Braun Strowman - SAS CLASSIC

Summary

The Steve Austin Show: Braun Strowman - SAS CLASSIC

Date: December 4, 2025
Location: Live from Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
Host: Steve Austin
Guest: Adam Scherr aka Braun Strowman

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Overview

In this special "SAS CLASSIC" episode, Steve Austin sits down for an in-depth, family-friendly conversation with Braun Strowman (Adam Scherr), one of WWE’s most imposing superstars and former strongman competitor. The episode covers Braun's upbringing, his journey through strongman competition, transition into WWE, training philosophies, diet, road life, and his early experiences as a rising star in pro wrestling.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Braun’s Background & Early Life

• Origins: Born in Sherrill's Ford, North Carolina, a small town near Charlotte.
• Physical Stature from Youth:
  • Graduated high school at 6'5" and 305 lbs (13:31).

    “I was 6'5" and 305 pounds at 17.” (13:31, Braun)

• Family & Small Town Roots:
  • Grew up without cable until 13, spent time outside lifting and doing manual labor, which he credits with building his foundational strength.

2. Path to Strongman & Feats of Strength

• Entry into Strongman:
  • Worked security in a nightclub, recruited by local strongmen (15:45).

    “They kind of just saw me there and realized that I was a big guy...asked me if I wanted to come out and give strongman a try.” (15:45, Braun)

• First Contest & Pro Card:
  • Won "Beast of the East" after just four weeks of training (23:08).
  • Became the fastest American to turn pro in strongman—about two years from first competition to pro card (23:20).
• Strongman Stats:
  • Peaked at 418 lbs before the 2012 Arnold (12:13).
  • Bench pressed 585 lbs raw (20:44).
  • Maintained 10,000+ calorie intake in strongman days (34:41).

3. Diet & Life on the Road

• Eating for Size & Performance:
  • Chipotle is his go-to on the road—a key to maintaining mass and eating clean (19:04).

    “I eat a lot of Chipotle. That's my guilty pleasure...I usually hit them three, four, five times a week.” (19:04, Braun)

  • Travels with protein bars and cookies to avoid unhealthy late-night eating (19:40).
• Adjusting Post-Strongman:
  • Current diet 5-7k calories/day; not cooking at home, prefers takeout or meal-prep services (34:52).
• On the Downsides of Extreme Size:

  "At 415 [lbs]...miserable. I had to have my girlfriend help me tie my shoes...Day to day life was not enjoyable." (12:33, Braun)

4. Transition to WWE

• Discovery & Recruitment:
  • Mark Henry introduced Adam to WWE; connection made via Canyon Seaman, WWE recruiter (39:09).
  • Process: Met recruiter in 2011, tried out in FCW (now NXT), signed in 2013 (41:30).
  • Relocation to Orlando for developmental at the WWE Performance Center.
• Initial Experience in Developmental:
  • Confidence upon entering, but quickly realized the grind and rigor (43:23).

    "I walked in very confident...but man, I tell you what, it didn’t take long to have second thoughts." (43:23, Braun)

• Amateur Wrestling Background:
  • High school record: 23-7 junior year; didn’t wrestle senior year due to academics (44:11).

5. Adapting to Sports Entertainment & the Wyatt Family

• Training Approach:
  • WWE trains all new talent on basics—bumps, rolls, running ropes—before specializing (46:36).
  • Learning discipline, bumping, building cardio (48:15).
• Being "Green" on TV:
  • Protected within the Wyatt Family; learned by observing and working with experienced talent (49:26).
• Debut & Nerves:
  • Debuted the night after SummerSlam, hiding under the ring before his appearance (53:41).

    "I was under there for like a half an hour and I’m freaking out...this is my one chance: You either do it right or you go home." (53:41, Braun)

• Evolving Role:
  • Now solo on RAW—"no one holding my chain anymore" (40:15).

6. Psychology, Character, and In-Ring Style

• Big Man Psychology:
  • Austin: The importance of making moves meaningful—don’t take silly bumps as a big man (58:11).
  • Brainstormed finishers: reverse chokeslam, arm triangle, Yokosuka cutter (62:46–63:22).
• Learning from Legends:
  • Bray Wyatt is Braun’s mentor and travel buddy—constantly giving feedback and match suggestions (64:37).
  • Watches classic big men: Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Undertaker (65:28).
• On Being a Heel vs. Babyface:
  • Prefers being a heel—gives more creative freedom (59:48).

    "I like being a heel because I like to think in real life, I’m more of a baby face...so when I get to go out there and be something that I’m really not, I think it’s kind of cool." (59:48, Braun)

  • Austin: As a heel, Braun must develop a "mean streak"; as a babyface, bring "fire" (61:36–62:14).

7. Road Life, Wear & Tear, and Goals

• Physical Toll:
  • Strongman injuries: collapsed foot arch, torn bicep, back surgery—lumbar microdiscectomy (32:29).
• Road Stories:
  • Flying coach as a 6’8” giant, challenges for him and seatmates (29:12, 29:27).
  • Laundry on the road—packing for 2 weeks even on short loops (71:33).
• Embracing the Grind:
  • Loves the road, misses it when home for too long. Sees himself in wrestling for the long haul (69:12).
  • Austin’s advice: Never say "burned out" to Vince or Triple H (70:09).
• Future Aspirations:
  • Goal: Eventually earn a WWE/Universal Title shot, but wants to be fully ready (67:15).
  • Wants to redefine the expectations of a "big man" by showcasing agility and presence.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Braun on Strongman Life at 415 lbs:

  “Miserable. I had to have my girlfriend help me tie my shoes…Day to day life was not enjoyable.” (12:33)

• On Finding His Calling in WWE:

  “Without a doubt, this is what I was put on the earth to do. There’s no way I could go back to doing any kind of a 9 to 5 job or a desk job.” (69:12, Braun)

• Steve Austin’s Advice on Being a Heel:

  “As a heel, you have to have a mean streak…when it comes time to get the heat, I mean, it’s on.” (61:36, Austin)

• Braun on Nerves Before WWE Debut:

  “I was under there for like a half an hour and I’m freaking out...this is my one chance: You either do it right or you go home.” (53:41)

• On Mentors:

  "I can't put over the fact how much of a factor Bray has been in my career...gives me matches to watch and pick through this and look at what you think about this." (64:37, Braun)

• Training Mindset:

  “When you're chasing the dream, you don't let nothing get in your way.” (22:35, Braun)

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Key Timestamps

• [11:15] – Interview begins at Honda Center, Intro to Braun
• [12:13–12:33] – Braun’s size, weight, and the challenges of being 415 lbs
• [15:45–16:45] – First step into strongman via nightclub security
• [20:44–21:11] – Bench press records, training with Mark Bell’s Slingshot
• [23:08–24:02] – Turning pro in strongman, "fastest American" to do so
• [29:12–30:16] – Flying coach as a giant, funny travel anecdotes
• [32:29] – Back surgery and recovering with WWE’s help
• [34:41–35:25] – Diet during strongman days: 12-13,000 calories
• [39:09–41:30] – Mark Henry’s influence, initial WWE recruitment process
• [46:36–47:13] – WWE developmental training, big man adaptation
• [49:26–50:47] – Being protected as a rookie in the Wyatt Family
• [53:41] – Braun’s nerves and mindset before Monday Night Raw debut
• [62:46–63:22] – Discussion of finishing and signature moves
• [65:28] – Big man inspirations: Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen, Undertaker
• [67:15] – Career aspirations: titles, skill development
• [69:12] – Embracing wrestling and road life
• [70:09] – Austin’s advice: Don't say "burned out" to management
• [72:49] – Closing remarks and mutual respect

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Conclusion

This episode provides rare insight into Braun Strowman’s transformation from a "country strong" kid to world-class strongman, and finally, to WWE’s next-generation powerhouse. The conversation is candid, full of road wisdom, big-man psychology, and wrestling philosophy, delivered with Steve Austin’s trademark humor and directness. Braun emerges as humble, motivated, and self-aware, determined to carve his own legacy in WWE while honoring the craft and paying respect to those who came before him.

Whether you’re a pro wrestling fan, a strength sports enthusiast, or simply love hearing stories of grit and transformation—this episode delivers the goods.

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Transcript

[Steve Austin]

The following Program is a podcast ONE.com production from Hollywood, California, by way of the Broken Skull Ranch. This is the Steve Austin Show.

Give me a Hell yeah. Hell yeah.

Now here's Steve Austin.

