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Speaker 1: the also great ones book or t and you guys

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Speaker 1: didn't back down at all. You were good on the mike.

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Speaker 1: You were like they had these old school manager eighties

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Speaker 1: vibes where I was just like, oh my, this is

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Speaker 1: like he's in the Crockett territory right now. Um, when

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Speaker 1: did you fall in love with wrestling? Well, first of all,

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Speaker 1: what a great compliment. Um, before it's all said and done,

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Speaker 1: before this journey called life is done, I would I

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Speaker 1: would love just just one time, just let me be

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Speaker 1: that old school he'll manager. I would love to do it.

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Speaker 1: And I think Daniel Cormier would be a perfect guy

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Speaker 1: because of his you know, his chops as the All American,

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Speaker 1: the Olympia and all that stuff. Um. So I've grown

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Speaker 1: up admiring those guys, in particular Bobby the Brain, the Slickster,

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Speaker 1: Mr Fuji, Paul Hayman, m v P. Now I love

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Speaker 1: those guys, uh. I remember, I mean my earliest days

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Speaker 1: just as a human being involved wrestling, Like I remember

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Speaker 1: vividly being at Avenue Video in Montreal in TMR shopping center.

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Speaker 1: None of your listeners except for the ones I grew

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Speaker 1: up in Montreal will know what I'm talking about. And

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Speaker 1: there was the WrestleMania one box with Mr ten Hull

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Speaker 1: Hogan and I remember renting it, um, and I was

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Speaker 1: four years old. It was probably eighties six that I

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Speaker 1: rented it. It It happened in eighty five, of course, but

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Speaker 1: I was four and eighties six, and I remember telling

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Speaker 1: my parents I wanted to rent this. And then I

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Speaker 1: had a massive box of lj N toys, the old

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Speaker 1: school ones, right, you know, like the rubber ones, massive box,

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Speaker 1: and I would record cards, like I would put the

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Speaker 1: cam quarter next to the ring, and I would like

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Speaker 1: lay out all the guys and I would do a

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Speaker 1: whole card. I would let it run for like two hours,

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Speaker 1: and I would do all the matches, would sit there

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Speaker 1: with my legs cross and do all the matches, and so,

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Speaker 1: you know, like my my first memories of being a

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Speaker 1: fan of anything is me being a pro wresting fan.

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Speaker 1: I'll never forget first grade, my birthday. They're having a

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Speaker 1: house show at the Montreal Forum on a Friday night,

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Speaker 1: and everyone in school was talking about it. Everyone was saying,

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Speaker 1: they're going, They're going, and I wasn't going, and I

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Speaker 1: was so bummed. I remember my friend wore a Hercules

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Speaker 1: t shirt to school and I remember being so jealous

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Speaker 1: that I wasn't going. And I remember that Friday night

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Speaker 1: playing soccer with my brothers in the basement, and I

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Speaker 1: remember seeing it was a basement. We had like some

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Speaker 1: windows at the top and I remember seeing some some

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Speaker 1: like legs walking by and I was like, wait a second,

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Speaker 1: I think that's my and I'm in the first grade.

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Speaker 1: I think that's my friends shoes up there. So I

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Speaker 1: run upstairs and all my friends are waiting for me

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Speaker 1: in our kitchen. My parents got us all tickets to

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Speaker 1: the Muntreal for him to go to the house show,

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Speaker 1: my first event live and I'll never forget my favorite

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Speaker 1: guy with Brett to him and Heart. And he went

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Speaker 1: up against Mr Perfect and they went the distance and

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Speaker 1: Brett was dead tired. He rolled over Mr Perfect and

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Speaker 1: it went one too and the bell went off and

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Speaker 1: they went to the time limit, and so it ended

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Speaker 1: up being a draw. Like I remember this in my

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Speaker 1: brain when I was a kid, and I would get shot.

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Speaker 1: Sorry for going along, but I get passionate when I

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Speaker 1: talk about this. My mom said to me, think of

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Speaker 1: something you love to make you not think of the shot.

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Speaker 1: And I my choice was Bret Heart went in the

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Speaker 1: World Championship before he ever wanted for the first time.

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Speaker 1: That's what I would pick to make me feel happy

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Speaker 1: and forget about the shot. So these are my early

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Speaker 1: memories of being a wrestling fan and wife, so finally

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Speaker 1: of it. So what you said in the very beginning

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Speaker 1: of the podcast where you said you just like to

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Speaker 1: sit back and listen because it feels like yesterday, that's

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Speaker 1: literally what you just did. And it always brings me

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Speaker 1: back to the magic of professional wrestling. And we're of

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Speaker 1: an age pre Montreal screw job, which I wanna get

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Speaker 1: into with you, because you had the pleasure or the

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Speaker 1: displeasure depending on how you look at it, of actually

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Speaker 1: being there. But when I was a kid, it was magical,

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Speaker 1: it was real. I've never had a bad memory from

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Speaker 1: a professional wrestling show ever, and so when I even

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Speaker 1: when I worked there, and even on days that we're

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Speaker 1: awful days like I still remember sneaking away, like into

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Speaker 1: the side holes where like guys would do run ins

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Speaker 1: and stuff, and I just watched the matches for free,

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Speaker 1: basically because as a kid we couldn't really even though

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Speaker 1: the most affordable ticket my dad earned money for a

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Speaker 1: year and I promised we didn't get any of it,

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Speaker 1: so we grew up with nothing. Man, my mom worked

