Seth Rollins WWE Super Star, the Crown Jewel, rise to top of wrestling, Architect of the Shield, Marriage to Becky Lynch, fatherhood & Wrestlemania

"When you got young guys and girls coming up underneath you, they want to take your spot, and they should. I want you to come in here and out work me... I want you to fight for it. But I'm gonna fight back." Ahead of his big win at WWE Crown Jewel this weekend, wrestling icon Seth Rollins joined The Pivot Podcast in partnership with Fanatics to talk about his journey in wrestling, life outside the ring, the one thing that changed everything for him and his vision for the future. Although he's "closer to the end than the beginning" of his career, he's still as passionate as ever...and still dominates the sport. Rollins opens up to Ryan, Fred, and Channing all about his ambitions from being a kid, his relentless work ethic, and how fatherhood has given him a new purpose beyond the ring, From a young age, Rollins had grit. He never considered a backup plan and refused to be outworked, having faith in his dreams and working towards his goals day in and day out. Known for his role as a "heel" in the ring, he admits that being the antagonist is both more fun and, in today’s world of social media, sometimes easier in the WWE universe. He emphasizes how crafting a memorable character is essential in WWE, and dives into the current characters in the modern league. But Rollins' focus isn't all wrestling as it was throughout his life. Becoming a father has been pivotal for him, and he relates to the guys about being a girl dad alongside his badass WWE wife Becky Lynch. He shares how becoming a parent completely shifted his priorities and It took the pressure off of wrestling and put it on being the best dad he can be. But before his daughter...came his marriage, and he gets honest with us about how he got Lynch to fall in love with him and the beginning of their relationship. While he's found love in other parts of his life, his passion for wrestling remains strong, and he takes pride in mentoring the next generation, teaching them tricks of the trade while still protecting his spot. He chops it up with the guys, telling unforgettable stories about sharing the ring with icons like the Rock, Roman Reigns, and John Cena, and his admiration for athletes like Brock Lesnar. And of course, Rollins talks all about the thrill of WrestleMania that doesn't get old (even if he is). For him, wrestling's a marathon, not a sprint—and that’s what keeps him coming back, year after year. Tap in for more from this episode for WWE fans and lovers of the sport. Don't miss out on all episodes, every Tuesday and Friday, by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser-Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 0:32Speaker 01

  Where the drum was at? This is a much quieter intro, bro. Why? I didn't have the music. Yeah, you didn't even know how to act, you know?

• 0:42Channing Crowder?

  Tell where it go, how the tell where it go?

• 0:44Speaker 01

  Good, good, man.

• 0:46Ryan Clark?

  Seth, freaking Rollins.

• 0:49Speaker 01

  Oh, what's up, guys?

• 1:14Ryan Clark?

  Welcome to The Pivot, man. This is Fred Taylor, Channing Crowder. I'm Ryan Clark. This is The Pivot, a part of Fanatics. Pivot fam, thank y'all for always pivoting with us. So we, you know, we've sort of become, you know, big WWE fans now.

• 1:27Speaker 01

  Oh, alright.

• 1:28Ryan Clark?

  We had Montez and Biaka on, we had Cody.

• 1:30Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:31Ryan Clark?

  Fred and I were in Madison Square Garden.

• 1:33Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah?

• 1:34Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 1:35Speaker 01

  Oh, that's, did you see a show there?

• 1:37Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, we went to see a show there. My first time ever.

• 1:40Speaker 01

  Live? First time ever? You guys seen a lot? Live's crazy, right?

• 1:44Ryan Clark?

  My first time ever, man. When you get to be up close to it, though, Seth, like you realize some of like the athleticism that's involved. This is something you always wanted to do.

• 1:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:57Ryan Clark?

  Talk about having such a drive to end up being Seth freaking Rollins, that you were in community college, and like, where did you drive to like train during that time?

• 2:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, so, I mean, I grew up in the Midwest, in a super small town, in Iowa, and I mean, my- My grandpa, my dad, my uncle, they all just like had wrestling on the TV. So I was a big fan growing up and then, yeah, I started to really consider doing it when I was like 14 or so. You know, I was playing sports in junior high, like baseball, basketball, football, but, but I was like, ah, I just loved the performance aspect of wrestling. So this was, would have been I was 14. So yeah, I mean, gosh, 2000 roughly. I mean, the internet's starting to kick in. Backyard wrestling's starting to kick in. So people who, you know, used to just play football in their backyard. Now they're starting doing wrestling moves in their backyard on trampolines.

• 2:54Speaker 01

  But then you can like film it and put it somewhere where other people can see it. And so you get that kind of that feedback of, oh, I'm, I'm a performer now too, in some sort of weird way. So we started kind of doing that, me and my friends. Just, we had a big setup in our, in our, my dad's yard and some trampolines. And, and I realized we'd invite our friends from school, like, come on, check us out. You know, we put on these shows and it was silly, but I, I enjoyed the performance of it so much. And I was like, oh, this is what I want to do. And I've always been a super like, single-minded person. Like, I'm a completionist. When I'm playing a video game, like, I gotta get all thing. If I've got like a workout plan, I've got to do the exact reps and sets and weights.

• 3:37Speaker 01

  Like, I've got to do it or beat it, you know, and I'm very competitive. So, once I had that mindset and I kind of put it to wrestling and I was like, this is what I want to do. I was off to the races. I was off to the races from 14. It's all I wanted to do. Anything, any classes that I could take in high school. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna figure out, I'll take a acting class, right? That'll help me get better at the wrestling part of it. Any sort of stage performance thing, okay, should I? How do I get bigger, you know? Give me Arnold's bodybuilding encyclopedia. I'll figure out what he eats and I'll do it. Yeah, you know what I mean? What can I, what can I do? And then, yeah, man, even when I was going to community college, I'm 18, my mom's like, look, I'll help you. I'll support you while you're doing this. Cause I'm not making any money when I first get started.

• 4:22Speaker 01

  She's like, but you gotta go to school still and try to, so, but I would drive to Chicago twice a week. So that would be like... For about three hours, I'd commute up there. Because we were too poor to take, we wouldn't take the toll road. You could take 88 across, you could pay the tolls, or you can take 80 and then take an extra half hour. But we were too poor, we didn't want to pay the tolls. So we would take 80 up, so you'd avoid the tolls. It'd take an extra half hour to get to Chicago. But I trained in like a shipping warehouse. Where they, I don't even know what they brought in there, but they had a ring set up. We'd drive up there three hours, one way, after work, or school, or whatever, or both. We'd do the training in the ring with just an old veteran guy by the name of Danny Daniels. Great name.

• 5:06Speaker 01

  Little Greek fellow that lived in Chicago that was training people to make some extra cash for himself. And I trained there with a few guys, and I'd do that twice a week, back and forth, six hours, you know, total. And then we'd, wherever Danny had his little shows on the weekend, we'd tag along. We'd carry his bags, we'd set up the ring, we'd sell the popcorn, whatever. And then I'd go back and work at UPS, or the YMCA, or wherever I could to, you know, pay whatever bills I had. And so, and I hate to say, I always knew I was gonna make it, because, you know, that's ridiculous. But I always had the faith in myself, that if I could just get to the next step, just little by little. I knew it would come incrementally. And I had a lot of help along the way.

• 5:49Speaker 01

  It wasn't, certainly wasn't just me doing it all by myself. My mom is my biggest fan, and if she, if she wasn't, she'd have my back, I'm nowhere without her. Friends, family, and I had a lot of naysayers, but they helped too, you know? You know, you get the critics, you need that, you know? I put a chip on your shoulder. So yeah, it was, it was, uh, first few years, you're making no money. Losing money a lot of the time, wrestling in front of, sometimes, less than 10 people, you know? Just to get some experience in, or you never know who you might meet that's also wrestling on that show. You try to network a little bit and... Work your way up, man.

• 6:25Channing Crowder?

  Is it freaking Seth? What do I, what do you?

• 6:27Speaker 01

  Seth freaking Robbins, yeah. Like Brett the Hitman Hart? Yeah, that's me. Freaking is the middle name. The visionary, if you will.

• 6:36Channing Crowder?

  The visionary.

• 6:36Speaker 01

  The architect.

• 6:37Channing Crowder?

  The architect. The Messiah, you had disciples at the time.

• 6:39Speaker 01

  Kingslayer, right? There you go, alright, okay. We got one for everybody, I love it.

