Latest / Scene Projects Sports Network / Jimmy Snuka Jr. Discusses WWE Legacy, Career Highlights, and Future Wrestling Projects

Transcript

Jimmy Snuka Jr. Discusses WWE Legacy, Career Highlights, and Future Wrestling Projects · Scene Projects Sports Network

• 0:01
  What's up, everyone?
• 0:02
  Welcome to a very exciting episode of Beyond the Bell, boo boo.
• 0:06
  Today is actually a little different.
• 0:08
  I have a special guest call, so he has a little bit more memories of our guest than I do.
• 0:14
  This is my client, Wayne, the terrible Stevens.
• 0:19
  What is up, everyone?
• 0:20
  Thank you for having thank you for allowing me to be your cohost today, man.
• 0:23
  I'm very honored.
• 0:25
  Very, very honored.
• 0:25
  Let me introduce our guest, a former WWE tag team champion.
• 0:32
  His father is a hall of famer.
• 0:34
  They are both legends in their own right.
• 0:37
  He was deuce of deuce and domino.
• 0:40
  Let me introduce you guys to Jimmy Snooker junior.
• 0:45
  Hey.
• 0:46
  What's going on, everybody?
• 0:47
  Hello.
• 0:48
  Hello, Lane.
• 0:49
  Good to see you, my man.
• 0:50
  Boo boo, excited to be here.
• 0:52
  Let's do this.
• 0:54
  I'm so excited to have you on.
• 0:56
  This is crazy.
• 0:58
  This is such an insane thing.
• 1:00
  How are you doing today?
• 1:02
  I'm I'm doing great, man.
• 1:03
  I'm how can I not be doing great?
• 1:05
  I'm on I'm I'm on Beyond the Bell with boo boo, man.
• 1:09
  How can I not be doing great?
• 1:11
  Absolutely.
• 1:14
  How are you doing today, Lane?
• 1:16
  I'm doing good, man.
• 1:17
  I mean, it's an honor to be here talking to Jimmy Snooka's son, man.
• 1:21
  It's a very honor to meet you, man.
• 1:23
  Can't wait to hear the stories and, you know, the tales that you have for us today.
• 1:29
  Absolutely.
• 1:30
  I got I got all I got all kinds of tales, man.
• 1:32
  You just tell me which one you want, baby.
• 1:35
  Alright.
• 1:36
  My first question is, so what was it like facing your own dad for the WWE tag team
• 1:43
  championship?
• 1:45
  Favorite match ever.
• 1:46
  Literally, that was my favorite.
• 1:49
  Like, people have asked me, you know, what was your favorite match in WWE?
• 1:54
  And and to me, me personally, right, as a son growing up, you know, with the just watching my
• 2:02
  dad all the time, To be in the ring with him on a pay per view in WWE for the tag titles, you
• 2:09
  know, doing the finish the way that we did, that's that was literally my favorite match all
• 2:15
  time.
• 2:17
  And and it's not I I wouldn't say it's close for me, personally.
• 2:21
  It's the but it's the backstage stuff that actually made the match even more meaningful to
• 2:27
  me.
• 2:28
  Do you wanna talk about that a little more?
• 2:33
  I mean, what was the backstage stuff like, you know, doing all that?
• 2:38
  So the the the short version is you wanna understand my dad was always a really big
• 2:44
  strength to me.
• 2:46
  Right?
• 2:46
  Like, you know, he my dad was a real positive guy, and so he was, you know, uplifting, and he
• 2:52
  was like, oh, son, you can do it, or, you know, when I was playing sports or whatever.
• 2:57
  And just his mindset, like, when he would tell me about when he used to play baseball.
• 3:01
  Right?
• 3:01
  He would see himself hitting home runs, and he believed if he got up there, he was gonna smash
• 3:06
  home runs.
• 3:07
  So that's if you if you can imagine, that's the kind of thinking he had was always at a high
• 3:13
  level like that.
• 3:14
  Right?
• 3:15
  So what many people don't know is that when we were going for that match, my dad actually had
• 3:21
  tweaked his ankle, and so he was afraid of doing the super fly that day is what many don't
• 3:29
  realize.
• 3:30
  So when you see his ankles, they're actually taped up.
• 3:33
  Like, go back and look at the footages.
• 3:34
  They're taped up, which he he never really did.
• 3:37
  And so what end up happening is I I had to tell him, was like, dad, you'll be alright.
• 3:42
  You know?
• 3:43
  So now the rules are a little bit reversed.
• 3:45
  Right?
• 3:45
  I'm I'm, like, encouraging my pops, telling him, no.
• 3:49
  The finish is gonna be fine.
• 3:50
  You'll be okay.
• 3:51
  And so we as I like, let's just tape up your ankles and, you know, and let let's just make
• 3:56
  it happen.
• 3:57
  And then sure enough, you know, the adrenaline gets going.
• 3:59
  We get out there, and it came off just great.
• 4:02
  Right?
• 4:03
  So that was one that was one thing.
• 4:06
  The other piece was coming out of the ring and coming to the back.
• 4:10
  I I've told this a couple times, but, basically, I was so excited.
• 4:15
  I I Vince was riding out of in Gorilla, right, to come through the curtain, and I'm and I'm
• 4:21
  thanking Vince.
• 4:22
  I'm like, Vince, thank you so much for that match.
• 4:25
  Right?
• 4:25
  I'm all excited because I got to wrestle my dad and all that.
• 4:28
  And and Vince goes, oh, I didn't do it for you.
• 4:31
  I did it for
• 4:32
  me.
• 4:33
  Like, you know, rightfully so.
• 4:37
  Right?
• 4:37
  It's his company.
• 4:38
  He can do what he wants to do, but I'm just really grateful that I got that chance.
• 4:42
  So there you go.
• 4:43
  There's there's one before, one after.
• 4:46
  Absolutely.
• 4:47
  I mean, that's beautiful.
• 4:48
  I mean, with the ankles being taped up, correct me if I'm wrong, your dad was getting a little
• 4:53
  bit older at the time.
