Loading summary
Transcript198 lines
- [00:01]
A
MLB TV on ESPN is your home for every out of market game, live or on demand. Catch your favorite teams and players plus MLB Network and ESPN app features like multi view, syncing your stats, key plays, bets and fantasy all in one place. Sign up now for MLB TV in the ESPN app. Separate subscriptions required. Blackouts and other terms apply. Visit stream.espn.commlbtv for more information.
- [00:31]
B
This is the Don Hahn and Rosenberg Podcast.
- [00:35]
C
That sounds like heaven to me.
- [00:36]
B
Listen live weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8:80 ESPN, the ESPN New York app and your smart speakers.
- [00:48]
C
4:00 clock in the big city. Don Hahn and Rosenberg take you up until 7 o' clock and then it's Ty Butler. Got the list coming up at 4:30 enn at 6. We're waiting on Sami Zayn. WWE Champion should be joining us in a few minutes, so want to take the opportunity to kind of update you on some of the things the local hockey teams have done. It looks like the Rangers have signed Oliver Bjorkstrand away from the Tampa Bay Lightning, a little depth at forward and he also made a trade with Boston landing themselves Jonas Kopisalo who is a goaltender who will back up obviously Igor Shusturkin after the retirement of Jonathan Quick. So the Rangers making some moves. The Devils finalized their extension with Nico Hecher, so he's not going to be going anywhere and he'll be getting paid, you know, nearly $12 million a year, 11.7 million. But you had to keep him. He's your captain and he is the heart and soul of the team. He wins face offs, he's a great defensive forward, he's always a nominee for the selkie and they need center depth and obviously he wasn't going to be going anywhere so that's kind of a big deal there as well. So can't keep an eye on all the free agency on what's happening here. Yankees have tied their game with the Tiger as Tigers. As I mentioned to you before, we went to break on a wild pitch so we'll see if the Yankees now can make the comeback as they scored two runs in the bottom half of the ninth inning. Met still losing to the Blue Jays one to nothing. It's hard to believe the Yankees have lost six consecutive games. Peter all the lousy teams, but they did show a little heart here after Judge kind of called him out a bit before the game and maybe that'll be something that gets them at least a victory is to go into extra innings which has not been a panacea for this team at all. But they did show a little heart, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the ninth inning. So good job, Peter, getting Sami Zayn, he's gonna be joining us in a couple of minutes as he won the WWE Championship out in Saudi Arabia last weekend.
- [02:42]
D
He sure did. Pretty. Pretty insane. Pretty insane moment to give you guys a little bit of context. And we'll do it when he comes on. But like, just to see a guy like him who's worked as hard as he has, you know, wasn't born with the body to do it. Not just some gigantic guy, you know, who you just see and go, oh, that's a pro wrestler. Just a. Just a. Whether you love wrestling or not, if you want to hear the story about someone just grinding and making their dreams come true. Pretty cool stuff with Sami Zayn coming
- [03:09]
C
up here in a bit. Yeah, I mean, I did the work on it when you told me you're professional. And it is a bit of a polarizing championship and some are very, very happy about it, some not so happy about it. But we'll talk to him about that and everything going on in the world of wwe. And I also want to kind of touch base too, again. We'll take calls on a little bit later on. We kind of teased it the last week or so, but now it's on. The World cup has begun. Now. Teams are facing elimination. We saw some great games. You just talked about what England did last night. We saw France and the Mbappe goal that was tremendous during the show yesterday, the goal he scored over at MetLife Stadium against Sweden. And now the US gets to play Bosnia Herskavina in the round of 32. And when you take a look at the path, it looks like this team may hang around a while and I guess we'll get our first sense how into the World Cup. The United States is not just soccer fans, the Harvey Cruises of the world, the Peter Rosenberg's of the world, who watch it no matter what. Like, will this captivate people that are not usually soccer fans, but have US pride and will gravitate towards this game and others if they win? I'm very interested to see what the number will be not just in the nation, but I'd love to see what the number is in New York. Like I said, no Mets, no Yankees tonight. It's a Wednesday night, 8 o'.
- [04:35]
D
Clock.
- [04:36]
C
8 o'. Clock. And I mean, I would think with this game having meaning, you don't have to explain it to anybody. Well, this is pool play. So if they know the Win, advance, lose, goodbye. That's easy for people to understand. So I'll be very interested to find out tomorrow. I know we're doing the Beach Bash, but I'm sure we'll be able to find time to do it. What the number in New York is going to be for this game.
- [04:58]
D
No, that's going to be a fun thing for us to get into tomorrow. Now, real quick, you just mentioned it. England played the Democratic Republic of Congo earlier today. They were down one nil, I think, into the 75th minute.
- [05:15]
C
That's not nothing.
- [05:17]
D
And then Harry Kane, who, at least according to the guys, the Brits who are calling the game that I was listening to on Serious. They were, they, were they. Today they officially declared the greatest English soccer player of all time, surpasses Pele in all time goals and scores the tying goal. And then the winner at 2:1. And then. Don, you want to talk? Just dead sexy, you know, I don't care how big a soccer fan you are, anyone can take a look at Mexico. England in Mexico City.
- [05:54]
E
Wow.
- [05:55]
D
Sunday night, 8 o'. Clock. You want to talk about a rating worldwide, Don, that is going to be a hammer.
- [06:02]
C
And that's down to 16 at that point.
- [06:05]
D
And that's 16. So the winners in the quarters, Mexico and England Sunday night. Now, by the way, tomorrow's Spain Austria game at 3 o'.
- [06:15]
E
Clock.
- [06:16]
D
You'll be able to watch at Bar A with us. We're going to also have a watch party. In fact, I hope there's a screen situation where I'm able to see it from where we're at on the stage, because this is what we have coming up.
- [06:29]
E
I'm hearing we're losing, Peter. That's what I'm hearing. Don, I don't know if that's what you heard.