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Speaker 1: two jobs, so wrestling was sort of where I found

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Speaker 1: my father. Figures, right, the guys I I've always wanted

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Speaker 1: to be big, and I just want to be giant

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Speaker 1: and buff just once. It just wasn't in the genetic

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Speaker 1: pool for me. But I worshiped those guys, and then

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Speaker 1: when I got to meet some of them and see

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Speaker 1: their humanity and relate to him, it made it. This

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Speaker 1: will sound weird to everyone but you or other wrestling fans,

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Speaker 1: it made the investment that I put in emotionally all

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Speaker 1: worthwhile because the Undertaker was awesome, because the Big Show

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Speaker 1: was awesome, because Sergeant Slaughter was awesome, even though he

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Speaker 1: turned us back on America. Um. But it was a

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Speaker 1: magical moment for me, and I didn't get to go

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Speaker 1: see a show until post Montreal Screwjob. I'm wondering, I

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Speaker 1: want now if you could. This is the only thing

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Speaker 1: you have that I'm jealous of. Okay, yeah, I'm not

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Speaker 1: jealous of your martial arts connections. I got martial arts

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Speaker 1: connections to baby, I'm not. I'm not jealous of your

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Speaker 1: Canadian connections. I got Canadian homies to shout out Keith

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Speaker 1: calub Um. But you got to go to the match

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Speaker 1: of all matches, the most discussed match in the history

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Speaker 1: of wrestling, all around the world, regardless of what country

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Speaker 1: you're from. Um, you were at the Montreal screw job.

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Speaker 1: Can you do you remember what the day was? Like?

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Speaker 1: Do you remember? Tell me? Ever, what did you eat

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Speaker 1: for breakfast? Like? What what happened? Makes crazy about that story? Um?

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Speaker 1: So eighties hardcore wrestling fan, hardcore hardcore hardcore around ninety four. Now,

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Speaker 1: I actually fall out of love with wrestling, and I

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Speaker 1: fall in love with the NBA. I was a huge

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Speaker 1: NBA fan. That was my big thing. So like I

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Speaker 1: started to love like n B A and F. I

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Speaker 1: was a big Knicks fan. They were having a great year.

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Speaker 1: The Bills were my favorite football team. I was a

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Speaker 1: huge Montreal expost baseball fan. So like I really started

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Speaker 1: to get involved in um, like the regular sports, right,

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Speaker 1: So like that era of and it was kind of

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Speaker 1: like an up and down era for you know, w

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Speaker 1: WF at the time they're they're they're trying to figure

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Speaker 1: themselves out. Here comes you know, WCW all that stuff.

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Speaker 1: And so I'm actually um at my driving lessons course,

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Speaker 1: right and side note about me? As you like to say,

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Speaker 1: what do you like to say? What's the what do

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Speaker 1: you say when side quest? Uh? So I don't know

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Speaker 1: how it is where you grew up in Quebec. You

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Speaker 1: have to pass your permit and then pass your actual

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Speaker 1: test as a driver. Failed the permit twice, got it

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Speaker 1: on the third time, failed the test four times, got

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Speaker 1: it on the fifth time. I had to go back

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Speaker 1: eight times total to get this damn license. Um. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: one of the times, I'm sitting with my good friend

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Speaker 1: Jason Tacofman and we're in the cafeteria after I failed

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Speaker 1: another test of my permit, and he's telling me that

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Speaker 1: the Survivor series is coming to Montreal in November. Now,

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Speaker 1: no pay per view had ever come to Montreal, and

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Speaker 1: I'm pretty sure at that point, I mean, there was

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Speaker 1: maybe one or two in Canada, but never came to Montreal.

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Speaker 1: And I grew up. The pay per views are never

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Speaker 1: available live, like I remember vividly trying to find WrestleMania

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Speaker 1: six somewhere and not being able to find it live

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Speaker 1: like I would always have to wait till the following

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Speaker 1: Saturday afternoon Maple Leaf Wrestling, you know, me and Jean

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Speaker 1: would go through the results and then I would have

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Speaker 1: to wait a month till it came out Coliseum Home video.

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Speaker 1: So like the fact that a pay per view was

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Speaker 1: coming to Matreal, even though I wasn't really following the

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Speaker 1: product with mind blowing, and we said we had to go,

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Speaker 1: so we bought tickets and we went. So he brings

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Speaker 1: me up to speed. Now we're at this ninety seven

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Speaker 1: and fifteen. The internet is just starting right, and so

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Speaker 1: we're somewhat aware of what's going on, but we're not

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Speaker 1: so aware. And I'll never forget. I remember where I

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Speaker 1: went to dinner the night before, actually a restaurant called

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Speaker 1: Weinstein and Gavino was in downtown Montreal, Like I remember

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Speaker 1: everything about that weekend, and I remember going and the

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Speaker 1: first thing I hit me were all the signs in

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Speaker 1: the crowd, because again I hadn't really been watching the product,

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Speaker 1: so it was the air of like all the Neon signs,

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Speaker 1: and I'm like, what the hell is this? Like this

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Speaker 1: wasn't a thing five years ago. And I remember like

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Speaker 1: a few things hit me, the oddities. I was like, whoa,

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Speaker 1: these dudes came out with like a cartman doll and

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Speaker 1: stuff that's freaking weird. I remember Sable. I'll be honest,

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Speaker 1: I'm fifteen years old, and like this woman comes out

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Speaker 1: in the leather outfit and you're like, holy sh it,

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Speaker 1: this is not the wrestling that I grew up in

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Speaker 1: in the eighties, Like it was like mind blowing for

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Speaker 1: a teenager. Um And so I remember Sonny, I remember

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Speaker 1: all these things. I remember Kane, and then I remember

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Speaker 1: the main event, and now, so Bret Hart was my favorite,

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Speaker 1: like my first favorite athlete, right, I love this guy,

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Speaker 1: I leave was everything that I wanted to be Canadian superherot,

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Speaker 1: the coolest glasses, the pink I love pink till this day,

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Speaker 1: the hair, everything, and so I and I know Sean Michaels.

