WEBVTT - Pod Meets WrestleMania: AJ Lee 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.960 I like to call our next guest the Tapanga of 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:23.680 pro wrestling. 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:26.680 Oh wow, not just because she's cute. 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:29.040 And she's smart and she's down for her man, but 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:32.920 also because after her first incredible run with the WWE, 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.879 she is back after a ten year absence to do 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:41.560 it again. But the results have been luckily much better. 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:42.360 Than Girl Meets World. 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:47.239 She's a multi time champion, but nowadays she's the reigning 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:51.640 Women's Intercontinental Champion, putting it on the line against her 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:56.360 arch nemesis Becky Lynch this weekend at WrestleMania. She's a 0:00:56.480 --> 0:00:59.920 New York Times best selling author, a comic book writer 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.360 and a screenwriter, an actress, an advocate for mental health, 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.440 and my fitness goals. 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:09.320 It is the legendary A J Lee. 0:01:10.000 --> 0:01:10.319 Hello. 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:11.520 Welcome. 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.040 By the way, Danielle has taken all of these interviews, 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:16.600 I'm doing this one solely, and we're only talking comic 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:20.039 books I love, Just so you know. 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:22.040 I'm ready for it. 0:01:22.319 --> 0:01:24.560 And also I think, like the last words I hear 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:27.240 before I die, it is going to be W's Tapanga. 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.360 Yes, thank you for that. 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:32.399 I was hoping it wouldn't be insulted. 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.880 I was like, I was the greatest I hated to 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:40.640 bank character. Thank you well. 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.040 AJ for the record, I have had Jensen text Punk 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:47.520 numerous times saying, tell April to drop the workout routine. 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:49.200 I am, I'm still waiting. 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.800 I want And then when I said that to him, 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:53.800 he said, well, a lot of it's diet too. I said, 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.720 whatever she needs to send me, I just need to know. 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:58.520 I want to know everything. We don't have to tell 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:00.480 me now, but I'm not kidding. I need to know 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:01.360 everything you're doing. 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.360 Because you are. You are fitness and athletic goals. 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:05.880 Thank you. I appreciate that. 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:08.880 So you famously took ten years off of wrestling, and 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.480 yet you were still in this kind of shape. Were 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:15.240 you staying ring ready for a decade, I probably. 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:16.680 Would have given up and just ordered in and out 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:17.320 a bunch of times. 0:02:17.440 --> 0:02:18.320 Oh that's all I ever do. 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:20.360 That happened. 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.080 There was a solid maybe five years of we were 0:02:23.320 --> 0:02:27.160 just talking about this. I just like really enjoyed myself 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.080 and had a great time and learned how to bake 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:31.400 and gained like fifteen pounds. 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:33.720 Nice. I call that onion ring ready. There you go, 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:35.160 which is very important. 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:37.680 Yeah, yeah, we can pretend it was like a bulking 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:39.799 season really I was chilling. 0:02:39.880 --> 0:02:41.000 It is amazing. 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:46.400 And then I think like after the pandemic, I was 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:47.520 about to produce. 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:48.600 My first TV show. 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.680 Yeah, and I was like a volunteer to be on 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.000 it and do like announcing and stuff on it, color commentating, 0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:54.959 and I was like, oh, I have to be on 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:58.840 camera again. And then so I sort of just wanted 0:02:58.880 --> 0:03:01.720 to like learn as much as I could about fitness. 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:05.320 So I got my fitness certification. Wow, just to like 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.040 so I can make my own workouts and understand why 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:10.400 people tell you to do. You know why those trainers 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:11.520 tell you to do what they tell you to do. 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:16.239 Just made my own workouts and started doing intuitive eating 0:03:16.840 --> 0:03:19.320 because if anything's like too structured, I can get like 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:22.920 super disordered and unhealthy. Okay, so I had to be 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:26.079 like whatever feels good and lets me have carbs. 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:28.040 And doesn't restrict you too much. 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:28.600 No restriction. 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:31.480 And but when you were not restricted, you don't feel 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.040 like you have to inge or you know, go crazy 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:35.560 or nothing's off limits. 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:36.320 Everything's a treat. 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.600 So once I've cracked that code, then fitness was like 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.800 fun again. And it was just like for me. And 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.920 so the time he worked out perfectly with working out 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.360 for you know, auditions and for you know, doing shooting 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:57.760 our show, and then happened to be ready to go. 0:03:56.640 --> 0:03:59.400 To the opportunity exactly. 