• 4:54
  So, I mean, the fact is you were one of his last matches.
• 4:59
  Am I right?
• 5:00
  I I believe so.
• 5:01
  Yeah.
• 5:01
  I believe that's correct.
• 5:03
  I believe so.
• 5:04
  Which to me is a beautiful thing.
• 5:07
  You know?
• 5:07
  He brought you into this world, and you were one of the last people to, like, help him on
• 5:12
  his way out of the wrestling world.
• 5:14
  It's such a wonderful thing.
• 5:16
  I I love stuff like that, man.
• 5:18
  That's absolutely.
• 5:22
  I mean, you don't see it often, but I gotta ask, I mean, with that story, what was it like
• 5:28
  working under Vince?
• 5:30
  You know, we hear the good, we hear the bad.
• 5:33
  What's your perspective being the first person to actually have Ben under him on the show?
• 5:39
  So
• 5:41
  I I can only speak on what I saw and what I experienced.
• 5:45
  Right?
• 5:46
  And I know that there's those other stories out there.
• 5:49
  And honestly, for me so Vince was the one who first agreed to hire me.
• 5:55
  Right?
• 5:56
  It it was like through out of Vince's mouth, he was like, you know, when I was talking to him,
• 6:01
  he's like, okay.
• 6:02
  Because I I had suggested because when I asked him if if I could get a job at WWE, right, my
• 6:08
  dad introduced me to him, he he was like, well, I don't think you're ready on the show.
• 6:14
  You know, you're not ready for TV yet.
• 6:16
  And and so I I knew that he'd probably say that because I'd had a few I think I'd had three
• 6:22
  dark matches at this point, and I you know, none of them were good.
• 6:27
  Nobody talked to me really afterwards, and so there was no chance there.
• 6:31
  So we're talking to Vince, and then he said once he told me you're not ready, and I said,
• 6:37
  well, how about OVW?
• 6:39
  And he goes, yeah.
• 6:40
  I think that could work.
• 6:41
  I think that could work.
• 6:43
  Thirty minutes later, Johnny Ace is walking up to me backstage at Raw, and and they offer me a
• 6:48
  OVW contract.
• 6:51
  So, like, that was so whatever my experience was that whatever Vince said, he actually did
• 6:59
  as far as my experience goes.
• 7:01
  He always anything if I had asked him this or I met with him about something or I asked him a
• 7:07
  question, he he actually always followed through.
• 7:10
  I can I can honestly say that about Vince to me?
• 7:16
  That's wonderful.
• 7:17
  I mean, it's great to have somebody that, you know, keeps their word and does good for you.
• 7:25
  I personally, obviously, have never had any experience with Vince myself, so you are
• 7:30
  actually my only first person perspective of him, and it seems like he did good business.
• 7:39
  Well, I I don't understand how you do a company a billion dollar company like that.
• 7:45
  Right?
• 7:46
  And not at least do at least mostly good business.
• 7:50
  I'm not saying he did everything right, but I can tell you this.
• 7:54
  Vince McMahon and the McMahon family, they loved or loved WWE.
• 8:01
  Like, they loved the pro wrestling business.
• 8:04
  So I'll give you a really good example.
• 8:06
  K.
• 8:07
  This you want perspective, I'll give you a great one.
• 8:10
  I I don't remember exactly what show it was.
• 8:14
  I think it could have been a pay per view.
• 8:17
  I think it was more like a a raw or something.
• 8:19
  K?
• 8:20
  And I I don't remember which arena.
• 8:23
  I wanna say it was a big one, though.
• 8:25
  It it might have been the garden.
• 8:27
  I'm I'm not sure.
• 8:28
  But all I remember is coming backstage after, like, the main the main event happened.
• 8:34
  We're we're basically off the air now.
• 8:37
  Right?
• 8:38
  And I'm walking around backstage, and what ends up happening is I look, and I see in this room
• 8:49
  crammed in this small little room, I see Vince, Linda, Stephanie, and Shane, and they're all
• 8:57
  huddled around this monitor.
• 8:59
  And they're popping and and all excited just like kids.
• 9:06
  Right?
• 9:06
  And they're basically watching themselves on tape now from what they just did in the ring.
• 9:12
  Right?
• 9:13
  And they're just they're they're excited about what happened, and and they're, like, you know,
• 9:17
  smiling and and, oh my gosh, we're doing all of that.
• 9:20
  And, again, I was far away.
• 9:21
  I couldn't really hear what they were saying.
• 9:24
  I could only see and just how excited they were about the work that they had done out there.
• 9:31
  So you can say whatever you want.
• 9:33
  That's what I saw.
• 9:36
  Because I remember the funniest story about Vince McMahon is when it was at the Royal
• 9:41
  Rumble when Batista and John Cena both fell out at the same time, and he dove into the ring and
• 9:46
  tore both of his quads.
• 9:48
  What do you remember from that?
• 9:51
  Or were you were you there when that happened, or did you hear about that?
• 9:57
  No.
• 9:57
  I I I saw that.
• 9:58
  I I don't think I was there.
• 10:01
  I did see it on tape, though.
• 10:03
  I mean, crazy.
• 10:04
  Right?
• 10:05
  If you've ever torn something and and you can't walk, it sucks.
• 10:09
  I I did that twice in my life where I tore my ACL and you can't walk.
• 10:15
  I mean and he's still, you know, screaming and yelling and trying to pull the spot off, you
• 10:21
  know, from his from sitting down.
• 10:23
  So tough.
• 10:24
  Absolutely tough.
• 10:27
  I mean, yeah, that is that takes one tough man to do something like that.
• 10:32
  I kinda wanna pull it back a little bit.
• 10:36
  So, I mean, where are you from, and what was it like growing up with a father being such a
• 10:41
  legend, you know, and Jimmy Superfly snooker?
• 10:46
  So we we grew up all over.
• 10:49
  So I was actually born in Portland.
• 10:52
  So you could you could say I was conceived in Hawaii, but I was born in Portland, Oregon.
• 10:58
  And then we just traveled all over because my dad would go from territory to territory.