All right, everybody. Welcome to Steve Austin Show. I'm coming to you from the main streets, Los Angeles, California. I'm pacing around my office here at 316 Gimmick Street. It's early in the morning right now. As I record this open, it is 10 minutes till 9am I didn't sleep a wink last night. I don't know what it was, but I was just tossing and turning. I probably slept for about two hours. So when my alarm clock went off at 6am this morning, man, I got my ass out of bed and started guzzling coffee and took my alpha brain. It's a big day for the kid here. I've got a real busy day. What I'm going to do today is right now, as I speak in here in the office, recording this open. I'll send this down to Stacy in Beverly Hills 90210 where she puts the show together. And my wife is in there pounding out some chicken breasts for me, putting all my meals together for me for the day. I've got a lot of business to take care of. The eating program is starting to fall in place. I think I've got my nutritional values where they need to be. I'm starting to see a few results, starting to tighten up a little bit and. And I really started to focus on my weight training. And by focus on my weight training, I mean that by. I'm always in a hurry. So sometimes before I blew up my rotator cuff, I would rush in the gym, just go in there, slam some weights around and get out and not pay attention to details. But now that I've been given the green light to start back with the weights on my right side, very, very lightweight, I might add, I'm taking it in a whole different level and it's kind of made me apprec a lot more of the bodybuilding style of training. I guess I could say that I trained like a bodybuilder during my active career because I wasn't training like a powerlifter. I never considered myself a bodybuilder because I didn't have that type of physique. But I would just, you know, five sets of 10, five sets of 10, four sets of eight, and that might be chest. Well, I'm kind of still doing that now, although even higher reps because I'm training with one arm and Then when I switch to that bad arm with the rotator cuff and a bicep reattachment, I'm training with baby weights in very slow fashion with no explosion. And it's basically German volume training, trying to get some blood in that injured area, into that tricep and that bicep, which have had no activity in about three and a half months. So I've got a lot of atrophy going on. So the thing about my tricep workout is I can't really do. One of my favorite tri exercises is lying skull crushers with an easy curl bar or standing tricep extensions with a cambered curl bar. Those are two of my go to exercises right now. Because those two exercises put my shoulder, my rotator cuff, in a compromised position. I'm really stuck for tricep workouts to just stick with tricep push downs and tricep kickbacks. And the thing about those two exercises are those are known more as shaping exercises, more so than a size building exercise. But that's all I've got to work with. And on that tricep kickback, due to the fact that my right arm doesn't straighten out entirely, I'm not getting a whole lot of emphasis on that try because of the calcium built up in my elbow joint to finally kick that thing in at the far extension to get it fired up. So anyway, I'm taking my time in the gym and doing less cardio, but more weight training. And it's starting to pay off for me. Things are starting to pick up. So once I come full cycle out of this injury and I get the green light to start really employing some heavier weights, that's when I'll shift my training into kind of just focusing more on the body parts. And it was like I've read all these years, visualizing the muscle, feeling the muscle. And that's what I've started to do and it's starting to pay off for me. So any of you guys out there that are just going to the gym, slamming weights and just not paying attention to anything, if you're in there gabbing with your buddies, got your music cranked up, hey man, focus on your muscle groups. I'm starting to do that. And man, seeing this, believing and doing it, going in there and just being prepared to spend as much time as I need to to get my work done has been paramount as well. And hey man, I can throw a little bit of shout out to my buddy C T Fletch over at Iron Addicts gym. He Said he had a low tolerance for sissies. I dig it. C. And it's taken my motivation to another level. So it was a good conversation we had the other day on the Unleashed show. I'm headed down to Anaheim, California today and I was on YouTube the other day. I spent a good amount of time on YouTube just looking for things to watch because some of television's offerings aren't that great. And, man, I came across some footage of a young man named Adam Shear. And he's a strongman competitor. And he's not just any Strongman competitor. This guy is 6, 8 at the time, he's about 415 pounds. I said, man, that dude looks real familiar. Well, turns out the guy I was looking at was Braun Strowman, the latest addition of the Wyatt family. So I said, man, he was cutting promos and talking to the people at the Arnold and talking at the Strongman competitions, doing these interviews. And I said, man, this guy can talk his ass off. And I've been intrigued watching his journey into the world of professional wrestling coming out of the Strongman competition. So, man, I put the word on the street that I sure would like to talk to that guy and spend about an hour with him and talk about training, talk about nutrition, talk about life on the road, getting away from the strongman world, entering the world of sports entertainment, and how he had taken to the psychology of the business and where he feels he's at. So I set it up and I'm heading down there to Anaheim. He's going to be my first guest. I'll interview, and then I'm going to get a chance to talk to the one and only Pat Patterson. Now, for many younger people may not know, Pat Patterson is one of the best finished guys in the history of the business when it comes to matches. Just as far as laying out an entire match, he's fantastic. And Pat just wrote a book called Accepted about his life and the business of professional wrestling. And I read the book and it's absolutely phenomenal and I high it to everybody. It's a great read. I think what I'll try to accomplish with Pat is kind of stick to some of the wrestling stuff, because what interests me is Pat was always a creative person from the get go. Early on in life in Montreal, growing up very poor with 11 people in his family in a two bedroom condo. So he didn't have anything handed to him. He earned everything the hard way. And he saw his first professional wrestling match, and I'll get that story from Pat and just From a self described creative guy who was always looking for an audience, found his way into the business of professional wrestling and all these years later paid so many dues, paved so many roads for guys like me and guys before me and guys that I paved the road for. So I want to get inside Pat's head, ask him questions about his education process as it pertained to drawing money. Pat Patterson worked with some of the baddest promoters, I mean bad, I mean smart promoters in the business. Going back to when he was working in Portland for Don Owens, when he went over to work in San Francisco with legendary Roy Scheyer, spent some time down there in Texas, pass through Oklahoma, worked with Leroy McGurk who was a blind promoter. That's going to be very interesting. He spent some time down there with Eddie Graham in Florida. Of course he started working for Vince Sr. There's going to be some interesting stories there as you compare the vision of Vince Jr. With Vince Sr. And his relationship with that family. He's had an incredible run and is highly respected by everybody in the business and by his own right. In his own right, had a hellacious career as part of the Blonde Bombers with the legendary Ray Stevens in the San Francisco territory. We're going to talk about getting some heat over at the Cal palace back in the day. Man, those guys were so hot, those people would get so mad. His life was actually in danger. I remembered working the Cal palace way back in the day, in the 90s. That building was built in about 1941 and it was the original home of what is now the Golden State Warriors. So anyway, I'm going to talk to Pat about his days there. Some stories about getting heat, some of the famous things that promoters said to him that stick out to me and resonate with me as I kind of take my look on the business and you get a chance to talk with a guy who's been around longer than me and saw more and worked for different promotions back when it was a total territory system. I'm looking forward to talking to Pat and then of course, Man Live tonight on tv. Well, live yesterday on tv. As you hear this, I'm going to talk to the one and only Dean Ambrose, WWE Heavyweight Champion. I don't know if I said that right. They got so many different names for those belts. But I'm looking forward to talking to Dean. I didn't know a whole lot about the guy other than I liked him. And every time I've gone up to a show, got a chance to talk to him, he's a good dude, he's fun to talk to but man, this guy has really paid a lot of dues in his business and he came up, you know, with a hard life out on the streets. Cincinnati, Ohio, where my old partner Brian Pillman came from. But anyway, let's get on with the show.

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[Steve Austin]

Alright, I'm sitting here at the Honda center out here in Anaheim, California. Hell, it's 11:40. I got one of the biggest, baddest, strongest cats walking planet Earth sitting right beside me. His name is Braun Strowman. He was the latest addition to the Wyatt family. Braun, let me shake your hand, you big bastard. We're going to do this family friendly, so let's watch the four letter words.

Yes sir.

How are you?

I'm doing great, Steve. Thanks for having me on the show, man. You know.

Hey, so I'll tell you what, I was at the house last night and I've been doing research. I'm talking to Pat Patterson today and I'm gonna talk to Dean Ambrose on the network and I was just perusing on youtubes and I started looking around cause I'm always looking at strength stuff for motivation and just see what guys are doing. And I saw this big strong cat named Adam Shear picking up all kinds of weight. That's your name, correct?

Yes sir.

Is that how you say it? Adam Share Adam Sher God dang dude, at the time you're doing some of these interviews you were, you're still 6, 8 at the time you're weighing about 415, 420?

Yes sir. About my biggest I ever weighed in was 418 when I weighed in right before the Arnold in 2012.

Dude, holy smokes. What are you, what are you weighing right now as we sit here and talk?

Right now I'm probably walking around 375ish. 380 probably, if I had to guess I don't really know. My body weight fluctuates 10 to 15 pounds a day, depending on what I eat.

How did you feel at 4:15?

Miserable. I had to have my girlfriend help me tie my shoes and just day to day life was not enjoyable. Getting in and out of cars and finding clothes to fit and feeding myself. It was a job just to be that big.

Dude, that's one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you about eating on the road and your feats of strength. I don't even know where you're from. Where do you live?

I was born In Sherrill's Ford, North Carolina, a little town maybe 45 minutes outside of Charlotte. Right now I live in Orlando where I moved to start training with the wwe, the performance center down there. So I'm still in there. Airport's nice, I don't mind it. So I'm sticking around down there for a little bit.

That's a good place to be. I mean we just had some big time tragedy over there with the shooting and stuff like that. But just as far as the location with airport, it's a great place to be based out of, especially with proximity to that training center. But before we get into the wrestling talk, let's go back a little bit to when you were a kid. Because dude, at six eight, you know, 375, were you a big kid from the get go?

I graduated high school when I was 17 years old and I was 65 and 305 pounds at 17.

