WEBVTT - AEW CEO Tony Khan (Part 1) 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:07.120 M m h. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Wrestling 0:00:07.120 --> 0:00:11.119 with Freddy. And when this podcast started, a lot of 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:14.160 you know, I've talked about surfing and catching waves. I 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:15.960 wanted to have a very open mind and it was 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.160 basically just gonna be story time with Freddy and maybe 0:00:19.200 --> 0:00:21.919 a couple of my friends. But as I've been doing 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:26.000 this podcast, my passion for wrestling has been growing and 0:00:26.079 --> 0:00:28.440 growing and growing. And we've had some more guests. But 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:33.120 today's a crazy day because we have not only my 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:37.240 biggest guest, but someone who as I've watched his career 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.320 and what he's built grow, I felt a lot of 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.400 weird connections that I want to get into today. Uh, 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:47.239 Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the amazing owner and the 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:51.400 boss of a w Mr Tony Corn, now stuffing up 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:55.880 for the mic The Hope of Wrestling with Freddy, Freddie 0:00:56.120 --> 0:01:01.200 Prince June. Yeah, thank you, Freddy. Thanks for writing me 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:04.759 on your show. Dude, I appreciate it. Man. I uh, 0:01:04.840 --> 0:01:07.800 this is weird, Like I've had a kind of a 0:01:07.800 --> 0:01:13.000 a crash course and self reflection watching what you've been 0:01:13.000 --> 0:01:15.160 able to accomplish. So and I'm gonna throw a bunch 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:17.640 of weird stuff at you and if it doesn't click, 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:19.560 you just be like Freddie, you're crazy. But I just 0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.839 I feel weird connections to you. And in the following regards, 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:28.800 we're both in some sense legacy kids, all right. Our 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:34.160 father's accomplished a lot against a whole bunch of odds. Uh. 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:37.560 They dealt with their own challenges. Now, my father didn't 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:40.840 deal with the pressure well at all, and his life 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:44.280 ended way too freaking young. Your father dealt with the 0:01:44.280 --> 0:01:47.240 pressure incredibly well and was able to raise a family 0:01:47.760 --> 0:01:50.760 um and do this business. So I know what it's 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:54.120 like to be a legacy kid. I know the pressures 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:57.040 of that, and I knew I didn't want to do 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.320 exactly what my father did, but I wanted to show 0:02:00.360 --> 0:02:03.080 respect to it. So I never got into the stand 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:05.680 up comedy element of it. But he always wanted to 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.839 be a film actor, and so I jumped into that. 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.680 Here you are, and I got to do all this 0:02:12.800 --> 0:02:17.880 before social media. Here you are. Your father. For those 0:02:17.919 --> 0:02:21.600 who don't know, owns the Jacksonville Jackuars. It's a fairly 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.760 exclusive club to be an NFL team owner, and you 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.359 have to be test a smidge successful to be able 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.919 to pull it off. So you're dealing with not only 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:34.680 that kind of pressure, but your post social media not 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.760 post you're in social media, we're in we're in DS 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:42.639 during social media, and that pressure is a global pressure. 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:45.919 What have you found to be And I will get 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:48.120 into the beginnings of this in a minute, but this 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:49.639 was the most important thing to me, So I just 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:51.840 wanted to make sure we hit it. What have been 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.600 the challenges or what are the things you thought would 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:57.400 be challenges that were easy? What were the things you 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.600 thought would be easy that were really hard? Um? Can 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:02.760 you just jump into all that and take as much 0:03:02.840 --> 0:03:05.760 time as you want. The biggest things to me were 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.200 I think And you've worked in the wrestling business, Freddie, 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:12.639 so you know that when you get in your kind 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.720 of learning from the ground up because you have all 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:18.960 these experiences watching wrestling on television and then you get 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:20.919 to work in a company and a lot of what 0:03:21.639 --> 0:03:24.280 you believe in a fan really translates to the business 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:28.160 and a lot of you know, things you're seeing for 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:31.280 the first time when you when you get behind the curtain. Yeah, 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:35.520 big time. And for my first show, you know, I 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.640 had big picture ideas, big picture thoughts like, you know, 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.760 I felt really strongly about certain aspects of the card, 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:47.360 like you know, for example, that Kenny Omega versus Chris Jericho. 