Latest / Brewsers / Brewsers #401- Wonderboy Brian Morris

Transcript

Brewsers #401- Wonderboy Brian Morris · Brewsers

• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Bruisers, a podcast about beer, coffee, booze, and Bruisers.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Roddy John, and today we talk to
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Wonderboy Brian Morris. We talk about being a color commentator,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: getting into pro wrestling, and so much more. Brian is
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: doing absolutely amazing things when it comes to the world
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: of pro wrestling, and I can't wait to help tell
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: his story. So without further ado, here is Wonderboy Brian Morris.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: I would like to welcome to the show Wonderboy Brian Morris.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: How are you doing today?
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: I'm great. How about you?
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: I'm doing well. So for those listening, kind of paint
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: us a word picture. Where are you at and what's
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: going on around you?
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Oh, what do you mean? My setting right now or wrestling?
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: All the above. Whatever you got.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Oh, gosh. Well, this is just my desk where my
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: little office where I edit videos and where I store
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: my championship belts.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Oh, you know, no big deal.
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: No, no big deal at all.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, I mean, I've heard it before, but for
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: those who haven't heard, what is your earliest memory of
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: pro wrestling?
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, man, I got into wrestling because my friends had
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: the SmackDown vs. Raw 2007 video game. So I didn't
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: see it on TV first. I saw it or I
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: heard about it because my friends are all playing it.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: And so I was I was peer pressured into getting
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: that game. And then I think it was like season
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: mode where you chose your superstar and played a whole
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: year through their career. Um, and, uh, I think, I
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: think my guy was Batista, uh, played, played that game mode,
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: talked about it with my friends at school. And then
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: eventually from there, uh, started actually watching it on TV.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: Now I heard that. Oh, okay. So I'll save that
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: for a second, but I've heard so many people wrestlers nowadays,
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: especially like this generation coming up that that's how they
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: got into wrestling was the video games. It wasn't what
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: was on TV. it wasn't like, you know, their friends
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: were talking about it or they went through that action
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: figures or whatever it was. It was the video games,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: which I think that's very fascinating.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: I haven't heard too many stories like mine or like
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: that's the first time they get exposed to it. But
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: I do know now that like for me, that game
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: had such an impression on me and particularly like the
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: soundtrack of that game, because like that's all I listen
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: to when I work out is like the Smackdown versus
• 2:51
  Speaker 2: Raw soundtracks from like 2006 to 2009 or 2010, whenever
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: the last one was. Yeah. So I do know that
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: it has a big influence on those people. Cause like
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: people around my age, they'll post something on Instagram and
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: it'll be a song from one of those games. And
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: I'll be like, Oh, you know, yeah, you were there.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I mean, I'm an older generation, but yeah,
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: for same thing for us when it comes to the
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: 64 is like, no mercy was the best. Um, and then,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: you know, W N W O versus, uh, WCW revenge
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: was amazing as well. Like there was like a few
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: games that was like just awesome. right on the money
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: like if you played video games at that time and
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: a wrestling fan like that was it.
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: For you yeah and of course i know a lot
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: of people that like weren't wrestling fans who all had
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: those games too you know so they got exposed to
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: it one way or the other.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Which is i imagine it's probably the same thing with
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: like football or maybe even fifa like they don't actually
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: watch it but they love the games.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: I guess that's a good point yeah all my my
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: family plays fifa every like every year they get the
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: new game and they don't watch soccer at all.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Right see Other than the World Cup, I imagine they
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: probably watched some of those, but everybody was.
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah, probably. I didn't watch any of that.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: You didn't watch any of it?
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: No.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: None of it crossed your path?
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: No. It was more, the way it affected me the
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: most was I drive from Jersey up to Massachusetts a lot.
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: And the quickest way to get up there is to
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: go through or to go up 95. And you get
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: there from like the Garden State Parkway and like the
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Jersey Turnpike and those highways. And it takes you right
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: past MetLife Stadium where a lot of the games were.
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: So I had to I had to adjust my route
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: a lot. That's probably why I didn't watch it because
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: it was it ended up being a pain for me.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Well, it's funny because I live in the DFW area
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: and I don't live terribly far away from, you know,
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: I guess they call it Dallas Stadium, but we all
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: call it AT & T Stadium or the Death Star.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: And so people were like, oh my God, how bad
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: is traffic? I'm like, I don't go that way. So
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: I don't have to worry about it. I imagine during
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: game days, it was awful. But beyond that, plus it
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: seemed like everybody was enjoying wherever they were and they
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: loved it.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: Except for what's funny, like New York, the only thing
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: that they really talked about was like, I guess the
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: Norway team shutting down Times Square to all row. There
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: wasn't like a local cuisine thing that they're like, oh
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: my God, we tried the world's best pizza or coffee
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: or whatever it was.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: No, I don't think there was any of that. And plus, like,
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: MetLife Stadium's in Jersey, which I think was a shock
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: to a lot of people that came over here for
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: the first time. And if you're from this area, you
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: know how bad MetLife Stadium is and how, like, I
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: can't believe they had games there.
