WEBVTT - ANGELO DAWKINS 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:02.640 This is cut to It with Steve Smith Senior at 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:08.920 production of The Black Effect and I Heart Radio. I'm 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.720 Steve Smith Senior and I'm a little John and this 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:15.960 is cut to It. Good do it, Good do it. 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:19.479 Let's get down to do it. Good do it. We 0:00:19.600 --> 0:00:22.920 asked the questions you always want to know, but no 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:28.800 one ever asked, let's cut to it. If you ain't 0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:31.120 heard about it, then we're about to left you. Now. 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:42.560 It's all man, we want to welcome to the cut 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:46.400 to a podcast. We got. We have a w W 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:51.560 wrestler nickname. I'm not even gonna say the other part, 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:56.040 just greatness. When any time your nickname involves greatness, I 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:59.480 think it's pretty. I think it's really special. And then's 0:00:59.480 --> 0:01:04.600 your signal, it's your move. You pop up spine buster. 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:08.240 Yeah I don't. I don't know how you do the 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:13.000 spine buster, but my spine is cringing thinking about it. 0:01:13.040 --> 0:01:17.399 And also to not to not to hold it against him. 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:21.840 He's from Ohio where they still have not fixed football. 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:27.320 Thank you. Welcome to the Cut to It podcast. Angelo, 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:34.720 don they no problem. I'm my biggest shirt on for 0:01:34.880 --> 0:01:38.040 you to Okay. He is a he's a proud Bakers fan, 0:01:38.200 --> 0:01:40.400 Like that's all you say on your social media, Like 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:42.720 you you hold no punches when it comes to your 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.959 fandom for the Bengers, not at all. Man's I mean, 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:50.640 you shouldn't be Finally, you should be excited. You obviously 0:01:50.680 --> 0:01:53.480 are living in a state with two teams. I haven't 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:58.560 really did much uh most of their u NFL experience, 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.760 but yet you have this one year of hope that 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.480 you believe it is gonna change, uh, decades and decades 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:12.680 of failure. So I'm happy that you're there. Look, Yo, 0:02:13.560 --> 0:02:17.919 as much smack as I talked, I can't really lie. 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:21.639 So you talked when they went to the postseason, I 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.800 was like, hey, just give me one playoff win. Yeah, 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:28.000 I see playoff win in my life of being on 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.560 this earth. And they were one player with winning the 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.880 Super Like, hey, you know what, y'all gave me everything 0:02:33.919 --> 0:02:36.560 I hoped for. So we had the miss on and 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:40.120 he's a Browns fan. So you said you talked smack 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.120 like you do you talk smack to the miss I 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.240 mean he's a Browns fan, you're a Bengals fan. Like, 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:47.280 what's that? What's that interact? Are you? Okay? Of course 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:49.520 I talked smack to him. You know what I mean. Look, 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:51.640 he was going through it this year. You know, he 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:53.440 thought that they were gonna you know what I'm saying, 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:56.200 make it to the super Bowl. Everything the Bengals did, 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:59.000 he did. He thought the Browns were gonna do everything. 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:04.840 Joe Burrow came out to be shot. He was. He 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:06.880 thought that the Beings, I mean, excuse me, the Browns 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:09.120 were gonna have that kind of success. Brother, do you 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:12.560 not watch do you not watch the Detroit Lions fan base. 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.119 They think they're gonna win every year. I just thought 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:17.760 there was a little bit of sensibility. But we did 0:03:17.840 --> 0:03:19.720 have the same conversation with him, so it's not like 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:24.360 this is this is new he was so we couldn't. 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.000 It was all over the place. We couldn't. But what 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:31.680 what is it like for for you to argue with 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:35.800 the mens when pretty much both of the like, you're like, 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:40.360 you guys are arguing over the last Now later I 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:42.680 would say rose colored glasses, and they would be brown 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:51.000 like actually not a non like. It's like y'all are arguing, Well, 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:57.280 you have a bigger piece of moldy bread than I do. Look, 0:03:57.640 --> 0:04:01.000 you know, we get it. Both of teams haven't been 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:07.160 particularly great in the in the last two decades. Yeah, true, true, 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:12.960 but really look at it. Cincinnati's had more listen, Cleveland 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:17.320 has ever had. We could say that, right, I would 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:21.480 agree with one little, one little spur two years ago. 