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:04.160 Well, we're just days away from your very first WrestleMania 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:07.400 since coming back. You will enter the ring as a champ. 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:08.600 Was it all just like. 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:11.480 Riding a bike for you or was there like an 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:14.560 adjustment period, because it feels like you just settled right 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:14.880 back in. 0:04:15.120 --> 0:04:15.600 Thank you. 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:16.880 It's a very painful bike. 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:21.520 Yeah, it's been a little straight so like the muscle 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:26.120 memory is there and like knowing my body, like there's 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:28.840 like a fluidity to it that just like a second nature. 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:30.200 But the. 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:34.880 Strangeness has been like the time, but matches back in 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:38.039 my day, we're like five minutes, right, you know. And 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:39.800 we had one match where right before we went out 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:41.960 there they were like it's a thirty seconds now, you know. 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:43.760 So it was kind of brutal. 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:46.520 We learned to make the most of it and but 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:49.799 you're not really testing your cardio. I've been a match either, 0:04:50.240 --> 0:04:52.560 So to come back my first match like half an hour, 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:55.440 like twenty two minutes and twenty five minutes, it's just 0:04:55.480 --> 0:04:59.360 been like way longer than I've ever ever done, Like 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:02.440 maybe all my just combined, we're shorter than what I've 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:03.080 done this year. 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.120 Do you have to change any of the moves ten 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:06.920 years later or are you still like I'm doing all 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:07.560 the same stuff. 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.800 Well, I had like a serious neck injury, so like 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.440 I'm a little bit more cautious of like I used 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.359 to like rabbed all myself, like just bump on my 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:17.160 neck for fun. 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:20.159 So I try not to do that. It comes out 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:23.960 just instinctively still, Yeah, but stuff like that. 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.719 I try to be a little bit more careful, careful, 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.680 condescen about. But if you think about it too much, 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:31.680 you'll like get a little too gun shy, right, So 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:32.680 try not to do that. 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:34.640 Yeah, if you get that in your head right before 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.359 you go out, like careful of your neck, Yeah, you're. 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:39.279 Holding back, but it also has to be a weird 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:41.360 balance because you should also be careful of your neck. 0:05:41.600 --> 0:05:45.960 Yeah, So I mean I imagine it's kind of like that. 0:05:46.360 --> 0:05:47.480 Yeah, trying to figure that out. 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:52.400 So coming back, what old friend were you most excited 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:56.279 to see? And what new superstar someone maybe you hadn't 0:05:56.279 --> 0:05:58.120 worked with yet were you most excited to meet. 0:05:58.480 --> 0:06:02.960 I mean, I can't talk about Bailey in that I 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.240 was just obsessed with her. I met her at NXT 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:08.480 when it was like kind of not even like the 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:10.039 show yet. I think it was just like sort of 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:14.320 still minor league's idea, and she just struck me as 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:18.080 someone who was like my like soul wrestler. Like she 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:20.359 was like the next iteration of like me, but better. 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:22.520 And I was just like, Oh, she's going to carry 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:25.920 that torch and connected her really early on, and then 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:28.160 I think I defended my title against her. We had 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:31.760 like one match forever ago, and then my last match, 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.039 when I knew it was my last match, I went 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.080 to merch and like stole one of her shirts because 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:36.600 we were not. 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:38.520 Allowed to do stuff like that back then, right, I 0:06:38.640 --> 0:06:39.720 put her shirt on, put a. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:41.719 Hoodie over it, and like went out there and like 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:42.520 took the hoodie off. 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:44.359 And they didn't know I was gonna wear her shirt 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:46.640 for my last match, but I just was like co 0:06:46.760 --> 0:06:48.000 signing her like instantly. 0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:51.520 So I was so excited to get back and see her. 0:06:51.640 --> 0:06:53.039 And that was my first question. 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.240 When I started talking to them about coming back, was 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:56.520 can I wrestle Bailey? 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:57.440 Yeah? 0:06:57.480 --> 0:06:59.080 And I got too, and you got to do it. 0:06:59.279 --> 0:06:59.479 Yeah. 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:02.880 You met Bailey last year. We got to interview Bailey. 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:08.680 Yeah, I'm still learning everybody, like learning a new language. 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.840 It's our comic books are superheroes or anything. So yeah, 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:13.240 I'm learning everybody as we go. 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.200 And all the people I drove here. 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.800 And to me, well, there's not a single person who 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:19.040 will say a bad thing about Bailey. 