- [06:32]
D
Oh, sorry, you. I got too close to my mic and got excited. Apologies.
- [06:35]
E
No, no, no. I meant, like physically losing you. You'll just go over to the television with the people and you're gonna go watch the game.
- [06:42]
D
Listen, listen, it's. The Beach Bash is about the people, isn't it? It's about to support.
- [06:48]
E
I get it. I understand completely what you're saying.
- [06:51]
D
So here's what you have over the next couple days. You got Belgium, Senegal, right now in Seattle. That's as we speak. You have the USA in a rare two on one matchup tomorrow. I mean tonight against Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is tonight, eight o', clock, Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Tomorrow, when we're at the Beach Bash, you have Spain and Austria, three. That one's at Sofi. Portugal in Croatia. Don, like you dream about, Dan Grass will be dialed in. That's in Toronto tomorrow at 7. And then Don, right up your alley. We know you love a late night vehicle. Switzerland and Algeria, you throw out the record books, frankly when they get together. But guess what, Don, in one of your favorite places, Vancouver, BC, 11:00pm tomorrow night. And then you got a triple header of course on Friday. And then July 4th, should it interest you, Don will celebrate the 4th of July with his real country, Canada versus Morocco in the final 16 at 1:00'. Clock. And Paraguay, as Don calls them, and France at 5 o'. Clock. That's on July 4th.
- [08:10]
C
So jam packed off like you like
- [08:13]
D
to friggin dream about. Are you, are you there a little bit. Like you're asking the question of the people. I'm asking it to you, Don. I, I've seen you, you always sort of, it seems like your interest goes up just a tiny bit day by day. Where are you at right now? And will you be like fully engaged tonight at 8:00'? Clock? Like watching this like it's a game you're invested in.
- [08:36]
C
Well, listen, Marco just got back from his Real Madrid soccer camp that he goes to every year and he had said to me, he's like, dad, it's weird when I go to the Real Madrid soccer camp, all of a sudden I'm into soccer and I, well that makes sense. You just nine to three every day for five days doing nothing but soccer drills and games. It's crazy.
- [08:57]
D
Did you say. Well, first things first, son. That's not very weird.
- [09:00]
C
No, it's not.
- [09:01]
D
It makes perfect sense.
- [09:02]
C
It makes perfect sense. So you know, he is, he is very excited at least and it's, he's got to get, like I said, he's got to be there at nine so it's almost like going to school tomorrow. But I think he, you know, depending on how much extra time is with an 8 o' clock now, is this going to be like you're in the United States, 8 o' clock becomes 8:25.
- [09:20]
D
So. So I am, I am pretty sure the actual time that we're seeing, that we've been seeing every day, like this game said 4: O', clock, Don, it's 4:08 and I see the clock is at 7:37. So this started at 4 on the dot.
- [09:35]
C
Because as much as we love schedules in the United States and time, we also like messing with time and making it seem like the pregame show is the start of the game. And then you sit there and go, no, we're still 35 minutes away. Like, you turn it on and there's the clock ticking down. 35 minutes till face off or kickoff or whatever.
- [09:53]
D
No, no, no. The times they've been listing have been the hard.
- [09:56]
C
So he should be able to sit there and possibly watch most of not the entire game. So I will be invested tonight to watch. Now, if there were. If there were other games on, would I be distracted? But like, tonight, there's no distraction. The game will be on.
- [10:12]
D
Nothing.
- [10:13]
C
And, you know, it's interesting because tomorrow we're gonna be at the Beach Bash. And anybody that knows the beach bash, and we've done it for decades now that there's not a lot of sports and we're gonna have some fun and the listeners are gonna be completely engaged. But we don't do a lot of typical sports radio at the Beach Bash. But if this was a normal Thursday. Tell me it's not the lead.
- [10:35]
D
Well, listen so much. Will I. How would it not be the lead?
- [10:38]
C
I mean, the Mitch thing over.
- [10:41]
D
If Mitch had happened tomorrow, like tomorrow at noon, the Mitch thing happened then that's our lead then that's our now. Also, there's the US Losing Don is not nearly as interesting as them winning. Them losing, it's kind of like, well, they made the round of 32. They were kind of set up to get out of the group. They got out of the group, they looked great and then they lost. But. But if they win, it becomes obviously a much bigger thing.
- [11:08]
C
Losing would be typical usa. And also, let's be fair, they would deserve to be killed because of the fact that it's kind of set up for them to be able to make a run here. If not now, when you know you're not facing England, you're not facing Brazil, you're taking on Bosnia Herzegovina. You take a look at how they beat Paraguay earlier and. And how that could be a team. They FA this, if not now, when? So usually it's like, oh, eight. They lose us, always loses, move on to something else. But I think legitimately you could complain and be mad if they lose tomorrow. That's why I think people could be engaged. It's a game that they should win and move on to the sweet 16, right? And if they don't, I think there's going to be people that are going to be very, very upset. If you're a soccer fan, rest of the country may yawn at it. But if you're a soccer fan, you're not going to be red hot if they lose tomorrow.
- [12:02]
D
Oh, no. I'll be extremely disappointed. As someone who first got into this team in 94, what you hoped was can we improve as a program to where by the time it finally comes back to the US one day they can compete. Here we are. It's been 32 years, Don. I was 14 years old. I'm a 46 year old man. So the next time this could happen, we're talking about Don. I, I hope you and I are still able to talk. Okay. You won't get a better chance than this. The they. And then on top of that, it's not just that it was set up well, that they're, they're, they're, their group was relatively easy. That their path here doesn't look extremely hard. They've been playing the best soccer we've ever seen them play. You do not have to be an expert. You just have to have working eyes to watch this US Team and go, how is it that they look more competent, more fluid offensively than any soccer team I've ever seen the US Have? How do you not get excited by that? And if they lose immediately out of the group, especially Don, it's not even like you went to the round of 16. They've added this next round so you're only in the final 32. It would be extremely disappointing.