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Money-wise, that's the only thing that would have made sense. Because, like, oh,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: we have to have a New York team or a
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: New York building, right? Oh, yeah, let's do the ugliest one.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: Of course.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: Well, because I've been there for the last two WrestleManias
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: that were there. And my friend and I, shout out
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: to Eric, we go every year and we hate going
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: to New York. It is, it's a fine city. Some
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: people are going to be like, oh my God, how
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: do you hate New York? It's like, well, it's too busy.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: Like I never, like I love doing things. I'm always,
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: I have a little bit of FOMO, but like that
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: city is just too much. Like there's always something going
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: on and there's like traffic. I mean, luckily we didn't
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: have to drive anywhere, but also trying to get to
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: MetLife from New York. Luckily we found somebody that was like,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: follow me. Well, I'll take you to, Which train do
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: you got to be on? I was like, good. Because otherwise,
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: I have no idea how to get over there.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, it's a nightmare. I mean, I grew up in Jersey,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: and this is technically like a suburb of the city.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: And so my family and I would go into the
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: city at least once a year, whether it was like
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: Christmas or during the summer or whenever. I can't stand
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: it anymore. I can't stand going there.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Well, so people from Jersey have to ask, Taylor Ham
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: or pork roll?
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Pork roll. Okay.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: Just checking. for those that don't know, look it up,
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: figure it out yourself.
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, so now too, if you don't know, if
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: you don't know about it, you're missing out. Yeah.
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah. You had to try it at least once.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Now I heard that you, when you did, you know,
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: obviously you got into wrestling because the games, but then
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: you were scrolling through TV and you happen to see
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the guys that were actually, you were playing as actually
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: on TV. Do you remember about what, how long after
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: you were playing the game that happened?
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Probably within the first few months. Oh, okay. Um, I
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: didn't even like, I wasn't even smart to the fact
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: that there were different rosters or like different, you know,
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: different like shows. So I think I tuned into SmackDown
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: one night and the main event was Batista and Undertaker
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: versus Mr. Kennedy and Finley.
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: Love that.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: It was like right after WrestleMania 23. And, uh, I was,
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: I was watching it and I knew, I knew the guys,
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: but then I was like, I wonder when John Cena
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: is coming out. Yeah. And of course, you know, I
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: had to wait till Monday to see him.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Well, I imagine they probably, you saw the highlights that
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: they did multiple times as well.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah. The recap, the raw recap presented by whatever
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: the shaving cream was or whatever they were doing. Yeah. Yeah.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Harry's razor. Well, what was your first live show?
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: First live show was a, it was that year. It
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: was the summer slam tour before. Yeah. 2007. And it
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: was at the Bob Carpenter Center at the University of Delaware.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: In Newark, Delaware. And when I went to the show,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: my dad bought the tickets for the show. And we
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: were convinced that we were going to SummerSlam. So because
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: a lot of the you know, they have those local
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: commercials when you're when you're watching. So, you know, they're
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: advertising Randy Orton and John Cena, the main event for
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: the WWE Championship. And the whole show, I've been told
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: that that's the main event of SummerSlam. So I'm like,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: this must be it. And so we went and we
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: saw that match and we saw most of the other matches.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: That was like a big show for them at that
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: point because Rey Mysterio was going to come back. Triple
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: H was going to come back. And so, of course,
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: we get to this very small arena. in Delaware and
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: we're like, when's Ray Mysterio coming out? Like I'm, that's
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: what I'm here for. And instead we got like D'Lo
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: Brown versus Charlie Haas, like to open the show, which I,
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: I love both of those guys.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: Those guys are great.
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: It wasn't Ray.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Or Triple H, but yeah, that was, that was a
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: great show. And despite like, I get, it wasn't even
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: disappointment of, of, you know, noticing that this wasn't the pay-per-view. Right.
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: But you know, we see the main event match and
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: then we buy the, the pay-per-view two weeks later. And it's,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: you know, it's the same match. And some people would think, oh,
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: that's BS. Like, you know, it's fake, whatever. But to me,
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: I immediately appreciated what they were doing. And I was like, oh,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: that was a rehearsal for the big money pay-per-view. Like,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: of course. And so that was really cool to me.
