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Speaker 1: Welcome back, everybody to another episode Wrestling with Freddie, and

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Speaker 1: today's guest is a close friend of mine. I can

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Speaker 1: count on two fingers how many of my friends are wrestlers,

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Speaker 1: and I can count on one finger how many of

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Speaker 1: them I'm this close with. And uh, today's guest. I've

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Speaker 1: wanted to have him on since the very first episode

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Speaker 1: because I talked about him in just about every episode.

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Speaker 1: We have the amazing m v P now stuffing up

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Speaker 1: to the mic of Wrestling with Freddie Freddie Prince tune. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: So I'm graduated fully amazing because I've always been half man.

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Speaker 1: You know, you're fully amazing. Now full man, full amazing.

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Speaker 1: It's a whole new category, sir. How are you. I'm

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Speaker 1: doing well, man. I'm actually in my hotel room in

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Speaker 1: Orlando right now going through my physical, um I guess,

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Speaker 1: physical assessment to get clear to get back in the

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Speaker 1: ring because you know, I had that knee injury for

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Speaker 1: a while. How the physical therapy go. That's all healed up.

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Speaker 1: So now it's just a matter of me, uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: jumping through their hoops to make sure that I'm physically

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Speaker 1: capable of performing in the ring. So I'm feeling good man.

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Speaker 1: The knee injury, the torminiscus is completely healed, and um,

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Speaker 1: now it's just a matter of, you know, rebuilding the

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Speaker 1: strength of the leg from the atrophied muscle. My my

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Speaker 1: tear drop has gone non existent, so we're working on

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Speaker 1: building that backup. And and my cardio a cardio is

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Speaker 1: much better than I thought it would be because i'd actually,

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Speaker 1: you know, hired a trainer and I've been, you know,

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Speaker 1: working on it. So I'm further along and I thought

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Speaker 1: I would be. Fortunately I wasn't, you know, my back

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Speaker 1: gasping for air. Um, but where I feel pretty damn

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Speaker 1: good now. For what you do outside of the ring,

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Speaker 1: everything you're talking about is equally, if not more so important.

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Speaker 1: So I want to start the story. I wanted to

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Speaker 1: start the story by how we met, but I just

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Speaker 1: want to jump right into a mutual love that you

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Speaker 1: and I both have, which is no, no, let's talk

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Speaker 1: about how we Okay, okay, okay, okay, So all right,

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Speaker 1: here we go, here we go. Okay. So I had

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Speaker 1: been at the company for eighteen seconds and you were

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Speaker 1: working with a writer named Krista Joseph on a promo

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Speaker 1: and I was kind of hiding back in the shadows,

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Speaker 1: listening in because you guys were having a speed bump

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Speaker 1: in there, and I was trying to like analyze what

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Speaker 1: the problem was and if I could fix it. And

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Speaker 1: once I did, I was like a dog that hasn't

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Speaker 1: been trained yet on a leash, Like I was jumping

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Speaker 1: waiting for an opportunity where there was gonna be a

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Speaker 1: pause in the in the creative flow that I could

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Speaker 1: jump in right and be like, hey, what about this?

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Speaker 1: And I saw that pause and I jumped in and

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Speaker 1: you looked at me like you were gonna beat the

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Speaker 1: living And what was going through your head at that moment,

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Speaker 1: because this is like my favorite memory in the company. Well,

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Speaker 1: we gotta go back a little bit before that. You know,

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Speaker 1: my only knowledge of Freddie Prince Jr. Was She's all

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Speaker 1: that and fucking tiger beet and jerk. You mean that

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Speaker 1: dude from those cheesy movies. Yeah, and he's gonna tell

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Speaker 1: me about wrestling this guy. So I was more than

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Speaker 1: just a little offended. And he told you said, hey, yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna have Freddie working with us today on this promo,

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Speaker 1: and I'm like, man, I don't need that old candy

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Speaker 1: ass Hollywood dude coming over here telling me about how

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Speaker 1: to cut a promo, and we were working. I remember

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Speaker 1: it was a SummerSlam with Jeff Hardy and it was

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Speaker 1: the goal and Jovid was like, hey man, he's really cool. Man,

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Speaker 1: just just give him a chance, give me a chance.

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Speaker 1: And I'm just, you know, gritting my teeth, like, uh,

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Speaker 1: I'm a professional, I work with anybody, but I'm not

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Speaker 1: gonna like it. And we, uh, we had crafted of

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Speaker 1: a pretty cooked promo, but like you said, there was

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Speaker 1: just that one beat missing, that one one thing to

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Speaker 1: tie it all together, that one line. And I remember

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Speaker 1: you pacing back and forth and everybody was sitting there

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Speaker 1: just kind of trying to find that one piece and

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Speaker 1: your turn, Okay, how about this? And the funny thing is,

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Speaker 1: I don't even remember what it was. I just remember

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Speaker 1: when you said it. Joseph looked up. His eyes lit up,

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Speaker 1: and I looked at you angry because that's it was good.