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.040 I really felt like I had to be the first 0:03:49.040 --> 0:03:52.520 main event um that had done huge business for New 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:55.000 Japan as the main event of the Dome Show a 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:58.320 year prior, and I really felt like that was a 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.280 big part of my business case was seeing how successful 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.200 that show had been around the world and knowing that 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:07.560 bringing that to America, American pay per view, there would 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:12.200 be an audience for that match. That's an old school philosophy, though, 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:16.280 Like that's old school, Like, hey, Morocco Snooka did great 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:19.279 business over here, Let's bring that over here. That's old 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.840 That's pretty old school, man. A lot of my philosophies 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.159 really are as we talk, you'll see. I think a 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.640 lot of it is that way, Like you know, the 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.919 way we've we've run the business and routing the tours, 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:34.479 trying or you know, make the most of what we 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:38.279 got uh service very well through the pandemic. I think 0:04:38.360 --> 0:04:42.120 that might set and and ran the business like a 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.080 territory for a long time and then you know, managed 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.800 to build a developmental component out of it too. Dark 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.839 because we had daily place, we had the crew, we 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:54.359 had wrestlers, and there's so many wrestlers around Florida and 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.360 Georgia driving distance that wanted to come in and work. 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:00.400 I follow most of them on Instagram. I mean they 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:02.919 literally are like, I'm going to do Dark. I'm getting 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.600 in the car right now, Like I've literally seen this happen. 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:07.840 It was great, and a lot of a lot of 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:11.520 those people then became featured wrestlers now on my Granted, 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.600 you know from the beginning, UM, I was entering it 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:21.960 as similar to you of an educated wrestling fans, and uh, 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:26.200 put a business plan together from the beginning. UM so 0:05:26.240 --> 0:05:29.799 as far as like challenges that like you have ideas 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.200 that are great ideas. And there's a big difference between 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:34.840 booking on paper and booking in real life because you're 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:39.920 dealing with like, actual human beings and it's very different 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:43.680 dealing with people than dealing with like wrestlers on paper 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.440 or in your imagination. UH. And similar in sports to 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:51.000 my experience is working in football, like for example, as 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:53.240 the Gentleman is your film, working with the players and 0:05:53.279 --> 0:05:57.599 their contracts, sitting down with scouts and coaches, evaluating talent, 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:00.360 I think that gave me a lot of good operation 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.880 to come in. So my experience in a sports business, 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.880 combined with a lifelong fandom of wrestling, I think served 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.080 me well. The thing I probably wasn't prepared for at 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:16.080 first the first several months was getting my hands around 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:19.240 doing everything. I don't think anybody ever expected me to 0:06:19.279 --> 0:06:22.360 get so organized. Well, let's so let's jump it. Let's 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:25.960 jump into that deeper, okay, because look, I tried to 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:28.120 run a show, right. I had a sitcom back in 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:31.200 the day. It lasted one season, and it lasted one 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.440 season because I tried to do everything all right. So 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:36.680 now some people can do this. Their brains are just 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.800 wired that way. I'm left handed, so I'm more right brained, 0:06:39.880 --> 0:06:44.599 so I cannot. Okay, So I it's a this is 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:46.360 a this is a tricky thing because I was gonna 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:49.880 ask you, like I'm friends with or friendly with Junie Buss, 0:06:50.320 --> 0:06:53.200 and so I've spoken to her about how she what 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.240 things she takes over versus how her dad approached things. 0:06:56.520 --> 0:07:00.560 Her dad was very much about designating responsibility. What I've 0:07:00.560 --> 0:07:02.960 heard and where I think you're about to go is 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:05.400 you're in especially in the at least in the beginning 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:10.360 phases of this you want hands on everything? Is that correct? 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:12.960 I was not hands on about every I was over 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:18.520 seeing everything, but it was probably more of a collaborative 0:07:18.760 --> 0:07:23.480 thing the first several months, and I just felt like 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:26.680 it wasn't was it organized as I would like it 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:28.600 to be. We had risen to such great heights and 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:32.160 it's such a great opportunity, and it was all so close. 