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: And that I got it right away.
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. What was it that you were like, this
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: is where, I want to be on that side of
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: the guardrail now. I don't want to just be a fan.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: The first time it ever crossed my mind was funny enough,
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: a year later when they did the same tour and,
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: and Chris Jericho and Chris Jericho immediately became my favorite
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: when he came back to wrestle Orton for the title,
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: I think at the end of that year. Yeah. And,
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: and he was just, his feud with Shawn Michaels was
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: just getting going and he had just really started to
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: turn heel, but he showed up that night in Delaware
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: and the crowd loved him. And I was like, I
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: don't know. I don't, I don't get this. What's happening.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: Aren't we watching the same program? Like what? He's horrible. And, uh,
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: and he had a promo before his match and it
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: was probably three minutes and he turned every single person
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: in that crowd. And I thought that was the coolest thing.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: And I was 10 years old at that point, nine
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: years old. And, uh, I thought like, if I could
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: have the power to control an audience like that, that'd
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: be really, really cool. And from then I, the seed
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: was planted there and, uh, I didn't end up, you know,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: trying it until years and years later when I was
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: a senior in college, but yeah, that's where the seed
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: was planted for sure.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: Well, so then I heard that you went into broadcasting,
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: like broadcast journalism, right? Yeah. What did you want to,
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: so I guess obviously the power of the voice continued there,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: but the athletic, were you still playing sports or did you,
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: or throughout the time or what now?
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: I stopped playing sports at the end of high school.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: I did a little basketball. I was track and field
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: athlete too. And then I really fell in love with
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: the idea of being a sports commentator.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: So I did a little of that in high school,
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: and then I went to Elon University, who had, at
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: the time, one of the 13 accredited communications or journalism
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: programs in the country. So I went there, and then
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: for four years there, I did the basketball, radio, and
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: television broadcasts for the men's team. and they were division
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: one and they were in North Carolina. So we, we
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: played Duke and North Carolina and NC state and, and
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: wake forest. And so all the big schools around there and, um, yeah,
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: I got to travel with the team all over the country.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: That's cool.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah. It was, it was a really great experience. And, um,
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: by the end of those four years, I kind of
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: realized that's maybe not what I wanted to do, uh,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: for a career. And when senior year came along, I,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: Finally did some research on wrestling schools in the area.
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: Found one in North Carolina that was like 10 minutes
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: from my apartment.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: Nice.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: And showed up there one day, started training, then started
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: doing the play-by-play for them for a few months there.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: And then COVID happened, ruined all that, moved back to
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: New Jersey, and then found the Monster Factory in South Jersey.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: And then ever since... you know, it's been nonstop since then.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: What was it about the traveling with the team being the,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: you know, color commentary? What was it that you were like,
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: maybe this isn't for me?
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Uh, unfortunately it was some of the people that I
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: was working with at the time. Um, that a lot
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: of this, I met so many great people and interacted
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: with so many great people there. Unfortunately, the people that,
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: that I was surrounded with closely, uh, I realized that
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: they took a very specific path to get where they
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: were in their career. And I was going down the
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: same path, which is, which is a great career. You know,
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: if you really love doing that. Right. And I realized
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: I just didn't want to, I just didn't want to
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: do what they did. Didn't want to go to move
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: to North or stay in North Carolina after graduation, get
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: the job they had slowly climb the ladder to get
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: where they were. it just didn't interest me anymore at
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: that point. So that makes sense.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: Who are some colored commentary guys that you, when you
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: were coming up that you were kind of like not
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: idolizing or taking things from, but like who kind of
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: inspired you?
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Oh gosh. The NBA broadcasts were the best, like Kevin Harlan. Yeah.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: Still doing it for, for Turner. I think the TNT
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: and TBS and those games. He's fantastic. Love listening to
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: him and Reggie Miller. Yeah. Yeah, Reggie's great. Mike Breen,
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: who I was lucky enough to grow up in the
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: New York market, so I got to listen to him
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: for every Knicks game. He was always on the MSG
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: network with Clyde Frazier. So he was great, and then
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: he would do the ESPN games too, and he would
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: do the finals on ABC. So all those guys I really,
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: really loved listening to, and that's what made me fall
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: in love with that, with the idea of being a broadcaster.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Love that.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Who in the wrestling world do you enjoy when it
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: comes to color commentary?
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Oh, I mean, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were the best.