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Speaker 1: I was mad, how dare he? But then I had

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Speaker 1: to go like, no, that's that's it. That's that's that's

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Speaker 1: the piece. And I proceeded to cut the promo. Vince

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Speaker 1: loved it. Everybody loved it. You know, everybody came back

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Speaker 1: give me a pat on the back of what a

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Speaker 1: great promo, what a great and then I was like, ah,

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Speaker 1: I grudgingly had to give you your props and I said, I, well,

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Speaker 1: maybe maybe, maybe maybe there's more to this guy. And uh,

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Speaker 1: after that, you invited me to come hang out with

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Speaker 1: you and Mac, and um, we had some some vibes.

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Speaker 1: So it's because when we started talking about pop culture

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Speaker 1: and movies and who I remember specifically talking about, uh,

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Speaker 1: Dennis Alexio and Bronco sets right, and you were the only,

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Speaker 1: like the only other dude I've ever known that knew

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Speaker 1: that fight and oh my god, I can't believe I

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Speaker 1: forgot this and you said it, and my eyes just

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Speaker 1: like they just did now, just went pop like right

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Speaker 1: out of my head. And I'm like, this guy knows

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Speaker 1: about I s k A kickboxing, Like that's insane. What

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Speaker 1: what are your obsessions? And it was at that moment

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Speaker 1: that I think our bond was set and never to

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Speaker 1: be broken, because I was like, okay, man, you know what,

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Speaker 1: I was a jerk and I you know, I was

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Speaker 1: very at that time. You know, I was still adhering

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Speaker 1: to w W E at that point was transitioning from

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Speaker 1: the old school to the new school. They had just

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Speaker 1: a little while before that, gonna corporate and and things

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Speaker 1: were changing, and I was still in that old school mentality,

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Speaker 1: not understanding the evolution or realizing. At that time it

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Speaker 1: still wasn't real, really clear on the evolution of what

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Speaker 1: was happening. I mean, it was never like to sit

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Speaker 1: down meeting to explain how okay, all that old pro

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Speaker 1: wrestling stuff. Yes, some of that stuff we're still gonna keep,

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Speaker 1: but going forward, we are entertainment conglomerate and we're not

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Speaker 1: in the wrestling business. We're in a television business. And

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Speaker 1: all that came later. So at the time, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'm still protecting the business from you know, the Hollywood. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you guy that that was under cover a team beat

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Speaker 1: But he's gonna tell me how to you know, how

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Speaker 1: to cut a promo, get out of here. But you know,

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Speaker 1: you obviously were very good at what you do, and

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Speaker 1: you know, you contributed well, and you're a genuinely good person.

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Speaker 1: And I had to I had to eat a whole

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Speaker 1: lot of crew. It wasn't any crewe. I understood it,

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Speaker 1: you know, And I told you this when we first

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Speaker 1: met like we kind of both bonded because we have

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Speaker 1: old school mentalities and we believe in earning respect but

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Speaker 1: giving dignity, right, Like everyone deserves dignity, but everyone should

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Speaker 1: have to earn your respect, and respect should be earned

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Speaker 1: on a case by case basis. I can't just walk

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Speaker 1: in the room and say, well, my movie did berber Burger,

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Speaker 1: so you should listen to me because you told me

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Speaker 1: to go to screw myself, right, so I have to

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Speaker 1: kind of I don't care about the movie. Have you

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Speaker 1: ever been so excited by the end of No? Nor

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Speaker 1: would nor would I have been. Dude, I took one

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Speaker 1: damn bump from Randy Orton when I was like a

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Speaker 1: guest general manager of Raw and he did that modified

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Speaker 1: like backbreaker on me where he catches you from behind

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Speaker 1: and put broh. I was stiff for like three days

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Speaker 1: after that, like it, and I'm sitting there going you.

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Speaker 1: It was like four or five days later. I was

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Speaker 1: a McCaulay and I'm like, man, I still hurt. And

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Speaker 1: meanwhile the guys had like nine matches since that night.