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:37.000 And at the end of you know, we launched the show, 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:41.480 had a huge debut, did really good ratings, and now 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.040 doing really great ratings these past few years. But after 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:49.920 the first two months or so, uh maybe maybe even 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:52.640 after the first six seven weeks, started to see it 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.840 dip UM and I think it was probably around late 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:59.960 November into December and continued through December, and it was 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.160 a trend and I didn't like the way the ratings 0:08:03.200 --> 0:08:05.360 were going, and clearly the way the ratings are going 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:08.680 were reflecting that the fans didn't. You know, I didn't 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:10.680 like the direction I was going where we were going, 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:14.480 and so I made a lot of changes, uh, going 0:08:14.520 --> 0:08:18.000 into that, I felt really good about UM in terms 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.000 of being more organized and just you know, uh doing 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:25.160 it all shows by hands and they've been a lot 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:30.120 of you know, more focused, and uh, it's it's great 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:33.079 having like lots of ideas coming from lots of different places. 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:36.200 And I do utilize and have lots of different contributors 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:40.839 bringing ideas to the table. But um, it's just hard. 0:08:40.960 --> 0:08:44.160 Like you've been in those writers, they're brutal, so it 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:46.520 can be very difficult. I mean, I was the kind 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:48.840 of guy I could handle about, you know, five or 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:52.640 six storylines on my plate before the work would start 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:56.840 to suffer. But you're getting pitched forty fifty things a week, 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.720 so you know, it's like you're going to SNL and 0:09:00.720 --> 0:09:04.520 they're like, hey, we have fifty sketches. Don't worry about 0:09:04.600 --> 0:09:07.720 memorizing all of them, but please memorize mine. And it's 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.480 every talent coming in with their ideas, right, and you're 0:09:10.559 --> 0:09:12.960 the host. You're like, yo, I've never done this. You 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:15.360 do this every week, like we have to find a 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:19.280 common ground here. So what I've seen you pull off 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:24.560 has been nothing short of impressive to me. And and 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:27.200 you're gonna take criticism no matter what because it's art. 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:30.360 So the critics are right as much as the fans 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:33.160 are right, because we're all conditioned to enjoy things based 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.920 on how we were raised and and how we interpret information. 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.360 There's types of TV series now that give you everything 0:09:40.400 --> 0:09:42.240 in the pilot, and when I was a kid, they 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:45.840 made you wait, but with binging shows they don't anymore, 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:48.520 so that the style has changed. But that's not my thing. 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:50.560 I don't go around crapping on it. I just know 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:52.280 what I like, so I'll just go watch Clue the 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:56.960 movie or something like that great movie. So you know 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.840 every every single work, Yeah, me too. I'm not handid 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.840 and I know every word of yo. So here's the 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:06.880 side quest real quick. When we were doing I Know 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:09.800 You did last summer, we were in North Carolina and 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:15.280 Madeline Khan, who was Mrs White, was in the bungalow 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.680 next to me, and I was cooking food and it 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:22.560 was gonna be for the cast, and Madeleine Khan literally goes, 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:26.600 whatever you'll smelling or whatever you're cooking smells marvelous, darling, 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:28.720 and I went, oh my god, thank you so much. 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:30.880 And she came to this little white picket fence we 0:10:30.880 --> 0:10:32.720 were staying in these cottages and she goes, I'm coming 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:35.160 to have dinner with you, and I legit snubbed the 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:37.960 whole rest of the cast and had dinner with Madeline, 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:40.360 who I was completely in love with, a total crush 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.360 on her. It was like a Portobello mushroom pop. My 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:44.280 mom was a chef. She talked about a cook and 0:10:44.360 --> 0:10:46.360 the cast didn't even talk to my white My future 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:48.880 wife didn't even talk to me the next day. And 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.240 it's all Madeline cons fault. But I didn't care, and 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:52.839 I love her and I love her in that movie 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.600 when she's like flames on the side of my face, 0:10:56.040 --> 0:11:00.680 he's greatest anyway, side quest over her and Tim Curry 0:11:00.720 --> 0:11:12.160 had all the best dialogue in that movie. There was 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:15.000 an animated Star Wars show called The Clone Wars, and 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:17.679 he did in the final season. He was the I 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:19.240 don't know people are supposed to know that, but yeah, 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:21.720 he was the Emperor's voice. I didn't know that. Yeah, 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:24.480 they played with it a little bit. But his acting 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:28.400 is so sick that people like, yeah, we're good, so okay. 