• 6:44Channing Crowder?

  He said you always knew, but in football, you have to have a plan B. You tear your knee up. You know what I'm saying? You're dislocated, so you have to have a plan B. You had no plan B? Because your path wasn't boom, boom, go. It was the small circuits.

• 6:58Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 6:59Channing Crowder?

  Then next, and we were down in Orlando at the facility recently. We talked to some guys, like, there was no plan B in there. I know your confidence is there, but when was that doubt? The doubt had to be there at some point.

• 7:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I mean, as a performer or as an athlete, I mean, there's always doubt at every level, I suspect. And it's not, you know, it's not like this linear path. You know, there's, it's lots of ups and downs, right? Tons of ups and downs, you know? You get hurt, or, gosh, I, you know, at the end of my training, I broke my jaw. I got four arms right across the, my jaw, point of the elbow, just bam, right there, broke, broke. I had to have my jaw wired together. And, you know, you go, oh, well, I'm screwed. I can't wrestle, I can't do anything, I can't train, I can't, what am I supposed to do? How am I gonna get better? You know, you start to panic, you start to freak out. But it's like speed bumps, right? You just gotta go through them and get to the next step and hope that, you know, the work ethic that you put in will get you to that level.

• 7:56Speaker 01

  And for me, where I was at in my world, I refused to be outworked by anybody. Like, if that meant driving 12 hours one way to get to a show, to go to, like, I would drive to Toronto to work a show. I didn't, it didn't matter, I would do it. And then, oh, you gotta be in Cleveland the next night, no problem. I would do it, didn't matter. I would sleep in my car. I would, I would take any booking if there was no money.

• 8:25Speaker 01

  Exchange, okay, can we, can I get some t-shirts to sell? Like, what can we do to, to figure out how to compensate me? Or I'll just lose a couple bucks that day, you know? And I would get to the gym, no matter what was going on. Oh, I separated my shoulder. Well, I'll do legs. You know what I mean? Okay, I'll just do cardio at night. I'll run. What, what can I do? There was no amount of like, I need to take this weekend off to go party with my friends. I was like, no, if there's a Friday and Saturday that I'm not working, I'm not happy. So I was like, I was an insane person when it came to my work ethic at that age. And that really put me above, kinda, I think, where everybody else was sort of okay with just being okay, and I never was. But yeah, there's always doubt, man.

• 9:08Speaker 01

  Especially when you jump elite, like, when you get to the next level, you know? And you're around people who've been doing it way longer than you, and their intellect is beyond what you could even comprehend. I'm like, oh my God, how do I get to there? But I always took it as a challenge, right? Okay, all right, teach me what you know, you know? What, what, what can I glean from this experience to then take with me to continue my rise? And so, yeah, I never had a backup plan.

• 9:37Speaker 01

  I don't, I don't endorse that. You know, I've got a daughter now, she's almost four, and I'm like, if she wouldn't get into something crazy like this, I would, I would certainly be like, oh, let's, let's pump the brakes, let's figure out a plan B, you know? I never did, man, I just didn't. I, I, it was, it was certainly a risk, but I'm very fortunate that it paid off.

• 9:57Ryan Clark?

  What if your mom would have said that, though? You're talking about Rue, your daughter, but you said your mom was your biggest supporter. And you always knew this was what you wanted to do, and you had a belief in yourself. And you just said, you know, I might tell my daughter, hey, let's look at this. What if your mom says that to a young Kobe, right? And says, hey, look? I want you to try something different. Because she told you go to community college, you did that.

• 10:21Speaker 01

  In the beginning, she was a cautious fan, right? She would allow me to, the space to explore what I said was my dream and my passion. I think in the back of her mind, she always thought it would be temporary, right? But I'm gonna let him, I'm gonna let him go. You know, I'm gonna let him spread his wings, he'll do his thing, and then, you know, he'll come back, go to college, start getting an education, because you're probably gonna need it at some point. But she never fully discouraged me from what I wanted to do. She allowed me the space, but, you know, put parameters on it, so that if it did start to take off, because I mean, there was, you know, at some point,

• 11:04Speaker 01

  I was working enough that I was starting to earn a little bit of a living off of it. And it wasn't a ton, but it was enough. And, you know, I said, "Hey, I can't, I ain't got time to go to school anymore. Like, I'm doing well. If I really go all in on this, I think, you know, we can do something." And, but she had taken a couple of years at that point to see that the progress was happening. It was incremental, but she could see it happening. And then she said, "Okay." So, I mean, I would probably take that approach with my daughter. I'd give her, I'd give her, I want her to do whatever she wants. You know, I want the world to be her oyster and all that. But, and I'm, so I'm never gonna stifle her. So my mom didn't, she wasn't a, she wasn't like a, "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know. Oh, fly free, I'll see you later."

• 11:49Speaker 01

  You know, she was like, "Okay, let's see, let's see. Do what you gotta do, let's see, and we'll go with what happens," you know? So she was very cool in that regard. But yeah, I would probably, I'd probably take that approach. I'm not, I don't wanna put a, put a foot down. "No, you live in my house, you live in my rules." I mean, I'm not, I'm not gonna go crazy like that, I don't think, we'll see.

• 12:10Fred Taylor?

  It's safe to say, and I'm pretty sure we all agree, that it's, you let all the naysayers know, because you're doing your thing right now. I wanted to ask you, throughout your journey, right? As you were growing your passion to wrestle, did you always want to be, what is it called, a rudo in lucha libre?

• 12:32Speaker 01

  Uh, bad guy, right?

• 12:33Fred Taylor?

  Bad guy.

• 12:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 12:34Fred Taylor?

  The heel.

• 12:35Speaker 01

  The heel.

• 12:35Fred Taylor?

  The heel.

• 12:36Speaker 01

  Gosh, you know what? I don't, I think I did always see myself as a heel. They just had so much more fun, you know? I, they so much, it's so much more fun to be an antagonist. Um, than it is to, than to be, you know? It feels great to have the, it feels great to have the adulation. But it's so much more fun and, and to be fair, it's a little easier in, in, at least in 2024 to be a, to be a heel in our industry because, I mean, you look around, people just wanna, they love throwing hate, you know what I mean? You look, I mean, if you take one look on any social media platform, and that's all it is, is people throwing criticisms. So it's super easy. When you find something that people attach to and they like it, you know, you ride that

• 13:19Speaker 01

  wave, but then you get to the top, then you're just the Yankees, you know? And now everybody's gonna wait, pray for your downfall. You know, you look at, uh, Brady and the Patriots, right? In the beginning, like, oh, what a great story. This guy drafted so late and now they've got the, and then, and then, oh, by the time, the time the dynasty went on, I was like, I hate this guy, I hate this team. And he didn't change much, you know? They're just playing ball, you know? I don't know if I can say this, but I always had an act for pissing people off. You say, you say whatever. Yeah. I always had an act for pissing people off because I was a little, I was, you know, that confidence is certainly, uh, I don't wanna say mixed up, but you know, you get a little arrogance, a little cockiness in there, you know, like? It's part of it.

• 14:03Speaker 01

  It's part of the deal, you know? So I, I took, I took that and I ran with it and I was able to use that and, and understand that. And a lot of my favorite characters when I were, when I was growing up, you know, guys that I really hated were, were so much fun to watch, you know? Ric Flair, you know, one of the ultimate heels, Triple H, one of the ultimate heels, Harley Race, these guys are, you know, they took so much pride in it. And, uh, and so, yeah, I, I did, I, my personality sort of lent itself to that.

• 14:30Fred Taylor?

  Can WWE survive or would it be as popular, as good with having a champion that's the face?

• 14:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, so some of our bigger, some of our bigger booms have been with, with face champions. Okay. Yeah, I mean, you look at the last four years, you know, Roman Reigns has kind of been the guy as the tribal chief, right, and he's been just the biggest heel upon heels. Uh, but right now, we're riding with Cody Rhodes, uh, who dethroned him at this WrestleMania this past year. And we're sort of in this era of, of baby faces, if you will. Yeah, I mean, there's, you've got guys like myself and Cody and Randy Orton and Sami Zayn, uh, and now Roman's back as a, as a baby face. And so you've got this era where everything is just clicking and people are, are loving so much of what's going on. And I'm looking around and I'm kind of thinking, oh man, we're, we're missing some good heels around here, you know?