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Speaker 1: I don't understand, Okay, if you brought up Broco and Dennis,

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Speaker 1: which brings me to my godfather, Bob Wall who recently

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Speaker 1: passed away. Um he was Dennis's manager, and he was

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Speaker 1: also the man who introduced me to Jean Jacques Machado

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Speaker 1: and my introduction to jiu jitsu. So you and I

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Speaker 1: started taking jiu jitsu seriously much later in life, and

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Speaker 1: we both clicked to it the way like former addicts

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Speaker 1: click with church or a A or whatever. It is,

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Speaker 1: to the point where we preach it right, we preach

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Speaker 1: it like it's like it's religious because it I'm not

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Speaker 1: gonna say it saved my life, but it certainly changed

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Speaker 1: my life and sculpted and molded me into a much

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Speaker 1: more productive and and destructible man. And when I say destructible,

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Speaker 1: I mean when challenges come at me, I see so

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Speaker 1: many more options to solve problems now than I did

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Speaker 1: before I took jiu jitsu seriously. Now, you and I

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Speaker 1: used to be sort of on the same path as

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Speaker 1: far as techniques we were learning and how are our

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Speaker 1: skills were developing. You're obviously much bigger and stronger than me,

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Speaker 1: but our belts were the same. And then I had

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Speaker 1: a slight injury that took me off the mats, and

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Speaker 1: your jiu jitsu continue to grow and grow and grow,

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Speaker 1: and you started to want to compete and actually go

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Speaker 1: against legit dudes, which brings me to the I B

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Speaker 1: J J F and you won you did you? You

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Speaker 1: one their championship. Will you please break this down because

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Speaker 1: I don't know the tournament scene at all. Man, I

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Speaker 1: bake down the whole process from start. Were you nervous?

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Speaker 1: Were you cocky? Were you humbled? Were you empower all

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Speaker 1: the way to the end? Please? Well, let's let's go

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Speaker 1: back to when I first started uh with with jiu

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Speaker 1: jitsu would be j J Brazilian jiu jitsu. When I

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Speaker 1: gave uh, I gave I was in I was wrestling

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Speaker 1: for New Japan at the time. I had asked for

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Speaker 1: my release from w w E and to go realize

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Speaker 1: my dream of wrestling in Japan. And I was over

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Speaker 1: there for a couple of years, and I had had

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Speaker 1: a chance to spend a little time in the ring,

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Speaker 1: had you know, some opportunities to to work on some

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Speaker 1: shoot style stuff with him in the ring a little bit.

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Speaker 1: And uh and and um actually was not shinsk too.

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Speaker 1: He was I think a purple belt at the time.

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Speaker 1: And I as as a pro wrestler I was always

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Speaker 1: a fan of the shoot style, you know, and I like,

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Speaker 1: you know, the the legitimacy of you know, the realistic style.

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Speaker 1: So when I gave my notice to New Japan and said, hey, look,

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Speaker 1: I'm just gonna take a year off for wrestling. There

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Speaker 1: was a Gracie Baha down the street from my house.

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Speaker 1: They should drive past it all the time. And I

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Speaker 1: finally said, right, today's the day I'm gonna give it

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Speaker 1: a shot. Because I knew I wanted to take some

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Speaker 1: time off and I needed something to uh devote myself too.

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Speaker 1: I don't I think I had maybe a stripe on

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Speaker 1: my white belt, and all the guys who were telling, man,

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Speaker 1: you know, we gotta NAGA tournament coming up. And NADA

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Speaker 1: is the North American Grappling Association. It's not on the

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Speaker 1: same level as the i b j GF because i

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Speaker 1: b JJF is the sports governing body, but NADA is,

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Speaker 1: you know, the probably the second largest competition. But it's

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Speaker 1: a lot more for for children and a lot more

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Speaker 1: of the hobbyists. Not quite as serious. I mean, there

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Speaker 1: are something you know, not to be little at all.

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Speaker 1: But um so I said, all right, man, you know,

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Speaker 1: I'll give it a shot. As a matter of fact,

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Speaker 1: I want to say I did that tournament after I

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Speaker 1: came back from l A when you and I wrote

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Speaker 1: What's There for the first time. A couple of days

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Speaker 1: with Josh. Yeah, I spent a couple of days training

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Speaker 1: with with Josh Barnett, with with Hannter, and I came

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Speaker 1: back and I was like, man, my, my jiu jitsu

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Speaker 1: is you know, because I was singing the gospel of

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Speaker 1: jiu jitsu a new convert. And I did my first

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Speaker 1: knocka tournament and I did g and nogi and I

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Speaker 1: competed ultra heavyweight. So I'm you know, the one guy,

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Speaker 1: I'm not exaggerating at all. He's gonna look like a

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Speaker 1: sumo wrestler. He was well over four hundred pounds. And

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Speaker 1: my thought process was like, man, please don't let this