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Speaker 1: Of course I hated Sean Michael's and so the people

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Speaker 1: around us were telling us what was going on, and

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Speaker 1: there were rumors that this was gonna be the last match,

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Speaker 1: and then of course it ends. Now when you're high

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Speaker 1: up like I was, you're not really quite sure, like

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Speaker 1: did he tap? Did he not tap? Like I can't

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Speaker 1: pretend like I knew exactly what Earl Hevner did, But

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Speaker 1: I sure as hell stayed till the very end, and

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Speaker 1: I remember vividly him trashing everything, trashing the monitors, trashing

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Speaker 1: the announced table, and then I remember him doing w

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Speaker 1: c W with his hands, you know, with his finger,

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Speaker 1: and I was like, what the hell this is nuts?

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Speaker 1: And so like this is like a Sunday night, and

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Speaker 1: you know, I'm in high school and stuff. I go

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Speaker 1: home and I'll never forget going into my basement and

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Speaker 1: being like open. The world of internet wrestling just hit

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Speaker 1: me scoops Wrestling dot Com and rajah w W and

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Speaker 1: reading everything, and that ignited and then I became a

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Speaker 1: bigger fan than I ever was. And I remember Brett

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Speaker 1: screwed bread and all this stuff, and so it was funny,

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Speaker 1: like it was my reintroduction and it was also what

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Speaker 1: got me to fall in love once again with progressing

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Speaker 1: and get so far into it more so than I

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Speaker 1: was as a kid. Okay, so that's gonna lead me

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Speaker 1: to my next thing, because it's a it's a section

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Speaker 1: of wrestling that you and I disagree on. But for

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Speaker 1: those who are listening that that and I hear this

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Speaker 1: a lot on social media, They're like, I don't know

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Speaker 1: anything about wrestling. I just like hearing these stories. What

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Speaker 1: Ariel just shared with you is so significant in the

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Speaker 1: wrestling business because every single thing about it changed until

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Speaker 1: this moment. People within the industry did not comment on

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Speaker 1: the fact that it was choreographed and the results were predetermined.

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Speaker 1: It just wasn't discussed. People outside the business did. And

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Speaker 1: all of a sudden on a promoter is gonna lose

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Speaker 1: his top wrestler to his competitors. So it's like the

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Speaker 1: Lakers losing Shack to the Celtics. Brett hated this man

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Speaker 1: so much that he refused to do it. So the

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Speaker 1: owner of the company, Vince McMahon, makes a choice that

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Speaker 1: in a submission hold, he's just gonna tell the ref

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Speaker 1: say that Bret Hart tapped and get me my title back.

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Speaker 1: And they actually freaking did this. And every wrestling fan

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Speaker 1: on earth has obsessed over this. Every person in the

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Speaker 1: business have done like four hour like deep dives on this.

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Speaker 1: And you're getting to hear it from someone who is

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Speaker 1: actually there, and you said, this moment is what brought

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Speaker 1: you back and you fell in love with what was

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Speaker 1: known and still is known as the Attitude era of wrestling.

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Speaker 1: Am I right? That is? I mean like at that

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Speaker 1: point now was all in. By the way, I don't

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Speaker 1: know if you've ever seen the documentary Wrestling with Shadows Um,

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Speaker 1: but it's about that story and and on the building

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Speaker 1: I mean the access that those guys got. I've seen

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Speaker 1: that documentary maybe fifteen times. I love Maybe my Dad

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Speaker 1: and Beyond the Mat probably my two favorite wrestling documentaries.

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Speaker 1: So if there's any non wrestling fans listening to this,

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Speaker 1: I high the suggest those and yes. So at that point,

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Speaker 1: like I'm all in in Canada at the time, in Montreal,

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Speaker 1: we didn't even get Raw live. Raw would come on

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Speaker 1: sometimes at eleven, sometimes at twelve, sometimes at one am.

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Speaker 1: So it was like it was really tough in those

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Speaker 1: days to be a fan, and you guys were really

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Speaker 1: lucky that you would get things live. You would get

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Speaker 1: Nitro live, Like we didn't get that stuff live. Only

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Speaker 1: like late nineties didn't start to become, you know, a

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Speaker 1: thing where it would actually be live for us as well.

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Speaker 1: My family got a satellite dish, so it became easier.

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Speaker 1: When I was in college, I was so lonely and

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Speaker 1: I was so homesick, and I had horrendous social anxiety

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Speaker 1: to the point where like when I was living in

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Speaker 1: a dorm my my first year, I would wait till

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Speaker 1: like two three am until I heard no one in

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Speaker 1: the hallways just to go brush my teeth. So I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't have to interact with anyone. I would eat almonds

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Speaker 1: for dinner because I didn't want to go to the

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Speaker 1: cafeteria and have dinner around any kids. My only friend

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Speaker 1: with pro wrestling. I watched everything. I would even order

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Speaker 1: Wednesday night ten A pay per views if you remember

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Speaker 1: that every Wednesday they would do the team I would

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Speaker 1: watch that Ciena SmackDown Raw. I was watching old w CW.