Dude, the football coach probably had his mouth drooling. Did you play college football? High school football.

I played high school football two years. My first two years of high school I, I didn't really do my grades like I should have, so they wouldn't let me play football. And that kind of led to me not playing in college. I played semi pro ball for four years in North Carolina after high school and stuff like that. And I did NFL combine in 2007 and had pretty good numbers. But with the out the college experience, I couldn't really get anybody NFL wise to look at me. I had some arena offers and stuff and just nothing that I really wanted to pursue anymore in the football.

And that's the thing for a guy that's as big as you and obviously you understand leverage from a weightlifting standpoint because that's a big part, part of the battle along with the strength aspect of it. But as big and strong as you are, and going back to when Brock Lesnar tried out from Minnesota, big strong guy, but with A lack of technique, you know, other guys got the advantage.

Yep, yeah, that's. I mean that's with everything I guess in live union with strongman everything there's so many little technical things behind the scenes that people don't realize what it takes to get to that upper echelon of the athletes and stuff.

So what were you doing with your training coming up in junior high and high school? Were you already putting up stupid numbers back then?

Not really. My dad wouldn't let me lift weights till I was like 16 or 17 because this whole I guess the old wives tale of it'll stunt your growth or this and that or hurt you. I really didn't have any opportunities to do it. We had weightlifting and stuff in phy ed in high school, but no coaches that knew what was going on, anything like that. So kind of through high school I tried to do the. I lifted and things like that. I think maybe in high school like I'd probably be so like £300 or something like that. Maybe squatted the same. Nothing, nothing crazy back then but you.

Know, back, back in the day I was always a big fan of the power lifting USA magazine and probably has since disappeared. Of course I was in all the muscle mags, dude, with looking at you now I would just assume that was consume your life from, from all the way back in high school. When did you decide, hey, I'm one big strong ass son of a gun, I'm gonna start taking this serious and start doing the strongman stuff.

I was working security at a nightclub in Charlotte north and I actually ran into a fellow strawman who's a professional strawman at the time that was working at another bar named Brad Dunn and David Hansen, actually another guy too. And they kind of just saw me there and realized that I was a big guy and everything. And they asked me what I did and I was like, well right now I'm kind of just doing life and you know, just working this security thing, enjoying life and trying to figure out what I wanted to do. And they asked me if I wanted to come out and give strongman a try. And lo and behold, like a week later I came and gave it a go. And I fell in love with it instantly. And just things kind of clicked for me. I always, I can remember growing up not lifting weights and things like that, but when it came to doing things out in nature, I guess that's where the whole, I guess the thing the country strong. Is that what I've always called myself that farmer strong. Like when it Comes to just weird things. I don't know, picking up rocks and hay bales and this. I think that's what my body was built for, dude.

What kind of skills did you have as a security guard? Because a lot of guys might be in the crowd maga, they might know a couple of arm locks or some wrist stuff, some control things. I'm guessing you were just straight up intimidation. Unless you have some skills that I don't know about.

I got little things hid back in the pockets here and there from previous experience in life. But nah, my thing with security was I got into doing security because I like to go out. But the whole time that I did strawman, I never drank or anything like that. Just because I was so worried about focusing on what I was going to do down the road and how if alcohol would prohibit what I wanted to do. So I didn't drink. But I like to go out. So I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone. I can go out, get paid and.

Be out and do it.

So that's what got me into the bouncing stuff. But I think like mainly my thing was. I guess I don't know if it was the intimidation or the fact that I could talk most people out of doing something silly.

Well, that was one of the things I wanted to talk to you about because I see talking. It was probably at the. It might have been Arnold. I think it was when you tweaked your arm, you were talking about the six pack backpack. Did you carry all your meals in?

Yep.

And I said, man, this guy can talk. Silver tongue devil. So you can talk your way out a lot of situations, which maybe not everybody. And you know, no offense, but I didn't expect that out of you.

Yeah, yeah. I think a lot of people are. It throws people off a little bit when they hear me speak because especially like with my TV character with Braun Strowman and things like that, I'm don't really say too much is more action, less talking. And in life I'm kind of the same way. I go about keeping myself, for the most part, pick and choose who I open up to and who I want to speak to. But if I get talking, it's hard to shut me up.

And that's good because we're doing a podcast.

Your diet. You were talking to that young lady at the expo. It might have been Arnold. And I'm trying to imagine because I'm sitting there trying to get back in shape for my rotator cuff injury. You're sitting there like a brick house at 375. Is there anything specifically that you have to eat? Because now that you've left the world of strongman and you are WWE Superstar and you know how tough this life is now.

How long you been on the road coming up here? The. The Monday Night Raw after SummerSlam is when I debuted last year. So we're coming up on a year right now. In the next, what, two weeks?

Okay, yeah. So. So what are you eating on the road to maintain 375?

I eat a lot of Chipotle. That's my guilty pleasure when it comes to food because I guess they advertise they're organic and the price ain't bad for how much that I got to eat. So it usually works out. I usually hit them three, four, five times a week when I'm out doing that. And then it gets tough. I mean, you know, late at night, there ain't a whole lot of options. So, I mean, it's load up on. Usually when I land in a town, first place I go, it's like a vitamin shop and go straight load up on protein bars and little cookies and snack things like that so I don't have to be a fat pig and eat whatever at the gas station at 2 o' clock in the morning while I'm making towns.

Do you have to worry about, you know, what kind of food you're taking in? Because obviously you have great genetics, but I mean, if you ate garbage, would you get fat?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I tried more so now because I probably. I don't burn as many calories working out as much anymore because I don't go as crazy. Crazy. Now, my normal gym's about an hour, hour and a half, and that's doing 20 minutes of cardio in there.

Go back to the start of the strength man days. When you started training with that guy, what did you focus on? I mean, were you doing heavy deadlifts, squats and bench? Because I know the power lifts, but did you use those along with everything else that the strongmen do?

Yeah, yeah.

What were your totals? What were numbers you were throwing up?

Well, yeah, yeah, we focused on a lot of the three lifts, but instead of more of like the bench presence aspect, I think it was more the cleaning press overhead. Because with installment, there's no bench press events anymore. At least that I know of.

But yeah, but those are just kind of staples that guys kind of.

Yeah, yeah.

This is the benchmark.

You might not be a power lifter, but. Yeah. How much you bench is always kind of in the equation.

Yeah. The most I ever did was 585 in training.

Was that raw?

That was raw.

That must damn good lift.

And I never really did a lot of cr. I like doing a lot of close grip stuff. I remember one time, good friend of mine, I don't know if you know Mark Bell, he makes that slingshot.

He was just. He's on my podcast now, next Thursday. Yeah, I love the slingshot.

Me too. That's what I said. Save my elbows and stuff like that. The best I ever did with one of Those, I did 525 for 7 on close grip bench press with a slingshot on, dude.

And that's what I like about that thing because I'll go, you know, I'll get my heavy reps in before I mess up my rotator cuff on. I'll throw on that slingshot and put something on there. I'm always training by myself down at the ranch, so, man, it's something that will help me get a few extra reps in. If you're wondering what we're talking about, go to howmuchebench.com or supertraining TV and you can check out the slingshot. It's an invention by Mark Bell. Have you ever worn a bench shirt?

I tried one on one time and I couldn't get £500 to touch my chest in it.

Dude, I think I'd have been so tight. It takes like 10 guys to pull it off.

It was crazy. I took it off. I looked like a tiger with just bruises all over me, striped bruises.

But that's what I like about the slingshot because it just gives you a little bit of assistance these days. I just think sometimes things are over equipped. And so it seems like in talking with Mark Bell, he's going for a new bench press PR and he's going to do it raw. And so raw is coming back in vogue. And I like to see that because for a while the bench shirts were so thick. It's like, man, it's adding a couple of hundred pounds to the lift. So really, what is the lift? Yeah, so talk to me about the strongman stuff. Is it the Atlas stones? What kind of training protocol were you in on a day in, day out basis? Because a lot of the stuff I saw you doing, man, you're pushing prowlers, you're doing viking presses and stuff like that. But what about the poles and all the other stuff?

A lot of the stuff. When I got to a contest, it was the first time I ever got to put My hands on it. So, like, where I grew up, like, I would to train events like Atlas Stones and stuff like that. For the first year that I got into Stroman, I had to drive two hours one way just to get in. And I would only train events one day a week on Sundays. And that's also on top of I worked a regular job. I worked 60 hours a week, then I worked three nights a week doing security and then would get up and go down there to train. When you're chasing the dream, you don't let nothing get in your way.

So how long did you do the Strongman? Because I know WWE came calling.

Yeah, my first contest was in September of 2009. I trained maybe like four weeks for it. And I won my first contest. It was the Beast of the East.

Nationals qualifier in South Carolina. I'll never forget, like, being out there and not knowing what I was really getting myself into and seeing these guys that I got to compete against, and it really. It opened my eyes because I thought I was a really a strong guy. And once I got into competing this and started meeting these athletes from all around the country, then the guys from all around the world, man, it's insane. The human beings that walk this earth out there. And just to where I started, I think I still am. I'm not sure if I am or not. I'm the fastest American to ever start strongman and turn pro. And I started in September of 2009, and I got my pro card in November of 2011.

