John Cena

WWE legend-turned-acting A-lister John Cena is this week’s dream diner. He sits down with Ed and James to talk about his coffee obsession, wrestling tips and how to power through promo when you’re not feeling your best… Trigger warning: this episode contains chat about counting calories. John Cena stars in ‘Matchbox The Movie’ which is out now on Apple TV. Watch it here https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/matchbox-the-movie/umc.cmc.31qa8j1tn2cnpyk3fx43w928d. Follow John Cena on Instagram @johncena https://www.instagram.com/johncena Watch the video version of this episode on the Off Menu YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@offmenupodcast. Off Menu is now on YouTube: @offmenupodcast https://www.youtube.com/@offmenupodcast Follow Off Menu on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/offmenuofficial and TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@offmenuofficial: @offmenuofficial. And go to our website www.offmenupodcast.co.uk https://www.offmenupodcast.co.uk/ for a list of restaurants recommended on the show. Ed Gamble is on tour in 2027 with ‘Fresh Hell’. For dates and tickets go to edgamble.co.uk https://edgamble.co.uk/ Off Menu is a comedy podcast hosted by Ed Gamble and James Acaster. Produced, recorded and edited by Ben Williams for Plosive https://www.plosive.co.uk/. Video production by Ben Williams and Megan McCarthy for Plosive https://www.plosive.co.uk/. Artwork by Paul Gilbey https://www.instagram.com/pushgilbey/ (photography and design). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Hello, it's Ed here from the Off Menu podcast that you are listening to right now. You'll know that I'm doing a brand new stand-up comedy show on tour next year, Fresh Hell. And we are delighted to announce that we are doing two more shows at the London Palladium, Friday the 19th of March, Saturday the 20th of March. You've got to come to these shows, they're going to be great, they're on sale now. Edgamble.co.uk for ticket details.

• 0:37Speaker 00

  Welcome to the Off Menu podcast, taking the cheese of conversation, putting it in the fondue pot of the internet, applying the heat of friendship, bubbling that cheese up so nice and dipping in the bread of humour. It's a podcast fondue, Jimmy Boy.

• 0:53Speaker 01

  Oh, that is Eddie Boy. My name is Jimmy Boy and this is the Off Menu podcast. Every single week, we invite a guest and we ask them their favourite ever, start a main course, dessert, side dish and drink, not in that order, in our dream restaurant. And this week, the guest is John Cena.

• 1:09Speaker 00

  The unseen 17.

• 1:11Speaker 01

  John Cena is a wonderful actor.

• 1:14Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 1:14Speaker 01

  Also pro wrestler.

• 1:16Speaker 00

  The GOAT.

• 1:17Speaker 01

  The GOAT, you heard it here first.

• 1:19Speaker 00

  The GOAT, what a hero.

• 1:20Speaker 01

  I've loved his performances in so many things, Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, Blockers. Very excited to have him on the podcast.

• 1:28Speaker 00

  And very funny in all of the films he does, I think.

• 1:32Speaker 01

  Really funny, known for his improv, really commits to every role, including his new movie, out now.

• 1:39Speaker 00

  Matchbox the Movie.

• 1:41Speaker 01

  On Apple TV, Matchbox the Movie is out now on Apple TV, people can watch that.

• 1:45Speaker 00

  Yes, we've watched it, we had a lot of fun watching it.

• 1:48Speaker 01

  We did, inspired those little Matchbox cars, if you remember them when you were a kid, and if you are a kid and you're listening to that, hey, maybe you've got one in your hand right now while you're listening to this podcast.

• 1:57Speaker 00

  Let me tell you, there's some big cars in that as well. Don't you worry, all the cars are going to be little, there's some mad stunts going.

• 2:02Speaker 01

  Not just cars, loads of vehicles.

• 2:04Speaker 00

  Yeah, loads of vehicles.

• 2:05Speaker 01

  If you like vehicles, you want to watch it right now.

• 2:07Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, but John's fantastic in it. Sam Richardson's in it, I'm a huge fan of Sam Richardson.

• 2:12Speaker 01

  So funny.

• 2:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 2:13Speaker 01

  So funny, we've got, Sam, if you're listening, buddy, come on the pod.

• 2:17Speaker 00

  Got to get you on the pod, Sam.

• 2:18Speaker 01

  Got to get him on the pod, but listen, I love John.

• 2:21Speaker 00

  You nearly said John Richardson.

• 2:22Speaker 01

  I nearly said John Richardson, because we're talking about.

• 2:24Speaker 00

  Sam Richardson.

• 2:24Speaker 01

  Because we're talking about Sam Richardson and John Cena, I nearly said, listen, I love John Richardson, which I do.

• 2:29Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 2:30Speaker 01

  Hey, matter of record, I love John Richardson and do not get confused, but that wasn't who I was about to talk about.

• 2:35Speaker 00

  You also love John Cena.

• 2:36Speaker 01

  I love John Cena.

• 2:37Speaker 00

  And I love John Cena.

• 2:38Speaker 01

  But if John says the secret ingredient, which we deem to be unacceptable, we will kick him off of the podcast. And this week, the secret ingredient is matchmakers.

• 2:48Speaker 00

  Matchbox makers.

• 2:49Speaker 01

  Matchmakers. Now, we love matchmakers as well.

• 2:52Speaker 00

  Box of matchmakers.

• 2:53Speaker 01

  But just because of Matchbox, we've made it Matchmakers.

• 2:56Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 2:57Speaker 01

  Mint or orange?

• 2:58Speaker 00

  I don't know if John's going to bring this up, man, and I'm happy about that. The last thing I want to do is try and kick John Cena out of the Dream Restaurant.

• 3:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, I really don't fancy our chances of doing that.

• 3:08Speaker 00

  No.

• 3:09Speaker 01

  Matchmakers most likely to come at the end of the meal, even after the dessert. If anyone's going to chuck some matchmakers in, they might just be like in a box of mint matchmakers, please, as a little after dinner.

• 3:18Speaker 00

  But I don't know if he's crossed paths with, with matchmakers at any point in his career.

• 3:22Speaker 01

  No, it's not likely.

• 3:25Speaker 00

  Man, if we try and kick him out, he can do a double attitude adjustment on us. He's stacked up bigger men than us on his back.

• 3:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, I don't want to get in the way of a double attitude adjustment.

• 3:35Speaker 00

  Well, you wouldn't, you wouldn't get in the way of it, you'd be part of it.

• 3:38Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 3:38Speaker 00

  You'd be on, you'd be on his back, probably on top of me on his back.

• 3:41Speaker 01

  Actually, that sounds fun.

• 3:43Speaker 00

  Next thing you know, we're being flipped over and slammed down onto the mat.

• 3:45Speaker 01

  Was Benito during all of this?

• 3:47Speaker 00

  Watching and smiling like this.

• 3:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, he'd be smiling, nodding his head, really, really enjoying that it's finally happened.

• 3:52Speaker 00

  You don't get to see Benito if you're watching this or listening to this, you never get to see Benito, but here's, here's what Benito does when something bad happens to us.

• 4:02Speaker 01

  Or when a, when he himself makes a pun.

• 4:05Speaker 00

  He makes a joke and then he goes.

• 4:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, so those, those two things.

• 4:09Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 4:10Speaker 01

  If you ever see him doing that, either he's made a pun or something bad has happened to him.

• 4:15Speaker 01

  Watch us on YouTube, of course, as well, and you can see Ed's face of Benito. Speaking of YouTube.

• 4:20Speaker 00

  And you can, yeah, you can see, you can see my face, you can see your face.

• 4:23Speaker 01

  See my face and you should subscribe while you're on YouTube.

• 4:28Speaker 00

  You won't be able to see John Cena's face. You can't see me.

• 4:32Speaker 01

  At Craig Simons Live.

• 4:34Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah, sorry.

• 4:34Speaker 01

  Subscribe to that channel on YouTube, really big YouTube channel.

• 4:38Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 4:38Speaker 01

  It's popping off.

• 4:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 4:40Speaker 01

  At Craig Simons Live, subscribe to it.

• 4:43Speaker 00

  I'm going on tour next year, brand new stand-up show, Fresh Hell, 2027, UK and Ireland tour, starting at the end of January, going right through till June. I'm doing four shows at the London Palladium, one, two, three, four, count them, hustle, loyalty, respect, and a Saturday show. Edgamble.co.uk for tickets.

• 5:01Speaker 01

  Shall we speak to John Cena?

• 5:02Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah, man, please.

• 5:04Speaker 01

  This is the off-menu menu of John Cena.

• 5:15Speaker 00

  Welcome, John, to the Dream Restaurant.

• 5:18Speaker 02

  Here we are.

• 5:19Speaker 01

  Welcome, John Cena, to the Dream Restaurant, we've been expecting you for some time.

• 5:23Speaker 02

  Hmm, thank you so much. This is a smaller restaurant than I thought.

• 5:27Speaker 00

  That's okay. Yeah, that's, I mean, it's a, it's a very small studio, certainly. Yeah. But feel free to use the full expanses of your imagination.

• 5:34Speaker 02

  It's cosy.

• 5:34Speaker 00

  You like a cosy restaurant?

• 5:36Speaker 02

  I, I do, I think there's something to cosy, it reminds me of like Hearth and Home.

• 5:41Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 5:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, so I'm, I'm excited and curious.

• 5:43Speaker 00

  Good.

• 5:44Speaker 01

  You guys sit in the corner, you all can boo for your friends, or you want to get amongst it in the middle?

• 5:49Speaker 02

  I like being in the middle of it.

• 5:51Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 5:52Speaker 02

  Yes, if I, if I go out, I know that I'm committing to go out and I like still being in the middle of all it.

• 5:59Speaker 01

  With, with friends or dining alone?

• 6:01Speaker 02

  I have the courage and self-worth to dine alone, I also love getting friends together. That's like my favourite thing to do is to talk, reflect, listen over food and drink.

• 6:12Speaker 01

  I think my favourite part of this movie, the Matchbox movie, is the core friendship group at the begin, at the, at the heart of it.

• 6:18Speaker 02

  Matchbox gang.

• 6:19Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 6:20Speaker 02

  It's us.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  Did you guys get on during the film as well?

• 6:23Speaker 02

  That is us, like it, whatever they had written on the page, which was very solid, really morphed into like just us on screen. You know, Arturo and Sam are non-stop bits, T is so very patient with everybody, Jess is such a pro and she tries, she adds where she can, she's so beautiful and talented and funny. And the toughest thing for me, the toughest thing for me on this one was to kind of just be the CIA guy and not get in on the jokes. Because, man, those guys are so quick and that's so much good material and we, we fire in a lot of the same cylinders, a lot of nostalgic toys, a lot of pro wrestling, like it was, it was a fun shoot.