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: I think they're they're like number one, one A. And
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: then like for me, it'd be like, you know, Gorilla
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: and Bobby Heenan. Like those. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: just the way they they banter off each other. And like, yes,
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: you could tell that after the show, they were the
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: best of friends.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Jerry Lawler, for sure, is the color commentary guy.
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: And then JBL and Michael Cole, I loved. JBL and
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Michael Cole were the best. Taz and Michael Cole were
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: the best. I always get crap for not being a
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: Joey Styles fan. But, yeah, the SmackDown and Raw crews
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: were always my guys.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Joey and ECW was phenomenal because he did it all.
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: He was literally a one-man booth. Yes, they would show...
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: random guys, you know, Joe Gartner, Shane Douglas, or whatever,
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: you know, insert any wrestler they wanted, but he carried
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: that all by himself. And that's impressive.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what we at Elon, we weren't, you know,
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: we weren't a very competitive team, especially against teams like
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: North Carolina and Michigan, for example. And so there'd be
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: games where, you know, it'd be a 40 point lead
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: for the majority of the second half of those college games.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: And it would be, my broadcast partner who did play
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: by play and myself, and we would have to try
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: to keep these fans interested for like, you know what
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: I mean? Like for an hour. Yeah. And that was
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: not easy to, to not only keep them interested, but
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: also like, Hey, let's think of the positives from this game.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Like if you're an Elon fan, cause that's who's listening
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: to our broadcast. And with two people, that was tough.
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: And I can't even imagine doing a solo commentary job.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: for those ECW pay-per-views and those like, oh my God,
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: like that's, that's tough, man.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: To keep that energy the whole time. Yeah.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah. Plus like that. I mean, I imagine it
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: might be a little easier because the crowds you're feeding
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: off them so much, but at the same time, yeah.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Trying to keep it up and doing however many, oh
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: my God, you get there at the entire show.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: Right. Right.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Well, so you started training in North Carolina and then
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: obviously COVID didn't quite help your situation. How far into
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: training did you get?
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: Did about three months.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Oh, okay.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: Um, was just about to have my first match, I guess. Um,
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: and I ended up, I ended up having my first
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: match down there. It was, it was a weird situation.
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: It was like September to November. I was training and
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: then that school shut down out of the blue. And, um,
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: they did a big event right after Christmas every year. And, uh,
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: so I heard nothing. Nobody heard anything from the owner
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: and head coach until like the first or the middle
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: of December. And he said, Oh, we're going to do
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: one last show. That's their big show there. That's their WrestleMania.
• 18:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: And, uh, you know, you, you should be in the
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: battle Royal. And I was like, Oh my God, of course. So, yeah.
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: So I, I ended up having one match. If you
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: want to count the, the battle Royal where I wore
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: the hood and you know, covered my whole body because
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: i was supposed to be somebody else and yeah all
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: that stuff and that was you know that was amazing
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: that kept me going for the next nine months for
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: after covid until you know until uh the world opened
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: up again well how'd you end up finding the monster
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: factory i had done a little research when i was
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: in high school um just if i ever wanted to
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: explore that avenue and the monster factory was always the
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: first thing that came up when you look up, you know,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: wrestling schools, New Jersey.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: And of course the, um, the long lineage of the
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: graduates there and all that stuff. And they had, they
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: had a great YouTube channel at the time that was
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: posting really cool footage of at the time guys who
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: were just really getting noticed like Damian priest or at
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: the time punishment Martinez and QT Marshall and Matt Riddle. And,
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: and those guys. So yeah, I'd always, I'd always known
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: they were up there in the back of my mind. Yeah.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: I wasn't impressed with the Punisher Martinez whenever I saw
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: him in Ring of Honor. I was, for whatever reason,
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: it didn't click for me. And I think once he
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: came up and I think he got some maybe bad,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: bad habits out of his system, he was obviously way better.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: And then obviously he started talking. So yeah, obviously I
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: love Damien Priest now, but when I saw him in
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: Ring of Honor, like this guy, Yeah, he's tall, but
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: come on, he's not doing anything.
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: Have you seen his 24, the WWE documentary they did?
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: No.
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: It's fantastic.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: No, yeah.
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: I'm not just biased because he's from the same school
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: that I went to. Yeah. It's really, really great. You
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: should definitely check that out.
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: Okay, I will check that out. Well, so who was
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: kind of training while you were there?
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: Danny Cage was the owner and head trainer, but I think...