• 15:21Speaker 01

  We're missing some good ones, but it, the business is, uh, it's cyclical. And that's how it kind of, you just got to kind of ride the waves that, that are given to you and figure out how to, you know, make the most money you can off of that. Uh, but yeah, I mean, you look at the past, you look at guys like Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels and, uh, Sam Martino, if you want to go way back, a, a lot of the biggest box office has been built on top baby faces. Got it.

• 15:46Channing Crowder?

  And those characters, personas, whatever it is, from Taj to Seth to freaking Bro, you know? All that stuff, when you, is that marketing? Is that your decision? Is that this is something needed in the sport? Like, when you start changing those personas, how was that decision made?

• 16:02Speaker 01

  God, you know, when I was younger, it wasn't even a thought, man. It was, because I was just like, I got to figure out, you know, I started out Tyler Black. I didn't know what Tyler Black was. I don't know who he was. I was just, I was a wrestler, you know, and I was fortunate to be decent at it and athletic and, and that was enough. And I, I hadn't, you know, I put no thought into it. It was just, I'm riding this wave, I'll, okay, I'll go out and do the moves and do the matches and, you know, I had a, a sort of an idea of what I wanted to be, but I, I didn't have an instinct about how to put it into a, a character, if you will. It wasn't really until I got to NXT and to WWE that these things started to, I started to see it closer. On the independent level, it's, it's a lot less important to have an incredible.

• 16:47Speaker 01

  Character, right, that transcends, you know, because you don't get a lot of time to cut promos on the independent scene, you don't get a lot of time to tell stories as much, it's just, it's the athleticism of the matches, and if you can deliver that in a vacuum usually, and then in a bunch of vacuums, kind of all over the country, or, you know, the globe, if you're traveling internationally, then you start to build a name for yourself. When you get to WWE, it's different, you need to have a character, you've got to have something that resonates with people, whether it's catchphrases, a charisma, you're a good heel, you get hated, you know, you're Dominic Mysterio, where everybody just wants to boo you out of the building, or you're, you know, the man Becky Lynch, like, whatever it is,

• 17:31Speaker 01

  it's got to be something that people can connect with, and then you have to be that and figure out how to, you know, again, roll with the tide, because I've been a babyface in my career, and it hasn't worked out. You see that, and the art of it, or part of the art of it, is knowing when to flip that switch, okay, let's go the other way, because that's where they're leaning, that's where the people are taking us. And so I've had a couple of pretty big moments as a heel, you know, one of my bigger moments in my career was actually turning on my friends in the Shield, which was the group I came into WWE with, and that made me, you know, one of the most hated men in the company for quite some time, but, yeah, I mean, you just gotta, you gotta ride that wave, man,

• 18:13Speaker 01

  you gotta figure out what the people want, and you want to give it to them, or if you're a bad guy, you want to take that away and dangle that carrot as long as you can, until you finally give it to them.

• 18:23Ryan Clark?

  What's beautiful about you, you know, when you came out earlier, we were speaking, and then the lights came on, I was like, oh, I see it. I see how you become a star, how people become attracted to you, is because you understand the element of entertainment, and you mentioned some of the personas that you can build, but there's also a real life, right, there's a real life outside of all the travel, all the appearances and those things, and you've already mentioned Rue, and you mentioned Becky Lynch, when you were talking about big time names. What is it like, man, you know, you're coming out of a relationship, your homegirl's coming out of a relationship, you know, you guys get cool, and eventually, you start sort

• 19:05Ryan Clark?

  of this mega WWE superstar relationship that ends up in a marriage and a beautiful young daughter.

• 19:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean Becky and I sort of fell into it a little bit. I think neither of us really wanted to date in the business that much. Uh, it just was, it seemed like a recipe for disaster, mostly because if it goes wrong, then you still gotta work with that person, travel with that person, see that person, date other people. That's just, it's a mess. So you gotta work, you know, it's, it's a mess. You know, you don't want none of that. When you break up with somebody, please, that's just, unless you

• 19:37Ryan Clark?

  He's like dang, look at, look at Becky and Dominique Mysterio over there.

• 19:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, right. No, I don't want none of that. I don't want none of that, you know. And then you're playing games and it's a whole different set of, you know, mental hurdles you gotta jump over. Um, so we were both kinda like, you know, we were friends for, we met like, gosh, maybe 2014 or something like that. So we've been friends for like four or five years. Good friends, hung out, you know, just totally platonic, just chilling. Uh, had a lot in common. Um, obviously shared a love for our industry and stuff like that. We have a similar kind of background. She came from the independents in Ireland as well. And so, yeah, I mean, we had a lot in common. And then it was just sort of a right place, right time thing. It was like, it, it made sense. And

• 20:23Speaker 01

  as soon as it, you know, we, we kinda, sparks started flying. I mean, I knew right away. We started dating in January and I had a, I was picking out a ring in March, you know what I mean? Like I, I was ready to rock. We were, we were engaged and like that summer, I was like, oh yeah, this is, this is it. It made too much sense at that point. I'm like, we're done, done and dusted. Easy breezy. So, and then, um, and then we had our, our baby in, in 2020, full COVID baby. I don't know if that baby would have even, uh, I don't know if that baby even would have been a, been a thing if not, cause we were just running hard. You go 2019, dude, we were on the road non-stop. We were both wrestling 150 to 200 matches in 2019. Just crazy travel schedules. And then March 2020.

• 21:08Speaker 01

  Everything shuts down, we're in a warehouse in Orlando, not knowing if we're gonna get- It's in the house together. Well, well, no, she, we weren't, that's the thing. She, because we were still working, WWE was one of these things, we were still able to work. They had, we had the Performance Center where NXT is now, but we were able to, we shut everything down and we had essential personnel only, but we were still traveling to work every other week or so, doing these shows in front of no people. And I remember, I'll never forget, we're sitting there like, maybe it was the first week or so of it, because the first week of the broadcasting happened to be on March 16th, so 316,

• 21:49Speaker 01

  one of our most famous talents of all time, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Austin 316, he's a beer bash drinking, party, redneck dude. And we do this segment with him and Becky, and there's nobody in the crowd. And they're trying to have a great time, partying, drinking beer, but there's nobody there. There's nobody there, it's like, it's so, it's so bad if you go back and try to watch it. But Becky, that day, was like, "I don't want to do this for however long we're gonna be doing this, I don't want to do this." And we talked about having a kid, so at that point it was like, "Well, if you don't want to do this, we could be here for six months, seven months, eight months."

• 22:32Speaker 01

  And I know we thought it was gonna be a year and a half, but either way, you know, here, that was the perfect time, so. Yeah, and talking, talking didn't make that baby. Talking did not make that baby.

• 22:43Ryan Clark?

  How does it feel to have like, that everybody knows about like, the shower thing because of the book?

• 22:48Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 22:49Ryan Clark?

  Like, you know what I mean, like, you know? Is there any conversation that goes on, it's like, "Look babe, like, I know it's gonna make like juicy details, but maybe we could keep this out of the book."

• 23:00Speaker 01

  I did, I did not police the book at all, yeah. She was very cautious about letting me read her book as well, too. I think, you know, she, obviously she's self-conscious, she's like, "I don't want you to read it." But I'm sure some of it had to do with the details that she was putting in there. Like, the picture of the two of us, I didn't know that was making it in there. I was unaware if that was gonna find its way into the book. I didn't, she didn't mention that at all, so when I saw the first, you know, I was like, "Wait, wait a minute now." Well, she's like, "It's too late now, it's already there." I was like, "Oh shit." Well, is what it is. So yeah, whatever, man. She can, I mean, what I, it's an open book. You know, if she's cool with it, I'm cool with it. Yeah.

• 23:39Fred Taylor?

  You mentioned the demands that the sports bring. How are you guys, two of the biggest stars in the entire sport? How do you find balance, you know, in raising your family? How has becoming a father changed your perspective on the sport and life and all that stuff?

• 23:54Speaker 01

  We didn't know how we were gonna do it, really, when we had the kid, because we knew the schedule would go back to normal at some point, which it did. Becky had Rue in December of 2020, and she was back on the road, because we were doing full live events in 2021 July. And Rue was, you know, what, seven months or eight months old at that point, nine months? She came with us everywhere we went. She rode on the bus with us, she took the flights with us. Every weekend we were traveling, she was with us. And we were so fortunate to be in the position we were to be able to have the tour bus. A lot of guys don't do that. Most guys are in rental cars every week when they go to these shows. We were fortunate enough to have a bus.