• 7:02Speaker 01

  You know that Ed's wife is a wrestler, did you know that?

• 7:04Speaker 02

  No kidding.

• 7:05Speaker 00

  Yeah, she's, she's very early in, in her career, but I went to see her last night.

• 7:08Speaker 02

  Talk more about that, how long's she been doing it?

• 7:10Speaker 00

  So she's been training for a couple of years.

• 7:11Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 7:12Speaker 00

  And then is very involved in the sort of British independent scene, like.

• 7:15Speaker 02

  Love it.

• 7:15Speaker 00

  Doing like, you know, managing shows and stuff.

• 7:17Speaker 02

  Oh, I, I love that perspective, I, I think she's, you know, she's had a match, so she's performed and she's working on the admin side. I think a lot of performers get selfish because they don't know what it takes to actually put on an event.

• 7:30Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 7:31Speaker 02

  We, we had talked about interviews and sometimes people thinking, well, the job is just to do, put on the costume and say the words, this is the job.

• 7:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 7:39Speaker 02

  Because you've got to know what it is to put on an event.

• 7:41Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 7:41Speaker 02

  You know what I'm saying?

• 7:42Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 7:43Speaker 02

  At least she is experiencing, experiencing all buckets of sports entertainment.

• 7:49Speaker 00

  Very much so, yeah.

• 7:50Speaker 02

  So many places out there to be able to call it like, this is my vocation.

• 7:53Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 7:54Speaker 02

  This is what I do.

• 7:55Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 7:55Speaker 02

  I'm, I'm very excited for a future.

• 7:57Speaker 00

  Yesterday was really fun, it was quite a big, a big British independent show called Riot Cabaret, and it was like a Gauntlet match and she came in at the end, it's, it's an amazing thing, watching, watching someone you love do.

• 8:07Speaker 02

  What is, are you familiar with wrestling, sports entertainment?

• 8:10Speaker 00

  Yeah, so I was, I was a big Attitude Era fan.

• 8:13Speaker 02

  Nice.

• 8:14Speaker 00

  Then came back to it a few years ago and she started to get into it.

• 8:17Speaker 02

  Okay, great.

• 8:17Speaker 00

  So she got into watching wrestling and then started to train.

• 8:20Speaker 02

  So you came back with like the Tribal Chief and Cody Rhodes.

• 8:23Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 8:24Speaker 02

  Excellent, you.

• 8:25Speaker 00

  And then, of course, your, your big, your big final year as well.

• 8:27Speaker 02

  Well, at least we got that in, yeah, we have those moments.

• 8:29Speaker 00

  We went, we went to Raw O2 when.

• 8:32Speaker 02

  Oh, great.

• 8:33Speaker 00

  The, the promo battles between you and Cody were absolutely incredible.

• 8:36Speaker 02

  I will say, in relation to Matchbox, I had no one to bounce material off of, except my, my wife, who is now, didn't know anything about WWE and is now like, she helps write promos, she would go over like our match finishes, be like, do you think you're not milking it long enough for the hot tag? I'd be like, oh my God, that's exactly what I'm thinking. So over, you know, six or seven years, she has really dove into this exciting live performance.

• 8:59Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 9:00Speaker 02

  The only other person I could bounce stuff off was Sam Richardson.

• 9:02Speaker 00

  Oh, wow.

• 9:03Speaker 02

  And Sam would help me like, he'd assess the promo, yeah, oh my, oh my God, and then he would add, it, it was a great sounding board, because I was shooting this and doing that at the same time.

• 9:14Speaker 00

  Really?

• 9:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, I would shoot all day and then take a flight, but I needed to be prepped and I want to do my work, that way, when the crowd gives you something, you can pivot. We would write a lot of that stuff in between takes on Matchbox, or I would come in with like, yo, I wrote this last night, what do you think? Oh, man, no, we'll just tweak it like this and then run it through the, the final boss, the wife, and then she would say, I think we're good to go, put a stamp on it, see what you got.

• 9:35Speaker 00

  That's amazing.

• 9:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:37Speaker 00

  Wow. When, when we went to Raw as well, we got a little tour backstage.

• 9:40Speaker 02

  Oh, cool.

• 9:41Speaker 00

  And we walked past you and you gave us a respectful nod and I thought, it's real, it's real.

• 9:46Speaker 01

  Hey, that's nice to get a respectful nod.

• 9:49Speaker 02

  I wish you'd have said hi.

• 9:50Speaker 00

  I think you, it was sort of, you were locked in, you were chatting to people, but you still sort of just nodded when you walked past us in the corridor.

• 9:55Speaker 02

  My role now is way more lax and I'm still an advocate, I'll say it right here, to give you guys some good information, I'm still an advocate to try to bring WrestleMania to London.

• 10:03Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 10:04Speaker 02

  I think, I think London has earned the right to have the event.

• 10:07Speaker 00

  I agree.

• 10:08Speaker 02

  I am very excited about this year's WrestleMania, because it is the first WrestleMania outside of North America, so it's like proof of concept that it can be done.

• 10:16Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 10:17Speaker 02

  I am still a strong advocate that this crowd, this city has earned the right to WrestleMania.

• 10:24Speaker 00

  Look, you've heard it here. Let's make it happen.

• 10:26Speaker 02

  I hope so. I hope so. What little stroke I have, I certainly, I tried to rile up the crowd a few times to say that London has earned WrestleMania and it did get people talking.

• 10:36Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 10:36Speaker 02

  I don't know where those talks are at, but you know, hopefully maybe I can return to the O2 and stake that claim again. We'll see.

• 10:42Speaker 00

  Yeah. When, when you came out at Money in the Bank in London and said, I think London should have WrestleMania. I was thinking, I wonder if John's run this past anyone or whether he's just putting it out there himself.

• 10:51Speaker 02

  It's, that was just me putting it out.

• 10:54Speaker 02

  But honestly, it's just, it's just my perspective.

• 10:56Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 10:56Speaker 02

  I, I look around, I see the energy and passion enthusiasm. What a great city for people to come to. WrestleMania is such a travel to event.

• 11:05Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:06Speaker 02

  It's one of my favorite cities in the world.

• 11:08Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 11:08Speaker 02

  I love London. So I think it'd be a nice piece of culture for people to explore and experience WrestleMania. You know, the Super Bowl, sports entertainment. We, we need to do WrestleMania here. Just my perspective.

• 11:19Speaker 01

  Also, when it comes to London, you should have like a really London centric wrestler, I think, at the heart of it. And.

• 11:26Speaker 02

  My, my wife. Loving this pitch.

• 11:28Speaker 01

  Does chips.

• 11:29Speaker 00

  Oh, okay. So her name's Charlie James. Her ring name is Charlie James, but the other, the other week, she wrestled in a place called Hastings in the UK, and it's a seaside town. And they always have a match at the show where there's two wrestlers who play sort of local, local legends or local folklore. So her friend wrestled as the head of Southern Water, like the waterboard, who's a, who's a real bad guy.

• 11:52Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 11:53Speaker 00

  Uh, and then my wife wrestled as a bag of chips.

• 11:57Speaker 02

  What a, what a stretch of the creative process.

• 12:00Speaker 00

  Yeah, I know, but I love all the really silly stuff as well. Yeah.

• 12:04Speaker 02

  I love, and I, what I love about it is when performers invest in it.

• 12:07Speaker 00

  Oh, she spent so long making her gear. She had a newspaper, newspaper outfit, a chip crown, squirt of vinegar on herself.

• 12:15Speaker 02

  People are going to those events to escape.

• 12:17Speaker 00

  Oh, fully.

• 12:19Speaker 02

  You know, before in the early 95 is when they said it was entertainment. Before then, you might feel like you've been sold a false bill of goods. It was 1995. It has been 30 years.

• 12:29Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 12:30Speaker 02

  You walk into the turnstile for a wrestling show, you know you are there to escape.

• 12:33Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 12:34Speaker 02

  I love that stuff and I love when performers get into it. I, um, I posted an Instagram of like the pizza tossing wrestler.

• 12:40Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 12:41Speaker 02

  Such a thoughtful thing. And like, he's all in on his, is, I can see the image, just a snap image and be like, get that. Let's see what happens. I love that. And man, God goodness, I hope she's, I hope she stays safe.

• 12:55Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 12:56Speaker 02

  Uh, I hope she always has fun and I hope she, she finds a way to call the business her vocation.

• 13:00Speaker 00

  That's, that's the difficult thing, isn't it? Well, like I was watching her being like, I'm so excited for her. I'm so proud of her that she's got to this point, but you're just like sick with worry the whole time as well. That there's going to be some sort of issue.

• 13:10Speaker 02

  Yeah. Uh, it's, it's a physical thing. And if we don't do anything physical, we don't do any, I mean, you gotta, the cool thing is we control the action, right? So you can mitigate risk as you want to. And I like, from a performance standpoint, I was never the most gifted as far as flipping and doing all that stuff. Every once in a while I get myself in a good old fashioned car wreck, just like everybody else. But I like the challenge of taking fundamental things in front of a crowd that's already interested. And see how you can use that bag of tricks to keep them on edge for 45 minutes. Like that's, that's the art. And in the meantime, being safe to the person you're working with.

• 13:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 13:51Speaker 02

  Cause we, we can go out there and just do some crazy stuff that genuinely hurts and is not, it doesn't put the math in our favor that we're going to be doing this for a long time. What I learned the most about live performance, especially in WWE is it's not necessarily about what you do. It's about when you do it. It's about preparing so much before you go out there that you're able to pivot. O2 is famous for being like rowdy.

• 14:16Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 14:16Speaker 02

  I had, uh, fights in the stands at an O2 event on television. We incorporated into the act. I had somebody get married. We incorporated into the match on live TV. They used to bring out the beach balls. And gosh, management used to hate the beach balls and performers used to hate the beach balls because they're not looking at me. They're looking at the beach balls. Great. They're looking at something. We would look at the beach ball. And then like the bad guy would get the beach ball stomping. So maybe another one would come and I'd get the beach ball and hit it away and then get hit. Like it, we're all in it. Everybody's in it. And the crowds in London, like the, the passion and the ability to, I loved how they would challenge us with their chants. You never know what they're going to chant.