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: I'm sure you've talked to a lot of wrestlers. Um,
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: the head, the owner and head trainer doesn't always do the, uh,
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: the coaching, so to speak. Um, there were a lot
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: of great guys and girls there who knew a lot
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: more than me, who had a lot more experience, who
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: helped me with a lot of things. Um, so it
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: wasn't like students training each other by any means, but, um,
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: I learned from people who learned from the previous class
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: before me, like guys like Riddle and Priest and QT
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: and Steve Macklin, who's still on the Indies killing it. Yeah.
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: So I learned from them.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: Love that. Well, so. The independent scene in your area
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: is just and always has been just absolutely nuts. There
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: is no shortage of independent shows anywhere. It's all depending
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: upon how far you really want to drive or how far,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: you know, whatever. When it came to actually start branching
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: out and like trying to find other places to work,
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: what was that like for you? Because obviously, you know,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: the Monster Factory has their promotion. And so obviously you're
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: working there and then you start kind of picking up,
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: you know, networking that way. But considering there's no shortage
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: in that area when it comes to pro wrestling, what
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: was that like for you?
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: It was great. I mean, I didn't realize how spoiled
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: I was until you meet somebody who, you know, comes
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: over from California for a week and they're like, yeah,
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: we have two promotions within six hours of me. Right.
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: And it's just like, whoa, like how do you even,
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: you know, how do you even do that? Yeah. And yeah,
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: it's just, it's, it's so much different in different parts
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: of the country. But yeah, for me, I mean, I started,
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: South Jersey and a little bit in North Jersey. And
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: then I would go down to Delaware a lot. And
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: then I'd go down to Virginia and North Carolina through
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: connections that I had made when I was living down there. Right. Um,
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: so I was always good at keeping in contact with people, um,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: that I met down there. And those people ended up like,
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: ended up being, I mean, I, I remember I had
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: a match with Jay Malachi, who's now Javon Evans. Yeah.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: When he was, you know, 14 or 15 at the time. Like, yeah.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: crazy jackson drake was another one who was a kid
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: when i wrestled him and now he's on tv and
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: it's amazing to see and um so the people that
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: i met early on down there ended up you know
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: having a ended up being in positions where they could
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: hire me to to uh wrestle for them and wrestle
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: for their friends down there so i always had a
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: good network right from the start and then I mean,
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: relatively recently within the last two years, I broke into the,
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: the new England scene, which has completely changed my career.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: And I mean, literally changed my life. So very grateful to,
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: to be able to do that. And, um, not a
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: short drive by any means, but you know, it's, it's
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: right there, you know, so you, you, you gotta do it.
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: You gotta put those miles in if you want to
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: want to do anything.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: Exactly. Exactly.
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, so who are some veterans that have
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: kind of, I mean, like you said, you've worked so
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: many different places now. Who are some veterans that have
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: kind of helped you out along the way?
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: Early on, when I was in Delaware, I wrestled a
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: guy named Chris Wild a lot. And I was one
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: of the heels in like their big evil faction down there.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: And I just got to learn from him, got to
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: wrestle with him a bunch. He's still working a lot
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: in Delaware and in Maryland and sometimes in Virginia, I believe.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: He was a guy that really helped me out early on.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: He was of a generation and is of a generation
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: where he'd be hired to go to WWE and they'd
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: have dark matches as tryouts. And now they don't do
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: that stuff anymore. But he had wrestled on big stages
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: and had learned a lot from being able to do
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: that and was very open to passing that knowledge on
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: to me. Um, he was a great guy to work with.
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Bob Evans is another one and he's, he's been all over.
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: He's from the new England area, but he wrestles everywhere. Um,
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: the great thing that the people at the monster factory did,
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: they brought in a ton of people for seminars, a
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: ton of people who were on TV, who either, you know,
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: graduated from the monster factory or just had a connection with,
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: with Danny cage or somebody else there. Um, so I
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: got to learn from him a lot. His seminars are great.
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: Ricky Reyes was another one. He wrestled for ring of
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: honor for a long time, tag team champion with Rocky
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: Romero there, and then wrestled on Lucha underground as well.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: He was another great guy to learn from. So, um, yeah,
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: I had, I had a more than my fair share of,
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: of veterans who were not only they're not only willing
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: to teach me, but willing to like work with me
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: on shows. Like that was really special. Yeah.
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: Actually being able to pick these people's brains, like giving
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: you the, the right information, not just like, you know,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: blowing smoke up your ass is always helpful.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: Well, if people have never seen you wrestle first off,
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: they need to, I'm glad they're outside of Iraq now,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: but what three matches did they go out of their
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: way to watch?