• 11:04
  And I I can tell you our house was like this is my dad was he was intense.
• 11:11
  Right?
• 11:12
  He was an intense personality, but we had a lot of love in our house, but it was also, like, it
• 11:19
  it could be crazy at times because both my parents were very, very feeling, very emotional
• 11:26
  people.
• 11:26
  Right?
• 11:27
  And so that that could go good or that could go bad, and it and it went both ways.
• 11:34
  Yeah.
• 11:34
  Definitely makes sense.
• 11:36
  You know, things can go good, then go bad there.
• 11:40
  I mean, so were you backstage a lot when you were younger with your dad being in WWE?
• 11:46
  What was that like, you know, being the kid backstage around all these legends?
• 11:52
  So all the time.
• 11:54
  I mean, I grew up in the locker room.
• 11:57
  I grew up on the road with my father.
• 12:00
  So we would always you know, we drive to the different towns when we could.
• 12:05
  There were some times where I did fly with him.
• 12:08
  That was rare, though.
• 12:10
  Like, I I did that.
• 12:12
  Like, right after I graduated high school, I would, you know, fly around with him, and we
• 12:17
  went to, you know, different WWE shows and that kind of a thing.
• 12:21
  So when you think of being in an arena, right, any big arena, like, what what's the big arena
• 12:27
  by you guys?
• 12:28
  So you're in It would be the Caesar Dollar.
• 12:31
  Caesar Dollar?
• 12:32
  Okay.
• 12:33
  Mine is the Denny Sanford Premier Arena.
• 12:37
  Okay.
• 12:38
  So big arena.
• 12:39
  Right?
• 12:39
  Like, what, NBA teams or college teams play there type of thing?
• 12:45
  Yeah.
• 12:45
  Yeah.
• 12:46
  Okay.
• 12:47
  So my life was running around those arenas backstage and going out into concessions, you
• 12:54
  know, with I'd ask for my dad for money or he'd give me money.
• 12:57
  Right?
• 12:58
  And I'd go get hot dogs and popcorn.
• 13:00
  And we're talking, like, young.
• 13:03
  Right?
• 13:03
  Like, as young as I can remember.
• 13:08
  How I never got kidnapped or taken from security or any like, I'm I'm literally my
• 13:14
  dad's in the locker room or in the ring or whatever, and I'm just running around the
• 13:18
  arena.
• 13:20
  And a lot of lot of times, like, by myself.
• 13:23
  So it it was ridiculous.
• 13:25
  I think that the cool thing was I learned I learned what trust was.
• 13:31
  I learned what it was like to to have people trust you because of the boys in the locker
• 13:37
  room.
• 13:37
  Like, they would do things with me that they would, like, show me how much they trusted me.
• 13:44
  Like, I can remember one of the wrestlers, Sweet Hanson, if you know that name.
• 13:50
  He he had trusted me to watch his gold one time.
• 13:53
  Like, he took off his diamond earring, his gold watch, and bracelet, he you know, his necklace,
• 13:59
  and he gave it to me, and he's like, hey, kid.
• 14:01
  I want you to watch this for me.
• 14:02
  And I remember just thinking, oh, man.
• 14:06
  He's you know, I'm just a kid.
• 14:07
  I don't know.
• 14:08
  Nine, 10, whatever, and he's trusting me to watch his gold.
• 14:12
  Imagine being a kid and this big huge wrestler asks you to watch his gold.
• 14:17
  In my mind, right, it was like, man, I'm I'm gonna go like, I was thinking nobody's gonna
• 14:21
  get this from me.
• 14:22
  Right?
• 14:23
  So I would have all kinds of experiences like that.
• 14:26
  That's what it was like.
• 14:29
  That's amazing.
• 14:30
  That's definitely an interesting childhood.
• 14:35
  And wow.
• 14:36
  I mean, you know, the fact that you didn't get kidnapped is almost a miracle.
• 14:42
  It it really is.
• 14:45
  It's insane.
• 14:48
  You know, because sometimes the security guards would stop me and whatnot.
• 14:52
  Right?
• 14:52
  Like, I'd I'd go to get popcorn from backstage, and then now I'm trying to go back to the
• 14:58
  locker room.
• 14:59
  They're like, hey, kid.
• 14:59
  Where are you going?
• 15:00
  I'm like, oh, I gotta go see my dad and, you know, the so sometimes there'd be a security
• 15:05
  guard, sometimes not, and and I'd have to find my way back there somehow.
• 15:13
  Oh, wow.
• 15:14
  And correct me if I'm wrong, your mother is actually part of the Anahuai dynasty, I
• 15:21
  believe.
• 15:22
  Correct?
• 15:23
  So my mother is Samoan.
• 15:25
  She is from Western Samoa, but it's it's it's a it's a unique connection.
• 15:34
  Well, we we can say it goes both ways from from my mom and my father.
• 15:40
  So
• 15:40
  it's a
• 15:40
  unique connection.
• 15:42
  So my my mom and and Duane's, mother, they're they're more like sisters than anything.
• 15:48
  So that that would be, you know, one way that we could talk about that.
• 15:53
  Yeah.
• 15:54
  I did a little bit of research.
• 15:55
  I just saw that you were, you know, related to the great Peter Mavia.
• 16:00
  Peter
• 16:01
  Mavia.
• 16:01
  Mavia.
• 16:03
  Yeah.
• 16:03
  You're right.
• 16:04
  Sorry.
• 16:05
  That's why I have Lane.
• 16:06
  He's here to correct me.
• 16:09
  What so
• 16:10
  what was it like kinda growing like, living like, when you first started wrestling, what
• 16:16
  was that kinda like?
• 16:18
  Like, how like, did you always have a passion for professional wrestling, or did you kinda
• 16:23
  inherit that from your dad?
• 16:25
  Nope.
• 16:26
  I I found that on my own, to be, you know, completely honest is I I really stayed away
• 16:32
  from wrestling.
• 16:34
  I didn't I had no desire to wrestle whatsoever.