• 15:00Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  Cause it's like they're, they bring like that footballer vibe and you know, like I, I would always love it. Cause I knew I had to be sharp and I had to be ready and I knew they were active. They're not saying like,

• 15:12Speaker 02

  they are wanting to be in.

• 15:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 15:14Speaker 02

  And those are, those are the best things that I think you can do a lot with risk mitigation. Especially when a crowd, if a crowd is like this, okay, bring out your best stuff. But if a crowd is already at the edge of their seat and most crowds that go to regardless of the size of the arena, most crowds want to be there. So just maybe pass that little nugget on.

• 15:32Speaker 00

  I will. Absolutely.

• 15:33Speaker 02

  Risk mitigation.

• 15:34Speaker 00

  Risk mitigation.

• 15:34Speaker 02

  It's not about what you do. It's about exactly when you do it, doing it at the right time.

• 15:38Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 15:39Speaker 02

  You know, and that's, you can say the same with Matchbox. We have so much comedy in the movie. With Sam Richardson and Arturo Castro, great comedic timing. And it's not about the joke. The words, when you say them on the paper, it's like Jess, she, she made her stuff great, but she would often go to Sam and be like, how do I make this sentence funny? Cause it doesn't sound funny on paper. And Sam would just be like, no, just, just go for it.

• 16:03Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 16:04Speaker 02

  And Sam is such a master, like little nuanced things that might sound corny on the page. And he, he made the bit about the Leatherman work.

• 16:14Speaker 00

  Yeah. Yeah.

• 16:15Speaker 02

  Like that's timing. That's, it's not about what you're doing. It's about when you do it. Like that, there couldn't be a better, better example about like, they're setting this up for a joke or a bit.

• 16:26Speaker 00

  Yeah, the bit works. I like it. Okay.

• 16:28Speaker 02

  I'm satisfied. You know, like I hope she, she takes that approach to her performance.

• 16:32Speaker 00

  She's just enjoying it. I think she's absolutely loving it. So I think that's.

• 16:35Speaker 02

  And, and you don't have to make it your vocation. When I started out, I was like, I'm going to keep this hobby as long as I can. I think as long as you like doing it, do it and don't worry about getting a goal from it. Just enjoy the journey.

• 16:47Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 16:48Speaker 02

  Cause man, it dropped a whole ton of opportunity in my lap and each opportunity that got greater and greater. I knew I had to make less normal life choices and lean into this crazy life. And that was all that was. It was like, okay, I gotta put more attention here. That's all. Now I gotta put more attention here. But I started just to do it on the weekends and, cause the crowds are great. You get paid a little bit of money. Like you, you go on the road, you see, you see a little bit of your home country or the world. You never know what, where it can, where it can lead you. But it was never like, I didn't lace boots being like, I'm going to be the greatest of all time. No, I just want to keep doing this. This is awesome.

• 17:24Speaker 01

  Let's start your dream menu now. We always start with still or sparkling water, John.

• 17:28Speaker 02

  Still bottled still.

• 17:29Speaker 01

  Bottled still. Oh, why bottled?

• 17:31Speaker 02

  Because today is day five of salmonella. No kidding. I am, I am up against it. And, uh, I think it's because of some, some poor choices I made.

• 17:41Speaker 00

  Well.

• 17:42Speaker 02

  If I had just gone bottled still, I might've been in a little bit of a place.

• 17:45Speaker 00

  Do you know what the poor choice that you made was?

• 17:48Speaker 02

  I might not have been asking for bottled still.

• 17:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 17:51Speaker 01

  But like a couple of days ago.

• 17:52Speaker 02

  Back, I think that was.

• 17:54Speaker 01

  Didn't you have the like premiere of this film like two days ago? Do you have salmonella at the like, at the?

• 17:59Speaker 02

  No, no, I'm in day five right now.

• 18:01Speaker 01

  You're in day five?

• 18:02Speaker 02

  Yes. So we've been, we've been promoting for about 10 days ish.

• 18:06Speaker 01

  You've been promoting this?

• 18:07Speaker 02

  Yeah. I'm, I'm running a very nice temperature right now.

• 18:10Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 18:11Speaker 02

  My joints hurt. I've had salmonella before.

• 18:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 18:13Speaker 02

  Which is kind of like day one or two, I was upset. Like my, my body didn't feel right. Fever shakes. Everything trying to race out of, outside of your body from places it's not supposed to race.

• 18:22Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 18:23Speaker 02

  And I'm like, okay, this might be just a 24 hour flu. Now that it's, this has started day six. So I'm like, okay, I got two weeks of this stuff. And sometimes you feel great. And then sometimes it hits you and like, we landed, I had 90 minutes to myself. I literally just crawled under cover and couldn't get warm. And then like after 90 minutes, I was like, okay, make sure I'm hydrated, get some electrolytes. All right. I feel good. And here we are.

• 18:48Speaker 01

  I don't think we've ever had a guest on the podcast who's going to choose their dream meal while.

• 18:52Speaker 02

  In it. What a teachable moment, right?

• 18:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, this is, this is huge.

• 18:57Speaker 02

  If I had a take back machine.

• 18:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 18:59Speaker 02

  Bottled still. So that's what I, you, you, you, hey, what water do you want? I'm going bottled still water.

• 19:04Speaker 00

  Are you going to be okay to talk about food for the next bit of time?

• 19:08Speaker 02

  I'm glad we're not digging into like a hearty meal.

• 19:10Speaker 00

  Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

• 19:11Speaker 02

  I love talking about food. I believe food is not only nourishment, it's a need that we have. It's also been part of our culture where it's a conduit for connection.

• 19:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 19:20Speaker 02

  I love food. I love the restaurant scene. I also love a good home cooked meal, but man, let's talk about food.

• 19:26Speaker 01

  Pop ups or bread? Pop ups or bread, John? Say that. Pop ups or bread?

• 19:29Speaker 02

  What the hell is that first thing?

• 19:33Speaker 00

  Papadums.

• 19:34Speaker 02

  What is a papadum?

• 19:35Speaker 00

  So if you're having an Indian meal, the big crispy sort of thin things they bring out.

• 19:42Speaker 02

  Gotcha. So I gotta lean bread on that.

• 19:44Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 19:44Speaker 02

  And I'll tell you why. I think papadums would be a form of bread, right? It'd be like a flat crispy bread.

• 19:50Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 19:51Speaker 02

  So I'm leaning into the fact that bread, we talked about like food is a universal conduit for conversation. Bread, like my wife is Persian, the Taftun Sangak, variations of non, like the different types of breads. And I grew up in, my grandmother cooked Italian food. So like the breads you would get there. We just had, I just did a bit where we did American Thanksgiving. We have like Hawaiian rolls, like dinner rolls. The bread that represents the area. Bread, I believe, ever, maybe tracing this back to ever since we became an agricultural species. Like that's the first thing that we're serving is bread. A great sourdough? My goodness. I, it's like, if you go fine dining, I'm a fan of fine dining.

• 20:34Speaker 02

  What I've noticed is the place I've gone, the bread course, they leave it in the middle. Because it's familiar with us.

• 20:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 20:39Speaker 02

  They usually give you a starter that shows what the restaurant can do. And the chef has like a free swing. Like this reminded me of Thanksgiving. My sister always loved this. This is what I'd like to serve you.

• 20:49Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 20:50Speaker 02

  And it's a bite this big, but it tastes, it's like Wonka vision. It tastes like the full dinner in phases. And then you go on to their offerings and right in the middle, you get bread.

• 20:59Speaker 00

  Yeah, I've noticed this because you would normally think that they bring out the bread first, right?

• 21:03Speaker 02

  Of course.

• 21:03Speaker 00

  They get straight down on the table.

• 21:04Speaker 02

  Cause that is also an approach for dining out.

• 21:07Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 21:07Speaker 02

  The fine dining, I think, understands they have comfort. And sometimes they might have first timers who don't understand the experience. I'm going to give you that dose of comfort right in the middle. And that's going to warm you up for our mains, which you're probably going to be more familiar with. And then I'm going to give you a load of sweets to sit at home. That bread is such, is such a universal language. Give somebody a good piece of bread. And I mean, I remember the first time I tried Taftun. I was like, this is dangerously good. I love a great croissant. I even classify that in the baked good bread line of like crispy, buttery, flaky, man.

• 21:43Speaker 00

  That's, I think that's a hot take. I think croissant being bread.

• 21:46Speaker 01

  I'd allow it.

• 21:47Speaker 00

  I'd allow it. I allow it. But I think it's a hot take. There's going to, people are going to be popping off in the comments.

• 21:52Speaker 02

  Okay. All right. Yeah, they are. And that's what we're trying to do. What do you think? Croissants are bread or not? I'll also go with a French baguette.

• 21:57Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's definitely bread.

• 21:58Speaker 02

  The chewiness of a baguette is different than like the crispiness of Italian garlic bread. And their, their places are so close.

• 22:05Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 22:05Speaker 02

  You know, you get a different sandwich with focaccia than you do with a baguette. Like it's, I don't know, man, it's places so close to each other that will do bread different. In, in New England, it's, it's like, it's sourdough dominates the scene. And then you get towards the south and they love cornbread. Like even in the States, everybody's got a different way to do it.

• 22:25Speaker 01

  So for your dream meal, what bread would you like in the center of the table?

• 22:29Speaker 02

  Taftun.

• 22:31Speaker 01

  I don't think I've had that before.

• 22:32Speaker 02

  So it is a thicker bread. Sangak is that thin bread that they throw against the clay oven.

• 22:37Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah.

• 22:37Speaker 02

  And Persians love Sangak. For me, it's like too thin and crispy. But a lot of their great food is used with, with dips, like pheasant june and stuff like that. Essentially, my, my wife and my mother-in-law is going to kill me. Essentially, it's like hummus. Pheasant june is not. It's like a walnut sort of thing. It's fantastic. But a lot of their first presentation, their first round is bread with dip. I don't know. I like Taftun because it's fluffy. It's fluffy. It's glazed. It's spiced with like seeds. Persian, Persian food I learned was so big on spice. And I think spice, I think heat.

• 23:14Speaker 02

  No, spice is like saffron and barberry and like the, the really forward stuff that's aromatic. And it, it's not like an episode of Hot Ones. You know, it's truly spicy food. And there's beautiful, all the herbs they put into stuff of like gourmets, sabzi. It, it's, it's spice forward, but a different sort of spice. Taftun is a nice, soft bread that is addicting. And there's no cutting it. You just tear off the piece you want. You go into the dips. It's, it's a good experience. I'll take that.

• 23:45Speaker 00

  Does your wife make, does your wife make this bread?