• 24:37Speaker 01

  We had a kid, we were able to get some help on the bus. And we were able to kind of raise her on the road for the first two years of her life, really, which was, for me, incredible. Because as athletes or entertainers, I mean, there's so much of your kid's infancy that you end up missing because you're working. And that sucks, dude. That is, and then I watched guys in our industry do it for, for years. They'd be gone for two weeks, three weeks at a time, not see their kids. And I'm like, dude, I don't know. It deterred me from even wanting to have kids, because I was like, I don't want to, I, I would feel, that just sucks. I feel so bad for you, you know? And so, we were so fortunate to be able to have her with us for the first two years.

• 25:21Speaker 01

  And now, as our business has transitioned kind of out of the live event model, like we don't do very many non-television events anymore, to what it's becoming, which is really a television and a content product, we've had a much lighter schedule. And so, we've been able to, you know, kind of start to set up shop in LA and really start to keep her there and only travel for, you know, a few days at a time, as opposed to weeks at a time, or, you know, just an unending schedule. But as far as being a dad, dude, it like, it took... How do I describe this? It took like all the edge off of wrestling for me. Explain that.

• 26:02Speaker 01

  Well, I spent my whole life wanting one thing. Like, single-minded, all I wanted was to be successful in this industry. To help the industry grow, to, you know, make money, be famous, travel. All those types of things. And that's all I ever wanted. And then I got all that. I kinda reached all my goals and, um, you know, as a goal-setting type person, I don't know how y'all are. When you reach a goal, all you do is set another one, right? And I got to this point in wrestling where I didn't know what else I had to do.

• 26:46Speaker 01

  I didn't know what other things I had to accomplish. I'm sitting here thinking, what else is there for me? And I kinda had reached, you know, a point where it was, not that it wasn't exciting, but it didn't have the same feeling that it used to when I was younger. When I was, I had that fire to kick everybody's ass, get to the top, you know, take no prisoners. I didn't have that anymore. And then when I had my daughter, I had like this new purpose, right? Like, oh, this person depends on me for their life to exist. And so I took all of that that I used to have kind of for wrestling and I shifted a lot of it into being a dad.

• 27:30Speaker 01

  Because I had this thing that I wanted to be passionate about again that was totally separate from this one singular thing that I'd done my whole life. And when I did that, it just took, it made wrestling for me, my industry, it just took it. I was like, oh, this is cake now. This is easy, man. This is, this, I can just go have fun. I'm not worried about, I've got everything I want here. This is the important stuff. Like, this is the important stuff, is being good for her, you know? This wrestling stuff. I'm so thankful that I've been able to do it for so long, stayed healthy. You know, I've got a paycheck, like, I'm a lucky, lucky, lucky, fortunate dude.

• 28:14Speaker 01

  But that's not, that's not what's important. What's important is being able to do this, like, that's where my focus is. So like, that's where my stress and my anxiety went, is to try to, you know, be a good dad and be there for her. And the wrestling is just, I got that.

• 28:28Ryan Clark?

  I got, I got 25 and 19, girls. It keeps stressing, don't worry. No, the stress change, dawg.

• 28:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I imagine. She's, she's four, so stresses, stresses are limited at this point.

• 28:38Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, I got 11, they're starting up now. I gotta go back, fellas, because I don't know what the shower thing is. It seems like something in my realm. What happens in the shower? I'm just, teach me if it's something I don't know.

• 28:49Speaker 01

  I believe you're referring to the, the, her coming out of the, the shower in the hotel room, the first time we, we got together.

• 28:55Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 28:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 28:56Channing Crowder?

  Now, we need a score here.

• 28:59Speaker 01

  He sat up on there, just, yeah, I, I was shooting my shot ahead of time. I was, I was talking a big game, uh, you know, trying to, you know, make things a little more romantic between the two of us. I was over the platonic stuff. I was like, alright, let's get down to business. We were, I, we also hadn't been single, like, kinda at the same time, really. Um, and, and so I was, I turned up my flirting game, but I hadn't seen her a lot. So I'd been, you know, texting and, you know, talking and that sort of stuff. And sure enough, like, it was one of these deals where we finally got in the same room and the moment was there. And she, like, you know, she comes out of the shower in the towel and, like, kinda gave me the, like...

• 29:39Ryan Clark?

  What's happening?

• 29:40Speaker 01

  Eh, you know, put up or shut up, you know? Put up or shut up. But I was, I was, I was not expecting that. It's not her personality type, really, at all. So I was like, oh, shh, alright, yeah, alright. This is it, we're for real here, this is the real deal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, yeah, she referenced that in the book. I think that's what we can talk about.

• 30:00Ryan Clark?

  That's what I was talking about, exactly, yeah.

• 30:02Fred Taylor?

  Was it the architect, the visionary, or who, who, who let a naysayer know that day?

• 30:08Speaker 01

  Oh, God, that day. I mean, that was for me. Yeah, that was for me, you know what I'm saying?

• 30:15Ryan Clark?

  Hey, that was, that was the dude from Iowa, from Davenport, Iowa, that was his day.

• 30:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, that was my day, man. That was good. I'd have to let nobody know that one.

• 30:24Ryan Clark?

  Hey, fellas, we all have these daily routines we get into. And as regimented people from being in the league, we hate when those things are thrown off. Tell me a routine you have that you hate when a monkey wrench is thrown into that plane.

• 30:37Channing Crowder?

  Man, I gotta get my kombucha in the morning. We travel so much, man, I can't find my kombucha, man. My stomach, I feel bloated and all, man. Let me get a kombucha, let me get my probiotics in me. But when that's thrown off, man, I feel the difference when kombucha's not in my life.

• 30:52Fred Taylor?

  I can't help but laugh at you because I'm the same way. But I'm not kombucha. I'm just lemon and ginger, hot water to get my system flowing. I gotta have that every morning, RC. I'm simple.

• 31:03Ryan Clark?

  Well, fellas, thankfully, you know what doesn't get skipped? Daily rewards from Fanatic Sportsbook.

• 31:09Channing Crowder?

  Bruh, every day you'll get a new offer from them, guaranteed.

• 31:12Fred Taylor?

  Bet and get profit boosts and more.

• 31:15Ryan Clark?

  Head to the Fanatic Sportsbook app each day and see what offer is waiting there for you.

• 31:22Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends, like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 31:51Ryan Clark?

  When you think about, you know, how far you have come, you know, because I think I find it very interesting for you to say that some of that fight, some of that hunger does go away. And you've been so successful. You've simultaneously held different belts at a time in your career. And it seems so different from what we're used to because it's so much entertainment and then it's on top of that athleticism and sacrifice.

• 32:19Ryan Clark?

  What to you are the harder parts of your job? The more difficult things you guys have to deal with?

• 32:26Speaker 01

  Gosh, at this age, I'm thirty, how old am I now? Thirty-seven to be thirty-eight, maybe? I don't even know.

• 32:33Ryan Clark?

  That's how you know you're getting old, bro.

• 32:34Speaker 01

  Something like, yeah, yeah, thirty-seven, I'll be thirty-eight next year, I think. You think that's right? Maybe thirty-nine, maybe it's thirty-eight to thirty-nine, I could be wrong. Yeah, thirty-eight, I'm thirty-eight right now, I'll be thirty-nine next year. I had to go do the math real quick. At my age, it's starting to get, you know, twenty-one years, I've been doing this. You know, my body, it's trying to keep my body together, you know? And like I said, the schedule's diminished quite a bit, which is good for me. But yeah, it's, there's a couple of things, you know, at my juncture, trying to, and I've got a lot of equity with our audience, so they appreciate what I do and what I've done. So that makes my life a little easier than, say, a younger guy coming up, trying to make a name for himself. But trying to stay healthy as much as I can to contribute.

• 33:17Speaker 01

  And then, you know, trying to keep it fresh, man. Trying to keep it, you know, give them something new all the time, instead of just doing, you know, you can get into the same thing over and over and over, but it gets boring after a while. And as a performer, it's not terribly fulfilling. You know, you kind of want to do something that feels good and fresh and exciting and gets those, you know, your brain going in different ways. And so those are the big ones for me now, I think. You know, I got twenty-one years and two thousand-plus matches, and so I've got like, you know, the wrestling part of it I can do, I can do all that stuff. But I'm fighting against, you know, time, and I can't do what I did when I was twenty-one no more. My body don't do those things.