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: Three matches. Yes. Oh boy. Um, few weeks ago, I
• 25:31
  Speaker 2: defended that championship right there with, uh, my tag partner,
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: Steven Stetson, um, up at wrestling open, uh, Rhode Island.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: I believe the show was called summer stunner. that was
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: on August 3rd, um, earlier this month. Um, I think
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: that's probably my best match of the year. Um, I, I, if,
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: if anybody listening knows me or has worked with me before,
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: they know that I tend to hate everything I do,
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: especially immediately after. Um, I think, I think it's horrible.
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: I think I could have done so much better.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: You're not the only one.
• 26:07
  Speaker 2: The rare cases where I was one of the rare
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: cases where we had a match, I came to the
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: back and I was like, that was really good. And
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: so that means that goes a long way for people when,
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: when I react that way. Um, that match was great. Um, uh,
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: as a matter of fact, the next week we had
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: a six man tag with, um, the shooter boys, Anthony Vecchio,
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Aaron Ortiz and Bayer Bronson TNA tag team champion. Yeah. Um,
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: And it was Steven Stetson, myself, and the victorious BRG.
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: That was fantastic. Love that match. And then speaking of
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: Bear Bronson, I had a great match with him in
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: the Heavyweight Championship Tournament at Wrestling Open not too long ago,
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: earlier this year. So, yeah, three Wrestling Open matches for you.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: If you don't have IWTV, you should sign up and
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: watch those shows every week because they are something else.
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: Well, so you just said everything from this year. What
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: do you think you've learned the most through your years
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: to where now you are going to the back and
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: you're like, oh, that was actually good. As opposed to,
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: like you said, you'd probably pick apart everything you did.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: Wow. When I first went up to the New England
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: area and started wrestling guys who have either been on
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: TV recently or are currently wrestling, on TV and champions
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: and major promotions. You learn that there's just like, there's levels,
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: there's levels to this man. And like, I thought I was,
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: I thought I knew what I was doing before I
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: went up there. Obviously if I, if I didn't, I
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: guess they wouldn't have trusted me and booked me. But
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: as soon as I got up there, there was, it
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: was very evident that I had, I still had to
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: take some steps in order to get where I wanted
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: to be. I think I've, gone a long way in
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: taking those steps and working with guys who, um, are
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: under the pressure of having to perform on national television
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: every single week and learning from them and how they
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: create and, um, how they put together matches, how they
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: think a crowd will react. It's taught me. I mean,
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: I've learned so much just from the year or so
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: that I've been up there.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: I imagine you're also learning so much more about timing
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: as well.
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: Yes. Timing and particularly wrestling for television rather than on
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: point time. Yeah. Yes.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Indie time and TV time are way different.
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. Yeah. And, and a lot of people
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: find that out the hard way. Um, thankfully I did not. Um, but, uh, yeah,
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: a lot of people find that out in a, in
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: a very, very tough fashion. Yes.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was talking to somebody yesterday, and they've done
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: both AEW and WWE TV extra work. That's one thing
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: he was very much adamant about. If it's 30 seconds,
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: you've got to be 29 or 30. That's it. There's
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: no in-between.
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I've seen some of that stuff firsthand. I've done
• 29:21
  Speaker 2: more than my fair share of extra work for WWE.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: It impresses me every time, man, when they're counting down 10, 9, 8, 7,
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: and they hit it. on the dot every time. There's
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: a reason those guys are on TV.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly.
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Well, so as much as obviously we're not in the
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: territory situation anymore when it comes to wrestling there are
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: like you said once you got up in the northeast
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: like that was different than being in the tri-state area
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: or being down in the north carolina or even if
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: you'd gone down further south like georgia or florida obviously
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: here in texas is its own beast and then you
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: go a little further North and it's the Midwest, but
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: in the California has their own kind of style. So
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: going like working these different areas, what are you kind
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: of picking up when it comes to the different styles?
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: Like the new England area is this sense, the tri-state
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: area is this, the North Carolina is this.
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Working in the South was, I mean, it taught
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: me a whole lot. I'm just like crowd interaction. And
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: I hate saying like, preserving your you know bump card
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: so to speak because that that's usually associated with like
• 30:33
  Speaker 2: being lazy which i don't agree with at all.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: I don't either like yeah you're not going to do
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: like some crazy spot on there's 10 people in.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: The crowd right and it's not you know it's not
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: even that it's not even like there's not a lot
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: of people it's just like they.