• 23:47Speaker 02

  She can. The, the relationship that I have and what I've learned of Persian culture is like you get the good bread place.

• 23:54Speaker 00

  Yeah. Okay.

• 23:54Speaker 02

  Like you get your bread.

• 23:56Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 23:56Speaker 02

  Like you go to the Persian bread place to get the bread. The food, the mains are usually what is made with love. Like that's the, the tadiq and the reshtapolo and like, that's where like the bottom of the pot saying comes from Persian food. Where they, they cook the rice in this huge pot and they butter it at the bottom. And then you flip it over and it's this tower of stuff that has so many layers. And this crispy, buttery thing holds the pyramid together. So you can slice it like a pie. And there's meat and herbs in the middle or noodles. And like, it's, it's really good. It's good.

• 24:28Speaker 00

  I love that.

• 24:28Speaker 02

  That's usually made with.

• 24:29Speaker 00

  Yeah. And you, you find the bread place. You leave it to the experts.

• 24:32Speaker 02

  You gotta go to the breads. Yeah.

• 24:34Speaker 00

  But I, I think that's true of all bread. That should be true of all bread.

• 24:36Speaker 01

  You find a bread place?

• 24:37Speaker 00

  Like during, during COVID, during lockdown, everyone was like, I've started to make sourdough. I was like, there's a baker's down there.

• 24:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 24:43Speaker 00

  I'm going to, I'm going to go to the guy who makes it.

• 24:44Speaker 02

  And attainable.

• 24:46Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 24:46Speaker 02

  So attainable. An expert level sourdough is not putting you out.

• 24:50Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 24:51Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 24:51Speaker 00

  I'm not going to screw it up time after time when this guy's down the road.

• 24:55Speaker 02

  Well, but if it's something you wanted to pursue, that's cool. But if it's something you're doing, just be like, well, we'll do it homemade. No, let's put the equity somewhere else.

• 25:01Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 25:02Speaker 02

  Let's go to the bread place.

• 25:06Speaker 01

  Your dream starter, John?

• 25:08Speaker 02

  I tend to always go with like a tartar. And it could be fish, it could be meat, but I tend to always go with like a tartar. And that's where I'm going to deviate from Persian courses. I, we, I tend to go with a tartar mixed with a menu small bite. Like I'll always ask the restaurant, like, what are you known for? And I'll try their menu small bite. Like apps wise, you gotta try this. Some places have crushed with like little sliders. Fried green tomatoes have been some of my favorite. But every, every place I go will, will have a variation of like a tartar. And I, I enjoy, if it's a menu and I'm not, these are the courses we're serving. If I have a choice, I usually go in that direction.

• 25:49Speaker 01

  Beef? Would you, would you lean towards a beef?

• 25:50Speaker 02

  So it doesn't matter. Like if a place will just, I've done salmon, tuna, vegan, beef.

• 25:56Speaker 00

  Tableside? Have you, do you like when they come and do the tartar tableside?

• 25:59Speaker 02

  I do, I do. I love a good tableside dish because it is happening right in front of you. There's a, a great place, my home in Tampa, Florida called Roka, who does a mozzarella tableside.

• 26:09Speaker 00

  Oh, nice.

• 26:10Speaker 02

  It's about 2,000 calories, but it is beautiful. And it's just mozzarella and the most wonderful tomatoes. And it's so simple and beautiful. And the presentation tableside is great. I, I like the pomp and circumstance of tableside. Yeah.

• 26:23Speaker 00

  Do you think after being, you know, a wrestler for so long and now, and now doing films and being in Hollywood? Can you still sort of see things and immediately calculate the calories in them and work out what you should be eating and what you should?

• 26:34Speaker 02

  So I count my calories and I don't have an app or anything. And my wife was like, how the fuck do you know? What is in four ounces of tartar? I'm like, well, it's eggs. This, this, they probably use this percent beef or whatever, like. And I started counting calories when I bought my first weight gainer at 12. So I knew like two cups of milk, two scoops of stuff is worth like 2,500 calories. Then I got too chunky. I'm like, oh, gotta pull back on the calories. Like it's, I don't not eat like high caloric stuff. I, I love high caloric stuff. And when I have a graph that shows like, man, too many days, just bring it back down. Just bring it back down.

• 27:14Speaker 00

  No more mozzarella for the next week.

• 27:16Speaker 02

  So if I have it, I'll, I'll earn it. I'll try to earn it by making sure I regulate. Have it, enjoy it. Don't feel guilt. And I don't, I don't believe in the concept of a cheat day. Cause I want to be accountable for what I eat. This is, I'm, I'm choosing to eat this. Not bending the rules. It's because, you know, I did great this week, so I can do whatever I want. No, I'm, I'll have cake. I just had banoffee pie. I love that. That's going to come up later in the conversation. I enjoy that stuff and I'm accountable for it. I know every, cause they don't do, they don't do pint cans in the U S. But like every 12 ounces of Guinness, 140 calories. Every pint, around 200. Like if I'm going light beer, I drinks count too, you know?

• 27:57Speaker 02

  So a glass of wine, 140, 240 calories. Red or white, it's going to be a little more sweet. Like I, I do know that and it doesn't dominate my thoughts. I know some people that will, and I'm guilty of this too, because I started out really heavy on fitness. Go to a restaurant and bring your own stuff.

• 28:13Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 28:13Speaker 02

  Don't.

• 28:14Speaker 01

  That's a, that's a buzzkill.

• 28:15Speaker 02

  Just don't do that. That's not a good idea.

• 28:18Speaker 00

  Today's episode of the Off Menu Podcast is sponsored by Cozy, the home of possibilities, James.

• 28:24Speaker 01

  Ah, man, Ed, Cozy has everything you need to make your home feel like it has a plan. Do you know what I mean?

• 28:29Speaker 00

  I know what you mean. Cozy is a wonderful furniture company. It makes furnishing your whole home easy. Sofers, dining, storage, rugs, bedroom, even outdoor, all designed to make your space feel put together without the usual furniture stress. And James, we talk about dream meals on this podcast, but you know what? We very rarely talk about where we want to eat this dream meal.

• 28:49Speaker 01

  Sure. Yeah. I like it when it does come up. It is very important. It changes the whole meal, the setting, the vibe. And Cozy's modular customizable furniture for the whole home does just that.

• 29:00Speaker 00

  And the meal, James, doesn't necessarily end at dessert. We've often talked about wanting to take our maybe final course through to a comfy room. And I think this is where Cozy can really come in handy. Go and relax on the sofa, maybe even eat your meal at a lovely, beautiful cozy table. Linger a little bit, move through with coffees and dessert to a lovely couch. But I know what you're like, James. You're a mucky pup.

• 29:22Speaker 01

  I'm going to spill stuff everywhere. Is that going to ruin the Cozy furniture?

• 29:25Speaker 00

  No, don't worry about that, James, because it's highly washable, James. It's sauce, wine, sparkling water, dessert crumbs, you telling one of your big stories and sloshing a coffee everywhere. Don't worry, you can pop it in the wash.

• 29:37Speaker 01

  Oh, so you're saying Cozy makes every day at home feel like my best day?

• 29:40Speaker 00

  Absolutely. That's exactly what I'm saying. And with Cozy, your home can grow with you. Adapting to new spaces, new styles and every era of your life, James. I think it's so hard, especially when you move somewhere new, to immediately make that place feel like yours, that it's been put together well. And that's where Cozy comes in.

• 29:56Speaker 01

  And because it's cozy, the furniture isn't just good looking, but actually practical. Modular pieces, easy assembly, washable and interchangeable covers and free design consultations. If you want help making the whole room work.

• 30:08Speaker 00

  And it's easy to order, ship and assemble and maintain, James. The only way is the cozy way.

• 30:15Speaker 01

  Visit Cozy today. That's C O Z E Y dot com and make yourself at home.

• 30:23Speaker 03

  Some travelers want the charm of an independent hotel. Others want the confidence of a trusted global brand. With Series by Marriott, you get both. Each property is uniquely connected to its destination, delivering local experiences and memorable stays. While being backed by the quality, reliability and Marriott Bonvoy benefits travelers know and trust. Experience the destination without the compromise. Series by Marriott is part of Marriott Bonvoy. Book direct at Marriott.com or on the Marriott Bonvoy app.

• 31:03Speaker 01

  Your dream main course?

• 31:05Speaker 02

  Dream main course, I would definitely say steak. And I, this is a meat follow up with a meat, it's kind of a faux pas.

• 31:13Speaker 00

  Well, you could have fish for the starter if you wanted to.

• 31:15Speaker 02

  You just said tartar. The, the menu wheel of fortune, like, hey, what are you gonna serve me? I mean, we talked about not caring about caloric stuff. A great ribeye steak. A great ribeye steak.

• 31:30Speaker 00

  It's the king of the steaks.

• 31:31Speaker 02

  And I'll, I'll go in on it, like, very rarely will I carve the fat off a ribeye. I will incorporate it into a bite, make it like a 50 50. And I know, like, there's other forms, like the, the marbling of the wagyu and stuff like that. There's something about a, a great effort on a medium rare cook on a, just a big old ribeye steak. And it's something I can share with my wife. I used to eat it all myself. I wasn't used to, I, I come from a family of five boys. Wasn't much of a food sharing person. She's opened my eyes to dining experiences, also like, hey, let's get something we can both enjoy. So that's something you can slice for the table. Everybody can enjoy a little piece of it. That's, that's like the cornerstone right there. Yeah.

• 32:15Speaker 00

  I mean, it's, it's nice that you share and I, I like to share as well, but if I'm.

• 32:18Speaker 01

  Not really. That's, that's not true.

• 32:20Speaker 00

  I love, I love.

• 32:21Speaker 01

  You've gone on record many times this podcast saying that you hate people, that you hate sharing your food to people.

• 32:27Speaker 02

  Don't embarrass me in front of John Seale.

• 32:28Speaker 01

  No, no, you, you bonded very well with John.

• 32:30Speaker 02

  For years. Uh, I, I changed my tune six, seven years ago.

• 32:34Speaker 00

  Okay, so I, I've got time, I can.

• 32:36Speaker 01

  You changed your tune this morning, did you?

• 32:38Speaker 00

  Yeah, I changed my tune this morning, just before I came in, yeah.

• 32:40Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 32:42Speaker 00

  But if I'm making the steak and I'm carving it, and then I might be either laying out the whole thing, but I will make sure that if I see a really good bit, that's coming to me.

• 32:50Speaker 02

  Of course.