- [13:25]
F
As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Granger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-granger. Click granger.com or just stop by.
- [13:56]
C
Well, what the USA wants to do is win a championship. And somebody who's already a champion is Sami Zayn, WWE Champion. And he joins us here on Don Han and Rosenberg. You know Peter. I'm Don Leggreca. Welcome to the show.
- [14:08]
G
What's up, guys? Thanks for having me.
- [14:11]
B
Sammy.
- [14:12]
D
Sammy. Sammy. The Unified Champion looking glorious on your shoulder. So I. When it happened, we were, we did our, we did our show. This. We don't. If you noticed, you probably were way too busy to care about this, but we did the pre and post coverage in Stanford this past week. Right. I was not in Riyadh and I. I jumped on Big E's back.
- [14:37]
G
We were.
- [14:38]
D
We were bouncing all over the studio just because it was one of those things you. You hoped would happen but didn't know it ever would.
- [14:46]
G
Right.
- [14:47]
D
When you first caught wind of where this thing could be going for you, and then the day itself, how did it. How did it all feel for you?
- [14:57]
G
You know, it's really hard to put into words, actually. The longer it's gone on, the happier I am. You know, like, when it first happens, you're just, like, overwhelmed with so many things that your brain almost can't process at all. And at times you almost feel, like, numb. I think it's like. So I, you know, and I am not a, you know, neurologist by any means here, but it almost feels like when there's just too much coming in, your. Your brain just simply can't process. It also kind of shuts down, so you almost feel like a numbness or a nothingness. And then at various times, it's almost like it comes in waves, like, you know, ebbs and flows where you'll. You'll get overwhelmed with a certain emotion, and then it'll just go. And then different emotion will pour in, and then it'll just go. So I thought it was really an extraordinary thing to go through, but then, you know, just the longer it went on and the more the crew is all congratulating me and the other guys are congratulating me, and I had a long flight home from Saudi for it to really sink in. On that flight to Saudi to Philadelphia, you know, it got more real. And then that day in Philadelphia that I had off before I head to Atlantic City, man, it just got realer and real with each passing minute. And then, man, just a great feeling. I'm on top of the world. I really am.
- [16:17]
C
When something like that happens, I have to think, Sammy, that it makes it all worthwhile. I'm sure you made a ton of sacrifices to get where you are, that just that moment of it was all worth it.
- [16:28]
G
You know, I've never really viewed. I've never looked at it that way. I know that's like a prevailing narrative. A lot of people talk about that when they talk about our industry, talking about the sacrifices and, like, okay, if you ask my wife, sure, she would consider them sacrifices, you know, leaving the family, leaving the kid, leaving, you know, missing birthdays, anniversaries, everything like that. It's been talked about. I say ad nauseam at this point, but the truth is. I know, but I've just never Looked at, at it that way. It's just a way of framing it that I've never seen it as a sacrifice. I really never have. I view it more of a privilege than anything, honest to God. Yeah, I mean like, I say this without exaggeration because right now there's only one person holding this and it's me. And I say this without any hyperbole, without any exaggeration. There are millions of people in the world, world who would want to be holding this right now, but there's only one and it's me. And that the odds of that are insane. So to look at this as anything other than a remarkable experience and a remarkable privilege, I think is, it's just, I think you're, you're not seeing this
- [17:37]
D
for what it is now. I used to, when, when Daniel Bryan and CM Punk made it to the top of the mountain, I used to express it to non wrestling fans in my hip hop world as Imagine Most Def and Talib Kweli became like Jay Z. That's kind of how I see, you know, when someone of your ilk, a true underground guy, makes it to the, to the top of the mountain. Did you, at what point in your career did you believe this would even become possible? Was it the bloodline story? Did you never think it would become possible, possible?
- [18:19]
G
Well, first of all, I want to say that's a great analogy. I love Blackstar. I think like that's, that's what I look for in my hip hop. We don't need to get into a whole hip hop thing, but just the idea of it being a lot more like intellectual and, and conscious and socially conscious and all that kind of stuff in a roundabout way, in a strange sort of way. I do kind of equate my style of storytelling or professional wrestling or what I like to embody or encompass in my work work to have that kind of extra layer of depth. Because in a way WWE is pop. You know, it's pop culture, it's pop, it's made for the masses. But I've always tried to sprinkle, you know, a little bit more depth to that depth of emotion and depth of just some more thought provoking stuff in the way I like to do things. So I take that, I mean, if I know you're applying that more to Punk and Brian, but.
- [19:12]
D
No, no, no, but, but I'm doing the same to you and I'm putting you in with Punk and Brian.
- [19:16]
G
I'll take it. You know what I mean? But yeah, so, and as far as like when I thought this would happen. I have said this in other interviews. Yeah, I guess the bloodline would probably be the turning point. But as far as like, oh, this is really close now, you know, it's like within striking distance. And I think my story on television really has been the character's kind of obsession with winning this thing over the last few years. And that really only came to be once I started getting within striking distance. Because at a certain point, like, you know, you do your thing and you're just happy doing your thing. I was happy just telling good stories, putting out quality work, or what I thought was quality work. And if you win the Intercontinental Championship, that's already a dream come true. You know, all my heroes won that championship. And you know, you don't obsess over the WWE Championship at that point, at least I didn't. But then once I started getting closer and closer, I'm like, there's really no reason for it to not be me. You know, like I look around, it's all my peers, it's all guys I don't view in any way as better than me in any way. I think these are peers, these are equals. And the proof of that is if you see me mix it up with any of these guys from Roman to Seth to Punk to Drew to Cody, I mean, to me these are, it's, you know, you watch the body of work, it's all comparable. So there's no reason that these guys should be bonafide players and made men and I should be sitting on the periphery. That's how I started to feel. The more I mixed it up with them on a week to week basis and the more I saw, well, you know, there's really no reason for it to not be me now. If I had stayed in the undercard, you know, for the last 10 years and I probably wouldn't have obsessed over it. But the closer you get, the more you can taste it, the more maddening it starts to become.