And that's the question. What does it take to get a pro card in strongman?

Usually they have a nationals event every year, which is North America's Strongest man. And then. And I think they have three or four other opportunities a year, so there's only maybe four or five spots a year for guys to step up into that next level. And that's why, I mean, Strawman opened up so many doors for me. Got to travel around the country on, you know, my own dime for two years doing all this, just a guy with a dream. And then I qualified for Nationals 2011. And like, I knew, like, going in this is going to be tough because the competition there was a lot of really, really good guys and stuff. A late, great friend of mine, Mike Jenkins and stuff. Like, just guys that were.

The next level, the future stars, the new Magnus for Magnussens, the Morris Pujianowskis, guys that are going to go on to be etched in stone for the rest of their lives for what they do. So just, yeah, big Revolving door of everything I'm saying, man, it's just. I won nationals 2011. It gave me the opportunity to compete at the Arnold Amateur World championship show in 2012, where I represented the United States against, I think it was 52 other athletes from 19 different countries. And we had seven events. I won five of these seven events at the Arnold that year because I came in fired up, ready to go for that one.

Tell me about the nerves going into a strongman competition because here in a minute I'm going to shift gears and we will talk about wrestling because that's a whole different crowd. And some of the stuff that I watched you do, I think it was Atlas Stone. Y' all were just dropping them over a certain level high. However many stones you drop was your tally for time. And, dude, the other guy starts to have a little bit of a hard time with respect to him. Will you start hamming it up, working the crowd? Are you nervous before a strongman contest to get back and make it a simple question?

Yeah, at first I was really nervous because I had flaws in my game and things that I knew I was going to be weak at and that they would always make me nervous because I knew I had had to make it up somewhere else. And then as I got further along, more educated in the sport and then obviously became stronger in it, I started honing out those weaknesses. And it's kind of just sitting in the back, headphones in, just some kind of good tune in the head, and just trying to stay calm as long as possible as you can to keep all that basically adrenaline, everything bottled up. And then when it's time to hit your lift, you flip that switch and you go out there and you just let it out.

I'm a music guy, so what kind of music would you do to keep you calm, but get you in a state of mind you needed to be?

Sometimes I would do classical stuff, sit and listen to Mozart. Not always even music, necessarily. I'm a huge Vince Lombardi fan, so I would listen to his speeches and stuff like that. And I mean, I'm giving myself goosebumps right now thinking about just different things. Probably go to is Metallica. I mean, just Metallica, Corn, Marilyn Manson. Just the heavy stuff. Right before I go, that's when I'm hitting that switch with something heavier. And then, I don't know, the classic Skynyrd and Zeppelin and just things that I grew up listening to. That puts me in a happy place and just lets me relax.

What does it take to be a good, strongman obviously you have to be genetically inclined. If you don't have the gifts, if you don't have the leverage, you can do it, you can participate, but you're probably not going to succeed. On an intellectual level, how paramount is the training to train smart with the guys that you, you learn from as like a power lifter would follow a specific cycle for the three lifts the total like what, what is the scientific approach or is there to the Strongman Games?

See with the Strongman Games usually they would have given us it depends what the contest, who promoters are. They give us a few weeks notice of what the events are going to be so we can hone it up. Otherwise it's year round training 20 or 30 different events all the time because you don't know what they're doing. Going to throw at you some contest. Like I, my first big international contest, I went to Poland to represent the United States and got there and had no idea what any of the events were, what the weights on anything was, the language barriers there, trying to communicate, figure out what's going on. So it's just that kind of just being good at everything. I mean I don't really know like when it came to I didn't have to train as much on like the moving event stuff. That came really natural to me talking to that, that farmer country strong when it came to like grip strength and just moving around yoke walks on my back. That all came real natural to me. The struggle for me and I think being because I'm six, eight was all the overhead press and stuff I've got. Whereas like guys that are six foot tall, I got to move it six, eight inches further than those guys do every lift.

So dude, here's the wrestling question. We're gonna go right back into the strongman stuff. 68375. Right now here's the thing, when you work for this company, Vince McMahon, it's very hard to get first class. Usually you do it when you're a top guy and then kind of when you get it, you're tenured, you always have it. You're 683-75- I'm repeating one more time just because of. You've got to imagine how big this guy is when he's standing next to you or sitting next to you. Do you fly first class as your big ass flying coach?

I'm in coach.

I don't have any clout yet. I'm hoping to get there.

Do they buy you two seats in coach? No, dude, here's the thing man. And that, first of all, is torture on you. I think it's hard on the person sitting next to you.

Yeah, I definitely. Sometimes I feel bad. Flying into LA yesterday from Orlando, I got lucky. There was a girl that maybe was 51 and 90 pounds sitting beside me. So she kind of just scooted over to the other side of her seat and we both got along comfortably.

Back in the day, dude, I'd get on a flight and I'd be back here, you know, whatever, and I could spot there'd be, like, you said the 5:1 chick that weighed about like 90, 100 pounds, and that would be great. But then there's always some big dude that was like 350 and he wasn't really in good shape. And I thought, I guarantee you my luck of the draw, he's gonna be sitting right next to me in the aisle. And I was right 95% of the time. And as soon as they sit down, I always bust on him. I said, dude, I was hoping for the five one chick.

Yeah, yeah, that's me holding my breath. Fingers crossed, like, who's coming? And I'm sure everyone feels the same way. When I come walking on the plane, they're like, oh, God, please don't sit next to me.

Please don't let that guy be sitting next to me. One time I was on a plane with Dusty Rhodes, the late, great, one and only Dusty Rhodes, national treasure. And Dusty was kind of just kind of, you know, in my seat as well. I was about 250 at the time. And I finally looked over at Dusty, who I loved and respected. I said, dusty, could you please stay in your own seat?

This seat's for me.

We got a good laugh about that. That back to the strongman stuff. I'm not asking for number figures. Can you make a living being a professional strongman, traveling all over the world? I know that's going to come from sponsorships. Yeah. Primarily because I don't. I don't imagine the winnings are a whole lot.

Yeah, a few of the contests, the money's pretty decent. At Arnold Classic, I believe it might be up to close to $100,000 now for the Arnold. But you're talking one, the Chances, just getting invited. They only invite 10 guys from the entire world to it. And then two, it's the 10 strongest human beings on the face of the earth. I mean, yeah, I competed once at the Arnold Pro and tore my bicep on the first event. It's just. It's a gruel at that level. Dr. Terry Todd, who Puts on the Arnold Classic. He wants to see what the human body is capable of. And every year, everything the bars raised, the guys keep meeting the bar and pushing it up higher and higher and higher. And it's crazy to see where the sports come from. From where I started to where it is now. Like when I started the Sport doing a 400 pound log cleaning, press overhead. Well, heck, there was only three guys in the world going to do it. Well, now that's. If you can't do £400, you're taking a stick to a gunfight.

Right?

So it's just, I mean, but that's the evolution of all sports. I mean, football, basketball, baseball, everything.

Things Bigger, faster, stronger, as we speak now. What are you, 31 years old?

32.

You're 32 years old, so man, you're still a pup. You got plenty of miles in you. How much wear and tear did the strongman stuff take on your body?

It definitely took a toll on me. Collapsed arch my right foot, torn bicep.

I'm sure it had to help do with the back surgery that I had to have what, a year and a half ago.

What did you have done?

Lumbar microdiscectomy on my L5S1. It was pinched off my siding nerve, paralyzed my left leg. Had to WWE great company. Last minute rush emergency flew me out to Pittsburgh to see Dr. Maroon. Had emergency surgery on me. He said like 5 o' clock Saturday morning. Woke up hour and a half after the surgery and could walk. We got pushed into the hospital in a wheelchair.

Dude, where you get most of your clothes?

A lot of my clothes. A good friend of mine has a clothing company, Silverback Crew. And he, he's been, he was a sponsor of mine when I did strawman. We came, got to be really good friends. And he still sends me clothes because I mean, he specifies in making stuff for bigger people. So a lot of that.

I don't know if you know Rob Bailey. He's a good friend of mine, owns Flag Nor Fail clothing.

His wife is Dana Lynch. Dana Lincoln.

Yeah.

Yeah. One of the top dog.

Yeah, she's badass. Oh yeah.

Unbelievable. Yeah. Top physique women in the world.

Yeah. And yeah, she grinds it out. I mean, boy, she goes to the gym. She goes to the gym.

It's an. It's. She would bury me in the gym. It's crazy.

I watched a lot of her training videos. She's awesome.

Yeah.

So y' all are hooked up? What do you think? You got a girlfriend?

Yeah.