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:20.120 Yeah, that's true. 0:07:20.480 --> 0:07:22.480 And so was there a superstar you hadn't worked with 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:24.880 yet that you were very excited to meet and possibly 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:25.280 work with. 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:27.760 Yes, I have. 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.760 I call them my wrestling daughters. There's like this generation 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.240 of girls who've been so kind to, like very vocally 0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:36.280 let me know that I was like an inspiration for 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:39.160 them to get interrestling, where there's like pictures of them 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:42.040 like at my signings. Cool and like from day one, 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:44.880 I always uh knew that like when people come to 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.520 your signings, like it's maybe it's like, you know, a 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:50.000 long day for you, but it's like this is this 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:51.160 very special. 0:07:50.800 --> 0:07:52.760 Minute for them to like interact with you. So make 0:07:52.800 --> 0:07:53.360 it count. 0:07:53.680 --> 0:07:55.440 And so anytime like a girl would come up to 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:56.840 me and be like I'm want to be wrestler one day, 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:58.960 I'm like you one hundred percent can do that. 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.400 Like these come back and kick my butt one day. 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:03.520 Yeah, and I set that to a few girls who 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.040 actually became wrestlers, and one of them is Roxanne Perez, 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.920 who was just killing it and is just like this, 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:12.440 like leagues better than I could have ever been. Like, 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:14.880 it's so cool to see what ev Lucian really is. 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.400 And so that's been really cool to like see her 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:19.760 and be like, hey, what a I do in this match? 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.480 I'm trying to remember that move and she's like, well, 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:23.960 I know all of them. 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:25.440 He's the cutest thing. 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:26.360 That is amazing. 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:31.400 You had a real thriving Hollywood screenwriting career going. Did 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:34.040 you call your agent and say, hold my calls, I 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.839 have to go German Suplex Becky Lynch or are you 0:08:38.000 --> 0:08:40.199 bringing the laptop on the road with you? 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:42.360 I tried to bring the laptop on the road. 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:46.400 Okay, is a little hard because we're actually delivering our 0:08:46.480 --> 0:08:49.960 second original comic book as we speak, Issue to is 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:51.760 do like the week Aftermania? 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:53.360 Can we talk about that? Can we talk about that? 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:55.280 She's done? You can go right into that. 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:55.560 Okay. 0:08:55.720 --> 0:09:00.800 Yeah, So that has been a bit of a balancing gag. 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:04.360 But luckily for like screen rating, I had just finished 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:08.640 an animated movie for to a animation which has done 0:09:08.679 --> 0:09:11.800 like Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, like I'm obsessed 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:14.600 with them, and I was in the process of finishing 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:16.680 it when we started talking, and so I thought it 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.000 was like kind of the perfect timing of like, okay, 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.679 in this, I can't really get into the discussion too 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:26.040 hard until this is done and then and then I'll 0:09:26.040 --> 0:09:28.120 like focus on wrestling, and so I'm trying to find 0:09:28.120 --> 0:09:28.800 the right balance. 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:29.800 It's not easy. 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:33.679 Yeah, it's not. We'll go ahead. 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.040 Animation nice. So that's my world. 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:39.000 And so I'm just curious what your favorite animated shows are. 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.360 What are you into more kind of anime than animation? 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.120 You are, okay, so what are you like one punch Man? 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:46.160 What do you What are you into? 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:46.480 Well? 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:50.480 I grew up loving Cowboy Bebop in Yasha. My dog's 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:54.640 name was Cogome Fashiki Yuki kind of like a rom com. 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.560 My friend got me into this, like anime was like 0:09:58.960 --> 0:10:00.840 heart and soul. And then I'll also loved the Batman 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.240 animated series, like that's where I fil in love with Harley. 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:03.880 Quinn the first time. 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:08.080 You know, that's my world talking about it. Did you 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.080 go to Akira first? Did you? Did you watch Akira. 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:12.880 Okay, So yes, I think I maybe mentioned this in 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:14.880 my book. I have such a weird traumatic memory with 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:17.439 A Cira because I was watching it on a Christmas 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:21.800 Eve when like, somebody broke into my apartment. 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:22.360 Oh no. 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:25.840 The name of that chapter is like you never forget 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:31.839 your first stabbing. I had to stab my way out 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:36.559 of this from the hood in New Jersey and you 0:10:37.400 --> 0:10:39.120 you got you stabbed? 0:10:40.240 --> 0:10:42.559 Yes, wow, while watching A Kira. 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:45.319 So that is my memory of that day. 