• 32:51Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 32:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:52Speaker 00

  Chef, chef's, chef's treat.

• 32:53Speaker 02

  This is, this is glory and the choices I don't have to navigate because I don't cook.

• 32:58Speaker 00

  Yeah, okay.

• 32:59Speaker 01

  Is there a place you've had the best ribeye that for your dream meal, you would like that ribeye again?

• 33:05Speaker 02

  I gotta tell you, the Polo Bar in New York City.

• 33:10Speaker 02

  They have, it's a lot of fun, like spin the wheel of apps, right? They have a corned beef sandwich. It's a shareable app. That's awesome. They have pigs in a blanket, which is pretty much hot dogs and mustard. That's fantastic. So they got a lot of different stuff that's like com- uh, common comfort food done fancy. Their ribeye steak, man, just crushes. And I mean, I'm from Tampa, home of Burns, like that's an internationally known steakhouse. They, they do what they do. The steaks there are gonna be great. The wife and I like to go to some specific places at home that specifically do steak, meat market, market in Tampa. If you're ever in Hyde Park, if you ever get to the States, you gotta go see that place. It's great.

• 33:52Speaker 02

  But the steak at the Polo Bar and the ribeye steak specifically is like, I've been in a great steakhouse is out here. Goodness, like, uh, travels have taken me to the Middle East, to, to, uh, Morocco, where we shot for the movie, to Hungary, which is a, a bastion of fine dining. We, the wife and I just went on a food trip to Copenhagen, like there's, there's some great stuff out there.

• 34:17Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 34:18Speaker 02

  That ribeye at the Polo Bar, man, I, I can't order anything else. I can't. And they have such a great menu. They do like a different burger every night when you're in there. And the, the, the regular burger on the menu is fantastic. All their fish is so good. I, I can't not order a ribeye.

• 34:34Speaker 01

  I feel like you and Ed bonded a lot at the start of this podcast because of Ed's, uh, wrestling wife. I'm gonna try and bond with you now.

• 34:43Speaker 01

  You ready?

• 34:43Speaker 02

  And this is a bid for connection. Here we go.

• 34:45Speaker 00

  By, by the way, James, just in future, when you try and bond with people, it's best not to announce you're gonna bond with them.

• 34:50Speaker 02

  That's okay. I'm bidding for connection. Let's go. What's our?

• 34:52Speaker 00

  I think you've put a small wall up, but carry on.

• 34:56Speaker 01

  You and I have worked with the same director.

• 34:58Speaker 02

  No kidding?

• 34:58Speaker 01

  Kay Cannon.

• 34:59Speaker 02

  Oh my goodness. That's a great bid for connection.

• 35:02Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's really good. Yeah.

• 35:03Speaker 02

  I hope to come back and sit down and talk about another menu when we do one attempt remaining for Netflix that's gonna come up, uh, in the future. That's a Kay Cannon film.

• 35:10Speaker 01

  Oh, great.

• 35:11Speaker 02

  Me and Jen Garner. I got, she did blockers and that was her, I might have been her debut, uh, as a full.

• 35:19Speaker 01

  And it's an amazing film.

• 35:20Speaker 02

  Director. Thank you so much.

• 35:21Speaker 01

  It's so funny.

• 35:22Speaker 02

  We, we have a great working relationship together. I truly care a lot, so much about Kay. Our, our relationship is far beyond professional courtesy. We talk about good stuff. And there's a lot of growth there. And, uh, man, she's so funny. She does not lack energy.

• 35:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:38Speaker 02

  Or punchlines. And gosh, she, uh, I like being on set with her. She really cares about what she's doing. She's super prepared. She takes advice. Like, man, it's, it's good to see her work. And I was, I was gracious enough to be able to run it back with her, so.

• 35:52Speaker 01

  I, for the first, uh, well, for all my time working with Kay on set, I didn't know what her whole face looked like because it was during COVID.

• 35:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. What a tough time.

• 36:01Speaker 01

  I had no idea until we did the ADR over Zoom and then I could see her face properly.

• 36:05Speaker 00

  Did you not Google her or?

• 36:06Speaker 01

  No, I, I, no, I'd like it to be a surprise.

• 36:09Speaker 02

  Did it fit the bill or did you have an image in your head of like what she looked like and it was different?

• 36:17Speaker 01

  I assumed that under the mask, it was gonna be another mask. So it was, it was crazy to me. It was like a mouth and a nose and everything.

• 36:24Speaker 02

  Space, another door, another door.

• 36:26Speaker 01

  It was gonna be that.

• 36:27Speaker 02

  Okay, yeah.

• 36:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, I played John the Mouse.

• 36:30Speaker 00

  James is a mouse.

• 36:31Speaker 01

  John the Mouse in Cinderella.

• 36:33Speaker 02

  Right on.

• 36:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, I replaced John Mulaney at the last minute, so my character's name stayed the same.

• 36:37Speaker 02

  John.

• 36:38Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 36:39Speaker 02

  It's got a good ring to it.

• 36:40Speaker 01

  It's pretty cool.

• 36:40Speaker 00

  You're a great mouse, man.

• 36:42Speaker 01

  Thank you, mate.

• 36:42Speaker 00

  Yeah, and I think that bonding went really well.

• 36:44Speaker 02

  I do.

• 36:44Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 36:45Speaker 01

  We bonded?

• 36:46Speaker 02

  We did.

• 36:47Speaker 01

  Here's another question for you.

• 36:48Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 36:49Speaker 01

  As a rest of the time.

• 36:50Speaker 02

  What's my biggest fear? I'm getting.

• 36:52Speaker 01

  As a rest of the time to act, to what you say to people who, uh, think that acting is fake?

• 36:58Speaker 02

  I, I think that's a good assessment of, of what we do.

• 37:01Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 37:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 37:03Speaker 01

  I was quite proud of that. I thought of it on the way here.

• 37:04Speaker 02

  That is good. Yeah, that's good.

• 37:06Speaker 00

  It's nice.

• 37:07Speaker 02

  I will say, I've been answering questions for a long time. I've never been asked that question.

• 37:11Speaker 01

  I hope, I hope people don't ask that. Yeah, yeah.

• 37:13Speaker 00

  You've probably been asked this one before. In terms of going from wrestling to acting, the wrestling version of performance seems to have loads of different layers to it in terms of you're performing for the back row of wherever you're wrestling, but also like actual close up cameras as well.

• 37:30Speaker 02

  So my thought process was to never worry about the cameras. And, um, I know that that kind of goes against some of the teachings that are going on now. I always took, and we talked about the audience for the O2, I always take the audience as part of the act. And if I'm trying to talk to somebody at home and these people have paid money are seeing that I'm talking to somebody at home. Now, I'm also infamous for looking in the camera because I do wanna connect with that person. But if I work my whole performance to a camera with a crowd in the background, I'm not bidding for connection. I'm shutting them out. I always wanted to just make it look, if you were flipping channels and there's an arena full of people going ape shit,

• 38:13Speaker 02

  no, I'll check this out. I'll see what this is about. So you bring up a good point of like, where's the line? And I know a lot of the teaching nowadays is like focus on your audience at home because they're your largest audience. My philosophy is if the largest audience is like, what's this about? They wanna see chaos. They don't wanna see people go get hot dogs.

• 38:34Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 38:35Speaker 02

  So I would, I would really stress, we, WWE is adding more cameras every day. Somebody's gonna catch it. Somebody's gonna catch it. And if you're working at a smaller place and only maybe has one camera, my thing is to get another opportunity, you wanna make people like or hate you. And that's in the building. And if the people watching at home on like local access or streaming, if they see people hate you, they'll stick even though you might not be on the one camera. So I would think it's way more, way more grandiose and way more involved. It can also be super intimate too. I remember in some of the Make-A-Wish experiences, I would talk and get tips from kids.

• 39:18Speaker 02

  It'd be like, hey, you wanna see anything out there tonight or what do you think is gonna help me win this thing? And I would know the, the curation of the evening. They'd be like, I think if you do this right at this time, then you'll have an opportunity to hit them with the attitude adjustment and you can win. Like, I never thought of that. And I would work it in and I would literally find out where they were seating and be like, hit the AA and right before I go for the cover, thank you. And then hook for a three where it's like an intimate moment and then back to the show.

• 39:49Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 39:49Speaker 02

  So you can have moments here. I just don't think you should play the whole thing here. I don't think you should worry about the nuance. That's the thing with making a movie. There's no crowd. So all I'm left with is this and you can't do this. If, if we're doing close, I gotta do off. Those are the toughest things. Looking into your eyes, you can evoke emotion out of me. Looking at that brown spot on the camera and being like, man, that brown spot just did some real nefarious stuff to you. Trauma you've had. That's why I love watching pros.

• 40:27Speaker 01

  Your dream side dish, John.

• 40:29Speaker 02

  Sides, love me the veggies. I also think people are doing such creative stuff with vegetables. It's not just steamed, boiled, like they're not flavorless pieces of fiber. People are having so much fun with broccolini and Brussels sprouts and cauliflower and seasonal stuff. Man, there's like a whole pea season over here. I went to find out here, like everything was pea based. Like it's, it's amazing to see what you can do with your local produce and how you can incorporate in dishes. So I would say I'm looking at the green sides and, and leaning into that. That would be the accoutrement for the steak. And my crew likes fries, so I gotta order some chips. I gotta know the room.

• 41:14Speaker 02

  I gotta order my crew some chips.

• 41:16Speaker 01

  You got a crew?

• 41:18Speaker 02

  Well, like I said, I have the courage to eat alone, but I would prefer if I'm going out, especially for dinner, uh, to be amongst friends.

• 41:24Speaker 01

  Who, who, so if your dream meal, who's the crew? Who's coming with you?

• 41:28Speaker 02

  There's, I would say there's eight to 10 people in that circle that wow. I like to say we do not protect the word love, but we don't waste it either.

• 41:37Speaker 01

  That's quite powerful.

• 41:38Speaker 02

  Yeah. We openly share our feelings, but it's not ad nauseam.

• 41:43Speaker 02

  Everybody knows where they're at.

• 41:45Speaker 01

  There's so many phrases that you've said today, John, that I'm going to take into my, uh, my life. And I think, uh, we can share our feelings, but not ad nauseam is definitely one of them.

• 41:53Speaker 02

  Right on. We gotta take away.

• 41:56Speaker 01

  So we got some chips and we got some veggie. Do you know what veggies you'd like with a ribeye steak?