Okay, what's home life, like for you, six, eight, your way. Eating. I mean, do you cook? Is she cooking all the time? Y' all eat out all the time? Because this is. Dude, you know the schedule. You're down in Orlando when you're. When you're home, but you're out on the road and so you're doing a Chipotle, whatever thing. Probably Waffle House, ihop, Denny's. Try to eat clean. And you can eat clean at those places. And that being said, I was talking to someone about eating clean the other day. Dude, if you gotta roll through Burger King or Wendy's or McDonald's, whatever, just eat. Eat the meat and throw away everything else. I mean, you got to do what you got to do, but you're at home. So what are y' all eating at the crib? And is she cooking all this food for you? Because can you estimate. People get mad at me for making these long questions. Can you estimate how many calories a day you eat?

I used to try and keep track of it. It's not as much as it used to be. Like, I had a nutritionist when I did Strawman, and my goal was 10, 50 grams of protein a day. A thousand grams of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates. And we're talking.

Did I say a thousand calories out there?

Yeah, that's what I said. We were talking 12, 13,000 calories with the fats and everything.

But that makes sense, too. What would you figure you're at right now? Ballpark guess.

If I had to guess right now, I probably still say I do between five and seven.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay. Is she cooking all the time or you cook?

I. It's terrible to admit, but I haven't turned my stove on since I went on the road.

Ain't nothing wrong with that, brother. That's called an improvise and overcoming and adapting and learning.

I mean, last thing I want to do when I get home is go to the grocery store, cook, do dishes, this and that, and by the time for what it takes for me to eat and have a meal, by the time I go buy it, cook it, everything I can pay somebody to do it for the same price, and I don't have to do the dishes.

Amen. And use it as a write off, right?

Yeah.

Okay. Save your money, kid, and use your receipts. Before we start talking about a little bit of restaurants, before I take a break here, I want to ask you a question because I was on YouTube and I saw a trailer, a teaser for a movie, the Name of the movie escapes me. Smart me up about this.

Oh, that's. Actually, I did that right after I won the Arnold Amateur. The movie's called Three Count. And what's so ironic about it to me is that it's a movie about two brothers aspiring to be professional wrestlers. And this is before I had any idea that I was ever gonna get involved in this company. So it was, it's kind of ironic to me that I played a, I guess a good guy kind of bad guy, ish. In that movie that was about wrestling. And lo and behold, four years later, here I am doing Stone Cold podcast backstage at the Honda center in Anaheim.

Okay, whose idea was the movie? Do you have aspirations of getting in front of, you know, the silver screen or on television?

Yeah, yeah.

Other than wrestling.

Other. I mean, I love the wrestling. The aspect of walking out in the place going nuts. I mean, it's a special feeling. I mean there's, I've done a lot of things in this life that I've lived so far, but man, walking out, especially being part of the Wyatt family, like coming out at WrestleMania and a hundred thousand plus people with their lights on, on their phone, it was breathtaking. And that's one of those moments. I was glad that I got to wear a mask because I'm just marking out, walking out there like a six year old old, just going, wow, these people are here to see us and it's just special.

So before we take a break and segue into wwe, let's talk about the recruitment process. So how did WWE start getting into contact with you? Were you an avid wrestling fan prior to them calling you avid?

Through the attitude error all through up into the. When everything, the Monday night war started ending. Until 2001, 2000, 2002, when I graduated high school, I started to fall off a little bit. But all through high school, God, I can remember so many times getting kicked in the nuts and stunned in the hallways, walking around and just going.

Just playing. Yeah, playing wrestling like kids. And it's just. And I can think back to when I was a young, young kid. My cousin, Huge, still is a huge wrestling fan and just, we didn't have cable or anything. I grew up out in the middle of nowhere. We didn't have cable in my house till I, I was 13. So there wasn't a lot of opportunities to watch any wrestling. I can remember going to his house and he had the slam buddies and everything. And it was just wrestling, wrestle, wrestling. Crazy, crazy, crazy. But then, yeah, I got a little bit older and it kind of fell off there because I just went. Went with life and just started. Went to college and this and that, and I just.

But never thought in many years you'd end up being wrestling.

Yeah, that's the thing. We were talking to somebody the other day and it was just. It was because my first action figure just dropped and somebody was talking, talking to me about my action figure. And I was like, man, you could have told me, hell, not even you, God could open the skies 10 years ago and go, Adam, in 10 years, you're going to be a WWE Superstar and you're going to have an action figure. And I'd probably had to look the good Lord in his face and tell him he's full of crap, because I never in a million years thought this would end up panning out like this.

Back in the day, when you wanted to get a job with wrestling, company promotion, whatever, you'd make a videotape or I guess back in the day, then they started making DVDs or whatever. That was old school prior to that, a phone call, you didn't do any of that. Through the recruitment of wwe, man, they're trying to look in all aspects, different sports. A lot of amateur wrestlers, college football players or pro football players who couldn't quite make the grade but were premier athletes. And now were they looking in the strongman world. Hey, this dude might have something. Let's call him.

Yeah, Mark Henry is who turned the company on to me. Mark and I got to be good friends after my. I did Arnold was my actual. My third ever strongman contest I did to Arnold in 2010, and I met Mark there for the first time. And I've been a big fan of it through his wrestling career, his strength feats and everything like that. And we got to talking and Mark turned Canyon Seaman onto me and said, hey, you need to watch this guy. He's not like all the other strawmen. Because I took pleasure in going out there and hamming it up, getting the crowd involved. Whereas a lot of the guys that go out there, I picked this up and put it down and then they turn around and go in the back. Not me, man. The louder the people got, the stronger I got, the adrenaline gets going and I'm having fun. They're having fun. And I think that that was one of the big things that, that, that. That drew WWE to me is seeing the fact that I enjoy going out and entertaining and that I am basically an attention right now.

I, I haven't been too in touch with what's going on on television. I will be tonight. I'm doing a podcast out of here. Are. Are y' all still running heel or have y' all switched, baby, Right now.

I am not with the Wyatt family at all anymore, okay? They've dragged the entire. All three of the other brothers are on smackdown. I've come to raw. They're wanting to change my look. New music, new hairdo. Still, same big bad brawn, but with what direction? Right now, I'm kind of just running rampant because I don't have anyone that's holding my chain anymore. Bray Wyatt's gone. He was my leader. I followed him. Now, you know, the door is open, and who knows what's gonna happen?

Man, that's a good place to take a break. I'm coming right back. I'm talking to Braun Strowman here at the Honda center in Anaheim. He's fixing to go out, probably crush some poor human being in the middle of a squared circle. I will be talking to Dean Ambrose. You will hear this today after this happens, but Braun Strowman is my guest. I'm coming right back after this.

The Steve Austin Show. Steve Austin show.

All right, here we go. Back in conversation with Braun Strowman. With the Honda center kicking back, it's a big day for me. I got a lot of people to talk to. I'm happy to be talking to one of the strongest human beings I've ever talked to. Mark Henry is your connection. He puts you in touch or WWE in touch with you. How do the talks go? How long of a process is this before they say, hey, we think you'd be a good fit for us? And vice versa?

So I Met Canyon Seaman, September 2011. I was at World's Strongest man, actually, right up the road from here at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles here. And it was pretty short and sweet. It wasn't. It was basically, I'm Canyon. I'm a recruiter for wwe. You know, Mark, blah, blah, blah, blah. Here's my card, if you'd ever be interested, giving me a call. And I was like, okay, thank you. And I went about. I was an alternate that year. So I basically was out there. They had me testing all the events, doing everything and making sure that everything was going to run right. So I knew I wanted. I was going to compete in Arnold in 2013. So I got in contact with Canyon and said, yeah, hey, I'm definitely interested. I want to do one more strongman contest and whatnot. So I met them in September. They brought me down December 2012 to the it was the FCW Arena, I guess it would be where developmental wasn't for a while in Tampa and went down and had me run the ropes and just move around and cut a promo and just kind of feel me out and see what I had to offer, I guess in a couple days, period. Well, lo and behold, I guess they like what they saw because they signed me. Let's see, I signed May of 2013. So I did my the Arnold Classic and then had a couple months off and then signed, moved to Orlando July, actually moved to Orlando July 4, 2013 and started July 7.

So what was your feelings rolling in there? I mean you're in the world class level of strongman and now you're in the developmental system of wwe. Obviously when you walk in you're going to turn heads. How did you feel? Were you confident? Were you nervous? I mean, because this is a big, this is a big, big gamble and this is not near. I don't know how it looks to people at home if they think it's easy, but it's anything but in my opinion. Totally. How did you feel? What was your confidence level?

I walked in very confident with knowing that I had a lot to offer and that I knew that there's not a lot of people built like me, personality like me, everything like me. So I walked in with that. But man, I tell you what, it didn't take long to have second thoughts, man, there was days going in and it's like because they want to make sure you want it, you're going to earn it, they ain't giving you nothing here. And I'm more than happy with that because everything I've had in my life, I ain't ever had nothing given to me. I've busted my ass for everything that I've got in this life. So it's just another thing you and I knew that coming in. I'm starting from the bottom. I had zero. I wrestled in high school but other than that I have zero sports entertainment background in me other than hamming it up here and there on a strawman stage.

Now how did you do in wrestling?

Amateur my senior or my junior year in high school was my last year I wrestled. I was 23 and like 7 and then got hurt in regionals my senior year. I didn't wrestle because fixing my grade situation that I didn't like to do for a while I had to go to night school and that happened during wrestling season.