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:49.920 It's a very hilariously dark chapter in my own Wow. 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:52.400 But you know what, kids in Jersey, we were special breed. 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:57.199 We are survivors alone. Yeah, but I had my pit 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:57.720 bull with me. 0:10:58.280 --> 0:10:59.920 But then me, I was like, I've got to protect 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:03.160 my dog pound pitbull away in a room. 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.640 Oh man, did you see the end of the movie. 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.079 Yeah I did, Okay, Okay, actually set back down. 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.440 It was like, see you like to watching They're just 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.440 going just continuing to watch the film. 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:17.240 Sorry, sir, you're gonna need to wait till the movies 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:18.720 over for me to get your dead body out of here. 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:19.640 Exactly. 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:21.679 It was a quick handstab. It was a face on 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:26.040 an apartment. So it was breaking into my windows. 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:25.920 And then it ran away. 0:11:26.440 --> 0:11:27.640 Oh yeah, the cops got them. 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:31.000 They did. Okay, good, Oh man, that's crazy. Cure is 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:32.120 a great movie. By the way, it's. 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:35.240 Don't have if it doesn't give you pts. 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:37.520 It's kind of like people go back to that for 0:11:37.559 --> 0:11:40.040 the start of anime kind of. But yeah, it's one 0:11:40.080 --> 0:11:42.320 of the one of the the ogs of anime. Yeah, 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.560 which has exploded in the world. 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:47.960 Yeah, I think it was the pandemic really brought animation 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.960 and because we were still working, so we were still 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.080 at home recording all of all the animation. So it 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.760 was exploding during that time. So did you grow up 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.000 an animation fan or did you find it later in life? 0:11:58.840 --> 0:11:59.360 A little bit of. 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.000 I guess it's like when I was a teenager because 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:03.640 when I really which I think is when you start 0:12:03.640 --> 0:12:05.760 to find out exactly who you are. Like I think 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:07.760 I knew who I was when I was fourteen, right, 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.480 and like really never changed, like like that's the person 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:13.640 you want to go back to. Yeah, maybe lose your 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:16.120 way and then you that's your heart and soul. So 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:20.280 that was like wrestling and like anime and comic books 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:21.160 and video games. 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:22.560 That was my teenage years. 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.600 Yeah, so cool, Okay, I'm sorry, we can go back 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:26.360 to wrestling. It's fine, you can go back to wrestling. 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.320 Well, you've been such a vocal advocate for mental health 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:43.600 over the years, and I think a lot of people 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:48.200 struggle with returning to something from their past. We have 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.360 certainly experienced that in our life. I'm sure the decision 0:12:51.400 --> 0:12:55.000 to come back to WWE wasn't easy for you. How 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.160 were you able to weigh out the decision and take 0:12:58.200 --> 0:12:59.800 your mental health into consideration? 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:01.160 That was one. 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:08.280 Hundred percent, Like the biggest priority, yeah, was when I left, 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.200 my mental health was not great for a variety of reasons. 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:13.200 And then the journey over the past decade was like 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:15.880 getting myself right and take taking care of myself before 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.800 anything else, because if I'm not one hundred, I can't 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.040 take care of my family. I can't, you know, be 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.920 a good partner. I can't you know, be a good artist. 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:27.480 Like nothing matters if my brain isn't right. And so 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:31.480 that was my first priority, even just talking to them, 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.880 talking to Paul and talking to ni Con And one 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:36.600 of the reasons why I was like, Okay, I think 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.200 maybe I can do this is because they were so 0:13:38.280 --> 0:13:41.160 open to that conversation, right and like Nick On especially, 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:43.840 was like, if you ever feel like you are not 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:46.160 in a healthy place, then we're not doing our job right. 0:13:46.280 --> 0:13:48.160 So like keep that line of communication open and we'll 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:49.280 make sure we take care of that. 0:13:49.360 --> 0:13:52.720 And I was just like, yeah, and that kind of 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:54.319 support must be really amazing. 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.960 Yeah, just to see like that change, you know, because 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:59.400 it wasn't even a thing I thought I could speak 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.920 about openly, you know, ten years ago, and so that 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.160 was really cool, and that was that still. 0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:07.480 Remains the most important thing to me. 0:14:07.679 --> 0:14:12.760 So with the schedule, with everything, it's always am I healthy? 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:13.200 Yeah? 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.840 Now I'm curious, as somebody who deals with myself, is 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:19.080 it something did you find a routine in your life 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:21.440 or did you find something like meditation or what was 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:24.080 the thing that really, you know, helped kind of get 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:25.480 past whatever you needed to get past. 