Bruce Prichard

Summary

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What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes

Guest: Bruce Prichard
Date: September 3, 2025
Location: WWE Warehouse

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Episode Overview

In this rich, candid, and often hilarious episode, Cody Rhodes sits down inside the legendary WWE Warehouse with Bruce Prichard—the Executive Vice President and Executive Director of Creative at WWE, a wrestling "super genius," and one of the minds behind the biggest creative moments in wrestling history. The conversation covers everything from wrestling’s greatest hits and spectacular flops, to personal stories of mentorship, family legacies, and how to be "the man" in sports entertainment in 2025. Peppered with behind-the-scenes tales, impersonations, and genuine emotion, this is an essential listen for any fan of the business.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The WWE Warehouse: Surrounded by Wrestling History

• Cody introduces Bruce in the fabled WWE Warehouse (00:57), calling attention to the priceless artifacts, and to Bruce's intimate knowledge of almost every significant WWE creation.
• Bruce reflects on how each piece evokes memories of storylines and moments, both good and bad:

  “Every single time I walk through the warehouse, I look at a piece and go, oh, I remember that casket. I remember the first time that we did a vignette using that casket...” (02:38)

2. Creative Hits and Memorable Flops

• Cody asks Bruce if booking so many angles blurs together; Bruce admits some do, but the big hits and spectacular flops stand out (03:39)

• Favorite flop? The infamous Gobbledygooker—an attempt at a WWE mascot as a wrestling “San Diego Chicken” (05:23)

  "Here we had this giant egg, and the egg hatched and out came the gobbledygooker...the audience just...they ran from the gobbledygooker." (06:36)

• Cody muses on how anticipation (what’s in the egg!?) can doom a reveal when fans’ dreams outpace reality (07:10), illustrating the ever-present tension between creative vision and fan expectation.

3. Anticipation vs. Reality: Fan Expectations and Industry Rumors

• Cody and Bruce recount how wrestling rumor mills and fan speculation can build impossible dreams (08:26)
• Bruce recalls the acquisition of WCW and how audience fantasy (expecting stars like Hogan and Goldberg overnight) clashed with contractual realities (09:42)
• The discussion turns personal, recalling Cody’s dramatic return meeting with Vince and Bruce, and how anticipation differed on both sides (10:55):

  “Our sole purpose was to say, come home. The doors open…We were not leaving until we had…a handshake agreement as far as what the future was going to be with you.” (12:05)

4. Mentorship, The Rhodes Legacy, and Dream Fulfillment

• Cody discusses his own journey, the influence of his father Dusty Rhodes, and how returning to WWE was both business and deeply personal (14:14, 18:18)
• Bruce, a close collaborator with Dusty, encourages Cody to see that success must be earned:

  “You made your own way. You said, you know what? I see what you see in me. I'm gonna leave and I'm gonna go see what I see for myself. And you realize what you saw for yourself, and in that made other people realize, well, you know what? Maybe we need to look through another lens...” (19:43)

5. Learning from Wrestling’s Past: Lessons from Paul Boesch

• Bruce recounts his start in wrestling as a 10-year-old selling posters for legendary Houston promoter Paul Boesch (31:07)
• Key lesson: Always listen to your audience, especially those who actually buy tickets (34:08):

  “You can either take the opinion of, well, I know better than them, or…have that open mind and say, wow, I didn’t look at it like that. And if you listen, the audience will always help you and tell you what's working and what isn't working.” (35:27)

6. How to Listen in the Modern Era (and The Dangers of Social Media)

• Cody and Bruce explore the differences between listening to fans in the arena and on social media (42:54).
• Bruce warns of interpreting the vocal minority as the entire fanbase:

  “Social media is a dangerous place to go because you don’t really know what you’re listening to…it's a loud, passionate percentage…” (42:54)

• The conversation covers Bruce’s approach to podcasting: blending storytelling and myth-busting with humor and impersonations (47:17-48:59).

7. Creative Character Work and the Joys of Storytelling

• Bruce discusses his method of pitching creative—fully embodying characters and using impersonations (48:04):

  “In pitching stories and pitching creative, you have got to become the character that you are pitching.” (48:13)

• The pride and freedom in being able to “be everybody as long as you can find their voice” now that he’s behind the scenes (49:35).