But I'm imagining you were more of a strength guy and being Able to overpower your opponent than so much a technique guy. With respect that you have technique, but I wouldn't say that. I'm guessing it wasn't your specialty.

Not so it got a little bit. I started learning more and more. Luckily, like I went to a high school that had a great wrestler. We were a small high school out in the middle of nowhere. Bandy's high school school in North Carolina literally is surrounded in cow pastures. I think our biggest thing is the FFA out there. And we had a good wrestling program for a small school. And I had a good group of my buddies. They're all brothers, four brothers, the McIntosh brothers that moved down from upstate New York. And all of them were like four time state champs, all Americans in college. And I hung out with them all the time and they were all a lot smaller than me. But I had to stay on my toes with these guys because we'd be walking in the mall and they'd try to shoot a double leg on you and to take you down in the middle of the mall. So I picked up a little quicker, I think, than I normally would have in the rest of them just being around those. Because you never know what kind of shenanigans these guys are going to try and pull on you.

Now here's the thing, man, when you go down to the performance center, and I've been wanting to get down there for a long time, I haven't made it down there, but I can imagine that all the trainers are down there usually training most of the guys with the same skill set because by and large, everybody's going to. It's like going to a college and getting a big business degree. It's the same curriculum for everybody. But I'm thinking with your body size, your type, you know, you have the amateur wrestling background, but I don't expect you to go out there and grab a whole lot of headlocks, spin around to a hammer lock and be a scientific wrestler. So my question to you is.

How did they, I'm trying to say, direct your training, whereas they would direct. You know, a lot of guys are coming out of the amateur ranks, but other people that are going to learn how to be a regular wrestler, I don't think that falls into what you're going to be doing. You're, to me, a brawler.

And a wrestling move every now and then could be cool or neat, but dude, I expect you to just go out there and crush people. Here's the question. How did they tailor your training to.

Work for you well, starting out didn't really. Everyone did the exact same stuff. They taught us to bump, to run the ropes, to roll. I mean, we were. I was doing squats, standing on the top rope, to work on footwork, and just everything. A lot of stuff that in the back of my mind, I thought to myself, why am I doing this? But then again, down the road now I see a lot of it. Because now with all the bumping that I did and the rolls and a lot of things that I thought was monotonous, that I did over and over and over, and it formed a callus that now that I just do these things automatically and I don't have to think about it.

What did you think about running those ropes? Did you dig it? A lot of people hate them. And your ribs will be sore for the first few days. You might be bruised up. It's just part of the process. I loved it. I just love ricocheting off those damn ropes. It was my thing. Did it rub you the wrong way? Was it?

I like running the ropes. I mean, it didn't take long. I'd always wear a raw spot on the top of my hind end. But I like running the ropes. The drop downs and things like that were the things that every day I knew we were having a drop down drill. And it's just, oh, God.

And those drop downs, it's like a burpee.

Yeah.

They will blow your ass up.

Yeah.

And so a lot of times, if I was injured coming back for something, I'd go in the ring, just show up at a TV taping or whatever, run the ropes, do a drop down, get up, keep hitting the ropes, you know, stomps in the corner of a turnbuckle, build my gas tank back up. How did you like the mat when they started teaching you a bump? I was hosted 2011 version of tough Enough. And there were some kids in there, Ms. USA in particular, who's allergic to the mat. How did that feel on a big body of yours that you beat up in a strongman contest?

I tell you, I remember after the first week of practice, I remember waking up like a Saturday morning had off and I got out of bed and I felt like I was 90 years old. Like my all hunched over, everything hurt. I've sounded like Rice Krispies when you pour milk on them. When I get out of bed, everything's just snap, crackling and popping. And then that's one of those moments where I'm like going to myself, what the hell have I got myself into?

And I had to take a step back and go, man, like, you know, sometimes I don't know, is this worth it? But then you pop a couple ibuprofens and have a colon or something like that, and it makes you rethink. Like, you know.

I don't think anything, in my opinion, I don't think anything that's easy to attain in life is worth having anything. Anybody can have something given to them. And I don't see any satisfaction or gratitude, self worth of somebody. Just, here, here's a plate, eat it. I'm more like, get out there, grind, do my thing. If I don't make it, it's my fault.

So when you came in, you start going through the process. How long were you there before they said, hey, you know what? You're going to be the newest member of the Wyatt family.

Actually, for a long time, there were was talk that it wasn't going to happen. When I first got to talking about being brought up to the main roster, it wasn't going to be at all. They were talking about cutting my hair, my beard, giving me a different look, going with something else. And then the powers to be decided that that's not what they wanted. They wanted me to be with the Wyatt family. And I tell you what, like, the little. The little experience that I have had coming up and wrestling and getting and then being put in with a group of guys that like that to hide some of my weaknesses while I hone my skills, I couldn't have been in a better spot. I mean, one three of the greatest human beings that I've ever met just to be around outside of the business. Then as far as in the ring, like, I mean, Luke Harbour's one of the best working big mans I've ever seen. Rowan's the same way. Like, he's come now that Harper's been hurt for a while. Rowan stepped up into Harper's position. Man, we're working on the house shows and things, and he's the one flying around and bumping and doing all this crazy stuff. And then like walking out with Bray and just even him mesmerizing me. And I'm in the ring knowing what's going on and just listening to him talk. And it's just like, I was very, very blessed to be put into that spot. And I think it really helped me, like, I don't know, you know, what would have happened if I would have been brought in doing something else, who knows? Because, you know, with this business, it's fly by the seat of your pace. You either get over. You don't.

I like all the aspects of the Wyatt family, and I can see. I can see a baby face run out of those guys. And Bray, I mean, his promos, the way his mind works with that voice that he's got, he's just a. He's just an entrancing storyteller. Just ropes in with the cadence, the rhythm that draw. You get lumped in with those guys. And like you said, you're going out there, you're part of the. Call it a team, a faction, whatever you want to call it. But they were able to, you know, protect you. You go out there and do the things you do your first few nights. You go out there and everybody throws the iPhones or whatever up. Was that a mark? At moment.

As I said, it's just that the Fireflies is something special. I mean, look, it's taken over the world of everything. Like, the Fireflies are Bray Wyatt's thing now. You look at concerts, football games, basketball games, baseball games. The Fireflies are there. And like to think about that I'm. Or I was part of the original reason why this season even exists, because I don't know of any time they'd ever done that before they started doing it. That was the London crowd and the crazy things that they like to do. And then all of a sudden, things stick. And now you walk out like we're talking a minute ago. Walk out 101, what, 273 at WrestleMania with their flashlights going on their phones. Yeah.

So you got Bray Wyatt, who's leading that. You've got Eric Rollins, I think is a really good hand. They need to do something with him. Luke Harper. I didn't know he was injured. What's wrong with him?

He blew. I think he tore the MCL and acl.

Oh, I didn't know that. I wish him all the best in healing up. That's a damn good hand. Like you said today. And I like his work as well. So when they said, okay, here's gonna be. The new guy's name is gonna be Braun Strowman. And how did they take you in? It? Was it like, we don't need another guy? Or, man, this guy's green as hell. Put him somewhere else. Did they embrace you? How did that process work?

I. Bray and I have had a special connection. I think ever since we met. He's kind of wanted me since the first time they saw me, because him and I in real life, it's almost scary how much we are alike. He calls Me, evil Wyndham, like, I'm pretty much do all the stuff that he doesn't do, which is nothing really. But he's wanted me since day one and he was ecstatic, I think, when they found out that here, we're going to give you this guy and I know you've been wanting him. Let's see what happens.

How have your mechanics progressed since you've got into the squared circle from day one until now? Do you feel comfortable being in the ring? How are the nerves? What are you thinking before a match in the Strongman? It's a little bit different because it's an explosion in a match, you know, whether you're just beating a guy down or you're telling a story because you're trying to get over. So how comfortable are you in the ring now versus when they first put you in a group?

I'll never forget for the rest of my life that first night at the Barclays center, the Raw after SummerSlam. I was underneath the ring getting ready to do my debut and I was under there for like a half an hour and I'm freaking out and I don't usually get worked up over things. I'm pretty good about keeping a level head about everything and, man, I'm just, worst case scenario, everything's going through my head. I'm gonna trip, going over the top rope, getting in, I'm gonna do something stupid. I'm gonna do this. Blah, blah, blah, blah. This is my one chance. It's like you either do it right or you go home. And I don't know, I guess I thought like that and was nervous. But then I think when it came time, they hit the, the horror graphic, lights out. And I feel like I flipped that switch almost like I did in Strawman. I just went out there and just did what I knew I was going to do, and I think it came off pretty well.

What is your take on a match? Because I would lead this. And by what I mean is it's an athletic endeavor, it's a contest. It's, you know, it's damn near a shoot, but it happens to be a work. So it should look like a football game, it should look like a wrestling match, you know, a contest. So where are you at with respect to psychology? You know, going about the process? You know, you're going to overpower a lot of guys, but therein you've got to make that guy and put on a match. How are you with your psychology? Are you 101, you 201? Are you at The Shawn Michaels Nature Boy, Rick frair, Bret Hart 301 level or.