• 42:00Speaker 02

  I would definitely go for broccolini and most places will put some heat on it, like some chili flakes. I would go for sauteed spinach. Some places will throw mushrooms in there or like a garlic chop and like kinda wilt, yet heat the spinach out, outside of the saute to give it a little burn on it. Definitely burnt cauliflower. I love like true places will say it's grilled cauliflower and it'll come out without burn marks on it. Love the burnt cauliflower. Yeah, I think that's, that's kinda where I'm at.

• 42:28Speaker 01

  My sprouts, whenever I go to Brussels sprouts. Whenever I go to the States, I'm like, still the States are doing crazy things with sprouts.

• 42:34Speaker 02

  Brussels sprouts too. Yes. Yeah. That can, that can get, that can get away from you calorie wise, cause a lot of places do like thick cut bacon inside the sprouts, but like the glaze on the sprouts and they are like little heads of lettuce, but it's like fire roasted little heads of lettuce. They're crunchy, they're crispy. Sometimes they serve the, the purpose of a good fry, like when they do, they deep fry them.

• 42:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 42:53Speaker 02

  Man, it's, they're good. They're very good. That makes the list as well. Yeah.

• 42:56Speaker 01

  Sometimes actors say that like, you know, there's certain characters they play that are quite similar to themselves.

• 43:03Speaker 01

  Of all the characters you played, which one would be enjoying this meal the most right now?

• 43:07Speaker 02

  My goodness, I would probably say I got to play the president of the United States for heads of state. And he was a whiskey drinking actor turned politician. You know, I, I think he would enjoy that.

• 43:23Speaker 01

  Dream drink, would he enjoy this dream drink of yours that you've got in there?

• 43:26Speaker 02

  So this is a flight. I would start out with an espresso martini. That is always the open. You gotta go downers and uppers and have them crash. That's the fun of it. Then I would follow it with wine. We usually dive into reds and not, I used to like super bold reds. I'm getting old. It's balanced, a little softer, so we're taking it back a little bit. Like a Bordeaux or a Burgundy or even Chateau Neuf de Pop. Like something that's a little bit, um, not as strong out of the gate, you know? And, and the great thing about wine is there's so many out there. So I'm constantly learning about like, oh, this is, this is kinda what I like. This is right in that lane.

• 44:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:01Speaker 02

  Then possibly after dinner, if you're going with a single malt, I would love something like that, like a, I love the smoke. So anything from like Lagavulin, Freud, um, Ardbeg. Yeah. I'm trying to remember the guys who do Peep Monster. There's, there's a bunch of them out there that bring the smoke and I love when you can smell it coming to the table.

• 44:20Speaker 01

  Oh, wow. Yeah.

• 44:21Speaker 02

  My wife's like, your drink's here.

• 44:24Speaker 02

  It is. And then of course you gotta do the nightcap and I'm just shoehorning this in because of my love of coffee, flat white. That's normally a breakfast drink for me, but I gotta get it on the program because I love a great flat white.

• 44:37Speaker 01

  I've heard this about you, that you're a, you're a big coffee nut. You love coffee.

• 44:40Speaker 02

  It's weird. I would say I'm as much of a coffee nut as I am a wine nut. You get, you get a real wine expert here and I will be like, I don't understand a word you're saying. And if you get a real roaster, a real barista here, they'll be like spitting out words that I don't understand. Whenever I go to a great place that has a variety of roasts, I was at the house choose.

• 45:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:01Speaker 02

  Cause I wanna, I wanna let the artist have control.

• 45:03Speaker 01

  I think, I think that's a smart thing to do. Cause I was like, I'm going to get into wine. I decided I was going to get into wine. And then you realize there's what a hundred thousand great varieties and then there's no way of knowing wine.

• 45:13Speaker 02

  It's a cool exercise in asking for help too.

• 45:15Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:15Speaker 02

  Like, hey man, can you guide me? I kinda, I had this before, I kinda like it. What do you like? And you can like put them under a press. What do you like that tastes like this? But I only have this to spend. And that like, they love songs. Songs don't fold.

• 45:28Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 45:29Speaker 02

  They like to have their goalposts and they always give recommendations that they feel strongly about. You know, so, um, and I think the same is with coffee. I love that, that get up in the morning and I'm just shoehorning it in. I don't know if I do it at the end of the night, but I love that, like two shots of espresso, five ounces of steamed milk, a little bit of art on the, on the coffee, served in a nice porcelain mug, maybe with a saucer, I don't know.

• 45:53Speaker 01

  You can have a saucer. Come on, it's your dream meal. We'll get you a saucer.

• 45:56Speaker 02

  I like it. Yeah.

• 45:57Speaker 01

  My tour manager used to, uh, work for quite a big coffee chain and her, her job was to go around the world and source the beans. And now she's like, uh, tour managing for a lot of comedians and all of her friends are tour managers for bands and stuff. They all share this, uh, this map where if they find a good coffee place, they put it on the, the map, which I've now got access to, and it's changed my life.

• 46:19Speaker 02

  I got the same map.

• 46:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:20Speaker 02

  I don't, I don't have that map. I have, I have my coffee crew, who we do that.

• 46:26Speaker 01

  You got it.

• 46:26Speaker 02

  Of like.

• 46:27Speaker 01

  This one's called wanky coffee.

• 46:28Speaker 02

  Nice.

• 46:29Speaker 01

  I don't know if yours would be called that.

• 46:30Speaker 02

  We do not have a name for our group.

• 46:34Speaker 02

  You guys have cornered the market on wanky coffee.

• 46:37Speaker 01

  You can maybe go with wanky coffee too.

• 46:39Speaker 02

  Wanky coffee also.

• 46:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 46:41Speaker 02

  Even also wanky coffee.

• 46:43Speaker 01

  Wankier coffee.

• 46:44Speaker 02

  Yeah. More, more wank in this coffee. We'll workshop it.

• 46:48Speaker 01

  Yeah. Yeah. So do you, do you have places in, in London that you go to that you know is really good?

• 46:54Speaker 02

  Places, man. I love the restaurant Hyde here and they got a small breakfast place called Hideaway. We, me and the wife take to walk in Hyde Park. There's a small place in one of the back alleys. I wanna keep it private. That way I can keep it private. I just went to a place called Shot, which is like a true beanery. They have like a 32 pound flat white. That is an expensive beverage.

• 47:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:16Speaker 02

  So much so that I went in there and I'm like, I'm, can I just have a six, six pound one? Like what the? What the fuck?

• 47:25Speaker 01

  It can't be worth it, can it?

• 47:27Speaker 02

  So you never know, right? What, what I found in my journeys through all that is I don't have the depth of field to tell. There's that level of expert, right? Who can tell? That's not me.

• 47:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:41Speaker 02

  Essentially you're wasting it on me. I fall right in the like, the middle of, if it, if the work is good and you're confident about the beans, somewhere in the middle is where I, I should be. That's how I choose wine and all, all the stuff that has levels of expertise and a price tag associated with it. I know, never go to top floor.

• 48:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:03Speaker 02

  You know, and unless you get a true inside baseball tip, probably not the basement either.

• 48:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:08Speaker 02

  You know, try to get somewhere healthy in the middle, cause there are a lot of folks out there doing stuff. Man, I saw that and I was like, what must that be like? And I punted, I didn't go for it, but I got like a six or seven pound flat white and it was incredible. So now I'm kinda curious. I gotta keep going to, they do have like the, they rope you in with incentives. There's like a 10 pound, 12, 15, 18, 20. And then it's like Scotch. That's another thing. Cause I, I talked about single malt, like Lagavulin 16 is my favorite. You don't have to have something that's been in a barrel for 40 years. Somebody's going to ask you for a mortgage payment to have an ounce and a half of. Goodness, I can't tell the difference.

• 48:51Speaker 02

  That, that bottle of 16, man, if I want to spring, I'll go distiller's addition, which is a great drink. It's just maybe 1.5 times the bottle. So you're still not going to the stratosphere and it, it, it supplies me with what I need.

• 49:07Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 49:08Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:08Speaker 01

  I went big on a flat white in London where it was like about that price. Uh, cause someone had told me like, it is worthy, you should go. And it was like a, there was like liquid nitrogen involved and all this kinda stuff. And, uh, it said the notes on it. So I thought, I'll get that one. And I walked away and it was delicious, but what I thought was it tastes like a Neapolitan ice cream. And I thought that means I'm probably not drinking it right. And I did spend too much on this. If I'm walking away going, it tastes like a lovely ice cream, then I'm probably. To me, it feels like if you're, if you're spending that amount on a shot of espresso, it feels like putting milk in it's wrong.

• 49:45Speaker 02

  Yeah, sure. I mean, well played, well played. And a lot of, a lot of the, the coffee folks I talked to always want me to have like drip pour coffee.

• 49:56Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 49:57Speaker 02

  Because then you can really taste the aroma. I'm like, dude, I'm not here for drip coffee. Drip coffees, I've been drinking that stuff in America. Huge coffees, it is watered down coffee. I get it. It, it smells like peach. It's fine.

• 50:12Speaker 02

  It's great. I want the strong stuff. Yeah. I wanna be able to take that glass and milk it for 45 minutes. This is, this is where I'm living, you know? But a lot of the, a lot of the drip stuff is where you can taste the notes.

• 50:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 50:22Speaker 02

  I, I will say it is a cool discovery when someone says like, here, try a little bit of this, you'll taste saffron in this. And I've never been exposed to that before. We had an experience with coffee where it was saffron coffee. And because I now have a little bit of fluency there, I was like, man, this is, I taste it. There is that discovery of like, it's in there.

• 50:43Speaker 01

  Yeah. More with coffee than with wine as well. When people say to me, these are the notes in the wine, I don't really pick them up, but with coffee.

• 50:49Speaker 02

  Rusty bolts.

• 50:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, sure.

• 50:51Speaker 02

  An old leather sock.

• 50:53Speaker 01

  Tennis balls is a genuine note for people.

• 50:55Speaker 02

  Yeah. Yes. Yeah. And I, I talked to a winemaker once and I was like, why, why that? Like, why do you guys do that? And he's like, do you have a memory of a smell from a kid? Before I could even, he hooked me before I'm, yeah, when my dad used to cut the grass with his lawnmower, fresh cut grass in New England in August. He's like, yeah, so if you had a glass of wine and you had that and you smelled it, you wouldn't just tell me fresh cut grass. You'd say fresh cut grass in August. I'm like, yeah, I get it.