• 33:56Speaker 01

  And I'm still fairly athletic for my age, but like, it's just, I don't recover nearly as fast, I'll tell you that. When I hit thirty-five, that was it for me. I was like, wow, they say, you know, they, oh, you'll feel it one day. I'm like, ah, I'm fine. Thirty-five was the one where I turned around and I'm like, okay.

• 34:14Ryan Clark?

  I feel it.

• 34:14Speaker 01

  I get it.

• 34:15Ryan Clark?

  Yeah.

• 34:15Speaker 01

  I understand that. That finally all caught up to me. I can't just throw caution to the wind and go... You know, head first in there anymore. So those are the big ones for me, man, and just trying to keep that. You know, when you got guys, young guys and girls coming up underneath you, that they just wanted, they wanted you, they want to take your spot. And they should, you know, they should. I want you to come in here and outwork me. I want you to come in and take my spot and I'll, I want you to fight for it, but I'm gonna fight back. You know, I'm not done there. I'm gonna, I'm gonna try everything I can. I'm gonna make it hard for you because that's gonna make you better on the back end.

• 34:50Channing Crowder?

  What's that transition like to that point? Because in the league, like football, you know, hey, I can't run with this guy no more. We need to figure this out, coach, because you know, at 21, I could fly down the seam. I can't do it.

• 35:01Speaker 01

  You gotta call something different.

• 35:02Channing Crowder?

  Yeah, hey, safety. You gotta call a little help. Like, yeah, it's not gonna be what it was five, six years ago. But in your sport, the entertainment side, is it like, I always reference the Andre the Giant documentary. Because he was one of my favorites and like, everybody told those stories where they'd be laying and he'd be like, you know, hey, hip throw. And then he'd be like, nope. And he'd just do whatever the fuck he wanted to. But like, when you're scheduling a match or you're in the middle of a match and they're like, hey, you're flipping over the top rope. Nah, I'm not, I'm not this time. Like, but when you go from that 21-year-old, super athletic, you know, whatever the hell your name was at the time, to now, that transition of being like, I can't, I'm not gonna fly from here to there anymore. I'm gonna miss.

• 35:42Speaker 01

  I mean, it's, it really is, it's so stereotypical, but you just work smarter, not harder. That's it. You just learn, I mean, because when you're in the game, like, you know, for so long, you know, you learn tricks. You know what I mean? You learn little things that these young guys who are faster than you, stronger than you, they're gonna run harder than you. They can, you know, recover quicker than you. Like, they don't know these little ins and outs. They don't understand how to, how to, how to read defenses the same way. You know what I'm saying? Or offenses, whatever it may be. They don't understand, they can't. So like, your predictive model for, how many times have you seen a quarterback drive back or something like that? Your predictive model is gonna work way faster than some of these other guys, where they might be able to catch up to a ball or to a route.

• 36:26Speaker 01

  But you're already ahead of the game because you know where that, where that, what that concept looks like, right? And that's the same as for wrestling, for, for me, like, I know. I've had so, I've had, and you know, the cool thing about wrestling is every match is different and they're kinda like little snowflakes and they're all unique, you know, because everything's a little different, every crowd's different, every city's different. But I've done so many of them that I have like all these possibilities going on in my head at the same time, where these young cats, they just don't, they don't know, they don't know what to expect. So I, if I do something, when I think about it ahead of time, I know, I know almost exactly how it's gonna go, I know how it's gonna sound, I know how the

• 37:08Speaker 01

  people are gonna react. I'm like, oh, that, that, you know, we would call it a spot, right? Which is like a series of moves, right? So that spot in Corbin, Kentucky will work 100% of the time, you know, some silly little like southern, you know, rasslin' spot. Rasslin'. Rasslin' spot, rasslin' spot, you know? Oh, wait a minute, okay, I, here's, you'll call me a chicken and I'll do this and the crowd will lose their mind and then we'll just do 10 minutes of me saying, "I'm not a chicken, I'm not a chicken." And they'll call me a chicken and then we're great. And everybody's entertained. If you try to run that in Brooklyn, it's not gonna work, you know? It's not gonna work. You can't, you can't do that. So you gotta have a Rolodex. Okay, well, what works in Brooklyn? What

• 37:52Speaker 01

  do they like there? They like hard hitting, they like athleticism. Okay, well, I can't do the same type of athletic stuff that I used to, but how can I make them think that I can? Right? So you have little tricks that just, over the years, you've, you've, you got them. You put them in there, you put them in here, they're locked in. And when the time's right, when you're out there, oh, I got it. I know what we need here, you know? And I, and my, my role in the company right now is to really help take all that information that I've amassed over the last, you know, two decades and help a lot of these younger guys get to that point. So, it's, it's a fun time, but it's a different world. But yeah, man, you just, you just, the little tricks, until the tricks don't work no more.

• 38:34Fred Taylor?

  We've all experienced that. You got the, the physical component and then you also got the mental component. We know we can still do it. Can we do it on that extreme level, that high level that we're used to? And that's why LeBron and guys like Tom Brady were so impressive because they were, they're 40 plus and they're still doing it.

• 38:53Speaker 01

  That's incredible.

• 38:54Fred Taylor?

  You know, on this level.

• 38:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 38:55Fred Taylor?

  Throughout your career, 21 years, you say over 2,000 matches or something like that. You've had some extremely iconic moments. Like what is it, what is it called? Cash in the money in the bank. The contract WrestleMania 31. I'm still learning.

• 39:11Speaker 01

  There you go, that's good.

• 39:12Fred Taylor?

  WrestleMania 31. Is that the creme de la creme or do you have other moments on a personal level that stand out as much as that moment?

• 39:20Speaker 01

  Uh, I mean, that one's probably the one, you know, like there's some moments that you'll have that'll, um, that'll kind of be remembered for a while. But like, that's the one that's like, that, at least for me, the one, the cash in at WrestleMania will be the, the one that people remember like forever. You know, you think about Hogan slamming Andre, right? WrestleMania 3, 93,000 people. That's huge. You know, you think about Rock and Hogan, face to face, WrestleMania 18, like those, these huge, massive moments. Like that, that cash in, because it was so unique, it was one of a kind.

• 40:02Speaker 01

  No one will ever replicate that moment ever again. It, it will stand the test of time and it will, it will, when you run video packages in 20 years, like that one will live on. And I've had some other ones that I think are like maybe more important. But, you know, when I referenced breaking up the Shield earlier, I think to me, that was an extremely important moment in, in, in our industry. If you look at, we did that in 2014, it would have been, I think. Did that in 2014. Business was not great in 2014. We were not doing great. You know, television ratings are kind of doing this. As, you know, television going to streaming. Yep.

• 40:46Speaker 01

  And so, live events not doing good, talent roster's not doing great. You know, we come in 2012, we want to make a huge impact. We do great as the Shield, but like we gotta, you know, it's three guys in one act. You gotta have three acts, right? So, we break the Shield up. That's a huge moment, but that, that, that, right there, that moment took all of us, all three of us, myself, Roman, Dean Ambrose, John Moxley, in separate trajectories that have now affected, like, the, the, the kind of, like, butterfly effect of that moment, has, has changed and catapulted the business 10 years later to a place, you know, financially

• 41:28Speaker 01

  as big as it's ever been. We're about to jump into a new streaming deal with Netflix, first of its kind. It's a five-year, maybe 10-year deal if things work out. We're doing things in our industry that I don't think if we, if you take that moment away and you keep the shield together longer, or do something different with it, if you don't have that moment, the butterfly effect isn't the same, and I don't know that the business, where it's at, myself, Roman, John, and the business as a whole, is where it is today without that moment. I, I, I think that the WrestleMania cash-in, I mean, that's a, personally, that's a nice one, but I do think there are some moments that are kind of a little understated in my career that actually have a bigger impact on the business.

• 42:11Ryan Clark?

  You need a dance partner, right? Like, for, the rivalries build the sport. In, I think it's in any sport, right? You think about basketball and college basketball, UNC and Duke, like, those two fanbases hate each other. I had Baltimore when I played in Pittsburgh.

• 42:27Speaker 01

  Yep.

• 42:28Ryan Clark?

  Right? Every, every year, we know, two times, sometimes three times, we were gonna have to see each other. You know, you, you had to fight Ambrose, you've, you've had, you've been in there with Lesnar, you, Rey Mysterio, and you bring his son, Son of Law, I think that was kind of during COVID.