- [21:04]
C
You're talking to Sami Zayn, who's the World Champion wwe, and you know, you talked about how you kind of bucking the trend and not your typical champion. And sometimes when that happens and doing the research for this interview, it does sometimes rub people the wrong way. And there are haters out there say that he's not my typical champion. What do you say to people that feel that way?
- [21:27]
G
Look, if you just don't like me, that's fine. You're certainly allowed to not like me. But I think it's like if you start getting Married to an archetype of what you have been taught to, like, this is what you should want. And then that's all you buy. I mean, without insulting anybody here. I just think that's kind of like a lack of. I don't know, free thought, Like a lot. A lack of intelligence, which most.
- [21:57]
C
Most haters have. Right?
- [21:59]
D
Yeah.
- [21:59]
G
Well, I mean, like, what I'm saying is, like, this isn't the product I've always purchased. I mean, and that's fair, but you're allowed to want other products or enjoy other products. Like, it shouldn't be. You know, one thing has been sold to you, and you should come to accept that that is the only thing, the only way anything needs to be done. You know, to me that I equate that with almost like staying in your hometown your whole life and, you know, never going to New York City and then never realizing that there's a whole planet out there and there's billions of people out there, and there's billions of ways to do things, and there's billions of different. Different cuisines and cultures and dances and whatever. There's a whole universe out there, and you gotta, like. You know, and maybe I say this because traveling the world has been so important to me, and it shaped my worldview, but it's like, man, like, open. Broaden your horizons a little bit. You know what I mean? If I'm just not your cup of tea, fair play. But the idea that a champion needs to be this or needs to be that. I'm like, all right, well, you know, you're an idiot. Nothing. Nothing needs to be anything.
- [23:06]
F
Right?
- [23:06]
G
You know, like, if it's good, it's good. I've always kind of subscribed to that. And I don't know. I think. I think the work I've been putting out over the last few years is good. And I. I think. Yeah. I don't know.
- [23:18]
D
Well, it's almost like. It's almost like if you were to apply it to sports, it would almost be like, well, it's cool that the Knicks won, but, like, Jalen Brunson isn't the typical guy to lead a team. Wouldn't it have been better if it had been Wembayama? Like, why?
- [23:33]
G
What's it to you? What typically happens? You know what I mean? Like, I don't understand people's obsession with that. Like, what. What is it to you of the. The norm, anyways? I don't know.
- [23:48]
B
There's a whole.
- [23:48]
D
No, you and I. You and I could spend an entire wrestling Podcast breaking down like that idea, which I don't personally understand. Now, that being said, we all know, like the title in some ways. Listen, there are people who've had the title. Sammy, I'm making this up. I do not know how she feels. I'm sure there's a chance that at this point, Ria sees the title as like something heavier to have to put in her suitcase. Right. She has a title all the time. She's. That's. That's who Ria is. There are certain people, you know, John, etcetera, that has not been you. You've had titles, but this is different. And the title becomes very real in terms of what it means and what it says about what you've accomplished and how the company sees you. If this were to come to an end in any sort of short order, is that the kind of thing that you find what you think would be incredibly upsetting? Are you able to just say, hey, this moment's amazing for as long as it lasts, or do you not even get that far down the road? How do you.
- [24:46]
G
How do you process that? I'd say a bit of both is a bit of both. Both things are true at the same time. So I have. Even prior. If you did an interview with me two weeks ago, before I'd won the championship and you asked me, you know, would your career. Would you feel good about your career if you never won the championship? The answer would be yes. Okay. Because I've had what I consider to be a brilliant career, and there are people that I think have won the World Championship and the WWE Championship many, many times over that still haven't, that never got to tell the type of stories that I've gotten to tell or have maybe evoked some of the emotions that I've got to emote or have or have matches, the type of matches that I've had. So I consider my career a success unto itself if it ended tomorrow or if it ended two weeks ago before I ever won this championship. Now, does that mean I didn't want the championship? No, of course I wanted it. So, you know, you're allowed to be content. I think that's having perspective. Like, you're allowed to look at your career and enjoy it and still want a little bit more. So, you know, if this championship reign lasted a year, I'd want to. I'm like, man, you know, wish it was. WISH it was 13 months, you know, wish it was 14 months. Like, there's always. You're always aspiring to more. And if I lose this in two months or three months or whatever, a week, two. It doesn't even matter. Whatever it is, I'll be like, I wish I had a little more time, or, I wish I win it again. Like, there's always going to be things you strive for, but. But at the end of the day, I did something that I. I wouldn't even call it a dream. I would have called it a fantasy. If you asked me when I was, you know, 13 or 14 years old. A fantasy. Not even something you could, like, actually dream of in a meaningful way whereby you're setting, like, attainable goals for yourself because it's something you could. It was so unfathomable that it was more fantastical and more of a fantasy than anything. And I've done it so that you can never take away from me that if my career ends today, tomorrow, a week from now, if the title reign ends a week from now, a month from now, a year from now, it doesn't matter to me. I did it. It's incredible. But that doesn't mean I won't want more. You know, that's just the nature of the beast when you're. I think you need to have that kind of drive to get to this point to begin with, you know, so.
- [27:05]
C
So. So that said, Sammy, when does the euphoria of the championship wear off and now become the focus of defending it?