8. Long-Term Storytelling and Iconic Angles

• Reflection on story arcs taking months to pay off, like the Mega Powers Explode and subtle planting of storyline seeds (52:12–55:08):

  “…what I miss is having the ability to tell a story over nine months to a year…where the audience goes, oh, my God, I remember that…make the footage, tell the story, and have the characters do things.” (52:49–54:59)

• Cody shares how Bruce supported him after WrestleMania 39’s emotional conclusion (55:14–56:12).

9. Family, Hall of Fame Stories, and Legacy

• Heartfelt stories about Dusty Rhodes, his mother Kathy, and family legacies (25:31–30:31, 58:13–62:19).
• Bruce shares unknown stories about Dusty’s view of Cody’s Hall of Fame “coming out party” moment (60:15).

10. Advice for Today's Superstars: How to Be the Man (2025 Edition)

• Cody asks Bruce what it takes to be “the man” in 2025 (70:04):

  “Don't do stupid shit. And a lot of it does come back to listening…it comes down to actually doing it and doing it better than anybody else.” (70:34)

• Be available, put in the work, and never stop:

  “Every single day that you wake up, you should wake up to do something…to help your growth…once you do that, find out what else you can do and continue to do…Sounds like that simple. It’s not. It’s hard work.” (72:37)

• Cody deeply appreciates the blunt “do it” lesson (73:14).

11. Personal Tales: Road Stories, Camaraderie, & Dusty Owes Bruce $5,000

• Wonderful road stories about traveling with Dusty Rhodes, Sapphire, Macho Man, and Sherri Martel (74:50–79:14)
• The saga of a $5,000 bet with Dusty over catching him in the ring, and playful banter about never being paid (80:20–83:21)

  “You never thought I'd actually ever pay you $5,000 if you did, did you?” (82:53)

12. Mentorship, Legacy, & Passing It Forward

• Bruce reflects on teaching the next generation, and the satisfaction in seeing protégés like Cody, Ed Koski, Booker T, and John Layfield flourish (94:09–100:14)

  “I love the guys that want to learn…the guys that want to sit and learn…just will milk you for everything you’re worth. And I love that.” (97:25)

• Cody expresses gratitude for Bruce’s guidance, hoping to be considered one of Bruce’s “kids” in the business (91:50–93:50)

13. Rapid-Fire Fun: Dream Teams & Watch Culture

• Bruce picks his “American Dream Team” for a bar fight: Undertaker, John Layfield, Haku, and Booker T (89:02)
• How watch collecting has become a thing in WWE thanks to Cody and Bruce (85:35–86:31)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Gobbledygooker Flop:
  Bruce Prichard (06:36):
  “And in that moment, you die a thousand deaths...they ran from the gobbledygooker.”

• On Fan Anticipation and Surprises:
  Cody Rhodes (07:10):
  “The biggest flaw was the anticipation...this giant fiberglass egg...and then it is a turkey.”

• On Bringing Cody Home:
  Bruce Prichard (12:05):
  “We feel that the best place for you is back home and come do it with us...We were not leaving until we had at least a handshake agreement as far as what the future was going to be and what the future was going to be with you.”

• On Success and Earning It:
  Bruce Prichard (19:43):
  “And you realize what you saw for yourself and in that made other people realize, well, you know what? Maybe we need to look through another lens.”

• On Listening to Fans and Paul Boesch’s Wisdom:
  Bruce Prichard (35:27):
  “And you can either take the opinion of, well, I know better than them, or you can have that open mind and say, wow, I didn’t look at it like that...if you listen, the audience will always help you and tell you what's working and what isn't working.”

• On Creative Work and Becoming Characters:
  Bruce Prichard (48:13):
  “In pitching stories...you have got to become the character that you are pitching.”

• On WrestleMania 39’s Aftermath:
  Bruce Prichard (56:23):
  “The time, I think, made it even better...for them to truly appreciate it all that much more and the. It was to say, hey, no, man, we're going to be right here. Next year, it's going to be different.”

• On Dusty’s Legacy and Family:
  Bruce Prichard (60:16):
  “No, that would be your coming out party…That would be where we would see...You'll see Cody there and Vince and I sitting at Gorilla Me saying to Vince, holy shit. Took a while. We got there.”