• 51:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:28Speaker 02

  It's the, the people doing this have been around so much scent and earthy scent all of their life. They're working in wineries with rusty bolts. A lot of times old leather stuff. So all of that earth and all those, their descriptors, they've just been around it their whole life. And when somebody was like, oh yeah, I, I understand it. I just don't have the depth of field to make the connection.

• 51:53Speaker 03

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• 52:29Speaker 01

  Dream dessert.

• 52:31Speaker 00

  We knew where this was going.

• 52:32Speaker 02

  Good night, Banoffee Pie. God save the queen, God save the king. Thank you, Union Jack. This is, this is the best dessert in the world for me. Yeah, I'm a New England kid who grew up on ice cream. I love me some cookies. Banoffee Pie, man, it is the best dessert I've ever had.

• 52:53Speaker 00

  Do you remember the first time you had Banoffee Pie?

• 52:55Speaker 02

  Backstage WWE. And when we used to tour the UK and Europe, catering would be sustenance, but they're also feeding the grips, the stagehands, the lighting guys, the sound guys, the TV techs, the wrestlers, which they take up a bulk of the nutrition. They gotta feed a lot of people. So we're cooking en masse and we're not exactly like, it's not a fine dining experience. And the catering crew would always put out sheets, like big bowl sheets of Banoffee Pie. And we used to do tours over here for like 21 days. And you'd only get Banoffee in London or Manchester. So we'd do like Nottingham and then jump to Paris

• 53:38Speaker 02

  and then do Lyon and then do like some of the, some of the tents and like Blackpool, some of the seaside towns.

• 53:43Speaker 00

  Wow.

• 53:43Speaker 02

  And then we would be looking at London. Not for the show, granted, the O2 would be packed, like 19,000 people for the Banoffee. So I think it was like that one sweet treat I knew I was gonna get and it never, it always delivered. And then I would go back to the States and tell people about like, there's this thing over there and it's like crust and goo and bananas in it and it's clotted cream with chocolate on top. It's Banoffee Pie, it's Ban and Toffee Pie. Do you know anybody that makes this? No.

• 54:14Speaker 00

  I didn't realize it wasn't a thing in the States.

• 54:16Speaker 02

  Dude, what, what a jip.

• 54:18Speaker 01

  This is why you're gonna be in WrestleMania.

• 54:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 54:21Speaker 02

  Here's the best, it is, best thing in the world as far as a dessert. Wow, this is, see you next year.

• 54:28Speaker 01

  It's interesting, we, we had a guest on, Sanjeev Bhaskar, who's like, uh, just a national treasure here, comic actor. And, uh, he was, he chose Banoffee Pie and wanted it from like, he was telling the story about this catering crew who did it on a TV show he was, he was making. So it might be that catering Banoffee Pie, we've had it before.

• 54:47Speaker 02

  They know they got that ace in their back pocket.

• 54:49Speaker 00

  Yeah. Cause a TV show we've both done. And James did it a couple of series before me, but said, when you're filming it, one day will be Banoffee Pie day and that's gonna be the best day.

• 54:59Speaker 01

  The best day.

• 54:59Speaker 02

  It sure is. Yeah, it's a day that could tear you apart with produce.

• 55:04Speaker 01

  So would you, would you like the catering Banoffee Pie? That, that from those guys?

• 55:08Speaker 02

  Because, you know, you, that, that is definitely like my nostalgia. That's my pinpoint. Since then, I've tried various levels of Banoffee and found a cute, a cool, a few cool spots that do it internationally. There's one in LA that knocks it out of the park. There's one in Tampa that tried it, they missed. I can get it in Atlanta, Atlanta does a good one. You can definitely get it in New York. I got it. Man, they got me a great one in DC for my last match. And like, I'm pretty janky on gifts. I mean, I'm, I realize how lucky I am in life and I've been awarded so much. I don't want anyone to spend their resources on anything. I got it. But dude, when they dropped that in the locker room,

• 55:51Speaker 02

  especially after the match, I was like, everybody away from the fucking pie. This is mine, taking it. They got this for me.

• 56:00Speaker 02

  This is retirement, that's mine. Trying to pee around the pie, so nobody takes it. It is, it is delicious.

• 56:07Speaker 00

  Did you do the whole pie in one sitting?

• 56:10Speaker 02

  I have, it is, I've learned to share with my wife. So we got into the locker room. I'm still covered in post-match.

• 56:18Speaker 00

  Yep.

• 56:18Speaker 02

  In the jorts, shoes are left in the ring. So like, I'm in my socks and we split that pie and crushed it.

• 56:27Speaker 00

  So this has actually added a whole new perspective for me about your last match. Cause obviously what an amazing final match. And you smiled before you tapped out.

• 56:35Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 56:35Speaker 00

  Thought it was a beautiful moment, but now I know you're smiling because you were thinking about the Banoffee Pie.

• 56:40Speaker 02

  My goodness, we get, we're going in.

• 56:41Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 56:42Speaker 02

  Going in, I made it, I'm in one piece. Still have my taste buds, let's go. Yeah.

• 56:48Speaker 00

  And that's an exclusive for the Off Menu podcast.

• 56:50Speaker 02

  That's huge. Yes, yes, the normal post-match ritual is a few cold ones in reflection. And haven't, I gotta tell you, Coors Light mixes with Banoffee fine.

• 57:00Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah.

• 57:01Speaker 02

  It was great. American Light Water Beer mixes with Banoffee just fine.

• 57:05Speaker 01

  And you're having no ice cream with this Banoffee Pie? It's just the pie?

• 57:09Speaker 02

  The pie itself is just a showstop. Like any, anything added is truly a hat on a hat. Some of the stuff, I just tried navel cake for the first time this morning. That needs like a, I don't know, navel cake.

• 57:19Speaker 00

  No.

• 57:20Speaker 02

  So it's like, um, kinda like a stout ganache with bits, crispy bits and fluffy bakery bits in it. And almost like the checkerboard, or that's the way it was served. Chocolate dust on top and it was served with a scoop of Alamo. And you, you do need it. Sticky toffee pudding, you gotta have ice cream.

• 57:39Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 57:39Speaker 02

  Like that, that, they complement each other well. The cream in Banoffee is the, like, that's the hero. That's the ice cream hero. You don't need anything else on it.

• 57:49Speaker 00

  It's got everything.

• 57:50Speaker 01

  And just checking in, checking in at the end of the episode, how's your salmonella doing? After having talked about food for this long?

• 57:58Speaker 02

  So I gotta tell you, it comes in waves.

• 57:59Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:00Speaker 02

  And sitting here, like, once you shut the door, I'm like, there's no way I'll make it. Yeah, there's, I see it's a soundproof room. So there's a door and another door.

• 58:07Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:08Speaker 02

  So I'm fucked either way.

• 58:09Speaker 00

  It's actually two, yeah, it's one door, two more doors.

• 58:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're done. So I'm, I'm either gonna not shit myself or shit myself.

• 58:16Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:16Speaker 02

  And right now, your chair is safe. But there have been waves of like, oh, yeah.

• 58:21Speaker 00

  Yeah. Well, that'll be fun for anyone who's watching the episode on YouTube.

• 58:23Speaker 02

  To try to pinpoint the moments where he was like, oh, he is not thinking about food at all. He's just thinking about keeping the exit door closed and making sure nothing ruins the chair.

• 58:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, it would be an honor if you, we would be honored if you had shat yourself.

• 58:37Speaker 02

  Hey man, it's what the body does. And sometimes you just gotta lean into it. But I'm, I'm glad I could not ruin any equipment as well as the smell of the studio would be changed forever.

• 58:44Speaker 00

  There's wrestlers who've done that, right, during matches?

• 58:46Speaker 02

  I've done that.

• 58:46Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 58:47Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah?

• 58:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, I've done that. When I was, uh, when I was still wearing boots and tights and I would wear like a different set of boots and tights every city I went to, gosh, this was 20, 21 years ago. We had an event up in Moncton, Canada, and I was wrestling Scott Steiner. And Bull Buchanan was with me for some reason. Like I had someone who could step in and save the day. The tights that I chose were like black with orange in the middle. And I had food poisoning. And I was of this old school thought of like, rub some dirt on it and get back out there. And keep in mind, we get paid by performance. You wanna do, you wanna make the town because that's money in your pocket.

• 59:31Speaker 02

  I'm still young in the business. I wanna get out in front of this crowd. So I kinda not, I don't tell anybody that I'm not feeling too well. And I have legit food poisoning. And I go out there and we start messing around and the first suplex he gave me, I full on shit myself. And not only did I do that, I shit myself so you can see like the, you can see it.

• 59:55Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's clear.

• 59:56Speaker 02

  And then like it's smell-o-vision for the first few rows. There's always a WWE Live event representative sitting ringside.

• 1:00:03Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:00:04Speaker 02

  Communicating in case of emergency. Boy, was there an emergency, so I roll out, I get on my hands as this brown pool of liquid is just making these shorts unusable. And I'm like, where do I throw up? And he's like, what? Like, I am going to throw up. He's like, under the ring. So in the match, I crawled under the ring. I applaud Scott and Bull. They, Bull jumped in, they did a little match. I puked for what felt like months.

• 1:00:34Speaker 02

  And I don't know how much the human body can hold, but I, I know how much mine can because I saw it all.

• 1:00:40Speaker 00

  And a lot of it had come out the other end anyway.

• 1:00:42Speaker 02

  Yes, I couldn't believe it.

• 1:00:44Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:00:44Speaker 02

  Like, wow, this is impressive. And then I ran right back into the match, uh, just in time for Scott Steiner to like, I'm gonna give you my finish. I got beat and boy, did I fucking sprint out of there. Needless to say, it was not on the next show.

• 1:00:58Speaker 01

  I mean, well done, Scott Steiner, for actually agreeing to carry on wrestling you when you got back in.

• 1:01:03Speaker 02

  I took that like one bump and lost.

• 1:01:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:01:07Speaker 02

  And he might have covered me with his like foot on me.

• 1:01:10Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:01:10Speaker 02

  Which is okay. Man, the refs had it tough that night. Big ups to my partner in crime, Bull Buchanan, for saving the day.

• 1:01:18Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:01:19Speaker 02

  I learned to always, it's okay if, if you're not feeling chipper, leave it to somebody who, that's their decision to make. And then they tell you what's going on. Yeah.

• 1:01:27Speaker 01

  Have you ever had that on a film as well? Been under the weather and when you watch the film, you're like, that's the day when I wasn't feeling great?