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Speaker 1: I was going back into the archives finding it like

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Speaker 1: that was my only friend. In fact, I had speech um,

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Speaker 1: a persuasive speech. Final. My persuasive speech was, I am

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Speaker 1: going to persuade you to order WWF Judgment Day this

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Speaker 1: Sunday because it was the first time that both belts

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Speaker 1: were gonna be on the line. Chris Jericho ends up

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Speaker 1: becoming the you know, the undisputed champion. That was my

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Speaker 1: project and I got an a for it. That was like,

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Speaker 1: that's how hardcore I was about wrestling at that time.

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Speaker 1: So uh yeah, it was great, Like that era was

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Speaker 1: amazing and it's it's it's a it's a thing that

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Speaker 1: I hold near and dear to my heart. I want

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Speaker 1: to back up for a second. Why do you think

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Speaker 1: you got so this was college Why do you think

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Speaker 1: you got so lonely? Was it? Did loneliness lead you

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Speaker 1: to wrestling? Or were there not wrestling fans They're wrestling

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Speaker 1: Midge led to the loneliness? What. I'm sure there were

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Speaker 1: fans that I could have bonded with, that I could

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Speaker 1: have watched things with. I was. I am very very

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Speaker 1: close to my parents, and I'm very close to my mom,

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Speaker 1: and uh, I wanted to go live this dream of

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Speaker 1: going to see I'm very goal oriented and and I believe, like,

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Speaker 1: you know, you only get one life, and I don't

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Speaker 1: want to be eighty five and regret that, you know,

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Speaker 1: I didn't go for it, and I was. I was

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Speaker 1: taken by the magic of TV and like getting beamed

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Speaker 1: into someone's home and people sitting around and watching you

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Speaker 1: and your you know Howard Cosell right, Like I grew

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Speaker 1: up idolizing these people. So, um, I wanted to go,

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Speaker 1: and I knew I had to go, but it would

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Speaker 1: break my heart seeing her cry when I would leave.

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Speaker 1: It would break my heart. Um missing like my friends

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Speaker 1: in the community that I grew up in Montreal, no

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Speaker 1: one goes away to college, Like it's not a part

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Speaker 1: of the culture. All my friends, stayed home, lived at home,

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Speaker 1: went in party together, like I missed everything, and so

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Speaker 1: I just felt really really um out of place, and

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Speaker 1: I felt like I was like sacrificing the person to

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Speaker 1: life for the professional dream. And I just it was crippling.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I went to see a therapist that didn't

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Speaker 1: work out. It was it was really really it was

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Speaker 1: the worst three years of my life. If I didn't

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Speaker 1: do it, I don't know if I end up where

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Speaker 1: I am now. So I'm glad that I did it.

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Speaker 1: But I mean that this was like, you know, get

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Speaker 1: the f out time, you know, this was like Wrestleman twenty,

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Speaker 1: Like wrestling was the one friend. I mean, I had

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Speaker 1: stacks of tapes. It was all I did, all I watched,

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Speaker 1: all I thought about. It was the only thing that

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Speaker 1: got my mind off of how depressed I was. It's

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Speaker 1: it's crazy the emotional sacrifice that has to be made

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Speaker 1: on a daily basis to pursue what people call a

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Speaker 1: crazy dream, right like, to to to accomplish something that

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Speaker 1: big requires an amount of selfishness. And I don't mean

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Speaker 1: that in a bad way. I just mean you have

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Speaker 1: to focus on self. The goal oriented people. I think

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Speaker 1: understand this, and it's usually the people I click with

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Speaker 1: the most. And oddly enough, every one of our guests

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Speaker 1: have kind of broken this down similarly to to the

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Speaker 1: way you have. Um, but this I remember when I

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Speaker 1: was a young actor and booking movies and they didn't

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Speaker 1: shoot anything in Hollywood anymore because of tax breaks and

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Speaker 1: other states and countries and things like that, and I

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Speaker 1: had to leave everything that made me comfortable. I my

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Speaker 1: godfather was Bob Wall who we just lost last week.

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Speaker 1: He passed away. Um oh no, you know. He was

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Speaker 1: a wonderful man and and introduced me to so many,

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Speaker 1: so many other father figures that I had in my life,

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Speaker 1: but he was the most predominant one for certain. But

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Speaker 1: I remember having to leave him and his wife and

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Speaker 1: my two god sisters for my first movie. And it

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Speaker 1: was a small nothing bar Bro. I had like three

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Speaker 1: little scenes, but it was a Michelle fight for movies.

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Speaker 1: So I was excited and I only I was there

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Speaker 1: like six weeks. I only worked like four days, and

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Speaker 1: every other day was just loneliness. There was no cell phone,

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Speaker 1: there was no anything back then. It was just loneliness,

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Speaker 1: and I remember just wanting to come home. I wasn't

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Speaker 1: getting to train martial arts. There were no martial arts

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Speaker 1: academies on Nantucket. They dyed my hair this crazy blonde color,

378
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Speaker 1: so none of like the local hoity toity shops would

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Speaker 1: like serve me food. They were like, get out of here.