• 16:38
  Is that, like that was what my dad did, and and I was very grateful, and I would watch him
• 16:44
  sometimes, right, especially if it was a big match, but I really didn't want to.
• 16:50
  And then, you know, there came a time in my life where I felt like, okay.
• 16:56
  I I wanted to wrestle.
• 16:58
  Right?
• 16:58
  Like, I I just felt I should be doing something else other than what I was doing at the time.
• 17:05
  And so that's when I called up my dad, and I was like, okay.
• 17:07
  Well, I actually called up my cousin first.
• 17:11
  Know, You he was in WWE, so I called him up first, and I was like, I wanna get into the
• 17:15
  business.
• 17:16
  He's like, great.
• 17:18
  Okay.
• 17:18
  You need to go train with your dad, and I was kinda shocked, but it was a great example to me
• 17:26
  because that would lead to many other things, me training with my father.
• 17:30
  So then I I listened to his advice, called up my dad, and my dad's like, okay.
• 17:35
  I'll buy you a ticket.
• 17:36
  You need to fly up here to New Jersey and come train with me.
• 17:39
  So I had a wife and two kids at the time.
• 17:43
  So I left my wife and kids, you know, in Utah near my mother and her family, and and I flew
• 17:50
  up to Jersey and started training with my pops.
• 17:53
  So it was it was, something I had to find on my own, so to speak.
• 17:59
  You
• 18:02
  just had to find your own path there and, you know, it ended up being, I guess, with the way
• 18:09
  things look, the family path, I mean, based on everything we've talked about so far.
• 18:15
  Yes.
• 18:16
  Yes.
• 18:17
  You know?
• 18:17
  So I believe a family business as far in relation as possible.
• 18:24
  Yeah.
• 18:24
  Interesting how that works.
• 18:26
  Right?
• 18:26
  Never wanted to do it, stay away from it, and then ended up there anyway.
• 18:30
  And I and the thing is, man, I'm so grateful that I did do it.
• 18:35
  Not only because I got to finally understand my dad, like, and and really grow that
• 18:41
  relationship because, you know, we have the father son relationship, but I didn't really
• 18:46
  understand what he did for a living.
• 18:48
  Right?
• 18:48
  Like, we never talked the ins and outs of the business.
• 18:53
  He never smartened me up to how it all really works.
• 18:56
  I mean, I I could see stuff, and I was, you know, observant and all of that.
• 19:01
  But as far as how wrestling really worked, I didn't I didn't know all of that, and I got all
• 19:07
  that time with my dad when I started training.
• 19:10
  And then, you know, he's been passed away for, like, what, eight years or something like that
• 19:15
  now, and and so I never would have gotten that time if I didn't do that.
• 19:18
  So it was incredibly valuable to have that time with them to do that.
• 19:25
  Absolutely.
• 19:26
  I mean, that's such a beautiful thing too to be able to, like, you know, learn from your father
• 19:31
  and things.
• 19:32
  And, I mean, even it was something you didn't wanna do as you've mentioned a couple times,
• 19:37
  and then you found it on your own.
• 19:40
  It's amazing.
• 19:46
  Lane, do you have a question?
• 19:48
  So what was it like when your dad got inducted into the hall of fame?
• 19:55
  What was that kinda moment like for your dad?
• 19:59
  So crazy about is I actually didn't know my dad was getting inducted into the hall of fame when
• 20:07
  when that happened.
• 20:08
  Right?
• 20:08
  Because we didn't have, like, all the Internet stuff and everything, and and so I didn't
• 20:15
  really know about it until after the fact.
• 20:18
  Right?
• 20:19
  But if this tells you anything is so you see that right there?
• 20:25
  Can you see that on camera?
• 20:27
  Oh.
• 20:27
  Right?
• 20:28
  That's Woah.
• 20:30
  That is beautiful.
• 20:31
  Oh my god.
• 20:33
  K.
• 20:34
  So when you talk about what that meant to him.
• 20:37
  Right?
• 20:38
  So this ring, when my father passed away, he actually gave it to my oldest son.
• 20:43
  His name is Jemesa.
• 20:45
  It means James in Fijian, so which is our our name.
• 20:49
  Right?
• 20:49
  My father's James the first.
• 20:51
  I'm James the second.
• 20:52
  So my son's name is Jemesa.
• 20:54
  So my dad, when he passed, he gave this ring to my son, and it's my dad's hall of fame ring for
• 21:00
  those of you who can't see.
• 21:01
  Right?
• 21:02
  And my son said, hey, Todd, I want you to hang on to this for me.
• 21:07
  And so I said, yeah.
• 21:08
  I'll hang on to that for you.
• 21:10
  And and so I wear it, you know, with me on most days.
• 21:14
  I'll wear it with me.
• 21:15
  So it was I I I think it was huge for my dad.
• 21:19
  I think more importantly, you know, my dad's a big family man.
• 21:24
  He was like, he loved us kids.
• 21:27
  So to understand a little bit of my dad's upbringing is he got he his my grandmother, my
• 21:35
  grandma Louise, my dad's mom, so she got pregnant with my dad in back in Fiji, in the
• 21:42
  Fiji Islands.
• 21:43
  And so she wasn't married.
• 21:44
  Right?
• 21:45
  And so my dad grew up really without a father for many, many years.
• 21:49
  And then my grandmother didn't actually remarry until my dad was much older.
• 21:56
  I'm talking, like, four or five years.
• 21:58
  So imagine growing up, no dad, right, really, for for a few years, and then, you know, your
• 22:04
  your your mom marries another guy.
• 22:08
  And basically, that guy, my dad's stepfather, he actually wasn't very good to my dad or my
• 22:15
  grandma.
• 22:17
  And so my dad, you know, grew up in a very rough rough life.
• 22:22
  Lot of lot of physical abuse, mental, verbal, all of that.
• 22:26
  And so my dad made it a point that when he had his own family, k, my dad never spanked me.
• 22:34
  My dad's never laid his hands on me or my sisters that that I know of, can remember, and
• 22:40
  not at any time because my dad's thinking was, you know, he got he got beat up a lot.