- [27:13]
G
I can't tell you because I'm still in the euphoria phase. I know I have a huge match with Cody coming up this Monday. And, you know, one of the things about being me or being a career underdog or just being whatever, the guy who doesn't play the typical part, or whatever you want to call it, is that people think that you can lose it instantly and every time you defend it. So that's almost like a cool advantage in a weird way, or a cool way to subvert people's expectations is like, say, I hold onto this thing for a year. I think literally every time somebody challenges for it, they would believe, oh, this is it. You know what I mean? And they're already starting to do that as early as this Monday. So, you know, I'm just going to take it one step at a time. I have this first challenger coming up very, very quick in very short order. But, you know, whatever. Obviously I'm focused on that, but right now, I really am just trying to enjoy it, and that's where my mind is at, just enjoying the whole thing.
- [28:12]
D
I. I saw. I saw Becky post. You don't often see big Time Becks go into such a personal space on, on social media. But she was so touched by it. Obviously. So many people in the business were. Did you hear from anyone interesting? Obviously we can guess that most of the locker room, you know, was hugging you and people who weren't there were texting you any interesting texts or phone calls you may not have expected when you won.
- [28:42]
G
Well, to be honest, I think one of the things that's overwhelmed me the most about this is the, the outpouring of support and, and like, love and people saying, you know, the words that came up the most were like, overdue and deserved. Like, you know, well deserved and oh, long overdue. And I'm like, man, to get that from so many people that I respect and that I love. And it's really, really been touching to no end. I don't know. I guess one, One message that I got that I guess I didn't expect, although, yeah, no, I didn't expect it and it was extremely nice, was from John Cena. He sent me a message and he just kind of reminded me of the. Difficulty of attaining this and that less than 1% of people who ever aspire to do what we do ever gets to this point. And that's not lost on me, but to hear it coming from him, just saying, you know, congratulations. And one of, one of the things he said that also really touched me is just that you, like, you know, you. This is a genuinely earned. And I don't want to throw out, you know, personal stuff that he said to me, but the thing that stuck to me is just that he said, you really, you did it your way. And man, I just thought that was so cool coming from him, you know.
- [30:03]
D
Totally.
- [30:05]
G
Yeah, he's the man. Because he didn't have to text me at all. And he did, and it was just, it was really one of the more touching texts, I got to be honest with you. But it was really, you know how he is. He's a very thoughtful person and, and I think he was just trying to remind me, in case I wasn't already to be very mindful of, of the, the unlikeliness and how difficult it is to reach the mountaintop and that you did it and you should, you know, you should be proud of that. And that was, I guess, it in. In summary. But man, it was cool. It was a really cool message to get.
- [30:37]
D
What did you, what did you say in Arabic and, and how meaningful was it to be able to share that in Saudi, where you get so much love the, the religious, the, The Language, the cultural connection points. I mean, these are all among the reasons I was believing there's a chance this could happen. Like, there's just. We're going. We imagine what Sammy would be at WrestleMania next year. Like, there's a lot of. And then it happens. And you, you screamed in English, right? You're damn right. I deserve it. Which was a great moment. But you also had a few lines there in Arabic. What did you share with the audience there?
- [31:15]
G
I'll be honest, I don't really remember much of what I said because it was off the cuff. I didn't know. I didn't even know I was going to get interviewed. If I did, I might have thought of a real, like, you know, legendary, legendary type of promo. But I didn't think. Think of anything because it just just he kind of just ambushed me. But I think I just said how cool it was to win it in front of my people and how, you know, my dad. That might have been it. I. I truly don't remember all of it, but that might have been what I said in Arabic, like, just to. How it's again, something that I couldn't have even fantasized about as a kid because it was so, so like WWE just didn't even do shows in these countries. You know what I mean? Like, the world was so different, the landscape was so different. It was literally something you could not conceive. So to do it, to do it the way I did in front of the people that I did it, and to be able to speak, Speak the language or whatever, represent the religion, all that kind of stuff, and, you know, look, I mean, maybe that stuff shouldn't matter. Maybe it shouldn't. But I feel like, especially as an Arab or a Muslim, I don't think we've had the best representation over the years in pop culture, you know, to put it mildly. So, you know, like, we won't even
- [32:32]
D
get into the pro wrestling part of it. Just in pop culture, period.
- [32:35]
G
Yeah, like Western culture or whatever, there's still politicians out there saying the most reprehensible things out openly, and it's still socially acceptable to speak this way or vilify Arabs or Muslims or whatever. And I don't want to get into the whole, like, you know, I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole now. But I'm just saying, you know, maybe if it was a different culture or a different religion, it wouldn't matter so much. But because of the, you know, because I feel like now I get to kind of put my Name up there as a positive representative, as somebody who's done something really, really difficult to do that again, something that fans worldwide look at and then go, oh, yeah, look at that. You know, just to kind of. It's almost like, I don't know, just bridging that chasm a little bit and bringing people closer together because, like, you know, maybe you don't really. If you don't know an Arab or you don't know a Muslim wherever you are, wherever you live, and you have this kind of skewed view point of view about them due to like, you know, whatever, a million things, but the perception about. About us, you know. Well, now you kind of have a different. A different representation of that.
- [33:47]
D
Yeah.
- [33:47]
G
And one that, you know, I think is extremely relatable across all cultures and all that, because the, the struggle and like, whatever my story and all that stuff or the character that I play I think is extremely relatable kind of universally like the, the, you know, trying to. The guy who tries to do the right thing or digs deep and all these. These are like universal concepts that I think people can get behind. And I think that's why even in this last run that I've been doing over the last few months, you've kind of seen where even when I'm getting booed in the States, I'm still kind of like, more well liked abroad, you know, And I think part of the reason for that is because a lot of these things that I've. Over the decade with wwe, a lot of the things that I kind of espouse or embody are very universal, universal traits across. Across all cultures. You know, I don't know, maybe I'm. I might be getting off on a tangent.