• 1:01:33Speaker 02

  So many times, many times. And like, that's, that's the nuance of the profession. Gotta compartmentalize that. Jackie Chan, who I admire and respect, and I think he's one of the greatest physical storytellers of our generation. I got to do a film with him and watching him work is spectacular. The hours are long, it was in China, and the days are long. And he knows when to pull back, but he's always keeping himself busy. And he is like this Energizer bunny. And I kinda tried to poke him for information. He's like, what am I gonna do? Go to every theater and tell these people that I was tired that day? They're there to watch. This is what we do.

• 1:02:14Speaker 02

  And that, that is a, that is a very tough, hard-nosed lane. But you could never see it. He found a way to check it at the door. And when they said action, the character he needed to play was on screen. And I've, I've climbed those hills. A lot of my partners, castmates have climbed those hills. We all know when you're, when you get a certain level in the movie business, we all know what a day of production costs. You wanna just keep doing it, you know? If, I don't wanna lose this luck because I held up production, you know? And so you wanna press forward, you wanna press on. I'm literally here with salmonella. I'm running a fever, my joints feel like rust, like my body feels like shit. Literally, things are coming out of me that I'm like, how is, I had that like two weeks ago, what?

• 1:03:00Speaker 02

  And it's in liquid form. What's going on? So like, but this is, this is why we do what we do and, and not all things just because they're rewarding should be easy. And we talked this morning about like, hey, you want to punt on this stuff? And I'm like, no, I think I can do it. And if I need to pull the trigger, I hope people will understand, but I'm also going to speak honestly. Now I'm speaking to your audience and they know I'm sick. And that's a courageous choice because we want to look perfect for you guys. We want to look like, I'm trying to sell you this movie and I want you to be a, you know, have a sense of gravity of what I'm saying. So it's a brave choice to, to come on. It's also a brave choice to speak honestly with you guys. And now if I bolted out of there, you'd have a good laugh.

• 1:03:42Speaker 02

  Cause you know exactly what I was gonna do, but in seeing all those doors, I would not make it.

• 1:03:46Speaker 01

  Not just.

• 1:03:47Speaker 02

  It would be the scene in Bridesmaids where she's just shitting in the.

• 1:03:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:03:53Speaker 01

  Well, John, we will let you run now and get through all these doors. Nice and safe.

• 1:03:58Speaker 02

  I'm just gonna take a look at what you guys got for a restaurant. Just see what it's about.

• 1:04:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's okay.

• 1:04:01Speaker 00

  We've got a choice to take.

• 1:04:02Speaker 02

  It will not be okay in 20 minutes.

• 1:04:05Speaker 00

  I'd say, so when you go in, there's two, I'd take the one on the right because I prefer the one on the left. So I'd rather.

• 1:04:10Speaker 02

  Okay, great.

• 1:04:11Speaker 00

  I'd, I'd rather you just do what you have to.

• 1:04:13Speaker 01

  I'm a, I'm a right guy, so that's my, that's my day ruined.

• 1:04:16Speaker 02

  Enjoy the modern earth.

• 1:04:18Speaker 01

  Thank you so much, John. I'm gonna read your menu back to you now, see how you feel about it.

• 1:04:21Speaker 02

  Sounds good.

• 1:04:21Speaker 01

  You would like bottled still water?

• 1:04:24Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:04:24Speaker 01

  You want taffeting bread?

• 1:04:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:04:26Speaker 01

  You would like tartare, whatever tartare the restaurant has. You would like a ribeye steak, medium rare from the Polo Bar in New York City.

• 1:04:33Speaker 02

  Nice.

• 1:04:33Speaker 01

  Broccolini with chili flakes, sauteed spinach, mushrooms, garlic, burnt cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, fries for the crew. You would like espresso martini, red wine, Bordeaux, burgundy, lager roll and 16 though, you love that. And a flat white and dessert, of course, it's a bonoffe pie.

• 1:04:49Speaker 02

  That's a, that's a great menu.

• 1:04:50Speaker 00

  That's a really good menu.

• 1:04:50Speaker 01

  Sounds really good.

• 1:04:51Speaker 00

  I'm there for every single.

• 1:04:52Speaker 01

  We appreciate it a lot.

• 1:04:54Speaker 02

  Thanks for having me on, guys.

• 1:04:55Speaker 01

  Hey, thanks for coming on. Wish you all the best with this film.

• 1:04:59Speaker 02

  And guys, watch Matchbox. I have gone through some shit today.

• 1:05:04Speaker 02

  For real.

• 1:05:05Speaker 01

  He deserves it.

• 1:05:06Speaker 02

  Watch, no. I oddly enough, I'll, I want to end the interview with this. I have eliminated that word from my vocabulary.

• 1:05:12Speaker 01

  He doesn't deserve anything.

• 1:05:13Speaker 02

  That's right. And that's, that's the way I feel. What do we really deserve, right? There are folks that are, I mean, people are up against a lot of stuff. What do we really deserve? I'd like to say that hopefully by sharing my story with you, I have earned it and I've earned your trust and I hope you watch Matchbox on Apple TV when it comes out. I hope you enjoy it because I am putting all my holes into it. My heart and holes, my heart and soul. That was what I meant, my heart and soul, my heart and holes into it. Yeah.

• 1:05:40Speaker 00

  John, thank you so much for putting all your holes into this interview. Fantastic to talk to you.

• 1:05:45Speaker 02

  And good luck to the missus, man.

• 1:05:46Speaker 01

  Absolutely. I'll pass it on.

• 1:05:54Speaker 00

  Well, I'm so happy we did that chat, man.

• 1:05:56Speaker 01

  What a pro.

• 1:05:57Speaker 00

  What a pro, what a guy. I feel like he engaged with us very well, but I feel like if we hadn't said anything, he would have delivered a fantastic episode anyway.

• 1:06:07Speaker 01

  Absolutely. And I like, do you want to, do you want to see a little impression? I'm gonna do an impression of, for you.

• 1:06:12Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:06:12Speaker 01

  Of me with Salmonella on the morning that I've got a podcast.

• 1:06:14Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:06:15Speaker 01

  Okay, you, you be my, um, my, my PR.

• 1:06:18Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 1:06:19Speaker 01

  Just ring, ring me up.

• 1:06:21Speaker 01

  I'm not doing it.

• 1:06:23Speaker 00

  I would do an impression of me.

• 1:06:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:25Speaker 00

  In the similar situation, but it would be the same as yours.

• 1:06:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, sure.

• 1:06:29Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:06:29Speaker 01

  If, you wouldn't even, you'd text it.

• 1:06:31Speaker 00

  I'd text it, yeah.

• 1:06:32Speaker 01

  You wouldn't even pick up the phone.

• 1:06:33Speaker 00

  I'd just send a picture of the toilet, I think.

• 1:06:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, not doing it.

• 1:06:35Speaker 00

  Yeah. Have a look at that. You think I'm coming in?

• 1:06:38Speaker 01

  So thank you so much, John.

• 1:06:39Speaker 00

  Watch Matchbox the movie on Apple TV now. It's a hell, it's a hell of a lot of fun.

• 1:06:44Speaker 01

  Hell of a lot of fun. And he didn't say matchmakers, of course.

• 1:06:47Speaker 00

  Thank you, John. But if, if you had, we would have done nothing.

• 1:06:50Speaker 01

  We would have done absolutely nothing. We would have asked Benito to let us change the secret ingredient and re-record that beginning bit, so we're cowards. Also, we've received some goodies recently from the nice people at Rapschallion Soda.

• 1:07:03Speaker 00

  Thank you to them.

• 1:07:04Speaker 01

  They sent us, I mean, they're very nice botanical sodas.

• 1:07:08Speaker 00

  Going down very well in the office, Benito tells me.

• 1:07:11Speaker 01

  Oh yeah, every time I, I see Benito's crew.

• 1:07:14Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:07:15Speaker 01

  They've got a can of Rapschallion in there.

• 1:07:16Speaker 00

  Yeah, they are, but they're a bunch of Rapschallion, so.

• 1:07:18Speaker 01

  They are actually, we call them that. We complain about them every single, every AGM.

• 1:07:23Speaker 00

  Yeah. Look, if you're listening to this, do watch it on the YouTube because you missed out on a lot if you're not watching it. Like, I'm pretty sure I'm just making Google eyes at John Cena for the whole thing.

• 1:07:31Speaker 01

  You absolutely are. And while you're on YouTube, subscribe to at Craig Simons Live. It's really good content.

• 1:07:38Speaker 00

  Some really good content. That guy's a little weird, but I think there's some good stuff coming out. Come and see me on tour next year, Fresh Hell, edgamble.co.uk for tickets. And very quickly before we go, I just want to tell you about a joke James did that I really enjoyed. While we were waiting for John Cena to arrive, Benito was on the phone outside and he was speaking to someone on John Cena's team and said, where are you? I can't see you. And James said, I'd imagine he's talking directly to John Cena there.

• 1:08:03Speaker 01

  Really happy with that.

• 1:08:04Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:08:04Speaker 01

  Really happy with it. Kind of gutted it wasn't going to be on the pod.

• 1:08:07Speaker 00

  Yeah, but he's, look, John Cena has heard all of these jokes before.

• 1:08:11Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:08:11Speaker 00

  This is why we're saving these for after.

• 1:08:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, I didn't want to bombard him with them. I was, yeah, I was pretty hesitant to say my little, you know, acting being fake joke before, maybe he's heard that.

• 1:08:21Speaker 00

  That's good, man.

• 1:08:22Speaker 01

  When he said he hadn't heard it before.

• 1:08:23Speaker 00

  That was good. Cause you can't be like, hey, John, here's my joke about you can't see me.

• 1:08:28Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:08:29Speaker 00

  Or like, you know, attitude adjustment.

• 1:08:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:08:31Speaker 00

  Or any of that, or the F you. Previously, no. That's like someone in an interview with you being like, what about cabbage?

• 1:08:40Speaker 01

  I mean, that's all that happens every time I get interviewed.

• 1:08:43Speaker 01

  They say, you've been cabbage recently. Hey, James, started making it, had a breakdown, bon appetit, no question.

• 1:08:51Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 1:08:51Speaker 01

  At the end of that, they just look at me, want me to talk about that. And I guess nowadays it's going to be, how you doing, you fucking traitor?

• 1:09:00Speaker 00

  Thanks very much for watching and listening. We'll see you next time. Remember, share your feelings, but not ad nauseam.

• 1:09:07Speaker 01

  Take care of yourselves.

• 1:09:08Speaker 00

  But not ad nauseam.

• 1:09:09Speaker 01

  You deserve, you've earned it.

• 1:09:10Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 1:09:26Speaker 03

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