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.240 But other than that, like at least Cincinnati has made 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.760 the playoffs. Like the point time, we're like, oh yo, 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:32.360 Cincinnati could be like do something, but they just kept losing. Yeah, 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:34.480 I would give you that. I would give you And 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:38.880 because of that, that's how you guys have put yourself 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.240 in a position now to to to really be in 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:46.760 a conversation of a young team. That's if they continue 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:49.480 to add the pieces that they could be very successful. 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:56.040 Oh yeah, so you're cheap man. I'm just happy they 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:58.280 invested in the old line this year. That's that's all 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:00.720 I'm apping for. You got is right now and y'all 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.320 went to the dance. So yeah, but let's get started. 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:11.159 Man um growing up? What was your favorite TV show 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:18.600 growing up? My favorite TV show? Man um or shows 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:22.920 sounds Yeah, you had to look like one's too hard 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:28.880 to pick. Yeah, so I mean we gotta go Steve 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:34.320 Harvey show, Bernie Max Show. I was a big mad 0:05:34.360 --> 0:05:37.279 TV guy, when it was still on and it's prime. 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:42.080 Take it to a little cartoons. Um, I was a 0:05:42.160 --> 0:05:47.760 big Recess guy. One Saturday morning, Guy Pepper ran on 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:54.599 Lloyden's Space, Street Sharks, Static Shock. Those are my favorite 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.040 shows right there. Those. But I was gonna double back 0:05:58.080 --> 0:05:59.680 on Steve Harve because that's not when you're here all 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:02.359 the time. No, I like, what was Steve's name in 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:06.800 the Steve Harvey show, Steve Steve hot Tower. He wouldn't 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.080 even Steve Harvey. He was was he he went the 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.919 principle he was a teacher teacher because I think the 0:06:11.960 --> 0:06:14.800 principle said that he was that he was the coach. 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:18.360 He was a gym coach. Uh the Regina Regina was 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:23.720 Regina was the principal. Yeah, yeah, I missed all those 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:27.720 cartoons though. Yeah, I do remember Recess, but I don't 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.880 remember some of the other ones. What was something that 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.640 that was like towards like the later pepperre came on 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:38.320 when Recess pep Pepper. See, my mom had us clean 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.800 and so I missed all that stuff. By that twn 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.240 the whole house and my life had below. So it 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:47.080 sounds like Saturday Saturday morning, it was time to clean 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:54.840 up right, Yeah, I was, you know, obviously Batman. Um, 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:59.720 but right after Batman though, Oh Batman the animated series, No, no, no, 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.320 bat Man. Adam West on Saturday mornings. Yeah, you ushould 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:05.640 be on at eleven o'clock. Don't try to say you 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:10.280 a little older than me that I thought. I thought 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:12.840 you saw about the animated one. We're like a little 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.880 shorter years. I watched that one, but I'm talking about 0:07:16.800 --> 0:07:23.400 I'm talking about Adam West, chee Batman. That was. That 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:28.640 was Saturday morning and we can't mention it. But that's 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:32.880 when wrestling would follow after that. I will watch wrestling, right, 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:37.920 That's what my love for wrestling was. Their superstars. Yeah, 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:43.480 the beefcake, get your hair cut? Right. We gotta get 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.120 to the nostalgia. Yeah, I feel like Angela gonna rock 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:52.360 with us a little bit more nostalgia. Um. Let's see, man, 0:07:52.400 --> 0:07:54.600 you're talking about snacks before you got on here. What's 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:59.120 what's one of your go to snacks? Gummy words? M hm? 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.720 Out of that, doun'my worms. That's been my my goal 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:05.960 to ever since I was a little kid. Really, so 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:08.840 when you go to movies, you get you get gummy worms. 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.560 Oh yeah, well not really get gummy worms, sneak them 0:08:12.560 --> 0:08:18.640 into the movies. I mean this is this is a 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:22.720 recorded line. Man, I go a red vnes, I go 0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:26.400 a red v red vines. Okay, yeah, Like I'm not 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:30.160 a twiztlers guy like red vines with the popcorn. I 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:32.640 sneak them into because they don't have they don't have 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:34.160 red vines. They got Twister. I don't know why you 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:39.360 want the twisters. Yeah, ain't ain't real liquor, pretty shaky. 