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:32.240 So I have tried literally everything. So I became a 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.640 mental health advocate because I was sort of hiding my 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.760 bipolar disorder and it's something that runs in my family, 0:14:37.840 --> 0:14:38.880 and so I kind of wrote. 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:39.880 A whole book about. 0:14:41.480 --> 0:14:44.480 Just ignoring it and how bad that is and like 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.160 disassociation and not taking care of yourself and then the 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:51.880 power that comes with sort of embracing it and realizing 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.000 that there are kind of awesome things that come from 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.440 it too, Like I am a little delusional in what 0:14:56.480 --> 0:14:58.760 I'm capable of, like, but that's also gotten me. 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.800 Everything in life. It's made me like weirdly confident so 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:03.880 and very creative. 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:08.240 So once I was able to embrace like bad and 0:15:08.360 --> 0:15:11.360 the good and be able to separate it from who 0:15:11.400 --> 0:15:13.880 I am. Like I always tell people, if you're going 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.560 through like a depressive episode, give it a name, Like 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.640 that really helps because it's not you, the things you 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:23.160 think are not it's not the truth. It's like something 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:25.600 lying to you. And so I named her Gene. And 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:29.320 Jeane's just a real dick. And every time you know 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.440 it's a dark day, and like Gene, you stop fucking around. 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.000 Yeah, and that really helped me. 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:39.160 But I've done everything from like prescriptions to like in 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:43.480 patient therapy like extensively, and I found like the right 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:45.960 balance for me. Some of these people can. I'd like 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:48.600 to not be super prescriptive because I think every it's 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:51.080 different for every single person, So I don't want people 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:52.240 to like that's exactly the answer. 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:54.680 A million things could be the answer. It's a little 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:55.280 bit of everything. 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:55.600 For me. 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:58.160 But something you can do daily is something like that 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:02.480 name your darkness. I love it off, and a routine 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.120 is really helpful. Like for me, it's like waking up 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.960 at the same time, like having consistent diet, like to 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.280 know what I want to eat all the time. Limiting sugar. 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:13.320 Sugar makes me a little bummed out sometimes, even though 0:16:13.360 --> 0:16:14.080 I love donuts. 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:15.920 Exercise too. 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:21.800 Yeah, so that, like having sort of consistency has been 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:22.840 the healthiest thing for me. 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:24.520 I love that. 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:27.440 One thing we share is a love for Big E. 0:16:27.920 --> 0:16:31.240 You two did some great work together back in your 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:34.280 first run, and he has transitioned into hosting for WWE 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:37.040 since getting injured a few years ago, and I just 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:39.720 wanted to know what it was like to get to 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:43.080 team up with him. I feel like he deserves all 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:43.800 the flowers. 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.200 Yes, yeah, oh my god, I love that you love him. 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:47.280 I love him so much. 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:49.440 He's the greatest, like not only one of the greatest 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:53.480 like performers, because he's just such a natural like star, 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:55.200 like you want to just like stare at him, and 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.560 he's like really funny, and he's just has so so 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:01.400 much charisma and just like Cap debates the room like instantly, 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.200 so He's a natural performer, but also as like a person, 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.040 just the best person in the world, and like so 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:11.800 pure and so kind, and especially back then when I 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:14.320 wasn't at my healthiest and I felt maybe alone a 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.080 lot of the times, like he was maybe one of 0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:18.920 the only people that really like had my back, and 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:21.800 when I wasn't around for ten years, he's won Him 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.800 and Bailey or probably the only two that really stayed 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:27.360 home maybe a few other people, but stayed in touch 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:30.320 with you consistently and were just like we're just friends, 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:33.240 Like it didn't matter if a wrestler or not. So 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:34.840 he's a special part of my heart. And I call 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:37.160 him my son because I feel like I birthed him 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:37.840 into this world. 0:17:40.640 --> 0:17:41.520 That's hilarious. 0:17:42.160 --> 0:17:46.480 Nowadays, the journey to WWE runs almost strictly through Florida 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:49.560 and the WWE Performance Center. But you spent some time 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.080 on the independent circuit for a few years before you 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:54.960 signed here. What was that like for you? I want 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.440