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Speaker 1: guy get on top of me because I don't have

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Speaker 1: the skill set to get him off right now. But

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Speaker 1: I was able to take him down and submit him

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Speaker 1: and uh and the two guys, and then then was

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Speaker 1: the same thing. What as a matter of fact, of

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Speaker 1: technique that we had worked on that week or sodagari. Indeed,

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Speaker 1: I hit it twice, moved to mount armbar and got

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Speaker 1: you know, two submissions, and I won two gold medals

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Speaker 1: in my very first competition, and I was hooked. I

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Speaker 1: was like, oh man, oh man. And I was doing

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Speaker 1: every tournament I could. I was driving to Dallas, I

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Speaker 1: was driving all. I live in Houston, so I was

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Speaker 1: driving all the tournaments. My my first I b J JF.

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Speaker 1: I competed in the Houston Open. I won that, and

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Speaker 1: you know that, I got my my first promotion to

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Speaker 1: Blue Belt, and uh then I realized like, okay, you

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Speaker 1: know this is this is my thing now. You know

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Speaker 1: the adrenaline rush that I got from competing, because you know,

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Speaker 1: people would say to me like I would get nervous

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Speaker 1: before a competition and people woul say like, man, you

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Speaker 1: you're performing in front of millions of people and you're nervous.

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Speaker 1: I said, yeah, but I know what you mean. I

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Speaker 1: don't know these guys. I don't know their skill set,

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Speaker 1: their level. You know, it's just the the nerves of

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Speaker 1: the unknown. So when I um, and because I'm over thirty,

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Speaker 1: I compete in the Master's division, which is thirty en

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Speaker 1: up and that I b j g F has the

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Speaker 1: regular and then the Masters. So thirty enough his Masters

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Speaker 1: and under thirty is the regular and my very first

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Speaker 1: blue belt tournament for the for the World's in Las Vegas.

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Speaker 1: I lost in the quarterfinals to the guy that went

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Speaker 1: on to win the gold medal, So that made me

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Speaker 1: feel a little bit. That was the first time I

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Speaker 1: had lost. Like every tournament I had turned to that point,

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Speaker 1: I was a submitting fools and and and you know

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Speaker 1: point fools left and right, and I was like, oh

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Speaker 1: my god, this and then I finally ran into me

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Speaker 1: and we me and the guy laughed about it afterwards

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Speaker 1: because he was like, you know, you're the first person

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Speaker 1: that you know that had a hard fight because he

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Speaker 1: was an amateur wrestler. Um, I think he was an

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Speaker 1: All American. Uh, he was a wrestled them. He was

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Speaker 1: a firefighter. Yeah, so like he was fit, he was strong,

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Speaker 1: he was skilled, and you know, talk about humility, because

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Speaker 1: that was the first time I wasn't on the podium

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Speaker 1: and that hurt, especially when I saw like the guys

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Speaker 1: the second and third that I would mock the match

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Speaker 1: with those guys. But as the bracket it worked out,

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Speaker 1: I ran into, you know, and that guy said, hey, man,

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Speaker 1: if you would have been on the other side of

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Speaker 1: the bracket. It would have been you and me in

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Speaker 1: the finals. Um, so I made it a point, can't

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Speaker 1: continue competing, and I would go to Worlds every year

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Speaker 1: after that and compete. And uh, I remember purple belt.

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Speaker 1: My first time competing, I lost my arrest decision in

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Speaker 1: the first round. Talk about humility. I had a three

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Speaker 1: month camp, a gas tank was deep, my skill set

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Speaker 1: was on. And I went up against the Brazilian guy

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Speaker 1: and the Brazilian rev and the b j J to

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Speaker 1: talk about the curse. Don't leave it to the ref

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Speaker 1: needed my professor Andre Santos. He said, ah, sign, you

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Speaker 1: know I. You can't leave it to the helf for

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Speaker 1: me because you know I'm Brazilian. I mean, if you

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Speaker 1: fight to a Zilian guys, I'm gonna give you. That's

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Speaker 1: a really really solid impression. By the way, that's no joke.

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Speaker 1: The Brazilian impression is on point. I thought I was

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Speaker 1: as Jean Jacques, first professor Andre Andre Santos, and then

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Speaker 1: finally uh he uh. I think it was three years ago.

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Speaker 1: I made it to the finals and this is my shot,

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Speaker 1: here's my opportunity. And I went up against the guy

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Speaker 1: named uh. I believe his name is Andre Buccino. I

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Speaker 1: didn't notice at first, but he's a four time judo

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Speaker 1: Olympian from Yeah, Panamanian uh PanAm game silver medalist. You know,

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Speaker 1: I didn't know this beforehand. I just mentioned yeah, but

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Speaker 1: I know that's how his fingers were taped up like that.