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Speaker 1: I'm like, what are you talking about. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to look like this. I'm an actor. Get out of

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Speaker 1: here and punk. I'm like, oh my god, like it was,

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Speaker 1: I hated it. I bought a kite. I think I

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Speaker 1: was like nineteen. I bought a kite and just went

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Speaker 1: to the beach and the guy dude, I was like, yo,

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Speaker 1: what is my life right now? But that's that's sadness.

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Speaker 1: I think is necessary to accomplish big dreams. You know,

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Speaker 1: it's not there's nothing scary about not leaving, and there's

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Speaker 1: nothing wrong with that. But if you have a dream

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Speaker 1: and it's a big one, it's gonna be scary. You're

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Speaker 1: gonna be afraid, and putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation

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Speaker 1: is the best way for you to grow and developed

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Speaker 1: the the emotional skills and the skills necessary for the

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Speaker 1: dream itself and then have them come true. And I

395
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Speaker 1: look at and I've watched your career forever. Man. Like

396
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:11,280
Speaker 1: Bob wall was the first investor in UFC one, he

397
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,119
Speaker 1: didn't make any of the billions, right, it was just

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00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,639
Speaker 1: a one time little deal and they all took a

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Speaker 1: bath on it. But like I've watched you from the

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Speaker 1: beginning of your career, from the first time I saw

401
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,160
Speaker 1: you talk M M A and whatever year it was. Dude,

402
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,880
Speaker 1: you were so young. You looked like just a punk kid,

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Speaker 1: and I just wanted to punch you in the face.

404
00:20:30,640 --> 00:20:33,359
Speaker 1: And I watched I did, dude, well you know, like

405
00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,200
Speaker 1: me could You just were like you were just young.

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00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:41,040
Speaker 1: And I was like, man, he's like stirring it up, man,

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Speaker 1: And I was just you know what I mean. And

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Speaker 1: I was I was so old school from Bob Ball

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Speaker 1: and all those guys, you know what I mean. So

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00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:48,320
Speaker 1: it was just like who is this guy? And then

411
00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:51,240
Speaker 1: I just watched you like grow and grow, and I

412
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,840
Speaker 1: saw how much you actually cared about the fighters, even

413
00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:58,760
Speaker 1: though you had a job to do. And I found

414
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Speaker 1: you to be and I don't maybe it's just the

415
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,520
Speaker 1: sport that allows you more room to kind of circumnavigate

416
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Speaker 1: back and forth where you can protect the fighters, do

417
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:12,360
Speaker 1: your job or because it's very hard to protect an

418
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Speaker 1: ego and to be a journalist at the same time. Right,

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Speaker 1: Like it's it's just it's just difficult. I've I've seen

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Speaker 1: it from the other end where I'm like, they didn't

421
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,720
Speaker 1: mean to be disrespectful. God, that question is brutal, and

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Speaker 1: I just don't want to have to answer that. So

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Speaker 1: it's it's tough. And I've seen you be able to

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Speaker 1: do that from a kid who was at the Montreal

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Speaker 1: screw job to the to the highest of highs in

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Speaker 1: the industry. Like you've done the corporate thing, You've done

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00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:42,919
Speaker 1: to build your own empire thing. Now you're in the

428
00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:46,840
Speaker 1: happiness phase. Like it's just crazy to see. And I

429
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,400
Speaker 1: would like to say that it's all because of Bret Hart.

430
00:21:57,840 --> 00:21:59,800
Speaker 1: I won't say just Bret Hart, but it's all because

431
00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:01,920
Speaker 1: of A wrestling. I am not an m m A fan.

432
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,520
Speaker 1: If it's not for pro wrestling m m A. Anyone

433
00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,560
Speaker 1: who argues against the fact that m m A was

434
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,120
Speaker 1: born out of pro wrestling m m as roots are

435
00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,240
Speaker 1: firmly intrenched in the proressling you are kidding yourself. There

436
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:16,240
Speaker 1: is no m m A without pro wrestling. I mean,

437
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:18,920
Speaker 1: just even going back to Antonio and Oki and Muhammad

438
00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:22,520
Speaker 1: Ali in the seventies like this, Yes, but but it

439
00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:24,600
Speaker 1: was like the pro wrestler guy you know and who

440
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:26,760
Speaker 1: you know, who knows what was real what wasn't. But

441
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,560
Speaker 1: the point is, like this sport, the best of m

442
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,480
Speaker 1: m A is when it borrows from pro wrestling. Like

443
00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,600
Speaker 1: the guys who are the biggest stars are the characters,

444
00:22:34,880 --> 00:22:37,520
Speaker 1: are the guys who are larger than life, the entrances,

445
00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:39,560
Speaker 1: all that stuff is all from pro wrestling. And then

446
00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,520
Speaker 1: you have guys now like Israel Adrisania who's like, yeah,

447
00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:44,159
Speaker 1: I grew up in the Attitude era and like the

448
00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:46,479
Speaker 1: rock and booker tea and he's freaking out because bookers

449
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,719
Speaker 1: in the press conference like look at him, look at

450
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,240
Speaker 1: the showman that he is, look at the star that

451
00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,760
Speaker 1: he has become because he understands how to sell and

452
00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:55,639
Speaker 1: how to promote and all this stuff. So yes, uh,

453
00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:00,040
Speaker 1: you know it's funny because post graduation, I like and

454
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:02,719
Speaker 1: down the route of TV production and it led me