- [34:38]
D
No, no, no, I. I'm with you 100 and Don, that's why it's more
- [34:42]
G
important to me than. Than, you know, I don't know. I don't know. It does seem important. It does seem like a culturally significant moment to me.
- [34:49]
D
And I. I felt. I felt the exact same way, and I'm sure many, many people did. And as I told you before, you won the title, yet I said it all day on the Countdown show and I said it on ESPN last week prior to winning the title. This has been a legacy, cementing run for you just how entertaining you have been on television. You know, a ride or die for the last real good guy alone is. Is a piece of brilliance. It's. It's been awesome. Congrats, dude. Thank you for making time. I know it's a hectic first week and it's on.
- [35:21]
G
Thanks a lot for having me, guys.
- [35:22]
C
Thank you, Sammy.
- [35:23]
D
Appreciate you, man.
- [35:26]
B
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [35:30]
D
I didn't listen to anything you just said.
- [35:31]
B
Catch the show on demand whenever you want. Just subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts.
- [35:39]
D
You just made the list, buddy.
- [35:42]
B
This is the list with Don, Han and Rosenberg brought to you by the Amor group.
- [35:49]
C
That is absolutely correct, Rex, or thank you to the Allure group for getting it going. As we have the list, we also want to thank Sami Zayn. That was a great interview. Went a little long. So that's why we're doing the list here and having an extended segment up until 5 o'.
- [36:04]
A
Clock.
- [36:04]
C
But really good stuff from Sammy and I want to address some of the things he talked about. Yankees lose 6 to 2 quickly. I want to let you know that as they give up four runs in the top of the 11th inning. So seven straight losses for the Yankees and the Mets are down five nothing in the top half of the fourth inning. But here's the list. Peter, you ready? Sure. The top five great New York. I don't want to say play it. Not all players, but individuals who ended up at some. At some point in Boston. So new sports New York. Individuals who really made their hay in New York, but much like Mitchell Robinson ended up in Boston.
- [36:52]
E
I have to interrupt. I'm sorry, Don.
- [36:54]
A
Yes, Peter.
- [36:55]
E
You have to connect to the other air link.
- [37:00]
C
All right.
- [37:00]
E
Because he's not going to be able to talk if he continues the way he's doing.
- [37:04]
C
Okay. I love that you were able to handle that in real time.
- [37:08]
E
Texting didn't work, so I had to do something. You'd be talking to the. You'd be talking to Peter's mimed face. So we need to.
- [37:15]
C
Once Peter is back, then we will be able to get confirmation that he understands what the list is. New York sports individuals.
- [37:22]
E
Now this is interesting.
- [37:24]
C
In Boston, just to be clear.
- [37:25]
E
Just so we're clear on it.
- [37:26]
C
To be clear. It is.
- [37:28]
E
And now we've lost on. Which is great. It's only people that have started in New York and then went to Boston.
- [37:35]
G
Right.
- [37:35]
C
They made their hay.
- [37:37]
E
They're.
- [37:37]
C
They're as sports great individuals. But they all. They. They ended up in Boston like Mitchell Robinson. That's why it's so topical, Mitch. Not that he was a great player.
- [37:51]
D
Oh, Darrell Revis.
- [37:54]
C
Darrell Rivas is on the list. Absolutely. I didn't put him in any particular order because these are all greats. But Darrell Revis is one on the list. Great, Peter. Great poll. Darrell Rivas didn't go directly to Boston, went to Tampa. But he did eventually end up in New England to win a Super bowl to make every Jet fan sick. Darrell Revis is one of the five. Absolutely.
- [38:14]
D
God, it's, it's so funny because all of the main ones that come to mind for me are reverse.
- [38:19]
A
Right.
- [38:19]
D
Anthony, you go. You go. Boggs, you go. Damon, you go. Ruth, everything goes.
- [38:25]
C
It goes. Absolutely. Boston to New York. There's a ton of.
- [38:30]
D
Hold on, hold on. How about random here?
- [38:34]
C
Okay.
- [38:36]
D
Seaver.
- [38:38]
C
Tom Seaver is on the list. Yes, Tom Seaver, very serpentine. Went to a lot of different teams after. The Mets, the Reds, the White sox. But in 1986, he was not eligible to play. But he was a Red Sox. Tom Seaver was sitting in the dugout when the mets won the 1986 World Series. Tom. Tom Seaver. Great pull. Peter is also on this list. So you got two of the five. Not that it's going to help Peter. It might help Anthony if he wants to participate. I combine two players as one.
- [39:13]
D
You combine two players.
- [39:15]
C
So I've got six guys on the list. But I combine two of those players into one specific category. You'll understand when I tell you you
- [39:26]
D
combined both players into one specific category
- [39:32]
C
because they ended up going to Boston in the same deal. So I didn't want to separate them. Now, if you want me to just tell you because you're not going to get it, Peter, and you shouldn't have to get it. Anthony definitely would get it.
- [39:47]
D
Definitely would or would not?
- [39:48]
C
Oh, he would.
- [39:51]
E
He's got Brad park one.
- [39:53]
C
Well, I'm going to tell you because they went in the same deal. John Ratel and Brad park. John Ratel, 14 year ranger, Park A7. They both were sent to Boston for a big deal. But the primary, Phil Esposito coming back to New York. So I got them like together. Don't you think that's the right thing to do, Anthony? Because they were both sent to Boston in the same deal. So I got John Ratel, slash Brad park.
- [40:17]
E
And honestly, both very well deserving of being great New York players that ended up going to Boston.
- [40:22]
C
So. Absolutely. So I've got John Ratel slash Brad Park. I've got Darrell Rivas, I've got Tom Seaver. So we need two more. Now, remember, I didn't say player, I said individual. So you got to think outside the box with this, Peter.
- [40:39]
D
Oh, well, that would be Bill Parcell.