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Speaker 1: That's not jiu jitsu tape like you know, he had

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Speaker 1: those he had those gall fingers. Yeah, but he had

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Speaker 1: him take all the way up, complete the first three

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Speaker 1: on each hand. You know, I'm like, nobody does that

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Speaker 1: and it's not like that, you know, but I was

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Speaker 1: very imprised. I was very proud of that silver medal

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Speaker 1: because he uh, he never took me down. He tripped

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Speaker 1: me up a little bit a couple of times, but

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Speaker 1: I was able to stay on my feet and rest decision.

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Speaker 1: He won. But my feelings weren't hurt because I mean,

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Speaker 1: to me, I kind of that that that silver medal

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Speaker 1: I feel is lined with gold because an Olympian judoka.

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Speaker 1: And then I went to do the and and then

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Speaker 1: I saw at this point I'm done right, I'm like,

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Speaker 1: hey man, I was. I had five matches today, four

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Speaker 1: matches and four matches they all went to distance. I

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Speaker 1: won on points. On all of them except for the

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Speaker 1: final one. My fingers were like, you know, clawed up.

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Speaker 1: My fore arms were like concrete footballs. And I'm done, man,

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Speaker 1: you know, and my professor of no, now you have

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Speaker 1: to do the absolute, you have to do it. I'm like, Andre,

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Speaker 1: I'm done, man, I got nothing left in the tank.

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Speaker 1: He yes, you do, I said, but look at my hands.

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Speaker 1: I can't even make grips. He goes, No, one when

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Speaker 1: you when you grab the g your hair's gonna lock

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Speaker 1: and stay like that. You're gonna be okay. Right, My

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Speaker 1: muscles crapped up because he's seen it a million times man. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: he was the fourth the fourth degree black belt. He's

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Speaker 1: he's been a black belt for twenty years. So he's like, no,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna be okay. And I ended up taking bronze

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Speaker 1: and the absolute. So that day I walked away with

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Speaker 1: silver and bronze, and my feelings, you know, weren't hurt

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Speaker 1: because I accomplished something. But I came back the next

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Speaker 1: year and uh, I said, this year's mine. I'm gonna

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Speaker 1: I'm I'm gonna take it this year as a purple belt,

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Speaker 1: And yeah, I was really nervous because I put a

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Speaker 1: lot of pressure on myself because I had made the

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Speaker 1: goal that I wanted to be a jiu jitsu world champion,

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Speaker 1: and I set that goal and every year me and

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Speaker 1: Andre would talk about it. And I'm going to a

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Speaker 1: camp three months out and you know, as a month

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Speaker 1: from camp, I'm doing three days, I'm going to jets

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Speaker 1: in the morning, just in afternoon and I'm doing my

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Speaker 1: my my weight training, my cardio teams, and I'm going

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Speaker 1: the evening jets. Like I immersed myself in JITs for that,

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Speaker 1: you know, for that final month, especially then I had

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Speaker 1: the uh, the go day and I was ready and

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Speaker 1: I I had two competitors to face in my division,

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Speaker 1: so I wasn't worried about my gas tank. And then

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00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:31,400
Speaker 1: they were both big guys and one guy and actually

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Speaker 1: saw some tape of him, so I knew, like, oh, man,

346
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,359
Speaker 1: this guy is legit. Um, you know, he competes a lot.

347
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Speaker 1: And uh, the first guy I was able to beat

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Speaker 1: pretty handily. I beat him on points, I didn't submit him.

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Speaker 1: And the second guy, he he was solid. Man, he

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Speaker 1: was good and he pulled guard and we were fighting

351
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Speaker 1: and fighting and fighting, and man, he was really tall.

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Speaker 1: So he had long legs, and I was having a

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Speaker 1: hard time pass his guard and passing his garden. Every

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Speaker 1: time I would just about that and I'm almost there.

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Speaker 1: He was recovering. I'm like, god it manum. But fortunately

356
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Speaker 1: and I was aggressive enough in my attempts and and

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Speaker 1: and my my attacking that I won that. Finally I

358
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Speaker 1: got arrested. Decision and uh and the guy, you know,

359
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,520
Speaker 1: he wasn't even disappointed about it, you know, because he

360
00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,000
Speaker 1: you know, he acknowledged it. So I had the the

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Speaker 1: pleasure of standing on the podium that day. I b

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Speaker 1: J g F Master's Worlds on the number one spot.