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Don't want to see that oh there's that too yeah
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: they want.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: To see old-fashioned wrestling that they grew up watching and
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: they you know they want to see a guy try
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: to give a guy a shoulder tackle three times and
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: then the big guy does it and there's finally a
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: bump and they go nuts. Like it, it is, it's
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: fascinating how different the crowds are and how different the
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: style is just, I mean, I don't know what that
• 31:08
  Speaker 2: is from, from North Carolina to Massachusetts. Like, I don't know, 500,
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: 700 miles. Like it's nothing. And the styles are completely
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: different and the fan bases are completely different. But working
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: in the South was a great lesson in focusing on
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: what the audience wants to see and, and really listening
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: to what they're going to react to, and milking that
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: for everything it's worth. And then the first time I
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: went up to New England, the pace is just otherworldly.
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, to me it was. And now I guess
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: I've adjusted to it a little bit, but those fans
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: up there, they want to see crazy shit. So you've
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: got to give it to them, because that's what they're
• 31:48
  Speaker 2: going to react to. And it's just knowing your audience,
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: and the audience does change a lot. based on where
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: you are, especially on the East coast.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah. I mean, same here in the South, like
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: no matter where you go, it's going to be a
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: different kind of crowd.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah.
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: Well, so show days can be long days. What are
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: kind of some standards you normally have in your bag?
• 32:08
  Speaker 2: Oh man. Like my gear bag, my food bag. I got,
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: I take a lot of bags with me.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: Let's start with how many bags you got.
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: It's bare minimum. It's two. It's my, it's my gear bag,
• 32:21
  Speaker 2: which is my suitcase, which like, you know, all my pads,
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: my shoes, my trunks, everything like that. Towel, jacket, that,
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: which takes up a lot of space. Yeah, belts are heavy. Yeah.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: Oh my God, you have no idea. So that's my
• 32:36
  Speaker 2: gear bag. And then I need to take my food,
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: which is like my meal prep, dinner for that day,
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: some snacks for the drive, maybe a coffee or two.
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: I try to stay on top of my diet as
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: much as I can, especially on these days when I'm
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: going up to Massachusetts from New Jersey. And then I
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: have to drive all the way back after. So it's,
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: you know, it can be 10 hours in the car
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: during a day. Um, so yeah, that's that. And then
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: if I'm, uh, feeling generous that day, I'll, I'll take a,
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: I'll take a merch bag too. So I'll, I'll try to,
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: I'll try to sell some merch as well. So it's, um, yeah,
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: I'm coming into those buildings with my, with my hands
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: full for sure. I've been told I'm rather high maintenance, but, uh,
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: you just.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: Can't have a lot of bags and makes sorry that
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: you want to actually be fed. No offense to these,
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: some of these promoters, maybe all the offense. I don't know.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: A lot of promoters don't feed the guys and it's
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: really unfortunate. Or they'll have like snacks or whatever.
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: So no, it's, it's not even that. Like I just,
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: I need to have what I need to have every
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: day in order to, I've, I did this whole thing
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: like a year ago where I, I tried a bunch
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: of different meals right before shows. And like, I finally
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: found one that made me feel energetic, but like not
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: bloated when I go out there, like in my underwear,
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: you know what I mean? So, Yeah, I think I
• 33:54
  Speaker 2: have it down to a science now, so I need
• 33:56
  Speaker 2: to do that every day. I need to pack a
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: meal or a lunch or dinner for myself.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: No, that makes sense. Yeah. Well, so this may not
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: apply to you, but I ask all the wrestlers, do
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: you have a double-stick tape story? Usually people use it
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: to keep things in, make sure things don't fall out, or,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: you know, as a man.
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: Double-stick tape.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: Double-stick tape.
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: That's what you said.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: Would you think I.
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: Thankfully... I do not. Okay. I, I did one of
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: one pair of my trunks right now have a, there's
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: a little rip in them and I'm hoping nobody notices
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: and it doesn't get any bigger and I get a fix,
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: but no, I have not, have not had any stories
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: relating to that. Thankfully. Okay.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: I have to ask everybody. I want to keep it
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: right down the middle.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: I get it. Yeah.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: Well, so I have a show or a segment on
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: the show. I call it the five counts is five
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: random questions.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: Let's do it.
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: Number one, what would your last meal be?
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: Last meal, probably the steak and eggs from my local
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: diner right up the street. Okay. My favorite meal, steak
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: and eggs.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: How do you take your steak?
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: Medium.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Nice, okay.
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: Number two, if you owned a liquor company, brewery, winery,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: coffee shop, or dispensary, which one would you own and
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: what would the name be?