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:32.720 Howard Hessman passed away recently. Uh you know, he played uh, 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:35.280 the religious guy who turns out to be an undercover 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.640 top at the end The Kingdom of Heaven Is Real. 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:40.680 Had to hold back. I was like wrestling plans aren't 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.360 gonna get this, but I wanted to post. I can't 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.080 believe the clue just got us to this. This is amazing. 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:49.080 Clue was huge in the wrestling business, like so many 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:51.640 people in wrestling wealth Clue. Did you know that it 0:11:51.880 --> 0:11:54.880 they played different endings in different theaters all across the country. 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:57.880 They should have been and that's why the movie bombed 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.520 in theaters that they didn't get people all three. So 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.280 satisfying to see the three endings. But is you you're 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.720 such a clooner. This is amazing. So Howard has been 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.599 passed away, and I should have done it if I 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:12.000 wanted to post the meme of like him saying like 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:14.000 the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, because I thought 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.920 that would be really appropriate set off for Howard Hussement. 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:19.600 You're allowed to meme whatever you want. Man, you don't 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:21.920 have to worry about that. It's out of respect. You know, 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.440 it's not like you're slandering the good man. People don't 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:26.200 get stuff. I don't know. I should have done it, 0:12:26.280 --> 0:12:28.200 So Howard Custment, I want, I wanted to do it. 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:29.840 I should have done it. He was great in w 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:37.400 therapy Cincinnati. Yes, absolutely, that's great. So he that is one. 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:39.240 The other thing that he just reminded me of with 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.000 Tim Curry is uh the Emperor, you know, the in 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.240 the actual movie Game McDermott. I had never seen him 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:49.720 in another movie until this weekend Winbert passed away. Wait wait, 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:53.040 oh yeah he did. And I've never seen Rky Park 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:55.960 and I've heard it's good. So I watched Roky Park 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:58.319 and it's really good, except that, like it's one of 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:00.480 those things where like all the Russian acts there, all 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.719 the Russian characters are played by British actors, so it's 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:05.600 like Star Wars where it's just like all the homes 0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:08.680 of British vilains, but the Russian and and all the 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:11.520 all the Romans in movies are English as well. It 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:13.720 always works out like that. They got they got a 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:17.280 Scottish Russian once with Sean Connery, but he just he 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.240 basically says fuck it in the pirst scene and does 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.880 his own thing in Entreet October. That's so true. Yeah, 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:28.719 and he's got a great wig too. That's a power wig. Man. 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:30.920 When I tell my hair, it kind of gets that 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.800 like Kevin Nash, Sean Connery, Red October looked to it. 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:39.480 It's pretty hot and we just we just lost you know, 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:41.920 William heard and I had never seen him Mcgermand in 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:44.880 another movie, but he was in the working park and 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:48.160 he plays like this Russian professor with a British accent. 0:13:48.440 --> 0:13:51.040 Does it take you out of it knowing he's the emperor? 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:53.720 Was the role? That was the Emperor's role? That impactful 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.560 that you're almost like or was it? Okay? It's a 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.120 pretty crazy pay a pretty crazy character. He's like the 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:03.360 scientist who like, uh, like, you know, I don't want 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:05.199 to spoil that. I don't know. I haven't seen it yet, 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:07.199 so for sure I liked it. I wanted to go 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:09.320 back and watch something with blame hurt. I hadn't seen 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.880 a free pass and I rarely get free time to 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:13.480 do anything, and I had a couple of hours, so 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:17.360 I watched it. So so we had so much in comment, 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:21.160 as we've established here. Uh so, yeah, man, I want 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.880 to get back into this, Like and you said this earlier. 