0:08:40.360 --> 0:08:43.040 I'll pay for the popcorn, but candy I gotta sneak 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:47.360 in on my own, like seventeen dollars. It's like, Tim, 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.600 you know it's it's funny. Just it's way off topic, 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:56.760 way off topic, right, is it, Tim Bucks Small? Here's 0:08:57.200 --> 0:09:00.440 here's the craziest thing you want to talk about. My 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.800 dad used to we used to go before we went 0:09:02.840 --> 0:09:04.880 to the movies, we will go to nine nine cent 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:09.240 store right and get candy at the nine story. Was 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:12.080 like five of them for nine nine sent And I 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:14.600 never understood, like, why are we going to nine nine 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:19.040 sisto with a good candy is at the register? We 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:22.200 was parsed, that's why you should have just told me, 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:24.720 But I didn't realize yet that and I still do 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:34.000 it now. I'm I'm leaning towards that way too. My 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:37.720 kids don't go to nine nine story dog like because 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:42.640 I had realized, like the economy, some of the candy 0:09:42.640 --> 0:09:44.719 at the nine s story ain't up to date. Dog. 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:55.679 That's your responsibility as parents, check check the days. But 0:09:55.840 --> 0:10:03.920 it built that a music. Right, there's COVID, which is contagious, 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:09.640 but then there's salmonella for black folks were good you 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:16.320 never heard of yeah, you know when you heard about it. Though, 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:20.360 when you eat the mother folks potato salad, that always 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:27.520 get you potato salad, it's true. Well, you you eat, 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:30.520 you get your old kid. That's a that's an inter 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.880 at your home. Somebody else potatoes. You eat some old candy. 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:39.840 So questions some questionable protein, right, you see. I wasn't 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:45.760 gonna say you eat some questionable protein and still make it. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.320 But you eat some other folks potato salad, man, they'll 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:54.320 run through you about three am. I'm here, we're fresh 0:10:54.360 --> 0:11:02.160 off the more your da up up? Oh man, all right, 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:05.360 let's get into it. A man. Well man, where are 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.600 you from in the place you call your hometown? I'm 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:12.920 from Cincinnati, Ohio. Grew up in Fairfield, which basically Cincinnati, 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:18.439 just like ten minutes away. Uh. Yeah, I grew up 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:23.160 there the same schools Jackson Carmen, one of the Bengals 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:37.920 old linemen. Yeah, I was gonna google It's like now 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:48.880 they go to school with Jordan, just some lineman we 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:52.960 don't know about. I like it. I love your pride, man, 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.400 I love your pride. I'm the same way with uh 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:58.320 l a bro So. I love the pride. Is where 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:01.080 you from, is where you're from. I can't deny it, 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:03.839 you know. Uh, if you're proud of you, always represented you, 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:07.080 always cheering for it. Um. So, man, that's that's remarkable. 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:11.160 That's awesome. Uh. You know, tell us growing up Fairfoot, 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:14.200 Ohio slash Cincinnati. Um, what are some of the things 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:18.040 that you experienced that that has impacted you when you 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.440 sit down and think about it. Uh. Some of the 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:26.960 things that impacted me, Um, just being able to uh 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.040 you know what I'm saying. Grow up. It was just 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:32.160 me and my mom, so Uh it was I just 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.400 pretty much had to grow up and be a man 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:37.800 pretty early. Uh, and just learn how to be the 0:12:37.800 --> 0:12:39.400 man of the house and be able to take care 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.160 of things and being able to answer university and my 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:45.720 mom was pretty tough for me anyway, Like with school 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.680 just kept me out of trouble, put me in sports, 0:12:48.720 --> 0:12:51.120 So I was pretty busy during the summer when school 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:57.120 wasn't happening. Um, yeah, like I just stayed busy, stayed 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.680 playing sports, and stayed out of trouble. You made the 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.840 statement of have being a man in the house. What 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:09.480 did what did that mean to be the man of house? What? What? 