455
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,399
Speaker 1: to actually becoming good friends with Kurt Angle because I

456
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: was working for Spike TV, and uh, I got to

457
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 1: write like a little mini like a short film for

458
00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:14,760
Speaker 1: Kurt when he moved over to t n A and

459
00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,840
Speaker 1: we really developed a great relationship. And in fact, one

460
00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:20,359
Speaker 1: of the things he told me early on was that

461
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,920
Speaker 1: I reminded him of Brian Gowertz because of the Syracuse connection,

462
00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:25,879
Speaker 1: because you know, he just said that to me, and

463
00:23:25,920 --> 00:23:28,240
Speaker 1: I was like, I'll take that as a compliment. Um,

464
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,800
Speaker 1: I've mentioned Brian, of course, yes, um, and I've asked

465
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,760
Speaker 1: you about you know about Brian a little bit. But um,

466
00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 1: we became he wanted to punch me in the face

467
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:38,679
Speaker 1: the way I wanted to punch you. I get I

468
00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:41,480
Speaker 1: get it, get it. Kurt was the one who told

469
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:44,679
Speaker 1: me about the Chris ben Wah tragedy. He told me

470
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:46,840
Speaker 1: before it got out, Like that's how close we were

471
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 1: that he found out. He text me about it. And

472
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:53,520
Speaker 1: the ben Wah thing actually like soured me on wrestling,

473
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,960
Speaker 1: and uh, I would like, you know, check in, check out,

474
00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,600
Speaker 1: check in, check out. But really like now what got

475
00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 1: me back really into it? And it's been like the

476
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:07,120
Speaker 1: greatest joy is pandemic hits. There's nothing going on. There's

477
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:11,080
Speaker 1: that WrestleMania you're you know the one at the Performance

478
00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,639
Speaker 1: Center where Drew goes over and uh, the match between um,

479
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:18,879
Speaker 1: the fiend and Sina was just like cinematic art. In

480
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,960
Speaker 1: my opinion, it was amazing. They took a big chance

481
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:24,000
Speaker 1: with that, and then I don't know if every part

482
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 1: of that match worked for everyone, and I've heard a

483
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,280
Speaker 1: lot of people criticizing it, but I never slam people

484
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,959
Speaker 1: for trying to take a chance and doing something different.

485
00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:33,919
Speaker 1: I liked a lot of that parts of that. I

486
00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:37,000
Speaker 1: like the aj styles taker cinematic match as well, like

487
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,280
Speaker 1: I like when people take chances. It's funny you mentioned

488
00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:41,840
Speaker 1: the Ben Wall thing. You know, I've never talked about

489
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:44,360
Speaker 1: it on this podcast, but that curd angle Chris Ben

490
00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,520
Speaker 1: Wah match um in Boston is my favorite match of

491
00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:50,760
Speaker 1: all time, and it was weird when it's not weird.

492
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,119
Speaker 1: When the ben Wah thing happened, I felt, and still

493
00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,639
Speaker 1: to this day, even with all the information I have

494
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,159
Speaker 1: about what actually happened with ben wa on now, I

495
00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:05,120
Speaker 1: still feel awkward sometimes saying that that's my favorite match ever.

496
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,880
Speaker 1: I'll still say, you know what I mean, But I've

497
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:12,640
Speaker 1: never seen two wrestlers make me think it was real

498
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,320
Speaker 1: the whole time since I was a little kid. Until

499
00:25:16,359 --> 00:25:19,400
Speaker 1: I saw that match, and I was just like, they

500
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:23,520
Speaker 1: didn't stop moving for twenty five minutes like it was.

501
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,120
Speaker 1: It was the scene, and they tried to match again

502
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,199
Speaker 1: in l a Um and Shot came in in the

503
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:30,879
Speaker 1: middle of the match and it kind of like sucked

504
00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,960
Speaker 1: the energy from it. Um, So it wasn't the same,

505
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 1: but it was like my favorite match and Curt Angle

506
00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,560
Speaker 1: like that's what brought me back to wrestling because I

507
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,200
Speaker 1: did not like the attitude. The matches I think are

508
00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:44,879
Speaker 1: some of the best matches that have ever happened, but

509
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,359
Speaker 1: the storylines I was always maybe I'm a little bit

510
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,000
Speaker 1: older than you. I just didn't click with him. I

511
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 1: will say this, Russo's Attitude era earned more money than

512
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:59,880
Speaker 1: probably every other Promoters era coming by, so I'm certainly

513
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:03,840
Speaker 1: in the minority and wrong on this. But the storyline

514
00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:08,200
Speaker 1: that I always loved was the milk truck beer truck storyline.

515
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,160
Speaker 1: And I was so teen milk truck like when they

516
00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:14,920
Speaker 1: drove that in. And critics of wrestling will say what

517
00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:17,600
Speaker 1: I'm about to say is ridiculous. I thought that was

518
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:24,159
Speaker 1: the most creative response ever to the entire stone cold

519
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:29,040
Speaker 1: persona drinking beer, swilling, screwing up guys promos on purpose

520
00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:31,639
Speaker 1: with the wood and like knowing that it was gonna

521
00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,760
Speaker 1: wreck guys. And then here comes and I hated that,

522
00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,680
Speaker 1: like I hated that Stone Cold would do that. And

523
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,480
Speaker 1: here comes Curd Angle, And even though he was just

524
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:43,119
Speaker 1: there to save himself and Integrit and all the eyes

525
00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:46,800
Speaker 1: right to me, he was there to save wrestling from that.