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Speaker 1: I got my gold medal, and just like I had envisioned,

364
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Speaker 1: visualized so many times, my professor came once it gave

365
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Speaker 1: me my gold medal and he took my purple belt

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Speaker 1: off and put my brown belt around me. And you know,

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Speaker 1: so many times I had fantasized about the day that

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Speaker 1: I got promoted on the pot. It happened. If you

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Speaker 1: win the world, if you compete it in world at

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Speaker 1: whatever belt you're at, YEA, that's belief. So I'm like, okay, cool,

371
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Speaker 1: So now I'm a brown So I got I got

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Speaker 1: thirty seven questions. I got thirty eight answers. I you

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Speaker 1: told me, you know, I'm yeah, I'm training for the

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Speaker 1: World Championships Again. You didn't tell me about three days

375
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Speaker 1: or any of this. You trained for this tournament the

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Speaker 1: way a professional fighter trains for a fight. Yes, I

377
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:34,400
Speaker 1: mean you were doing full diet three. How is your

378
00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:36,640
Speaker 1: and how old were you when you were doing this?

379
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Speaker 1: Forty five forty six? What are you doing for recovery?

380
00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,920
Speaker 1: What are you doing to to be able to get

381
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Speaker 1: in there and train every day? Or is it just

382
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:50,480
Speaker 1: the mental both? I mean, you know, I'm a night owl,

383
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Speaker 1: as you know. I like to be up at night,

384
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,919
Speaker 1: and you and um, but here's a here's a crazy

385
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Speaker 1: thing for me. I enjoy the benefits of cannabis. Um,

386
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,240
Speaker 1: but I also realized that when I smoked, it affects

387
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Speaker 1: my cardio. So one one month out, I cut off

388
00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:13,280
Speaker 1: smoking completely and I was only using CBD oil, CBD gummies. Um.

389
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Speaker 1: I was going to bed at night after training. I'm

390
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Speaker 1: so exhausted that I'm going to sleep. I'm not hanging out,

391
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Speaker 1: I'm not staying up, you know. I go home, eat

392
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Speaker 1: my final meal of the night, and go to bed,

393
00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:29,720
Speaker 1: get up early. For my you know, am session, my recovery,

394
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Speaker 1: and I was going to get my massages and my

395
00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:37,199
Speaker 1: sports massages and um, you know, particulous diet. I was,

396
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,439
Speaker 1: you know, no drinking, no smoking, the things that I

397
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Speaker 1: enjoyed to do, none of that because I I said

398
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Speaker 1: a focus and um, I said a goal rather, And

399
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:49,040
Speaker 1: I've learned in my life it works for me. Anytime

400
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,159
Speaker 1: I've wanted to accomplish something, I've needed to have that

401
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:55,920
Speaker 1: laser beam like focus in order to achieve that goal.

402
00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 1: And I know that when I do that, it usually

403
00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,320
Speaker 1: were for me in terms of being successful and achieving

404
00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:06,000
Speaker 1: the goal. I said, I wanted to be a world champion,

405
00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,720
Speaker 1: So that's exactly what I was doing. Would I always

406
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,040
Speaker 1: say this, man, when I talk to people about competing nowadays,

407
00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 1: jiujits are so popular. There are so many tournaments, small

408
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:18,680
Speaker 1: tournaments you know that aren't as as big as as saying,

409
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:20,840
Speaker 1: you know, the I B J JF, because you know,

410
00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,280
Speaker 1: that's that's the governing body, that's deep water, that's the

411
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,560
Speaker 1: serious practitioners. Um not to say that people do a

412
00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:30,400
Speaker 1: naga tournament aren't you know, serious, But it's a it's

413
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:35,959
Speaker 1: a lot looser. It's it's not as uh strenuous. You know,

414
00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:40,639
Speaker 1: they're a little more user friendly. If you will, and

415
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,399
Speaker 1: I think that, don't compete, do a Naga tournament. Do

416
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 1: a couple of Naga tournaments, just to you know, get

417
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:48,360
Speaker 1: your feet wet and get the think you even tossed that.

418
00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:50,920
Speaker 1: You tossed that idea to me a couple of years ago,

419
00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,960
Speaker 1: kind of like you're like, yeah, just do a nagae down.