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:28.960 You you were basically learning on the job with a 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:32.480 hyper amount of success right away, but still having to 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:37.320 learn valuable and sometimes rough asked lessons I had. I 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.840 was a rocket ship, like from my first little job, 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.120 all of a sudden, I was doing movies, movies, movies, 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:46.240 but I was so green that I always felt like 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.560 I wanted to redo every single scene by the time 0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.320 the movie was over, because I felt like I was 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:53.840 a better actor, but I was getting to work with 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.280 like legends, right, So I tried to sponge it. And 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.320 I always hated everything I did early in career to 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:01.880 the point where I don' I've only seen three movies 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.360 I've been into my life because I always felt like 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:07.640 I wanted to change everything. Did you go through something 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:09.760 like that or is it just you have to steam 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.320 roll and be like throwing away every week. I still 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.720 go through that every like at the end of every week, 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.440 at the end of every taping. It's rare, like like 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:22.800 revolution all out. There are times where like it's just 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.360 so perfect that you come out the original Revolution. There 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:28.600 have been times where like you you're done with it, 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:30.240 and you're like, that could not have gone any better. 0:15:31.200 --> 0:15:33.440 Let's celebrate one of the greatest nights we're ever gonna have. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.520 But more, you know, we've done a twenty seven episode 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:41.160 to Dynamite and thirty something episodes a rampage, and a 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:43.640 lot of times when I come out of TV, even 0:15:43.640 --> 0:15:46.000 though even some of the ones that have been the 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:48.960 best received, most popular shows, there's like one thing I 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.560 want to have back, And I'm just like banging my 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:54.400 head and ripping my hair and yelling at myself, like 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.240 what was I thinking just about one thing? You know, 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:00.680 like you could have flipped these two segments around. Um, 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.840 you know, I would have probably put this later in 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:04.880 the show, or I could have maybe held the rating 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.080 up higher if I go on with these is the 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:09.680 lead segments. So I think about that stuff all the 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:11.760 time and beat myself up. But I would also rather 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:16.560 beat myself up than beat anyone else stuff Again, like 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:19.960 a lot of it lives in my head. It's one 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:21.680 of the reasons why we don't have as much leaking 0:16:22.120 --> 0:16:24.880 of surprises their secrets and stuff, because like it all 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:29.000 right here anyway. So you know. So it was a 0:16:29.000 --> 0:16:30.600 lot of learning on the job, and I think there 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:34.800 was like a big moment. We only lost the demo once, 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.440 like we went I think we're head to head with 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:40.840 nx SKI for like seventy six weeks, and we went 0:16:40.920 --> 0:16:43.960 like seventy five and one in the demo and the 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.520 work where the one was the one to reset me. 0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:50.720 We have been losing the overall number, which was not 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:52.920 the number of the network tired as much. You know 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.040 that the number that was like the lead number on 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:56.800 the report that they would talk to us about, like 0:16:56.840 --> 0:17:00.680 the actual scoreline lead to week number eighteen forty nine 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:02.920 that they focused on. But also you know, looking at 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:07.840 the total viewers in December, we were losing it the 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:10.080 total viewers, but we were still holding out to the demo, 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:14.600 and I I dropped. I quit being in denial when 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:17.000 we lost the demo. And then it's the only week 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.600 off I've ever had since we started. This is Christmas 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.160 twenty nineteen, because we've done a show every single week 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:29.000 since October two often except for Christmas twenty nineteen, we 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.280 were off because it was Christmas Day. We didn't do 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:43.880 a show that day. How is your brain allowing you 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:45.959 to step away or did your brain make it? Did 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:48.479 someone tell you, hey, man, take a week? Did you 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:50.919 need to do? Like what what's going on? And tell myself? 