• 22:45
  Right?
• 22:46
  So he wasn't gonna do that to his kids.
• 22:48
  And so that was that was one great great blessing, you know, having that.
• 22:53
  So you you ask about what the hall of fame was like for my dad, what what that whole life was
• 22:58
  like.
• 22:59
  For my dad, again, coming full circle, it's like family was important to him and being in
• 23:05
  the hall of fame that, right, that that was all of us getting in the hall of fame, like, for
• 23:10
  him.
• 23:11
  Right?
• 23:12
  Is now it it's a family thing because even though it's his name in there, right, he gave
• 23:18
  the ring to my son, but I wear the ring.
• 23:21
  I'll give it back at some point, you know, maybe.
• 23:23
  Maybe.
• 23:25
  Yeah.
• 23:25
  Be like, you gotta wrestle for me for it.
• 23:27
  Exactly.
• 23:29
  Exactly.
• 23:30
  So yeah.
• 23:31
  I I everything for my pops, I feel like tied back to family.
• 23:35
  And so being part of the you could say the hall of fame, the WWE hall of fame family, huge for
• 23:43
  my dad, big time.
• 23:46
  Absolutely.
• 23:47
  I mean, that would be huge.
• 23:49
  And you mentioned your sisters, correct me if I'm wrong, but my research told me that one of
• 23:54
  those would be Tamina Snuka.
• 23:56
  Correct?
• 23:57
  Yes, sir.
• 23:59
  So so how how do you feel about your sister with what she's doing in the WWE?
• 24:05
  Like, how
• 24:08
  yeah.
• 24:09
  I mean, proud of her.
• 24:11
  She's had a longer career in WWE than than any of us, really.
• 24:15
  Right?
• 24:16
  Anybody in the family so far, longer than my dad, longer than me, longer than Rock.
• 24:20
  Like, she's she's had a long career in in WWE.
• 24:25
  So very grateful for her and for her work.
• 24:29
  I mean, she's a she's a grinder.
• 24:32
  Is and and she's actually always been like that.
• 24:36
  So I'll I'll say this.
• 24:39
  If you if you've ever met my sister, Tamina, and you met my dad, you'll know that they love
• 24:47
  people and people love to be around them.
• 24:50
  Like me, I'm still trying to get that aura.
• 24:52
  Right?
• 24:53
  I I haven't I'm I'm working on it, but those two, they have it naturally is like people just
• 24:59
  love being around my dad and my sister, and so it it's no wonder that, you know, they've
• 25:05
  they've had the great careers that they've had.
• 25:07
  So they're you know, when I talk about I think about my sister.
• 25:10
  I think about my pops a lot.
• 25:12
  You know, she was the last one.
• 25:15
  Right?
• 25:15
  She was there with him when he passed away.
• 25:18
  Literally, when he let go and, you know, his spirit left his body, you know, she was there
• 25:25
  with him.
• 25:26
  I think she was even holding his hand when that all happened.
• 25:29
  So, yeah, I she's she's incredible.
• 25:33
  So out of all of my sisters, I'm the closest to her.
• 25:37
  I actually have a daughter named after her.
• 25:40
  So
• 25:42
  Wow.
• 25:42
  That's beautiful.
• 25:44
  Because I I've seen a couple of your sisters matches, and I can tell, like, she like, she's
• 25:49
  one of my favorite, like, women superstars that I've seen.
• 25:54
  Like, just like, it's just awesome with what she's doing, and I just love seeing what she
• 25:59
  does.
• 26:00
  And
• 26:03
  Appreciate that, man.
• 26:04
  Appreciate that.
• 26:05
  So I wanna pull it
• 26:07
  back a bit to the, Deuce and Domino era.
• 26:10
  I gotta ask, what was that like winning the tag team championship and is the belt heavy?
• 26:17
  I got them.
• 26:18
  Is the belt heavy?
• 26:21
  It it was only heavy for Domino, you know, because I I'd make him carry both the belts.
• 26:29
  They were so exciting, man.
• 26:32
  I mean, they got you know, I never to be honest with you, I never really thought about winning
• 26:39
  titles.
• 26:40
  You know, I grew up in the wrestling business, so I I saw winning titles a little bit
• 26:45
  differently just because I'd heard, my dad talk about it.
• 26:50
  I'd heard Dwayne talk about it.
• 26:52
  Right?
• 26:52
  Like, what that's like winning titles and and, you know, what that really means and just that
• 26:59
  other side of it, the ins and outs of that part.
• 27:02
  And so when we did win the titles, I it was exciting.
• 27:08
  Yes.
• 27:08
  But I think it's probably more exciting on this back end now realizing that we got to do that
• 27:15
  and what that means, you know, having done it into the fan base and all of that.
• 27:20
  It's like, I I realized it's pretty cool.
• 27:22
  I think it's probably even cooler now than than maybe even when I won it, maybe.
• 27:28
  Maybe.
• 27:29
  I don't know.
• 27:29
  It was pretty cool, though.
• 27:32
  I think it was awesome.
• 27:33
  I mean, I don't have much memories of it.
• 27:37
  Lane has more than me, but I just know you did great, and you did amazing things.
• 27:42
  And that's a lot of what I remember.
• 27:45
  Yeah.
• 27:45
  I loved your run as the tag team champions.
• 27:47
  I remember watching it when I was a kid, younger, man, and I loved what you did.
• 27:52
  And you were one of my favorites back then, and you still are.
• 27:56
  Like, it's it's just kinda for a soaker for me getting an interview, you know, and it's just
• 28:03
  crazy.
• 28:03
  I love seeing, like, a lot.
• 28:07
  Yeah.
• 28:07
  I'm stuttering.
• 28:08
  Crap.
• 28:11
  Right.
• 28:11
  But yeah.
• 28:15
  So how has your independent run been since being in WWE?
• 28:21
  So interestingly enough, I actually haven't been in the wrestling ring for a long time,
• 28:28
  like, five years or something.
• 28:31
  And I just recently so I had a let's just say I had a big project come on my plate.