420
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:56,800
Speaker 1: I feel like I remember us. Yeah, you're right, you

421
00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,600
Speaker 1: know you're right. Just dive in, Freddie. Then you have

422
00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:02,159
Speaker 1: to come. You have to come with me. You'll be

423
00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:07,200
Speaker 1: my cornerman, absolutely will hold on. I'm gonna put you

424
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 1: on the spot right now. You commit that you will

425
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,720
Speaker 1: do a tournament right now, and I will commit to

426
00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,960
Speaker 1: fly out and be your corner. Man. Let's do Let's

427
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,680
Speaker 1: do that, man, I would really I would really love that,

428
00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:24,760
Speaker 1: like I would really love that. Let's do it. We'll

429
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 1: find we'll find the right one. We'll find the right

430
00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:30,600
Speaker 1: one where you have some time. Will will compete on

431
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:35,280
Speaker 1: the same Naga. You corner me and I'll corner you.

432
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,160
Speaker 1: I'll let your Jock's corner you and you can both

433
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:43,720
Speaker 1: you want his voice, you and me digital hand stake.

434
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,320
Speaker 1: Right now, you corner me, I'll corner you. No one

435
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,040
Speaker 1: can see it but you and I. But that's a

436
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:53,960
Speaker 1: digital handshake. So let me ask you a question about

437
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: w w E since I feel I've lacked on that.

438
00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:00,160
Speaker 1: We just nerded out. Yeah, we just completely nerded out

439
00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:06,359
Speaker 1: on JITs. You made the transition from wrestling in the

440
00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:11,439
Speaker 1: ring every single week to becoming a part of someone

441
00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,399
Speaker 1: who I felt always needed that perfect key to help

442
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 1: unlock this business for him. And that was the relationship

443
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:25,280
Speaker 1: with you and Bobby Lashly. And I'm wondering, can you

444
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,760
Speaker 1: talk about is that a long term plan? Was it

445
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,520
Speaker 1: a week to week thing? How do you go from

446
00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,480
Speaker 1: linking up creating the Hurt business to all of a

447
00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,119
Speaker 1: sudden the road to WrestleMania. I think you know, Bobby

448
00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 1: and I have a wonderful relationship. We've been friends for

449
00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 1: a really long time. From my very first run on SmackDown.

450
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:47,840
Speaker 1: Bobby was the one that told me that I would

451
00:25:48,080 --> 00:25:51,399
Speaker 1: win the United States Championship with Better State Dinner on

452
00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,040
Speaker 1: it and because I didn't believe it at the time,

453
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,520
Speaker 1: and I was never so happy to buy somebody dinner.

454
00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:58,919
Speaker 1: And then, uh, you know, over the years, Bobby and

455
00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,200
Speaker 1: I stayed in touch. You know, we were in Japan together,

456
00:26:01,359 --> 00:26:03,000
Speaker 1: not for the same company, but we were over there

457
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,480
Speaker 1: hanging out. And then we were over at you know,

458
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,679
Speaker 1: another company together for a while where we had a

459
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,879
Speaker 1: really good pairing and really good chemistry. So when I

460
00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:14,359
Speaker 1: came back to the w w E and they put

461
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 1: us together, it's a very organic, natural relationship that the

462
00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:24,520
Speaker 1: trend to conceive that screen. As Bobby continued to improve, um,

463
00:26:24,800 --> 00:26:28,359
Speaker 1: I think our synergy and our act just continued to

464
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 1: for men, I guess, you know, until it got to

465
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:37,040
Speaker 1: that point where you're like, oh, yeah, that tastes about right. Yeah,

466
00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:45,000
Speaker 1: and Vince reassessed Bobby and his role and felt that, Okay,

467
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,520
Speaker 1: he's ready. I'll never forget. I remember leaving the w

468
00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:51,520
Speaker 1: w E asking for my release to go to Japan,

469
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:53,680
Speaker 1: and you know, they told me, hey, the door is

470
00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 1: open when you're ready to come back. And a decade later,

471
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:00,679
Speaker 1: I came back for a one off and ended up staying.

472
00:27:00,880 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 1: You know, by the way, I remember that night, You're like, no,

473
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:06,719
Speaker 1: it's just a one time thing, and then I'm like, uh,

474
00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 1: I see you every week. I was an accident, uh,

475
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:14,320
Speaker 1: you know, the cards subject to change, you know. But

476
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:21,639
Speaker 1: I remember being in Tampa at WrestleMania, and and you know,

477
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,480
Speaker 1: this is the first because they had to cancel WrestleMania,

478
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 1: you know, in front of fans, remember that the pandemic,

479
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,520
Speaker 1: So they had WrestleMania in the performance center. Um, that's

480
00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:34,800
Speaker 1: the first time we were able to have WrestleMania with

481
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:39,080
Speaker 1: limited fans, you know, outdoors. But I'm walking down the

482
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 1: ramp at WrestleMania with one of my closest friends and

483
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 1: the w w E champion, and listen to how you

484
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,919
Speaker 1: just said that. Listen to how you just end the

485
00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:54,040
Speaker 1: w like it's almost like it's still not real. Man,

486
00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,960
Speaker 1: it is so real. Everybody loves it, but it was.