• 42:43Speaker 01

  It was, yeah.

• 42:44Ryan Clark?

  You know, around those times. We talked about Cody earlier, me and you, you know, WrestleMania 38. For you, who has been the perfect dance partner?

• 42:55Speaker 01

  Oh, man.

• 42:57Speaker 01

  You know what, this might be a dodge, and I don't mean it that way. I think I'm the perfect dance partner. Okay. So, I can work with anyone. I can work with any style. Doesn't matter who you are, where you're at, on the skill. Like, I've had, you know, I've had great matches with guys who, a John Cena, a Cody Rhodes, a Roman Reigns, you know, who was in the ring with The Rock at WrestleMania this past year. Uh, and I've had great matches with guys who couldn't even lace those dudes' boots, you know, whose names I've forgotten. And this is part of that arrogance I was telling you about, why I'm a heel. Because I think I'm the perfect dance partner.

• 43:40Speaker 01

  I really take a lot of pride in bringing the absolute best out of everybody. Uh, and getting the most out of either the most or the least, sometimes. Um, some of my favorite guys that I've ever been in with, um, Ambrose is one of them. You know, you mentioned rivalries. Uh, when we broke up The Shield, he and I really got together and did a lot of great stuff in the early part of our careers. And we just complemented each other kind of really well. I was sort of flashier, hard-hitting, athletic, but he was more raw and visceral and kind of nasty, vicious, you know, more of a Roddy Piper. Um, and I was more of a Shawn Michaels, and you just kind of like put these things together and you had some magic.

• 44:23Speaker 01

  Um, John Cena is a guy that I had really great experiences with. John and I did, you know, six to nine months of lives, live events, to the point where like, we knew each other so well that, you know, I would blink and I knew what he was talking, you know, he knew what I was talking about. Like, we just knew each other, like, it was, I learned so much from working with John as a performer and as an entertainer. You know, Lesnar was always an interesting one, too, because he was such a... He's a beast of a man, you know what I mean? And he thinks of things in our industry in such a simple way. Like, it's like a beautiful simplicity to his psychology. And I'm, you know, as the name dictates, an architect.

• 45:08Speaker 01

  So I have, like I said, I have all these different things running on in my head at the same time. So to kind of like, put those things together, when you got the synergy, there was some certain magic. But yeah, I mean, I do pride myself on being kind of one of one in that regard. I can get the best out of everybody.

• 45:25Fred Taylor?

  Fellas, I used to always leave my house man and be okay. But I had some sort of sense of unease when I would travel. And then one time, I remember during Thanksgiving, I left my crib. And when I got back, both of my cars were stolen. My Range Rover and my Benz, out of my front yard.

• 45:43Channing Crowder?

  Both of them, Freddie T?

• 45:44Fred Taylor?

  Both of them. Both of them. No, seriously, both of my vehicles were stolen. And eventually I had to look into some other security measures. And one that I found was Simply Safe. I can watch everything. I can click on Live View. I get the notifications. It put me at ease, at least when I'm traveling, so that was big for me.

• 46:03Channing Crowder?

  Bruh, Simply Safe, five seconds. Whenever the alarm goes off, five seconds, Simply Safe got you. You could talk to the intruder, because you know what I'm saying? Hit my phone, oh, yeah, bro, what you doing? You know what I'm saying? Fast monitoring and all that stuff. Do you expect him to answer you? I'm finna steal your stuff? I expect him when I get my deep voice to get out of there. Bruh, Simply Safe is amazing. And as much as we travel, you have your family at home, you got your car. Well, Fred ain't got no cars no more. But, Simply Safe is amazing, bruh. Five seconds from the alarm going off, you can see right there, see the video, talk to everybody, bruh. I love it.

• 46:40Fred Taylor?

  Channing, I do have vehicles, and it hasn't happened since I got Simply Safe.

• 46:44Ryan Clark?

  Hey, and it's also easy to install Simply Safe. You can do it yourself in less than an hour. Or you can get it professionally installed to make sure that everything is right. Also too, with Simply Safe, there are no hidden fees.

• 46:56Channing Crowder?

  One dollar a day to protect your cars, Fred, your family, your house. Come on, man. Simply Safe's the way to go.

• 47:03Ryan Clark?

  I mean, the cool part is this, you'll never be locked in to a long-term contract.

• 47:07Channing Crowder?

  Best home security system by U.S. News and World Report, five years running. Simply Safe knows what they're doing.

• 47:14Fred Taylor?

  And they offer the best customer service for home security, according to Newsweek.

• 47:18Ryan Clark?

  Protect your home with 50% off of a new Simply Safe system. Just visit simplysafe.com/pivot. That's simplysafe.com/pivot. There's no safe like Simply Safe. Man, you standing face-to-face with Brock though, bro. Like, how does that feel?

• 47:35Channing Crowder?

  He wasn't face-to-face, I saw.

• 47:38Ryan Clark?

  He was like tender eyes?

• 47:40Channing Crowder?

  Nipple.

• 47:41Speaker 01

  You know what? He's not his height. He's not that tall. Yeah, he's just a broad dude. Because we're about the same height. He might have a half inch on me at most. But he's a freak athlete. I mean, I don't know about you guys and your sport, but like, there are just some guys, like, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? Like, everybody else, you know, okay, we're all in the same stratosphere. And then there's like one dude who's just like, what are you doing? How are you that fast and that strong at the same time? I don't understand it. He's that. And I've been in there with giants, like, The Big Show, right? Big Show shoot giant. He's six, seven foot plus. He's 500 pounds, you know? And he's incredible, too. Athlete in his own right. Played college basketball, I believe, before he blew out his knee and had to come to wrestling. But like, Big Show, you know,

• 48:26Speaker 01

  Mark Henry, World's Strongest Man. But like, none of them combined the size and speed of Lesnar, like, at the same time. I remember after he left WWE, early in his career, like, he didn't know what he wanted to do. This is before he goes to UFC. And he tried out for the Vikings.

• 48:43Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, put on pads in preseason.

• 48:45Speaker 01

  And like, was this close to make... This guy did not play football in college. He just wrestled in college. He did not play football. He didn't know what he was doing. If he had even like a modicum of knowledge about the game, he might have been all right. But it didn't even surprise me. I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, sure, he can... I'm sure he'll be fine, you know? So when he went to UFC, I was like, oh, yeah, he's gonna be a champion, no doubt.

• 49:07Speaker 00

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest, or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an Ultra. Because it's not just a superior light beer, it's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 49:36Ryan Clark?

  But think, um, but think about that though, Chan. And this dude, so athletic, put on pads in the NFL. One of the greatest wrestlers of all time. And was the UFC heavyweight champion of the world.

• 49:47Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:48Ryan Clark?

  Like, that's, that's a resume that not many peop- that, actually not, I mean, that no one else has.

• 49:55Channing Crowder?

  Glad he didn't date my daughter, I was gonna be in trouble. But, but, but now, as we're talking about all these names, uh, the event, I'm not, he was wrestling, but with you, Cody, Rock and Roman, I know that was gigantic.

• 50:05Speaker 01

  Philly, WrestleMania last year, yeah.

• 50:07Channing Crowder?

  Stupid, we talked about that on the show, like, and, you know, we don't talk about wrestling that much, but that, but those events, but now you do movies. We know what The Rock does, we know what John Cena does, we know. What, what's the blueprint of you? Or of y'all, is it The Rock?

• 50:21Ryan Clark?

  Special guys.

• 50:22Channing Crowder?

  Like, the special guys, it seems like y'all go the same trajectory. You wrestle, you wrestle, you get great at wrestling, then you start doing a bunch of other, is it movies next? Is it management? Is it, like, the different direction? Is there, is there a blueprint?

• 50:33Speaker 01

  So, you know what, I think everybody's got their own blueprint. I think there's some people out there that love the Hollywood thing. I've done a couple of things, I don't, I don't love it. I don't love it, I don't. I wish I did, I wish I could say, man, I love it. And I'm open, like, I'm open. If anybody's out there listening, I'm open to roles and stuff like that. But I love, I just love my business, man. I love doing it, I love thinking about it, I love, like, coming up with new ideas. Obviously, the performance aspect of it is fantastic. But, you know, I, I think for me, my, when I start to phase out in the ring, I will probably do something behind the scenes. I would suggest.