• 28:38
  Okay?
• 28:39
  I can't talk about it too much, but let's just say it's it it is pro wrestling related, and it
• 28:48
  and it would and it's a really big project.
• 28:51
  And so because of that project, I needed to get back in the ring and start doing more in the
• 28:58
  wrestling world like this podcast.
• 29:00
  And, you know, I've been doing a lot more recently because of this project, and so I
• 29:05
  actually recently got back in the ring.
• 29:08
  So we have a, so I took a booking and I and I just did it in it was was it last week?
• 29:15
  No.
• 29:15
  Two weeks ago.
• 29:16
  It was two weeks ago up in the Portland, Oregon, Vancouver, Washington area here in The
• 29:21
  United States.
• 29:23
  I did it.
• 29:24
  We did three shows up there, and so, you know, it was it was good.
• 29:29
  It was good to be back in the wrestling ring, and I appreciate those guys up in Portland, you
• 29:34
  know, promoter Matt for bringing me out there and all of that.
• 29:38
  But it you know, I hadn't done much, and so to get back in there was a new was a new thing for
• 29:44
  me.
• 29:45
  Right?
• 29:45
  So we have a a wrestling school here in Phoenix area.
• 29:52
  It's Pro Wrestling Arizona.
• 29:55
  Right?
• 29:55
  The Pro Wrestling Championship sorry.
• 30:00
  Arizona Championship Wrestling, k, out here in Arizona.
• 30:04
  And so I went down to their wrestling school just to make sure, right, I I had to get back
• 30:09
  in the ring and and make sure I knew what what I was doing and so before I went and did those
• 30:15
  bookings.
• 30:16
  So I'll be doing a bunch more coming up here in a little bit.
• 30:20
  So it's it's good to be back in there trying to get myself prepared, trying to get myself
• 30:26
  ready, and just, you know, just stay ready.
• 30:30
  So it's it's been solid that way.
• 30:33
  And, I mean, a little bit of a, I guess, you can call it a sneak question here.
• 30:37
  Does your project have something to do with the logo there on your shirt?
• 30:42
  The logo on my shirt?
• 30:43
  Not exactly.
• 30:45
  No.
• 30:45
  So the this logo is my company, m three h two.
• 30:49
  It's basically, think of it this way, we're all in different kinds of battles.
• 30:55
  Right?
• 30:56
  Different struggles.
• 30:57
  Everybody.
• 30:57
  Whether it's, right, mental, relationships, financial, building a business, like, We've all
• 31:05
  got struggles.
• 31:07
  And, basically, I've taken a lot of what I've learned from my pops especially, a lot of what
• 31:12
  I've learned on the road, all of that.
• 31:15
  And now I basically I help people in organizations.
• 31:19
  I I teach them a a a system, a holistic system that basically helps them win those battles.
• 31:26
  So for instance, I get to work with a lot of coaches and athletes at all levels.
• 31:33
  Right?
• 31:34
  Elementary to professional athletes, coaches as well.
• 31:40
  And I've helped people build businesses, organizations, or like, one I'm working on
• 31:45
  right now, the, I helped somebody, they started an organization.
• 31:50
  They were trying to raise money for this organization.
• 31:53
  The first check that they got for that organization, $60,000.
• 31:58
  Right?
• 31:58
  The second check they got, $10,000.
• 32:02
  So and again, once you understand the battle and you understand how to fight in that battle,
• 32:08
  like what to do, you can win any battle.
• 32:11
  That's the that's the point.
• 32:12
  And I learned a lot of that on the road and understanding, you know, pro wrestling's
• 32:18
  actually been such a great life lesson.
• 32:21
  You know, I you may have heard other people talk about that, but you can learn a lot about
• 32:25
  life through pro wrestling.
• 32:27
  So I heard that as well, but I actually get to apply it in people's lives and their
• 32:32
  businesses, so it's been exciting that way.
• 32:35
  So so that's what the logo is.
• 32:37
  It's called m three h two, and it basically just represents five different areas that you
• 32:42
  need to work on.
• 32:44
  That's what it is.
• 32:48
  That definitely sounds like a very interesting and helpful business that you run there.
• 32:55
  Lane, do you have any questions here?
• 32:58
  I don't have my paper
• 33:00
  of business questions.
• 33:01
  To have a dream match, who would it be with?
• 33:05
  If you
• 33:05
  A dream match?
• 33:07
  Yeah.
• 33:08
  What is your dream match?
• 33:10
  Dream match.
• 33:15
  I don't think I've ever been asked that question before.
• 33:17
  That's a cool question.
• 33:19
  Off the top of my head, this is just off the top of my head, I think it would actually be
• 33:25
  really cool to have a tag team match with me and my father versus, soul man Rocky Johnson
• 33:33
  and and The Rock.
• 33:35
  That that would be that would be freaking cool.
• 33:38
  That that
• 33:38
  would be actually, probably the best answer I've ever heard of that question in my life.
• 33:46
  Yeah.
• 33:47
  I I mean, I've never gotten that question before.
• 33:49
  So great question, Lane.
• 33:50
  And and Thank you.
• 33:52
  Well, if I'm thinking about it, man, that would be fun.
• 33:54
  That would be that would be a blast.
• 33:57
  Fun, legendary, epic, unforgettable.
• 34:00
  I mean, there's a million adjectives to use if that was to ever happen.
• 34:05
  Yeah.
• 34:06
  Heck yeah.
• 34:11
  I will I'll say this.
• 34:15
  There is a let me talk a little bit about this project I'm working on.
• 34:19
  Okay?
• 34:20
  So it's know this.
• 34:22
  It's it's wrestling related, definitely wrestling related.
• 34:26
  And I just want you to remember these two things because it won't mean much right now,
• 34:31
  maybe a little bit.
• 34:32
  But when it happens and you hear these words again, you're gonna be like, like, he said that
• 34:38
  on our podcast.
• 34:39
  He said that.
• 34:39
  I remember that.
• 34:40
  And then you guys can throw this clip up and be like, yeah.