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:52.679 Like you know those things you do and you know 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:55.240 firstanding I know you all know exact what I'm talking about, 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:57.520 Like you know, and like there's something you don't believe 0:17:57.560 --> 0:17:59.720 in and you're like I'm just gonna do it because 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:03.760 like made it right. And and then like by the 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:06.600 end of that first year, at the end of twenty nineteen, 0:18:06.640 --> 0:18:08.600 we did do in the show for like three months 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:11.560 and it just felt like I had that moment. I 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:13.640 was like, I'm not gonna do anything anymore. I don't 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:17.280 believe in And and then like you know how you 0:18:17.600 --> 0:18:19.800 sat like in New Years Resolution like that, like and 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:21.320 I was like, Okay, going into this New Year, we 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.679 get this. Christmas all of New Year's Day was one 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:25.399 of the best shows we've ever gone, and not just 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.960 because of everyone involved, Like you know, the wrestling was 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:31.359 off the charts and everybody brought it. There was such 0:18:31.400 --> 0:18:33.439 a We had a huge main event with the arm 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.479 Bucks and Kenny Omega versus Pack and the Looser Brothers 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:39.000 before they became the Death Drawing Gold but but as 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:41.160 a trio that was originally supposed to be the Fighter 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:43.160 in Festimating then in the first Fighter in fest foot 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:47.880 Pack at a Visa issue and so arrato, kid, I 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:50.919 love Pack by the way, I he look, you have 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:54.000 some guys and some girls that can talk, that can 0:18:54.240 --> 0:18:57.840 talk to the point where I don't believe you're you're 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.560 you use writers I don't believe you do. Um. I 0:19:01.600 --> 0:19:03.760 was always I have always agreed with this is weird 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:05.080 for me to say it, but I always agreed with 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:08.199 this philosophy. I felt I should only be there for 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:10.800 the people who can't write their own promote that you 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:14.840 won't get a mouthpiece four. So that was sort of 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:19.439 my approach was, Okay, you're not a talker, let me. 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:21.639 And there was one time I won't say the wrestler, 0:19:21.680 --> 0:19:23.320 but I put an ear piece in his ear, just 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:26.159 like Marlon Brando used to do, and I in backstage 0:19:26.160 --> 0:19:28.800 read him line for line how to cut it the emotion. 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.400 But because he literally, he goes, bro, I'm a robot, 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:33.760 just tell me how to do it. And I'm like, 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.199 you gottah. He's I can't memorize this, but if you 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:37.840 tell me how to say it, I'll say it. And 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:39.479 I was like, let me think of something. And so 0:19:39.520 --> 0:19:41.040 we went to magic and I was like, can I 0:19:41.040 --> 0:19:42.600 get like an earpiece? They go, we don't have that here, 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:44.280 but we can get you one from the truck, and 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:46.200 they grabbed me an earpiece and we stuck a little. 0:19:46.440 --> 0:19:48.320 The tiny little receiver is here, not the one with 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:50.720 like the loop or anything. Just a tiny receiver. And 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:54.200 I was in Guerrilla and just cutting lines, telling him 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:56.919 and telling him good job, Like I even screwed him 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:58.320 up one time. I was like, that was really nice, 0:19:58.320 --> 0:19:59.879 and he kind of like smiled and I was like, 0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:04.120 no, no no, no, I've never done it. I've never done 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:07.040 that before. But yeah, so you have, so you do 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:10.080 have some talkers. And that leads me to somebody. Oh 0:20:10.160 --> 0:20:13.480 I absolutely fell in love with because I hate him 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:17.600 um and he needed to get beat up. But to me, 0:20:17.720 --> 0:20:20.160 he is not only the future, but the right now. 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:22.800 And that's m JF. You guys told a story with 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:28.159 him and Punk that was so the opposite of the 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:32.600 stories being told in mainstream wrestling right now. You took 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:39.840 your time. It lacks it's nothing felt rushed. You didn't 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:44.360 give anything away. And he wore a white suit. He 0:20:44.400 --> 0:20:47.280 wore a I literally when I saw that Punk had 0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:49.160 the white teacher, he had the white suit. I told him. 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:51.160 A fan of horror movies, I was like, oh, there 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:56.800 will be blood, and that's such a beautiful representation. Like 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:58.840 I've said this and you'll you'll click with this. I 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:02.720 think I've a He's felt wrestling is the purest form 0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:07.480 of art because it's the literal blood, sweat and tears 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:12.400