• 51:06Ryan Clark?

  For.

• 51:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, you know, Cody, he might be a Hollywood guy, I don't know, you know? Um, and, and John, that, you know, John, that's what he wants to do, and he's great at it. And Dwayne, I mean, He was from the get-go. I mean, you look at, his run was short. I mean, he comes in in 99, 98 maybe, he's gone 2002 to do Scorpion King and those, he's gone, like four years. Like, he's in and out. He always saw himself as The Rock, this big, the biggest movie star on the planet now. He always saw himself taking those steps to get to that level. For me, I see myself more like a Triple H. See myself as a guy who might dabble in the movies, you know,

• 51:49Speaker 01

  and some stuff here and there, but I see myself continuing to help the business grow as I start to age out of the entering process. And I got a ways to go, but I'm certainly closer to the end than the beginning. But when I do get to that point, I think that's where I see myself, you know? Hopefully, there'll be a place there for me, but I do see myself in that. That's my blueprint.

• 52:11Fred Taylor?

  So from Kobe, Daniel Lopez, Davenport, Iowa, to Seth Rollins, champion, to opening a gym back on, we have an academy, right?

• 52:20Speaker 01

  Yeah, we had a school there.

• 52:21Fred Taylor?

  The Black and Brave Academy, developing young wrestlers and giving back to your hometown. Not only that, but prepping those young wrestlers potentially to be where you are. How special is that for you, to be able to look back where you were doing it in the backyard? Now you have a facility where you can develop the next generation of potential wrestlers.

• 52:42Speaker 01

  Yeah, I love it. I love it. I love it. It's like a little refresher course every time, too. And it keeps me sharp, you know, because I gotta talk about stuff that I don't think about, you know? Like, you know, when they first teach you how to, like, you know, get a ball, you know what I mean? After a while, you just, it's second nature to you, and you don't even talk about it anymore until you start, oh, you're teaching some young kids how to do it. No, no, no, you gotta, you know? And you don't even think about, wait, do I, wait? So that's how I am at the school, you know? And it's cool to get in there and talk to them about all the experience that I've had. I was very excited to be able to open that. I remember we did it, it's been open for about 10 years now.

• 53:24Speaker 01

  And at the time, I was like, ah, I don't even know if I've had enough experience to to teach people. Am I at that level yet? I was working in the WWE. I had reached the top of the top and I was still like, ah, I don't know if I'm okay doing this. But it's been one of the best decisions I made. It's really helped like, uh, the independent wrestling community, which is where I came up in the Midwest. You know, I mentioned to you guys, I trained in a shipping warehouse. Like, it was literally just a crappy ring set up in the back, out of the way, down, like, in this crappy shipping warehouse, cold as hell, you know? And so to be able to have a proper facility, proper training for these guys, girls, they get to come in, they got a gym, they have a full experience, you know,

• 54:06Speaker 01

  they come in, they see the titles on the wall, they see the pictures, you know, they see me and maybe Becky in the back sometimes where they're working out and, you know what I mean? I'm so, a lot of times, I'm still Colby Lopez from Buffalo, Iowa. So I don't think of myself in any certain way. But like, if you were to put me into a gym, and you know, there's, you know, Hulk Hogan when I was a kid working out, or Andre the Giant, or Shawn Michaels, and they're just in the back working out, and this is their gym, and I get to train, I know how that would make me feel. So I'm not comparing myself to those dudes, and those are legends, but like, in some capacity, it's gotta be similar

• 54:46Speaker 01

  to them. And it's so cool to be able to provide that for my community in my little, I mean, Davenport, Iowa ain't big, man. Quad City, this is a small space. So it's cool to be able to provide that and to have people come there. And, I mean, we've had, like I said, we do three classes a year. We've done it for a decade. We got them filled up till 20, through 2025, into 26. We're starting to partner with WWE now. WWE is doing a new initiative called WWE ID, uh, where they're gonna be working with wrestling schools and independent promotions to really try to proliferate that scene again. Um, and we're one of the initial schools that are involved in that. So the fact that we exist in WWE is like,

• 55:31Speaker 01

  hey, let's work with these guys, because they're a great school. And now you're gonna have kids who are gonna be able to kind of pipeline their way right to WWE and get the experience they need. It's very cool to see, very cool. And I get to stay hip. With the kids, man, because I am not hip.

• 55:46Ryan Clark?

  No cap.

• 55:47Speaker 01

  Ah, yeah, yeah, I don't know any of those things, man.

• 55:49Ryan Clark?

  As your daughter gets older, she'll be the one that keeps you young. Like, that's what happens with my kids. They, my son will get in the car, he'll have the aux, and I'll learn like a new song. I'm like, "Oh, I really like that song, who's that?" And he'll be like, "Oh, Dad," you know, like, "Hell no, I don't know who this is." Like, I don't, son. You know, so you learn. I have a question. So, football, like, where I'm from, from Louisiana, right? You just play it, you know, and when, like, the first time you pick up a football, it's not with the mindset of, "I want to be in the NFL," or "I want to finish here." It's just like, "I just enjoy doing this, or do this with my friends." I feel like basketball could be the same way in other sports. You have to make a decision to want to end up where you are.

• 56:32Ryan Clark?

  It's not like, "Hey, there are all these people that just come around," and you don't see the Hogans around. I got to see the people doing what I did very often. What piece of advice do you give to young people who make a sort of out-of-the-box decision to want to be professional wrestlers?

• 56:52Speaker 01

  So, I mean, it always depends on their situation. But, you know, in a lot of ways, it's very similar. You know, you saw football, or somebody playing football, and you just wanted to do what they were doing because it looked fun. You didn't know what you were doing. Same thing. I saw these guys on TV on Saturday mornings or whatever, started doing it with my brother in the living room, you know? My grandparents had a carpeted floor, so it didn't hurt as bad, you know? We'd find a pillow or a couch cushion, and that would be the ring, and it was just fun, you know? And it was just, it was a way of bonding with my brother, and then with my dad and my grandpa, and any sort of male role models that I had in the house, you know? That's, that was our, that was how we kind of bonded and how that all worked. And, and so, I carried that love for it.

• 57:37Speaker 01

  Through my whole career, and I think one of the biggest things that I tell these guys and girls is you gotta love it. You gotta have a passion for it. Like, you've got to, you've got to. If you don't, and you just wanna be a star and get famous and this and that, it's not gonna happen for you. You gotta have a love for the industry, you gotta have a love for what you're doing, a passion for it, because it's hard, man. There's gonna be doubt, you know? And it's gonna tear you down, and you're gonna have mental and physical setbacks. You gotta love it, and you gotta have patience. Those are the two biggest things. I think people want it to be a sprint, you know? They wanna just be successful overnight.

• 58:21Speaker 01

  I'm like, nothing you see is overnight. There's no amount of success, even the things that you think are overnight successes, they're not, because it was always bubbling under the surface for some amount of time. And the ones that are overnight successes, they'll flame out and be gone in 15 minutes, right? They'll get their fame and be done. They're not gonna last. And so I always preach, have love, have passion for what you do, and make sure that comes forth in your effort. If you don't have that, there's no shame. There's no shame in that, you know? You can find something else, you know, that you have that love and passion for, but if you wanna make it in our industry, have that love, have that passion, have that shine forth in your effort, and then just understand it's a marathon, man.

• 59:04Speaker 01

  It is a marathon, and enjoy that marathon. I think that's the biggest thing I didn't do when I was younger, right? No, I didn't enjoy it, man, because like I said, I set those goals, soon as I make it, I didn't take any time to enjoy it. I'm on to the next. I didn't enjoy nothing. I look back, and I reminisce in positive ways, and I go, wow, I was so lucky to be able to experience all that stuff, but I say to myself, oh, I wish I would've actually experienced it more. I wish I would've just taken two seconds to...

• 59:35Speaker 01

  Oh, man, this is awesome. I'm in the car with my boys, riding down the road to go do a wrestling show. How sweet is that, you know? Oh, we're in Florida, you know? We're on the beach, we're not making no money, it don't matter. But instead of being stressed out about all that, enjoy this, man. Oh wow, we're down in Melbourne, Florida for the first time. I've never seen the ocean, you know? Enjoy that. So, those are a few of the things, I think. You know, that patience, enjoy what you got, and have that passion. You put those things together, you know, you might be on to something.