• 34:44
  I just want you to remember the words big time and squared circle.
• 34:50
  K?
• 34:51
  Who's big time, and then what what is squared circle?
• 34:57
  That's all you need to remember.
• 34:58
  That that's what the project has to do with.
• 35:01
  And and when that goes down, just remember, I said it right here on Beyond the Bell with Boo
• 35:08
  Boo and his boy, Lane Stevens.
• 35:12
  And here's do you have any advice for anyone trying to get into the wrestling industry?
• 35:18
  Absolutely.
• 35:19
  Absolutely.
• 35:19
  You you wanna grab the best person that you have access to to help you get into the
• 35:26
  business.
• 35:27
  Right?
• 35:28
  So and I use this in my business.
• 35:30
  I use this with everything.
• 35:32
  If you were trying to become so for instance, and this will be a good story that we can
• 35:37
  close-up with this.
• 35:38
  Right?
• 35:39
  Is so when my sister was trying Tamina, when she was trying to play college basketball, she
• 35:45
  was a good high school basketball player, but she now wanted to play college basketball.
• 35:50
  K?
• 35:51
  So you gotta go to people that you trust.
• 35:54
  I told you, when I wanted to get in the wrestling business, who'd I do?
• 35:57
  What I do?
• 35:58
  I called up somebody I trusted.
• 35:59
  My cousin, who know about the business, grew up in it.
• 36:02
  What he tell me, you need to train with your dad.
• 36:05
  Somebody he trusted, somebody I definitely trusted, so I went and did that, helped me get
• 36:11
  in the business.
• 36:12
  Right?
• 36:13
  So now let's back up to my sister.
• 36:15
  This is way before all of that.
• 36:17
  My sister wanted to play college basketball.
• 36:21
  I had somebody I have another guy I call his name's Dennis, and he's like another dad to me.
• 36:27
  I actually even call him dad.
• 36:29
  And and he's he's more of like well, he's he's another father figure for me.
• 36:34
  That's the easiest way to explain it.
• 36:36
  Great father figure for me.
• 36:38
  So I trusted him, and he and I said, hey.
• 36:42
  My sister's trying to play college basketball.
• 36:45
  And he goes, oh, we gotta go see this guy.
• 36:48
  Dang it.
• 36:48
  What was his name?
• 36:50
  I forgot his name, but he he was an all American in college basketball.
• 36:54
  Played NCAA, at BYU, all time you know, this great basketball player, he's like, I know him.
• 37:03
  He lives about an hour and a half away.
• 37:05
  Let's go to his house.
• 37:06
  And so we drove to his house, and while we're sitting there, right, he starts talking and
• 37:12
  he's like, yeah.
• 37:13
  So when I used to shoot the ball, if it didn't go in, I was surprised.
• 37:17
  Like, I was shocked the ball didn't go in the hoop.
• 37:20
  And what you guys wanna understand, right, I call this mentality the main event mentality
• 37:26
  now, is I heard my dad talk like that.
• 37:30
  I heard Cody Rhodes talk like that.
• 37:33
  I used to think like that, and then I forgot.
• 37:36
  Cody reminded me.
• 37:38
  Now I talk like that all the time.
• 37:40
  Right?
• 37:41
  Is it's it's different if I shoot the ball and I I'm hoping it's gonna go in as opposed to I
• 37:49
  shoot the ball and I'm like, of course, that's going in.
• 37:52
  And if I miss, I'm surprised.
• 37:54
  It's a different mentality, man.
• 37:56
  And that was the beauty.
• 37:58
  Right?
• 37:59
  And so to understand what I'm seeing here, Lane, if you wanna get in the wrestling
• 38:04
  business, you need to call up somebody or grab somebody that you trust that could move you
• 38:12
  along faster than somebody who, you know, might know a little bit.
• 38:18
  Yeah.
• 38:18
  Because I I have one of my good friends who who's a professional wrestler in, Minnesota who
• 38:23
  goes by the name of AJ Steel, one of the best heels in Minnesota.
• 38:27
  He I've worked with him when I first started, and I've been, you know, in contact with him.
• 38:32
  And, you know, like, he's I consider him, like, my mentor since he's been in the business
• 38:36
  longer than I have.
• 38:38
  And he's given me, you know, a lot of good advice.
• 38:40
  Like, we came up, like, with match ideas and, you know, because I am a bigger person.
• 38:44
  He's like, since you're a bigger person, you won't have to take that many bumps.
• 38:48
  Like, you built like a monster.
• 38:51
  So you gotta have that monster mentality.
• 38:53
  And, you know, the promotions that I've worked with in Nebraska, they're I mean, I'll I'm
• 39:00
  thankful for every opportunity that I've gotten, And it's I've just missed being in the
• 39:07
  ring and, like, I considered that like, I called it my ring therapy whenever I was going
• 39:12
  through something, you know, mentally because I suffer from anxiety, depression.
• 39:17
  And whenever I stepped through those curtains, man, I I didn't I forgot all about them and my
• 39:22
  focus was just, you know, proving that I belong and doing what I what I can to, you know, show
• 39:28
  my talent.
• 39:30
  Nice.
• 39:30
  Nice.
• 39:31
  I if I can do that.
• 39:33
  Right?
• 39:33
  Like, that's what I've learned because I I would go through that, right, anxiety and and
• 39:38
  depression and everything, especially when I lost my job at WWE.
• 39:43
  Like, I I struggled.
• 39:44
  Right?
• 39:44
  That was a tough time for me.
• 39:47
  But what I've learned is anxiety is just a negative way to to see things.
• 39:56
  And when I learned that when I get nervous or anxious, anxiety, right, when I get that, I
• 40:03
  realized the same thing happens when you get excited.
• 40:08
  Your heart rate goes up.
• 40:09
  Right?
• 40:09
  You're getting sweaty.
• 40:11
  It's and and when you shift the mindset on it and and realize, oh, dang.
• 40:15
  I'm just excited.
• 40:18
  Then you realize, okay.
• 40:19
  I'm just super excited.
• 40:21
  I don't know how to deal with this.