526
00:26:47,160 --> 00:26:49,880
Speaker 1: And when he sprayed him with the milk truck, I

527
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 1: literally stood up and was like, oh my god, I

528
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,200
Speaker 1: love wrestling again. And I from that moment, I was like, Okay,

529
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 1: I'm back. You guys got me, and I've been Team

530
00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:01,399
Speaker 1: Milk Truck ever so great. Um. I mean, Kurt was

531
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,240
Speaker 1: a great performer and and and like I thought, it

532
00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 1: was brilliant that they brought him in. You know, you

533
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:09,960
Speaker 1: would think baby Face right, Olympic gold Medalists America. The

534
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,080
Speaker 1: fact that they brought him in as a heel was brilliant. Actually,

535
00:27:12,119 --> 00:27:16,280
Speaker 1: one of my great memories is No Mercy two thousand, Albany,

536
00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 1: New York. My friends and I Drew drove from Montreal

537
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:23,320
Speaker 1: to Albany to go watch Angle versus Rock. When Angle

538
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,800
Speaker 1: became champion for the first time. That was the Rikishi. Uh,

539
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,880
Speaker 1: you know, hit and run with Austin Angle and uh,

540
00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:33,359
Speaker 1: we we loved Angle. Angle was our guy, and we

541
00:27:33,359 --> 00:27:35,800
Speaker 1: we burned a CD with just his theme song on

542
00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:37,800
Speaker 1: it and we just played it over and over again

543
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 1: as we were leaving the arena. We were so excited.

544
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:49,119
Speaker 1: But I was just gonna say, like the pandemic. I

545
00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:51,960
Speaker 1: sat with my boys who are now ten and eight,

546
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,879
Speaker 1: and uh, I showed them WrestleMania, and then we started

547
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:58,800
Speaker 1: watching like the network and stuff, and they became hardcore

548
00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:03,560
Speaker 1: fans and and who are their favorites. So my my

549
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:07,520
Speaker 1: older son, Oliver loves Goldberg and I know that might

550
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,680
Speaker 1: piss off some fans now. And my middle son that

551
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,199
Speaker 1: he loves Goldberg. It might be the Jewish thing, you know,

552
00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,639
Speaker 1: he's just I don't know, but he loves Goldberg. M

553
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,520
Speaker 1: jf J. I'll tell you something about that in a second.

554
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,600
Speaker 1: And the Middle Sun loves Roman Reigns. So actually, just

555
00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 1: this morning we didn't watch Elimination Elimination Chamber. Just this

556
00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,080
Speaker 1: morning we finally got to see Goldberg versus Roman Reigns

557
00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,080
Speaker 1: after two years of debating who's better. And the middle

558
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,200
Speaker 1: Sun I didn't want to break the older son's heart.

559
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 1: That's like, there's no chances dude is winning. But like

560
00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 1: you know, he thought for a second. Uh, they are

561
00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:43,000
Speaker 1: very I am not just one of makes clear. They

562
00:28:43,040 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 1: are very loyal to the w W brand. They are

563
00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:50,719
Speaker 1: very anti a W. They are They're like loyal, I think,

564
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:55,040
Speaker 1: and I really like a W. I like, like that

565
00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:59,160
Speaker 1: feels like the adult stuff, right Willing. I love him

566
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,240
Speaker 1: as fellows you. I love m JF promo that he

567
00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,479
Speaker 1: just cut about the kid from Long Amazing. So I

568
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,440
Speaker 1: watched this promo and for those who don't know, go

569
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 1: watch it on YouTube, and it's MJF talking about how

570
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:15,280
Speaker 1: CM punk was his inspiration and his betrayer all at

571
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:18,240
Speaker 1: the same time. And the guy's crying during the promo

572
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,440
Speaker 1: and all the people that boo him, and they were

573
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:22,480
Speaker 1: even booing him at the beginning of the promo, start

574
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 1: like checking their feelings and you can see it in

575
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,080
Speaker 1: the crow like he's got them wrapped up and he

576
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:29,320
Speaker 1: talks about this hero and see him Punk comes out.

577
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,320
Speaker 1: He's like, is that true? And with no microphone, MGFS

578
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:34,920
Speaker 1: just like giving him the nod like you know it's true,

579
00:29:34,960 --> 00:29:37,120
Speaker 1: and he just like walks out because it was all

580
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,600
Speaker 1: based on this one word Friday, because Punk said I

581
00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 1: was just another Friday when you met me, and he

582
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:44,920
Speaker 1: shows a picture of MGF as a little boy meeting

583
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:47,920
Speaker 1: CM Punk, his hero. And then the next week, mgf's

584
00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: promo is just about the one word Friday. Yeah it

585
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 1: was just another day for you, but here's what it

586
00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:56,800
Speaker 1: was for me. And he's talking about anti Semitism and

587
00:29:56,880 --> 00:29:59,920
Speaker 1: kids throwing quarters at him and and just the more

588
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:04,440
Speaker 1: disgusting stuff to where everybody in there is genuinely feeling

589
00:30:04,480 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: sorry for this guy. I would argue he's the best

590
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:08,800
Speaker 1: heal in the business right now, like he is legit.

591
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 1: When he talked about Pillman right, like no one does

592
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:14,920
Speaker 1: that right, people got genuinely mad. And then he leaned

593
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:17,360
Speaker 1: in on this. Yes, oh my god, he is so good.