• 1:00:10Ryan Clark?

  That was, nah, that's great advice, man. I think for any career or life, period. Like, to have that sort of passion and to pour into it the way you've explained throughout this. I think many people, no matter what they want to achieve or accomplish, can take from that and implement that in their life towards success. Are you gonna do the honors?

• 1:00:31Fred Taylor?

  Well, I do wanna do the honors, RC, but I got a little taste in New York of the last, the other WrestleMania. So I think when I was doing my research, WrestleMania 41 is up next, right?

• 1:00:41Speaker 01

  It's up next.

• 1:00:41Fred Taylor?

  Right. Give us a little, like, a little taste of that, cuz I think I'm gonna go back.

• 1:00:45Ryan Clark?

  The tickets are on sale.

• 1:00:46Fred Taylor?

  Vegas?

• 1:00:47Ryan Clark?

  As well, too, as soon.

• 1:00:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, tickets are on sale. Vegas, two nights, mid-April this year. Vegas gonna be crazy. Yeah, we've never done it.

• 1:00:55Ryan Clark?

  April 19th, April 20th.

• 1:00:58Speaker 01

  19th and 20th. Yeah, we'll get you a room, man, where you wanna go?

• 1:01:02Fred Taylor?

  Get the pivot to get you a room, man? I'm gonna be there, I sleep in the car.

• 1:01:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, dude, Mania is wild, man. It's like the Super Bowl, but two days in a row, you know what I'm saying? Bang, bang, back together. They were in the Raiders stadium there, which is, it's a nice facility. It's nice, man. So that's gonna be a good time. Vegas has been a good host to us in the past. Uh, we're really looking forward to WrestleMania this year. Last year, WrestleMania XL, right? WrestleMania 40, so it's the biggest one of all time. So we gotta top that this year. So, all the cards are on the table, all hands are on deck. It's gonna be the bigger than the biggest WrestleMania of all time. So I'm pretty excited about it, man. It's gonna be a good one. And it's right around the corner. It's crazy how time flies, but I can't wait.

• 1:01:41Fred Taylor?

  So, with the biggest, the biggest, I wanted to ask you, what's been your biggest pivot in life to this point?

• 1:01:47Speaker 01

  Ooh, my biggest pivot in life? Man, that's a good question. It's gotta be being a dad. Just because it's something that I never thought I was gonna do. I'd reconcile to never have kids. I was like, if I never have kids, that's fine, you know? If I never get married, that's fine. I'm a slave to the business, you know? This business is my mistress, whatever, we'll just do, you know what I mean? I'll be, that's it, how it's gonna be. You know, I had like this idea that maybe when I'm older, I'll have a kid, you know? Meet some young woman and get married and have a kid and all that. I didn't expect to be like a father. And so having to like, the biggest pivot for me is most certainly going from that selfish, single-minded attitude to,

• 1:02:30Speaker 01

  oh, wait a minute, I got something else that I love more than myself? Wow. My wife and my daughter, wow, what is that? That is amazing. That is way better than all that self-love. Self-love's great, have a lot of it, but, you know, to have something that you care about more than yourself? After all you've done your whole life is put yourself first? It's a, that's definitely the biggest pivot for me. And it's been an incredible blessing for me, incredible. It's changed my whole, like, my whole mindset.

• 1:02:59Ryan Clark?

  So I always cut the room off for champions, right? So like, only two of us here have been champions professionally. Myself and you.

• 1:03:07Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:03:08Ryan Clark?

  Right? The people on this side of the room, they don't really understand, like, you know?

• 1:03:13Speaker 01

  That's pain, right?

• 1:03:15Ryan Clark?

  We're used to it. Yeah. It's not really something they've been a part of, Seth. And so I don't try to include them in the conversation.

• 1:03:20Speaker 01

  Okay, alright, alright.

• 1:03:22Ryan Clark?

  Yeah, you know, it's the 8th grade. 8th grade championship. So, we, you know, we've spoken to other WWE superstars and they speak of WrestleMania as the Super Bowl.

• 1:03:33Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:34Ryan Clark?

  And as that moment that you've worked your entire life for. What was the first one like for you?

• 1:03:42Speaker 01

  Dude, it just happened so fast, I couldn't even, I barely have memories of it. It's like flashes, you know? Because it was so overwhelming to me. Everything I dreamed of when I was a kid. I wanted to soak it all in. I remember thinking to myself, we were in New York City. First year would have been 2013. New York City is the first one we've done in MetLife. Did another one later, but the first one we did in MetLife. It was a little cold outside, March, April, whatever it was.

• 1:04:09Speaker 01

  And in the Shield, we have this cool entrance where we come through the crowd. So like, I see it in flashes, man. I can't remember the music hitting, but I remember standing up on this platform at one point, like, you know, above the crowd and looking out and just howling into the night air with the, you know, the smoke kinda coming out of your mouth. And then I remember sort of standing on the apron and you're looking across and you see, oh, it's WrestleMania. And you look around the stadium, there's 60,000 people there, you know, and the flashbulbs are just going off. And there's the big show and Sheamus and Randy Orton and these guys were no doubt future Hall of Famers. And you're on the other side and you're in your rookie season, you know, and you're here.

• 1:04:50Speaker 01

  And it's, I remember, I remember being, it was done, it felt like it was over in a flash. You know? Felt like it was over in a flash, like it was an appetizer, you know? Like when you just starving, get to the restaurant, they put the bread down, it's gone. And that was what it was like. And I was like, I gotta get back. I gotta get back. I need more, I need more. I mean, it was straight to the, straight to the vein, man. I would never experience anything like it. And every year, it's the same feeling right before you go out that curtain. It's the one thing, you know, I said, having the kid is taking the edge off. You know what I'm saying? It's the one thing that, you know, as mundane as the games can be sometimes from week to week, when you put in the work and you get to that point or you're getting close and you can feel it,

• 1:05:34Speaker 01

  that, that, that championship kind of vibe, that WrestleMania vibe, dude, it's separate. It's different than the rest of the year. It's a different time, you know? Everything that hurt you all year long don't hurt no more. Uh, you know, all those moments, those, those, throughout the year that you were just like, oh, I need a break, I need, you know? The sacrifices that you made to be away from your family or whatever, it, it does end up being worth it in that moment. And that's what it's about. And that's why you, that's for me, that's why I keep coming back, you know? That's why I keep, you know? Signing up, five more years. Give me those WrestleMania moments, man. So it's, it's, it's, those are special, for sure.

• 1:06:15Ryan Clark?

  I think it's beautiful and the more times we get to sit with WWE superstars like yourself, the more respect I just gain for the athlete, for the performer, for the entertainer. What y'all do is special. And getting to see it up close that night at Madison Square Garden, you know, you, you realize that these dudes are, are putting it all out there, and ladies, as, as well. And to be able to do that, yet focus on the fan and giving them what they want as well, that's what makes you guys special, man. So thank you for pivoting with us today.

• 1:06:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, man, thank you guys.

• 1:06:49Ryan Clark?

  My man, I appreciate it.

• 1:06:50Speaker 01

  Love the pleasure, dude.

• 1:06:51Ryan Clark?

  Yes, I appreciate you, my boy. That was awesome.

• 1:06:53Speaker 01

  Thank you, guys. That was awesome, man.

• 1:06:55Ryan Clark?

  That speech on the back.

• 1:06:56Speaker 01

  Get screaming at him.

• 1:06:57Ryan Clark?

  Hey, no, hey, hey, he started talking that stuff, then. But you gotta think, too, man. That's the thing that separates those guys, though. It's like, what happens when they get the microphone?

• 1:07:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. Like I said, the equity, like, you know, there's equity in, in sports, this isn't the same, like, you know, in entertainment, that equity, like, I, like, they don't even need me to wrestle on Mondays anymore, you know what I mean? They save me for big matches, like, I can talk and you get the same thing. Whereas when I was coming up, they had to put me in there every week. They gotta give me 400 carries, you know, whatever. You gotta go, you gotta go. I'm like, okay. You know? Now I don't need to do that, you know, but, you know, so I can get the same output with different effort. And that's what I'm talking about, smarter, not harder, you know? So how can I be of use, how, without killing my body, because it just can't do what it did at 22? So, yeah, that microphone, man, that'll, that'll, that'll take you to the next level.

• 1:07:50Ryan Clark?

  You can talk shit now.

• 1:07:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:08:28Speaker 05

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