• 40:23
  Okay.
• 40:23
  Well, let me look at this differently.
• 40:25
  Then you can actually change some of that.
• 40:27
  And I love what you're saying about being in the ring, which is why when when I talk to
• 40:33
  people or different organizations, like, they're trying to make a change, they're trying
• 40:37
  to win those battles and realizing whatever it is you want, Lane, you're gonna have to fight
• 40:43
  for it.
• 40:44
  Like, you're gonna have to battle for it.
• 40:45
  Nobody's gonna give it to you.
• 40:47
  Jerry, the King Lawler's son, taught me that.
• 40:51
  Brian Christopher.
• 40:52
  Right?
• 40:53
  Yeah.
• 40:53
  He taught me that.
• 40:54
  Too too sexy.
• 40:55
  Right?
• 40:56
  Yeah.
• 40:56
  Mhmm.
• 40:57
  Is when I I had asked him something similar because I couldn't get into WWE.
• 41:02
  I'd you know, I was on the indies and I couldn't get in there.
• 41:05
  I'm like, man, like, what do I gotta do?
• 41:07
  And he said, listen, you gotta bang their door down.
• 41:10
  Nobody's gonna come banging your door down to get in there.
• 41:13
  You're gonna have to bang their door down.
• 41:16
  And so I've I've remembered that.
• 41:18
  So whenever I'm going after something, I realize, okay.
• 41:21
  I gotta go hard.
• 41:23
  Like, Lane, if you really want that thing, you're gonna have to go as hard as you've ever
• 41:28
  gone at anything and maybe then some if you really want that.
• 41:34
  Right?
• 41:35
  Because there's lots of guys that are willing to go hard.
• 41:38
  There's lots of guys that are bigger than you, that are, you know, better built than you, more
• 41:43
  opportunities than you, and so you gotta bring something else that they don't have.
• 41:49
  And a lot of guys won't go hard.
• 41:52
  They won't bang the door down.
• 41:54
  So I've done
• 41:56
  backyard style, like, wrestling.
• 41:59
  I've done, like, kinda, like, back, like, backyard.
• 42:03
  And, you know, I was just grateful for the opportunity, and, you know, I did different
• 42:07
  style matches.
• 42:08
  Like, my first ever DQ match, we did for a fundraiser, and that was the first time I ever
• 42:15
  I think I got a concussion during that because, like, one of the side posts, like, it was more
• 42:21
  on the ring I can't remember what side, but it was sticking up and my head slammed right onto
• 42:26
  that.
• 42:27
  And I could tell my I was just dazed.
• 42:30
  But my body was telling me, you need to stop.
• 42:32
  But in my mind, I was like, there it's more important to, like it was for I can't remember
• 42:40
  her name.
• 42:40
  Nope.
• 42:41
  I do remember.
• 42:42
  Her name was Danica.
• 42:43
  She had a rare form of cancer.
• 42:45
  And I was like, it's more important to putting on a show, like, get trying to finish instead
• 42:49
  of, you know, calling it.
• 42:51
  And Yep.
• 42:52
  I just remember going back to the locker room and getting ice, and I'm just like, that that
• 42:57
  hurt a little bit.
• 43:01
  But that and another one of my favorite memories was, a little girl kinda tugged on my
• 43:06
  tights.
• 43:08
  It was at a different show, and then kinda say because I faced this one guy that I faced since
• 43:13
  2018, long time friend, very good person.
• 43:19
  He cheated to win, and she just looked at me.
• 43:22
  She was like, that mean old cow like, his gimmick was like a cowboy, like a western
• 43:26
  cowboy kinda.
• 43:28
  Right?
• 43:29
  And she was like, that Mino cowboy shoulda shouldn't have won.
• 43:32
  I was like, well, bad guys always you know, karma always comes back to them.
• 43:38
  For sure.
• 43:39
  Out for a second.
• 43:40
  Sorry.
• 43:41
  I
• 43:41
  just Okay.
• 43:41
  Yep.
• 43:42
  Broke
• 43:42
  you.
• 43:42
  I'll be right back.
• 43:44
  I'm I've gotta go, guys.
• 43:46
  So let's yeah.
• 43:49
  You know what?
• 43:49
  Let's wrap sub click them before I go.
• 43:51
  Any message you have for the people watching the show or any upcoming shows you wanna talk
• 43:57
  about?
• 43:58
  Nope.
• 43:59
  Nothing right now.
• 44:00
  You know, you wanna find me or contact me on Instagram.
• 44:05
  K?
• 44:05
  J like Jimmy snooker two at on on Instagram is the best way to contact me.
• 44:12
  So that would be the best Google thing, Lane.
• 44:15
  Thank you.
• 44:15
  Yep.
• 44:16
  And it was an honor to to honored to have all the advice.
• 44:19
  Interview you.
• 44:20
  Sorry.
• 44:20
  We're talking over each other, Lane.
• 44:23
  It was an honor to meet you, man, and actually getting to sit down and talk to you, and I
• 44:28
  appreciate all the advice that you give, man.
• 44:30
  And it's just an honor, man.
• 44:33
  I hope whatever you're doing, you do do very well.
• 44:38
  You know?
• 44:38
  And I wish you all the best with what you've got going on and and everything.
• 44:45
  Appreciate I mean, I'm absolutely honored to have been able to interview you.
• 44:49
  I mean, a former WWE Tag Team Champion, son of a legend, a legend himself.
• 44:55
  This was absolutely amazing.
• 44:56
  Thank you for coming on.
• 44:59
  I hope everything goes well for you, and I can't wait till you end up in my area so I can
• 45:05
  finally see you live.
• 45:07
  Sounds great.
• 45:08
  Same here,
• 45:09
  Send me the send me the link and stuff later.
• 45:11
  Alright, boo boo.
• 45:12
  Thanks, man.
• 45:13
  Thank you, guys.
• 45:14
  I absolutely will.
• 45:15
  Thank you for coming on, and thank you everybody for watching.
• 45:18
  Have a great time.
• 45:20
  Alright.