Yeah, no, I don't know if I'll ever get to that level. Yeah, still at that 101. Still just learn everything. I've been very grateful the last like three months that I'd been in a program on live events. Me and Eric Rowan have been working Kane and Big Shaw on the live events. So just going out there with those guys and you know they've done everything there is to do. I mean both the guys been in the business 20 years, they've won every title there is to win they've done at all. And just having the opportunity to go out with two greats like that, with so much knowledge and just listening to them and the psychology of telling a.

Story well and the fact that also what makes it easy for you and Eric can go himself. But with respect to Big show and Kane. Yeah. I mean you're talking about shoot together they have what probably close to 40 years experience. And those are two guys that are big enough that you could actually do something with, take a bump for, get slammed by because of who they are one and how big and strong they are too. So it frees you up because if both Those guys were 6 foot 210 you, even though they were 20 year vets each, it'd be a little bit different of what you're giving and taking. So working with two big guys does help you come along.

Yeah. I always keep in the back of my mind what the head coach of the WWE Performance Center, Matt Bloom, told me, willing to bump. I'm willing to bump for anyone, but we're going to tell a story to get to it. I'm like, I don't want to go out there and just be some guy that's just flopping around, flying around like a 185 pound guy. I like to think that I can tell a story of someone smaller trying to overcome. Oh, he's rocking. Oh, he's getting closer, he's getting closer. Oh, man, he can't do it. Oh. And then, holy cow, he knocked him down. What? What did, what just happened? He knocked him down. Braun Strowman doesn't go down. So yeah, working with that. Like I've had some opportunities to work with Roman and Dean and guys like that that are the top guys and that aren't necessarily quite my size. So yeah, working on that and. But then again, that's just lucky for me to be put in a position with guys like that because I mean, they've done it all already, you know, and I mean, maybe not so much as all, but both guys are very well established over can work, and just going out there and telling them what I do well, what they do well, and then finding a way to put it together.

You used to walk out with the. The rest of the pack, which was the Wyatt family. Now you're walking out by yourself. How is that? I mean, is there insecurity there? Because now you've got to find your own way. Now there's not, you know, one, two or three members with you to pick up the other pieces of the match. It was like the shield when they split those guys up. They had to pick it up by themselves. Here you are by yourself. How's your confidence?

I'm pretty confident. I feel comfortable that when they're ready to call on me for something big, I'll be able to produce.

You're ready to produce. Here's a tidbit of information I gained. I was reading a book about Pat Patterson, one of the greatest minds in the history of the business, and he was talking about working for a promoter named Roy Scheier over in San Francisco many years ago. And Shire's big thing. He would watch every match, and he would yell at everybody after every match because he was all about psychology. And he would go on to quote Ray as saying, he didn't care about your move, set. He didn't care that you did anything spectacular or if you could do something spectacular. What he cared about was that it meant something. So don't get caught up in a game. If I could give you a tip or a pointer, don't get caught up in the mindset that, hey, man, this would be cool for the crowd to see a dude that's 68375 get clotheslined and turn a flip because the guy hit me so hard. I don't care who you're working with. If it was a guy twice your size, it just those. It should be logical. Tell me about.

What motivates you right now. Are they just letting the crowd dictate who and what you? Are you working, baby?

Are you working heel right now? They didn't give me a direction of what they want right now. They basically told me to go out there and be a monster. Get over. Yeah. So I guess it's just going to be to what the crowd if they. One day they love seeing me kill somebody, and the next day they hate it.

So if you had a preference, I mean, do you have any lean, any way to heal our baby?

I like being a heel because I like to think in real life, it's. I'm more of a baby face. In real life, I'm pretty fun be around. I like to have fun. So when I get to go out there and be something that I'm really not, I think it's kind of cool because that's more. I feel like that's more of a challenge because anybody can, like, play their self, I think, to go out there and be something that you're not and do it believably to where, like, I've, like, literally, like, seen children cry when be walking by them by the. By the ringside and stuff like that.

Just because they were scared.

Yeah, well.

And here's the thing that to go down the road that you're going as a heel, it was always my opinion that you have more creative freedom to do anything you want. As a baby face, you have to have a certain quality. I mean, you never want any egg on your face, so to speak. But as a heel, say as big as you are, 6, 8, 3, 7, 5. You don't make a habit of this, but if you tripped going through the ropes, hey, you're a heel at the end of the day, and it just means you're going to beat the living hell out of the guy because now you're really pissed. He was pissed before he got in the ring, but now you're really pissed. So to me, if you're working heel, it will give you even more time as a single to build up your confidence level, build up your comfort level, build up your repertoire, and, you know, keep feeling the work, keep feeling the crowd when I worked. And I would go on to have my greatest run as a baby. But I always love being a heel because of the things you just mentioned. I'm pretty nice guy. I love being the heel, but just because I love being a shy kid growing up, I just love to be the bad guy.

Yeah.

And so that would teach me, you know, ultimately how to be the greatest good guy. And, you know, I don't blow smoke at my ass, but I was pretty good good guy.

Yeah, you're pretty good.

But, man, I tell you what, when you go out there and you can do anything you want, the point I'm getting to me, tip. As a heel, you have to have a mean streak. I mean, I don't expect you to have as many gears as Shawn Michael had, but you have to have an extra gear. You have to have an explosion gear, you have to have a hammer gear. I mean, I mean, you have to be able to grind through somebody, use your strength. But when it comes time to get mean and just open up a can, I call that a mean streak. And I believe in my heart that every heel has to have a mean streak. That when it comes time to get the heat, I mean, it's on. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah.

As a baby face, on the other hand, it's almost the same, but it's spun in a different direction because it's a 180, but it's fire. So you have to me, as a baby face, you have to have fire. Or you want your baby face to have fire. Because when he does try to come back on your big ass, he better have a truckload of it or he's not going to be successful. Because your mean streak is just going to quell him down. You're going to grab him by the throat, whatever your finish is, and put him down. So fire. Fire is a baby face. Mean streak. Right now. What are you using for finish?

Right now? I've been trying to get over a reverse chokeslam and it seemed to been the crowd makes that. That gasp of oh God, he just killed him when he hit him with it. So I've done that. I've got the choke. I haven't done it in a while.

Couple other things that I got stashed away that people will be seeing more of soon. Can't tell them everything.

Well, just.

Looking at your Wikipedia here. The lefting arm triangle choke. Is that what you're referring to?

Yep.

The choke slam. The reverse choke slam. What's the yokosuka cutter?

I'm trying to think. Billy Gunn actually taught me that one. It's kind of loaded guy up like a power bomb, but you catch him on one shoulder on his back face facing up, and you kind of flip him and sit out at the same time with him.

Okay, you got a bill throw. A big boot. A clothesline. A running shoulder block. Spine buster, body avalanche. That's a hell of an avalanche. A scoop slam. You better have a scoop slam. A suplex release spine buster, elbow drop, corner foot choke, Shoulder claw. Got to have a hold back body drop. European uppercut. There's so many people using those European uppercuts. If I see you throwing an uppercut, I expect that guy to fly over the top rope. A gorilla press slam. You better have one. You're pushing 400 pounds of that damn log over your head to Oklahoma. Stampede. That's a natural. See, look. Your signature moves. If you would look Me up, there'd be two signature moves, a right hand and a stunner. So you've got a better move set than me right now. In this business, right now, who do you look to for advice? Because you're a big guy. There's not a whole lot of big guys here other than Kane and Show. But other than that, what are your sources of information to help you learn more?

Like, I can't put over the fact, like, how much of a factor Beret has been in my career. We. It was kind of almost heartbreaking that they split us up because we ride together, we room together, we eat together, we live together.

He.

We make towns and he talks about wrestling, tells me about what I did that night that looked good, what sucked, what I need to throw away, what I need to keep, and then gives me matches to watch and pick through this and look at what you think about this. And then here. Oh, man, I thought I saw new idea for a move for you. So, like, like I said, I can't put over the fact about how good of a brother Bray Wyatt is.

You ever go back and just. Just for the hell of it, watch some old Stan Hansen in Japan, Brody in Japan or Brody in the States, and you're a bigger guy than that. But just the way they project and work as a big man.

I watched just recently, I watched Snuka vs Brody. I think it was like 84 or 5, I believe. Not sure it was an old. But yeah, in Japan. And it was just. That's the one where Snook. I think it's the one where he did. Did like the dive out of the ring. It was like one of the first times and people were just going crazy because they're like, what is going on? Like, throwing drop kicks and just stuff that's unheard of back in the day like that, so. And yet watch Bruiser Brody's mentality of how we worsted the ring. That slow, methodical, then the quick burst of everything. And that's what a lot. Undertaker, same way. Like that. Slow, methodical. But then when it's time to get it, it gets it. And that's what I'm trying to base a lot of my character off of, is that slow, methodical. I don't want to be a big lumbering giant.