594
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 1: I really love their product. I mean, I'm a fan

595
00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,600
Speaker 1: of wrestling, and so I believe, and I talked about

596
00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,160
Speaker 1: this in m M M A like I want more options

597
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,080
Speaker 1: for the boys in the back, as they say, so

598
00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 1: I like when there's competition. In fact, I say the

599
00:30:29,280 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 1: competition makes the dominant brand work a little harder and

600
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:34,920
Speaker 1: and be a little more creative and pull out all

601
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:37,680
Speaker 1: the stuffs. So I think a w's emergence is better

602
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:40,560
Speaker 1: for w W. And hopefully you know Bellator's emergence is

603
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,440
Speaker 1: better for the UFC and all that stuff. Like, I

604
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:45,480
Speaker 1: think a rising tide really does lift all boats. Um

605
00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:48,280
Speaker 1: My kids every anti like when I tell them, you

606
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,840
Speaker 1: know this dude like Brian Danielson goes to a They're like,

607
00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:55,600
Speaker 1: he's dead to us. We're done with them. He betrayed them. Now,

608
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,080
Speaker 1: I think the bro that's how my grandma Puerto Rico

609
00:30:58,160 --> 00:31:02,160
Speaker 1: did the rock. She stopped talking to my wife. Yes,

610
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 1: that's a great story. That's a great story. Your kids did.

611
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,400
Speaker 1: That means wrestling, It's great. Here's the thing. Nick Con

612
00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:12,920
Speaker 1: used to be my agent, and he's been very nice.

613
00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 1: You know when when he went to w W. Yeah

614
00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:18,640
Speaker 1: he was my agent, crazy enough, and now he's the

615
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:21,760
Speaker 1: president of WW. So he's been very nice to them,

616
00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 1: and he like, you know, said, you know, he knows

617
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 1: that our fans. He like sent them birthday presents and stuff,

618
00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:29,960
Speaker 1: and so I think and I actually respect it. They're like,

619
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,600
Speaker 1: all right now we're WW guys like your kids are.

620
00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 1: So he sent them, which he obviously didn't type, but

621
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 1: there's like a note like, hey, dear Walter, you know,

622
00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 1: enjoy your presence from your your friends at the w

623
00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:45,920
Speaker 1: W and it's like on a little like WW thing

624
00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,640
Speaker 1: with a letter head it's it's been now two years

625
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,320
Speaker 1: and it's like it's um, it's taped above his bed

626
00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:54,640
Speaker 1: and it's like that's the president. He keeps that longer

627
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,280
Speaker 1: than the toys. Yeah, he'll keep that. So I think

628
00:31:57,280 --> 00:31:59,880
Speaker 1: that's why they're they're big loyalists, which I think is cool.

629
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,520
Speaker 1: So it's the point is now as a dad, and

630
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:04,840
Speaker 1: I know you can relate to this, to watch this

631
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,320
Speaker 1: with them as kids, you know, like to go through

632
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:10,960
Speaker 1: Royal Rumble and all this stuff, and to watch it

633
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,720
Speaker 1: with them has just been such a freaking joy, Like

634
00:32:13,760 --> 00:32:15,680
Speaker 1: it has maybe even a bigger fan just to be

635
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,520
Speaker 1: able to and now they have the toys and all

636
00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:21,040
Speaker 1: that stuff. So it's great, man, it's really it brings

637
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:23,800
Speaker 1: me back to when I was a little boy. We're

638
00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,280
Speaker 1: gonna we're gonna close out on that, because that's a

639
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,080
Speaker 1: really just sort of great way to look at I

640
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,520
Speaker 1: was talking to Charlotte the other day and and you're

641
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,800
Speaker 1: French Canadian, so you'll appreciate this word, and she was

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00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:37,880
Speaker 1: loving it. And she she heard that Cesorrow was was

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00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:40,200
Speaker 1: leaving w w E and she felt kind of bad

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00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:43,200
Speaker 1: and I said, don't. I said, this is a literal

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00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:50,040
Speaker 1: and figurative renaissance, a rebirth of rest of the wrestling industry.

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00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:53,400
Speaker 1: You're seeing new school guys bring it back to the

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00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:56,720
Speaker 1: old school weights like m JF. You're seeing guys on

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00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:59,800
Speaker 1: the opposite end of the spectrum like Xavier Woods literally

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00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 1: of thing his gimmick and somehow getting it over. And

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00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,800
Speaker 1: with all this new business and all these changes that

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00:33:06,840 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 1: are happening at the Big Dog, it's a literal rebirth

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00:33:11,120 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 1: and all these little indie brands are gonna come up.

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00:33:13,560 --> 00:33:16,160
Speaker 1: And I'll tell you something when we stop recording that'll

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00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:18,760
Speaker 1: duw you into how much closer I am to what

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00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: we talked about on your show with my Fete. But

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00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:25,640
Speaker 1: you guys don't get kind of that until later. So

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Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys tuning in. I appreciate you for

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Speaker 1: coming and doing the show. Love real and and uh

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Speaker 1: and I love you too, man. So everybody, thank you

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Speaker 1: for listening, and we'll see you next week on Wrestling

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00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:40,160
Speaker 1: with Freddie. This has been a production of I Hearts

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00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:43,520
Speaker 1: Michael podcast Network. For more podcasts for My Heart Radio,

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00:33:43,680 --> 00:33:46,719
Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H