487
00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:59,120
Speaker 1: It was at the moment, it was so real because

488
00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:03,439
Speaker 1: I'm thinking of myself. Man. Yeah, I remember eating yakaniki

489
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,159
Speaker 1: with this dude and Rapuni at midnight. You know. So

490
00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:10,240
Speaker 1: you guys used to post the Instagram photos of you

491
00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:13,480
Speaker 1: guys hanging out together in Japan with the guinnis in

492
00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:15,760
Speaker 1: one hand and some tempura and the other and I

493
00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:18,639
Speaker 1: was like, this guy is loving life. I didn't know

494
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:20,800
Speaker 1: you guys were that tight though, until I saw you

495
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:23,360
Speaker 1: come together again. On Raw and I was like, yo,

496
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,760
Speaker 1: they're they're for real friends, because fans are slick now, man,

497
00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,600
Speaker 1: they know they know when it's forced. So it's amazing,

498
00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:34,639
Speaker 1: you know, to WrestleMania, you know, the the the the

499
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,240
Speaker 1: super Bowl, and professional wrestling one of the biggest entertainment

500
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:41,480
Speaker 1: extravagances on the planet. And you know, to be there

501
00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 1: in a major role with one of my closest friends,

502
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:49,120
Speaker 1: you know, representing the w w E championship, and you

503
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:51,480
Speaker 1: know every year in WrestleMania comes around as you know,

504
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,520
Speaker 1: we're in WrestleMania season now, the road to WrestleMania is

505
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 1: upon us and will be in Dallas, Texas for for

506
00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:02,400
Speaker 1: two nights because WrestleManias big that it's two nights now,

507
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:06,640
Speaker 1: Saturday and Sunday. I love the two day format. It

508
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,080
Speaker 1: just gives me more time than nerd outs. And then

509
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,360
Speaker 1: if you think about it, WrestleMania has you know, like

510
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:19,640
Speaker 1: like like the any major sporting event, you know, whatever

511
00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:23,600
Speaker 1: they're their championship is, there's always that whole week leading

512
00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:26,440
Speaker 1: up to it, and WrestleMania is no different. Now, now

513
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,479
Speaker 1: you've got a whole week of events that lead up

514
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 1: to the two big shows and you know the cottage

515
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:35,200
Speaker 1: industries that have popped up around the independent shows, and

516
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:41,200
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, there's there's there's superstars doing comedy clubs.

517
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 1: WrestleMania week at every comedy club, and every city they

518
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 1: going is booked. Everything, every venue, everything is booked because

519
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:53,000
Speaker 1: everybody converges on whatever city WrestleMania is in for one

520
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,200
Speaker 1: of the biggest events on the planet, and it keeps

521
00:29:56,200 --> 00:29:58,360
Speaker 1: it be getting bigger. And every time I think, okay, well,

522
00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,520
Speaker 1: how are they going to top last year? Somehow they do. Yo.

523
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,360
Speaker 1: That's that's a real statement. I remember thinking that last

524
00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:09,240
Speaker 1: time when it was up where the forty Niners play

525
00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,800
Speaker 1: at Levi Stadium and being like, I don't know how

526
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,360
Speaker 1: good WrestleMania is gonna be. And that was the famous

527
00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:21,320
Speaker 1: uh seth Rollins finisher into Randy's r K O when

528
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: he did trying to get the curb stop and he

529
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:25,280
Speaker 1: launched him like ten ft and I was like, yeah, okay,

530
00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:27,240
Speaker 1: I was wrong again. Wrestle man is still the sixest

531
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:32,480
Speaker 1: show that happens every single year. Well, listen, man, if

532
00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,239
Speaker 1: I can get my butt out to WrestleMania, um, we

533
00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,280
Speaker 1: need to hang out. If not, I'm gonna see you

534
00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 1: at a Southern California jiu jitsu tournament, but I really

535
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 1: hope I get to see you before then. Thank you

536
00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:46,360
Speaker 1: so much for taking the time to do this. I

537
00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:49,760
Speaker 1: know how busy you guys are. You know I love you. Uh,

538
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 1: you know, I always appreciate you, and I appreciate everybody

539
00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,960
Speaker 1: here for listening. This has been a production of My

540
00:30:56,120 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 1: Hearts Michael podcast Network. For more podcasts for my Heart

541
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,360
Speaker 1: Radio for at the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

542
00:31:02,520 --> 00:31:10,600
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H m hmmmm.