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: Wow. I wrestled at a brewery in Connecticut not too
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: long ago for tests of strength wrestling. Okay. Um, Oh
• 35:28
  Speaker 2: my goodness. I can't remember the name of it. Um,
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: let's see if I can pull it up. Jeez.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: Maybe I think it was in Windsor, Connecticut. Okay. Gosh,
• 35:43
  Speaker 2: I can't remember the name, but that was a fantastic
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: venue and a lovely environment to not only perform in,
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: but to just hang out in all day. So, Forgive me.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: I have a vlog up on my Instagram if you
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: want to go check that out.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: Whatever that one was.
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: That's the one. Oh, it was Dudley Town Brewing Company.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: That's a fun name.
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: Made the connection. Wrestling.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: Okay, then if you owned one, what would the name be?
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: Some wrestling pun. I think we're all out of those, though.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: Nope, there's no way.
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: We can open one together with this podcast name. Okay.
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: Because it's really good. Yeah.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: I want to one day. I don't have any kind
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: of close to the money now, but you know, one day.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: One where it's also a coffee shop where it's all
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: open all day. You know, one of those things. Yeah.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: I like it. Right. We'll stay in touch.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: Yes. We'll make this happen.
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: For sure.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: Number three. What song do you car karaoke to?
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: Man.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: I mean, 10 hours on a car. You're either listening
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: to podcasts.
• 36:48
  Speaker 3: I'm.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: I'm on a big Breaking Benjamin kick right now.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. So Diary of Jane by Breaking Benjamin. Oh,
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: that keeps me awake on these late night drives for sure. Yeah.
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: I realized after a late night drive that you definitely
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: need to have some music you can sing along to
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: so that you.
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: Are not falling asleep. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: No time for new music.
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: Melt it out too. Yes.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: And number four, who or what inspires you?
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: Wow. Who or what inspires me? Um, my mom's always
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: been my role model. And I mean, she raised me
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: as a single mother, um, you know, works an unbelievable
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: job today. Uh, she's, she's everything I want to be
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: as a, as a parent, as an adult. Um, yeah, she's,
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: she's incredible. Um, just watching how she, you know, takes
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: every day and makes the most of every, every minute
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: she's here, like it's, it's incredible. So my mom definitely
• 37:52
  Speaker 2: inspires me.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: That's huge. And number five, what would you tell your
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: 17 year old self?
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: Wow. Maybe try this wrestling thing sooner. I'm always super
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: self-conscious about like, Oh, this is how old I am.
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: I'm running out of time. This person's on TV and
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: they're five years younger than me already. Like it's crazy. But, uh, no, I, yeah. Yeah.
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: that's a silly answer but i i would have liked
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: to like to see what happens if uh i started
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: doing this a little earlier.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: I mean you never know i mean who knows if
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: you would have the talking part down or those connections
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: that you made along the.
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: Way that's a good point yeah that's a good.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: Point also know how to travel and what to take
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: and why not to.
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: Take yeah so you know could have been worse.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: If people wanted to find out more about you, see
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: you live, follow you online, buy your merch, support you
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: in any way, how can they do so?
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: All my social medias are at Brian G Morris. Follow
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: me on there. I post pretty much about every show
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: that I have. And then I got all my links
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: on there to my merch and yeah, everything you need
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: to know it's on one of those social media sites.
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: So check me out there.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Awesome. Brian, I love this so much. I feel like
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: we could talk so much longer, but I want to
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: be respectful of your time. So anytime you make it
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: down to Texas, please let me know. And anytime I
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: make it back up to that area, I will definitely
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: let you know.
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: John, thank you so much. This was a blast.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much to Brian Morris for being on
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: the show. Again, obviously find out where he's going to
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: be when it comes to pro wrestling. See, obviously support him,
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: obviously go buy his merch and do all the things
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: because obviously we need to help independent wrestling and independent wrestlers.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: While you're doing that, obviously go make sure to follow
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: us on social media. It is BruisersPod, that is B-R-E-W-S-E-R-S-P-O-D,
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: on the Instagram, the threads, and the Twitter. If you
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: want to send us an email, it is BruisersPod.gmail.com.
• 39:59
  Speaker 3: If you want to follow me directly, it is RodyJohn,
• 40:00
  Speaker 3: that is R-O-D-I-E-J-O-N. RodyJohn is the name on the Twitter,
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: and on Untappd. In case you want to find out
• 40:06
  Speaker 3: what I'm drinking, and maybe get a beer together. If
• 40:08
  Speaker 3: you can follow me on the threads or the.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: Instagram, it is OfficialRodyJohn. So until next time, make sure
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: to enjoy life, drink local, and cheers.