Here's the thing. A big lumbering giant does not entertain. And you've got to remember in your journey to get over, because you're on your own now. Now you've got to start again. But in getting over your new Singles run. It's making people gravitate towards you. They've got to care about you in some way, shape, fashion, or form, love you, hate you, or identify with you. They've got to be able to relate to you. They've got to be able to believe in you. And a guy like Bruiser Brody was so real. I mean, you just. We know what the business is. Center tank entertainment. But when to us it's real, it's real to us. And so to the fans, it's real to them, too. And when you can make those people believe in you, you will be over. And it'll be like, all right, man, hit bronze music. Okay? Everything else don't matter. I'm watching Bron do his thing. So that's what you got to keep working on. What are your goals here? What would you like to achieve?

I mean, eventually, like I said, I would love to get a shot at going for the heavyweight championship or the new universal title that they have. And just. I know that's. I'm not ready for that yet. I'm not saying I don't want to be rushed into any kind of position like that, because I want to hone my skills as a worker to where people go, holy crap. Like, this guy is huge. Not only is he huge, he can go and do things like, I feel like I have things stashed away that I can do that people are going to go, how did he just do that? He's not supposed to be able to do things like that. The guys that big don't move like that, don't do things like that. So that's what I'm working on, is being not just a big guy, but being something different, something more. I don't even know. I can be in a circus attraction where it's just, come see the bearded lady, see this draw, man. Come see this freaking giant that runs across the ring and just smashes people and can work a whole.

But this is a hard life. And I would dare say, with respect to strongman, that this is one of the hardest lives you can live. And I say that with respect to the guys down there in the coal mines, guys on construction sites.

Guys doing the pipeline, or even teachers. The thing about this job is it takes a physical toll. And I always tell people, you kind of live in three lives in one body. On one hand, you're a truck driver because you're driving yourself, all these places you've got to go to. On the other hand, you're a professional athlete because you're Training like one, and you're performing like one. What are you calling a business? To work or not? You're training and performing at a pro level. Then on the other side of that, if you get involved in it, you're also a rock and roll star, because there's always a party. And if you show up, you could be the life of the party. And there's all kinds of things that you can make yourself have access to. So the grind of the road is real.

Yes, sir.

Are you embracing it and loving it? Are you looking back? Is there any hesitation? Do you know that you made the right decision?

I feel like, without a doubt, this is what I was put on the earth to do. Like, I can't think of one. There's no way I could go back to doing any kind of a 9 to 5 job or a desk job. I would slip my wrist in the first week if I had to sit at a desk and crunch numbers all day. And I notice it a lot. A lot of times they keep us busy where we're only a day, day and a half at home. And that's good because that's enough to unwind and this and that. But if I get at home and I'm there for like three or four days, like, I start going like I'm bored. I don't. All my friends now being. Well, I live in Orlando. I got a couple civilian friends, but everybody else that I'm friends with, hang out with, all in the business. And when they go home and I go home, it's like I just sit around and go to the gym, play video games.

Dude, you're barking right up the right tree, man. I could be dead dog tired from a run on the road. And like, man, I got to get home. Well, I just throw the suitcase down by the washer and dryer. Because you never truly unpack.

Yeah.

Day and a half later, I'm sitting there, man, I'm ready to get back on the road today. And, you know, I call them the same thing. I had my civilian friends, but most. Most of my friends are the boys. And now my friends. Now I still speak the language that I spoke here with my closest of friends. So you're in the right mode. And I used to call that zombie mode, but just because you're not dumb, I mean, you're just in total road mode, where you get up, you pack your stuff, you get out. No longer. No telling how long the road trips can be in the United States, state to state, international. That is what you do. You still Observe and go through the other processes of life. But first and foremost, you're working for WWE Worldwide Company you're going worldwide. What you do is hang around buildings, go to gyms, eat at restaurants, and then you wait for that bell to ring, for your time to go on a 20 by 20 ring and entertain people. And that's what I thrived on. That's what everybody here thrives on. And boy, I'll tell you what. Don't ever tell. Last piece of advice I'll give you, don't ever tell Vince or Triple H you feel burned down. Because that is the kiss of death. Triple H has been working his ass off, but the old man is notorious for being a workaholic and he still is. And if you mention those two words, it will not be a good day for Braun Strowman. As big and bad as you are. Don't say burned out.

Yeah, like I said, right now, I don't. I don't see that even possibly happening because that's what I live for. This week to week now, it's like being around the boys, hitting gyms in different towns and then exploring during the day when I do have time, trying to find cool little restaurants and just different things like. And then, yeah, the international stuff. I mean, I'm doing RAW tonight. I'm driving straight from RAW to LAX and flying to New Zealand, so. Yeah, exactly. You never know. That's the cool thing. Like, and I've been like, I've passed where I learned quick when. If you're on a four day loop, you still pack for a two week loop. Because I got caught out and I'm like doing underwear, washing my underwear in the sink in the hotel room. And I got stuff hanging up all over the places. I'm like, okay, I thought I was leaving for four days. I've been gone for 18, you know.

Yeah. When you're drying underwear or whatever you're gonna wear, you're using the hair dryer, the blow dryer to dry everything. Cause there ain't no laundromat. Hey, we're gonna cut it off right here, man. It was good talking to you. I watched you when you first came in. You made a big impression on me just from size and presence alone. So now it's up to you to put all the tools, all the tricks of the trade together and forge your own way as you continue your career here in wwe. I'll be watching from the side. I wish y' all luck in the world.

Thank you very much, Steve. Thanks for having me Good talking to you.

All right, everybody, give me the go home cues. Time to wrap up his podcast and ride off in the sunset. And you know what that means for me right now. It's 15 minutes after 9am My wife's in there cooking my food. I'm fixing to pack my bag of tricks, my recorder, all my food, head down to Anaheim, catch the show tonight and talk to some real cool people. Before we leave, I want to thank Adam Shear for giving me, well, let's call him Braun Strowman, big ass dude for giving me about an hour of his time today. He's got a busy day today. All the WWE Superstars do when they're coming into town, got a live show to put on. So it was great talking to him. And if you want something to watch on YouTube and you want to look back at this guy's career before he got into the WWE, go to YouTube, type in Adam Shear. S C H E R R I did Duke and talk a blue streak a mile a minute and he ain't no dummy. Smart cat, good cat, strong as an ox. That's what I recommend for you guys to watch. Hey, here's a couple quick plugs. All my Broken Skull Ranch T shirts. I'll be wearing one tonight on the network tomorrow as you listen to this podcast. All my badass Broken Skull stuff is available at broken skull ranch.com Broken Skull IPA and El Segundo Brewing Company is available to Whole Foods and Total Wine. If you live in California and there's a link to Inside the Cellar on Brokenskolranch.com if you live in a state they ship to. Don't forget, folks, I always think everybody needs a pocket knife. Hopefully you'll never have to use that to defend yourself. And you can use it opening envelopes because it's real good at helping a brother pay his bills. It's the Broken Skull Cold Steel pocket knife and there's a link for it on broken skull ranch.com it'll take you right there to coldsteelknives.com hey folks, I appreciate all the word of mouth advertising you guys are doing on behalf of this podcast. We ain't got no advertising budget up in this thing. And I appreciate y' all supporting the sponsors of the Steve Austin podcast because they're the ones who let me do this for you. Free twice a week. So once again, big thank you to audible. Start a 30 day trial and download your first audiobook for free at audible.com SteveAustin Big thanks to my man [e-mail] Austin Get 20% off the DDP Yoga DVDs and 3 months of full access to the DDP Yoga now app for a limited time. Thanks to Buffalo Wild Wings, Wings, Beer, Sports and of course, big thank you to Amazon. They've been supporting this podcast since day one. Folks, if you use my Amazon links whenever you're doing any online shopping, Amazon will kick back a couple of bucks to the podcast to help us pay our production costs. Doesn't cost you anything extra. There's no hidden fees or charges. Just buy whatever you was planning on buying. You help out the podcast and the process and you can find my Amazon links by going to podcast1.com clicking on the killer Deals button in the top right corner of the page, and then hitting the Steve Austin show button. That's where you'll find my Amazon links for usa, UK and Canada. And if you bookmark it, you can find it in one click podcastone.com click the killer deals button. Steve Austin Show. Bam. There you go. Do your shopping. That's how we pay our production costs. Hey, Coming up on Thursday's Unleashed Show, Sean Ex Pac Waltman came by my crib a couple of weeks ago and we had a great conversation. Hell, I believe Sean was with Chyna for about four years and went to her memorial service earlier this year and talking very candidly about their relationship. All the ups and downs, some of the stuff, the good stuff and bad stuff, the regrets that came with that. It's a heavy episode, but it's a good episode too because we lighten it up with some talk about Xbox, new podcast on the AfterBuzz Network and some other stuff he's working on. The cat's getting busy. I'm proud of him and he's just dude, guy wears his heart on his sleeve. He'll tell you like it is. He's a no BS guy. I really, really enjoy talking to Sean Waltman and I think he's going to have a lot of success over there with the good people on Afterbus. Hey folks, the 62nd AP news headlines are coming up next. Until then, my name is Steve Austin and I will catch your ass down the road.

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