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:13.800 What were those responsibilities that you're referring to? So like 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:15.840 ere every times when my mom would get off late 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:18.280 from work, so like sometimes I had to cook dinner 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:21.360 and stuff like that, make sure my homework's done, uh, 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:24.839 sometimes clean the house up and make sure everything's good 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.280 so my mom ain't really gotta worry about it to 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:29.719 where like she just comes in. She can just you 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:31.040 know what I'm saying, get off her feet for a 0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:34.120 little bit, watch a little TV, eat a little mill, 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:37.679 go to bed, make sure everything's good, and then do 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.760 whatever she needed to do. And I just basically just 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:43.640 took care of that as much as I could. Whenever 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:45.720 I saw that I had to pick up the slap 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:47.920 that she was not gonna be home late. I always 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:50.439 made sure when she said, hey, take the chicken out, 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:53.760 the freezer was out the freezer because you learned the 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:57.480 hard way. Yeah, I learned the hard way about what 0:13:57.600 --> 0:14:05.360 is the alternative? Uh? You know, the plug out your mouth, 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:11.240 get your teeth straight, hongry dog. I don't know what 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:15.320 you're saying, so as as what were you when you 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.040 were when you were growing up? What were those initial dreams? 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:19.480 What do you want to be when you grew up 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.920 back then? What do you dream about? Honestly, wanted to 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.840 be in the NFL. Actually I wanted to play football 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:29.800 when I was younger, um, but that ended up not 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:34.200 working out necessarily. Like, I had no plans of ever wrestling. 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:38.080 I didn't even know wrestling really existed until I knew 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:40.840 w W existed, But I didn't know like amateur wrestling 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:44.440 existed until I was a junior in high school and 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:47.520 our security guard at the school he was one of 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:49.640 the wrestling coaches, and he was like, he should come 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.680 tryal for the wrestling team. Hold on what I'm saying, like, hey, 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.280 to help you out with football. My mom wasn't really 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.440 up for it. She wanted me to play basketball. So 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:00.400 I was like oh no, I go try wrestling. And 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:02.880 I tried it. I mean the practices were hard, but 0:15:02.960 --> 0:15:06.040 the tournaments and the duel meets a lot of fun 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.440 and I just became like really good at it. Um. 0:15:09.480 --> 0:15:13.040 But I still like focused on football. Ended up graduating 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:17.000 high school and going to Juco College and Harper College 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:21.280 Harper College in Illinois, and I played football there. I 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:25.200 had no intentions of wrestling after high school, Like I 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:28.000 had to cut weight to get the two fifteen. I 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:32.680 wanted to enjoy Thanksgiving, enjoy Christmas, be able to eat 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:37.040 a lot and uh get ahold of uh some potato 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:43.400 salad during those holidays. But uh but now um, but yeah, 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:45.880 like I had no plans of wrestling in college after 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:49.920 high school, and so a bunch of heavyweights got hurt 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.280 and the wrestling coach came and tried to recruit me 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:56.720 to come wrestle for him in college, and I was like, nah, 0:15:56.840 --> 0:15:59.320 I'm I'm gonna go home and enjoy myself. And then 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:02.640 second some master started and our defensive coordinator tracked me 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.920 down on campus dragged me to the wrestling coach's office, 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.640 say hey, you got your heavyweight here, and I was like, oh, 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:13.400 I guess I'm wrestling, And so I ended up wrestling 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.880 in college. I was like one match away from all Americans, 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.680 with like half the season already done. And then I 0:16:21.760 --> 0:16:24.120 ended up getting recruited to go to w W. So 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:26.880 I just I wanted to be a football player and 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:30.160 I ended up becoming a professional wrestling. Well, let's unpack 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.520 that one. Who's the security guard in high school? That? Uh, 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:42.160 that that introduce you to wrestling? Kenny Poe, defensive coordinator 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:46.520 at your college where there's four year community. I don't 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.240 care what it is. It's still at college and you're 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:54.240 pursuing that. How did that sit with you a little 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.880 bit at that point in time? I was like, all right, 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:00.520 I guess I ain't got no choices about it. Did 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:05.159 you play football after that? Or you just you Oh no, 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.040 I still played football. I did both. I did both 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.960 football and wrestling. So like we had just got done 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:15.320 with football season, um and we uh ended up winning 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:20.000 