- [40:41]
C
That's Bill Parcell. How do I leave Bill Parcel? I know he didn't play, but he's one of the biggest coaches in the history of New York and he ended up going to New England, taking the Patriots to a Super Bowl. Bill Parcells on the list.
- [40:55]
D
I love what you've done.
- [40:56]
C
John Ratel, Brad Park, Darrell Rivas, Seaver, Parcells. Now, this guy's not in the hall of Fame, but I will tell you, he played for both the Mets and the Yankees, was good both places, and ended up with the Red Sox. You might have forgotten, it was very late in his career. Wasn't for a long time, but I'm sure it bothered Yankee fans. Didn't mind. I didn't mind as a Met fan. Quasi friend of the show.
- [41:30]
D
Quasi friend.
- [41:31]
C
I would call him a friend of the show, but we've had him on a bunch. Great guy, fun. K's got great stories about him.
- [41:45]
D
How about Bobby Valentine?
- [41:48]
C
No, not Bobby Valentine. We're back to players.
- [41:51]
D
Back to players.
- [41:52]
C
Yes, Mike.
- [41:54]
D
Michael's quasi friends with him.
- [41:56]
C
Bob Valentine is a good pull considering he did go to the Red sox. Lost like 100 games there. But still, I'm very. Peter, I'm impressed with you today.
- [42:05]
D
Yeah.
- [42:05]
C
I did an interview with Sami Zayn. Great poll. Great get by you. And you're. You're doing a great job with this list.
- [42:12]
D
Thank you. I appreciate it.
- [42:12]
C
I gave you no shot. I gave you none shot, Peter. And you're nailing it.
- [42:18]
D
But now you said so. As a Met fan, you don't really care.
- [42:21]
F
You said.
- [42:21]
D
But some people.
- [42:22]
C
There's no rivalry with the Red Sox, but I'm sure Yankee fans were in a way about it. It wasn't a long period of time, but still for a former Yankee to don a Red Sox uniform, as we
- [42:34]
D
talk about very rare.
- [42:35]
C
It always goes the other way, right?
- [42:36]
D
It always goes the other way. It always goes the other way. Anthony, is it staring you in the face? You know it.
- [42:43]
E
I think it's the one that's below the one that you read. David Cohn.
- [42:48]
D
Oh, that's it. Is a quasi friend of the show and definitely from the. Michael with great stories there. Right there for you. Sorry.
- [42:54]
C
David Cohn. So the five Jean Ratel, Brad Park, Darrell Rivas, Bill Parcells, Tom Seaver and David Cohn. New York greats that ended up in Boston. Maybe Robinson will make the list one day, but I'm not taking any of these guys out for Mitch, even though he did win a ring. Some honorable mentions. Bob McAdoo spent some time with the Knicks, ended up with the Celtics hall of Famer, but only two and a half years with the Knicks. Pepper Johnson up in New England with the Patriots. Dave Meggett, also Sean Ellis, former Jet, also a New England Patriots. Just a few of the honorable mentions that I put down there. So what do you think?
- [43:39]
D
I love what you've done. I think you should be incredibly proud of it. I think your family should be proud of it.
- [43:45]
C
Maybe I put this in the Louvre.
- [43:48]
D
I mean, and what a beautiful topic given to us by the Knicks and Mitchell Robinson team.
- [43:53]
C
Yeah, absolutely. So I thought it was topical after what the decision that Mitch made. And that is my list. And that's the list brought to you by the Allure Group. The Allure Group, where care meets compassion. So we'll get into the Mets and Yankees of it all at the top of the hour. But the one thing that there was a. There was a bunch of things that were really impressive about Sami Zayn. And full disclosure, I'm not a wrestling fan, but I did my work and a lot of things that popped up, especially on social media, was a disdain for him winning the championship. And that's why I brought it up to him, because he kind of bucked the trend. And I thought your analogy with the Knicks was spot on, that, you know, that's not your typical champion with a small guard, you know, not having a super team, a bunch of stars, Batman, Robin, all that stuff that, you know you're supposed to win a championship with. The Knicks kind of bucked that trend. And it's not comfortable for people because it's not normal. And as he brought up, it's just that, why do people always have to stick with the brand? Why can't they look at things differently? And I'll tell you why they can't. And this is why I think social media is the cesspool that it is, both politically and also in sports. The people that spend a lot of time on social media and are critical are people that are sheltered, are people that. That only know things the way they are because they don't go out, they don't travel, they don't know a lot of different people. They don't go to a lot of different places. They live in their neighborhood, they know their people. Everybody's of like mind. So when something different happens, they don't know how to handle it because they're just used to things being the way that they are. And the second something goes differently, the second that there's change to that dynamic, their Instinct is to be negative and to hate it. And I thought that's what I took from what Sammy said. Like, why do people always have to hate the brand? Because people are used to the brand. That's what makes them comfortable. That's what everybody does. And when you are as well traveled as Sammy is, when you know different people and rub elbows with different people that are not of your like mind, I think you're a little bit more accepting to the change. But social media I think are. I'm not gonna call them shut ins per se, but I think a lot of that criticism comes from they just don't know anything else. You know, everybody, all their friends, their family, the people at work, they are all of the same mindset. They all think the same, do the same things. As soon as something different happens, they don't know how to handle it. And I think that's the same in a lot of different walks of life. But specific to what we do sports is when once somebody kind of bucks the trend, I think it's a knee jerk reaction when for a lot of people to hate on it. And I think that's kind of what happened to Sammy in certain circles. And I love his attitude about it.
- [46:38]
D
But isn't it crazy that like, it's already dumb enough that in real sports you have people who are like, ah, you can't win like that? You know, basically it's the Becky Hammond argument. That's really basically what it is. You have people going, you can't win with a small guard. That's not what you do. That's how you build a championship team. And then of course you do it. Don. It's even sillier in pro wrestling. The beauty of pro wrestling is you can make miracles happen. And yet, you know, and I listen, I'm not saying I don't understand the logic of these fans who go, hey, I'll suspend disbelief so far. But sometimes it's just a bridge too far for me to like, you know, if you liken it to a character in a movie, right? Like, that's just not realistic that that character could beat a Marvel superhero. But I really don't understand it in the case of Sammy. Don, he's, he's not 411, okay? Like, he's not, he's not like out of shape. He's a, when you see Sammy in real life, he's a regular big dude. He's not gigantic. He's not like an insane ex athlete or something, but he's an athletic big dude. He's just interesting and smart and looks different. And the fact that people would rather close themselves off than get to enjoy someone like that because of some standard they made up to me, is just crazy.
- [48:06]
C
Now, we just had the list, which was brought to you by the Allure Group. The Allure Group where care meets compassion. Now, as you know, I am willing to. To be open to change. And if somebody were to contribute something, I think it should be acknowledged to the point where maybe I have to consider changing a portion of my list, because I just got a tweet from a listener to the show.
- [48:40]
E
I'm seeing it.
- [48:40]
C
If you're seeing it by the name of Abraham. And Abraham came up with a.
- [48:46]
F
With a.
- [48:46]
C
With a New York great hall of famer that did go to Boston. That I think has to be included. And I think removing David Cohn for this person would be proper. I'll admit I missed it, didn't think about it, but I think he deserves to be on the list, and I give Abraham a ton of credit for it.
- [49:06]
D
Okay.
- [49:07]
C
And that individual is Brian Leach.
- [49:10]
E
I just don't acknowledge his Boston time, so that's why I forgot he was.
- [49:14]
C
He ended up in Toronto, but then after Toronto, he did go to Boston. So we should acknowledge that, and I think that's bigger than David Cohn. So as a hockey fan, Anthony, would you agree that I need to make 100% okay. And we both missed it because we talked about it earlier.
- [49:30]
E
I don't acknowledge his time with.
- [49:32]
C
Oh, that's. That's how you excuse yourself from the situation.
- [49:35]
E
That's right. Exactly right.
- [49:37]
C
That's an Anthony Blake blind spot.
- [49:38]
F
Peter.
- [49:38]
D
Yes, I understand. No, you choose not to recognize it because. Disgusting.
- [49:44]
C
But for the purpose of this list, it needs to be recognized. So for moving forward, John Ratel, slash Brad Park, Darrell Revis, Bill Parcells, Tom Seaver, and Brian Leach. Because I will admit I missed that. That's bad job by me. But that's why we let our family contribute. So thank you, Abraham.
- [50:08]
D
Well, that is a fantastic job, and that's why we love our family. And I'll tell you this. You know this. With our family, I would only lead our family in the right direction. Don, you know that to be true.
- [50:19]
C
I know it as fact.
- [50:21]
D
And you know that it's the biggest stage right now. And, you know fanduel's changing the game on the biggest stage, because sometimes your player gets subbed off and your bet goes with them. Well, not anymore. Not tonight. In the big game today, brother. I did want to ask Sammy how dialed in he is. I know he's a big hockey guy, but how big? He was dialed in on teams Canada because he's from Montreal. But anyways, with FanDuel Super Sub. If your player subbed out, your bet stays in. That's right. If your player leaves the match, your bet continues on with the substitute. So you're still in it until the final whistle. All right. Visit fanduel.com local to get started Now. Let there be goals this summer on FanDuel 21 plus physically present in New York. For help with a gambling problem, call 877-0-HOPENY or text hopeny 467-369.
- [51:07]
C
Now we have more Ranger news as the Rangers very, very active today. As we told you, they got Corpusallo Bjork Strand. They also picked him up in free agency from Tampa. But Vincent Trocheck is now no longer a member of the New York Rangers. He was traded to the Utah Mammoth.
- [51:28]
A
So he was.
- [51:28]
C
He was not traded at the deadline. We knew he was going to be sent during the summer. So do you have the list of everything, Anthony? Because I'm having a little trouble with my social media that we.
- [51:40]
E
For the Trocheck piece.
- [51:41]
C
For Trocheck, Yes.
- [51:43]
E
Yeah, it was Sean Dersey who is a nice defenseman for Utah. So the Rangers defense can look much different. We're still waiting to hear about what the Marcus Pedersen deal. No, not the Pedersen that J.T. miller had a problem with in Vancouver. The defenseman that used to play for Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh. He's coming back to the Rangers as well. We don't know the return for that yet. They have a prospect. They get a prospect as well in a third round pick. I'm going to try and get the pronunciation of Cole's last name because I don't want to butcher it. But he's a 62 center. He had 88 points with Barry of the OHL last season.
- [52:13]
C
I would say Bo doing your guess
- [52:16]
E
is as good as mine. I'm going to look it up. But this is a prospect pull down. You know, that is bereft of talent and this is a. This is a nice pickup for them. I don't know if it's what everybody would have wanted for Vincent Trocheck. When you're hearing first round pick and prosper but you're getting a great defenseman, you're getting a former first round pick and you're getting a third and we'll see what they give up for Pedersen.
- [52:36]
C
So things starting to happen with the locals. So we're just trying to keep you a brush. July 1st. Nothing's happened really. Of note in the NBA. Hawk Porty went to Philadelphia. That happened a little bit earlier today. Hawk Porty so two losses for the Knicks today, but one a lot more significant than the other. That's rude, but also factual. Both could be true, obviously.
- [53:01]
B
Thanks for listening to the Don Hahn and Rosenberg podcast.
- [53:05]
D
I don't want to know how the
- [53:06]
C
sausage is made, man.
- [53:07]
B
I just want to know.
- [53:07]
G
It's good.
- [53:07]
B
Hear more of Don Allen and Peter weekday afternoon starting at 3 on 8 80, ESPN, the ESPN New York app, and your smart speakers.