the national championship for Juico that year for non scholarship Juco, 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:25.200 and like guy, like it was like the season was done, 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:27.159 was getting ready for the off season, getting ready for 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:30.560 next season and all that stuff, and they just told 0:17:30.560 --> 0:17:33.080 me to go, like, hey, I want you to go 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:34.760 join wrestling. I don't know if it was just to 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:38.879 keep me busy, just like make sure I don't like 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.200 like do anything crazy and like make sure I keep 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.200 my head like keep my head straight and focused all 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:46.639 year so I can like do be good and be 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.320 the best I could be. But it was just like 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.399 h and I also think it was like we a 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:54.280 bunch of the guys from the football team. We had 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:56.680 like a little deal or like some of us wrestled, 0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:58.679 so like some of us will get together and wrestle, 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:02.520 and I ended up beating that everybody, so they're dogs 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.400 is pretty good. So they was like, hey, we got 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:07.200 this kid on the football team. He was like, he's 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:09.680 pretty good at football, but he can help you out 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:12.320 and wrestling. So that's how that came about. That he 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:14.720 just dragged me to the room, was like, hey, got 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:19.880 your heavyweight, got there, wrestled, and then uh, that's ended 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:26.000 up how I ended up here. I love cut to 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:29.520 It and I love it even more when you download 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.960 us and subscribe and you can follow us on social 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:36.000 media too, Smithie, where where at that's at? Cut to 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:41.080 It on Instagram? What about Twitter? At? Cut to It? Facebook? 0:18:41.800 --> 0:18:45.200 Cut to it featuring Steve Smith singr what about online? 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:48.119 And you can follow us at cut to It podcast 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:51.360 dot com, where you can buy merch and you can 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.840 subscribe to us wherever you listen to podcasts. I got 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:58.320 all my answers questions. Uh yeah, I got all my 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:01.960 questions answered. That's what I'm here for, a brother, cut 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:05.760 to a podcast dot com. How did you get the 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.160 attention of w W when you were wrestling in college? 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:11.960 Talk a little bit about that. That um, that transition. 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:18.560 So uh that transition. We were at national dues, um 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.960 so like I'm getting ready for a match, and like 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:24.800 our coaches are wrestling coaches likes gonna play tricks on 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:27.719 us and stuff like that, play a little jokes. So 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:31.240 like they were like, hey, yo, Vince McMahon's right hand 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.280 managed here to see you. He wants to talk to you. 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:39.159 I'm like what And I'm like, nah, whatever, man like 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:41.760 leave me alone, let me focus on this real quick, 0:19:42.200 --> 0:19:44.560 and so he is. They were like no, We're dead serious. 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.120 I'm like yeah whatever, bro, Like all right, I'll play 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:50.480 along with this guy. Let me want the smatch man. 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.000 So I'm like getting warmed up, getting warmed up, go 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:58.360 out there, ar wrestling matches over with I win, come 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:04.440 back well, bearing a chair, breathing hard like you get 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:06.760 trying to like barely could drink any water at that 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:11.160 point in time. Sure enough, Jerry Briscoe comes up, was like, Hey, 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:13.919 I'm Jay Briscoe for the w w E. Like to 0:20:13.960 --> 0:20:16.440 talk to you about coming to trial for w w E. 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:20.920 It was like, oh, so it wasn't a joke. Yeah. 0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:23.359 I was like, oh so you guys were telling the truth. 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:26.040 But did you have any idea how you got on that? 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:27.840 Do you have any idea how you got on their radar? 0:20:27.920 --> 0:20:29.639 Like were you were you a ranked wrestler or do 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:32.000 they just are they sending scouts out to to look 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:34.080 like I guess you don't give us insight on it. 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:38.359 Um So at that point in time, I was ranked 0:20:38.480 --> 0:20:43.080 nationally uh so. But Jerry Briscoe he used to wrestling 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:45.640 amateurly as well. He was an amateur wrestler as well 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:48.440 for Oklahoma State. He was All American back in the day. 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:52.159 So that's and he wrestled in w w E for 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:54.560 a very long time and he was in the front office. 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:57.480 He would be the one that go recruit like the 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:01.040 guys like Brock Lessner, Shelton, Benjamin and like all those 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:04.520 amateur wrestlers, Curt Angle. Um, he was the guy that 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:07.679 recruited those those guys and because he will go to 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:10.840 all the tournaments and whatever and like, hey, like I 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:12.800 think you would be really good. You should give it 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.680 a trial, whatever you want. And so it was just 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.480 like we talked from there and he ended up getting 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:21.280 me a try out later on that year and then 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:28.800 I've been here ever since. In wrestling, right, professional wrestling, 0:21:28.880 --> 0:21:33.960 amateur wrestling, Why do they need to Why having the 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:39.439 history does it benefit you? Because obviously, like miss you know, 0:21:39.520 --> 0:21:43.320 not everybody has the history of wrestling in college, arrestling 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:46.240 in high school something, you know something. Have learned the 0:21:47.680 --> 0:21:55.119 professional aspect of it by trial and there. Right, learning 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:58.400 the moves are pretty like it got pretty easy. Um, 0:21:58.480 --> 0:22:00.639 it took a little took a little wild, but like 0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:05.120 learning the moves are pretty easy just because like athletes can, 0:22:05.160 --> 0:22:09.480 like I can learn pretty fast. Now, the theatrical part 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:13.240 of it, the entertainment part, now, that was a part 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:16.160 that kind of like I struggled with when I first 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:20.080 got there because I'm always like serious and I'm like 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:22.199 ready to go, like I'm I'm in the zone. But 0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:24.720 like I needed to be like show my face more, 0:22:24.840 --> 0:22:28.679 make more facial expressions, be more entertaining after I do 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.040 a move instead of just like going right on them, 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:35.000 like I hit a drop kick, get the crowd wild 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:37.280 up and stuff like that, and like what I'm saying, 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:45.080 just celebrate. You get into wrestling by you know, being dynamic. 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:49.120 In college, you go through the process and you try out. 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:54.360 How was trying out for you in your particular journey 0:22:54.680 --> 0:22:58.919 getting to the pinnacle you are today? It was actually 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:01.000 a crazy experience. I didn't know what I was getting 0:23:01.000 --> 0:23:06.520 myself into necessarily. Uh, Like when I first got there, 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:08.240 like when I was in college, I didn't really have 0:23:08.280 --> 0:23:10.080 money for a suit, so like I showed up in 0:23:10.160 --> 0:23:13.320 like house shoes and sweatpants in the hoodie. Everybody else 0:23:13.400 --> 0:23:17.720 is like decked out in suits and stuff. I'm like, oh, whoa, Yes, 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:22.639 I didn't get that memo. So like it was just 0:23:22.680 --> 0:23:25.480 like oh snapping, Like people are just looking at me, like, yo, 0:23:25.600 --> 0:23:28.160 who is this guy pole? Like what is he doing 0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:29.760 to here? How did he even get like how did 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:34.440 he get in the door. I'm like trying to figure 0:23:34.440 --> 0:23:38.360 it out. Yeah, I'm like, hey, I'm with I'm trying 0:23:38.359 --> 0:23:40.919 to figure this out myself. Man. I was like, I 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:42.600 did not know you were supposed to come with me 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:45.479 because in my mind, I don't thinking try out, like 0:23:45.880 --> 0:23:50.919 nothing about that and saying suit tie like a polo. Nothing. 0:23:51.000 --> 0:23:57.720 I just showed up. How shoes you to wrestle? Yeah? Like, yeah, 0:23:57.880 --> 0:24:01.159 I got my wrestling shoes, had my books back, and 0:24:01.200 --> 0:24:07.840 that's it showed. But but seriously, though, in those moments, though, 0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:11.200 did you ever find yourself like playing that comparison game? 0:24:11.240 --> 0:24:13.840 Because I just know being being a wrestling fan and 0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:16.320 coming up like you hear those stories of like Brett 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:18.479 Hart's dad that would train all those people like in 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:20.840 this basement. Did you ever play that comparison game? Because 0:24:20.840 --> 0:24:23.200 there are so many people that come into the business 0:24:23.320 --> 0:24:26.160 in various ways. Did you ever have that comparison game? 0:24:26.160 --> 0:24:28.399 Because there were there were cats that were there that 0:24:28.480 --> 0:24:30.439 had the boots and had the suits and had all 0:24:30.440 --> 0:24:35.520 those different things. Did you ever fall into that comparison game? Uh? 0:24:35.720 --> 0:24:39.439 Sometimes a little bit um but then like after a 0:24:39.520 --> 0:24:41.439 couple of years, like once I got hired in like 0:24:41.480 --> 0:24:43.919 a couple of years, that kind of like left and 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:46.200 it was just like, look, I'm gonna be I'm gonna 0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:49.560 be me no matter what. And I've always been the 0:24:49.560 --> 0:24:53.600 guy that's always been very relaxed, very laid back and 0:24:53.760 --> 0:24:56.960 like never tried to worry about anybody else and try 0:24:57.000 --> 0:25:00.040 to control everything that I can control for me. And 0:25:00.040 --> 0:25:03.560 and so for a minute, I did play that little 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:06.359 bit like it was like, oh man, damn, this dude 0:25:06.440 --> 0:25:09.280