• On Being the Man:
  Bruce Prichard (70:34):
  “Don't do stupid shit. And a lot of it does come back to...listening and it's be available, but be available and do...comes down to actually doing it and doing it better than anybody else.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:57] – Introduction in the WWE Warehouse
• [05:23] – Gobbledygooker story and the perils of flopped creative
• [10:55] – The story of Cody’s WWE return meeting
• [31:07] – Bruce’s childhood in Houston wrestling, lessons from Paul Boesch
• [42:54] – Listening to fans in the social media age
• [48:13] – On storytelling, impersonations, and pitching creative
• [52:12] – Long-term storytelling: The Mega Powers, details, and payoffs
• [56:12] – Cody’s post-WrestleMania 39 backstage moment
• [60:15] – Dusty’s desire for Cody to have his “coming out party”
• [70:04] – Advice: How to be the man in 2025
• [80:20] – The $5,000 bet with Dusty
• [89:02] – Bruce’s “Dream Team” for a bar fight
• [94:09] – Mentorship, legacy, and paying it forward

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Conclusion

Mixing humor, insider perspective, and heartfelt moments, this episode is both a love letter to wrestling and a masterclass in creative longevity. Both Cody and Bruce stress the importance of listening, doing the work, respecting history, and staying open to learning—no matter your level. Through family anecdotes, behind-the-scenes revelations, and legendary stories, Bruce Prichard remains not just a keeper of WWE’s past, but a guide for its future.

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Final Words:
Bruce Prichard (102:25):

“And I love you. And that's not a gimmick. That's real life, man. I truly do. And. And I'm so proud of you and happy for you. And again, this is just the beginning.”

“This is just the beginning.” – Cody Rhodes (102:35)

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Transcript

[A]

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[A]

See mintmobile.com Foreign Nightmare Cody Rhodes we are in a very special location, the WWE Warehouse. Everything, everything is in here. Ben Brown, the famed WWE archivist, has allowed us to be here for a very special interview on what do you want to talk about? With a very special person who pretty much could point out everything in here and not just tell you what it is, but tell you how it came to be, tell you how it worked out, tell you if it drew any money, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Because this individual is involved with 99.9% of every major thing you ever saw in WWE lore and is one of the greatest people that we have in our business today. As a resource of information. I'm going on and on and on because I'm very excited about this. He is also one of the few remaining SGs and we've talked about SGS on the show before. Super geniuses. He is one of them. And this is someone responsible for me coming back to WWE in the first place. My good friend, the executive vice president and executive Director of creative at wwe. Please welcome to what do you want to talk about a fanatics in WWE original production. Ladies and gentlemen, Bruce Pritchard.

[B]

Do you want me to get up and leave so that other person that you talked about could come and sit down? Holy cow.

[A]

But. But it's. It's. It's so true that it's particularly app. We're here. This is. These are your creations.

[B]

This. This is. This is amazing. This is. You're surrounded by history. Literally surrounded by history. And some of the moments that people can come through here. And. And I know when I do, every single time I walk through the warehouse, I look at a piece and I go, oh, I remember that casket. I remember the first time that we did a vignette using that casket. All just rocks. Versace shirts. It's like, come on. It's. We are surrounded by history. It's great.

[A]

It's. I have to. Probably not the first thing I was thinking of asking you, but when you're connected with it on such a level that you were there talking to the person when you said, hey, we want a robe on you, or, hey, it's going to be a casket, and hey, you're going to get your hands stuck. Whatever these scenarios are, when you do that so often for so long at such a successful rate, does it blend together?

[B]

I think at times it does blend together. However, there are moments in time that stick with you.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And as you said, so many were successful. Had a lot of flops, too.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Okay. So those, a lot of times rise to the top, where you go, oh, boy. You remember that?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That stunk the joint out. However, those are just as much fun because whenever you envision something, I love when someone will come to you and ask you the question after you have thought about it and maybe had a team of people create something and come up with an idea and you present it and someone looks at you and says, gosh, do you think that's really going to work? And my first instinct answers, no, I want to waste a lot of valuable television time, hours and sweat and blood and tears because I think it's just going to stink. And so, no, we go into every. Every idea, hoping that this is.

[A]

Hoping it's a hit.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Before I ask you the next question, because I'm very curious, not just about the things that hit, but things that maybe didn't hit. What are you drinking there?

[B]

I am having a Wheatley I love you martini specially made for me and quite tasty.

[A]

I love that. Cheers. Cheers to you. Thank you, sir.

[B]

I've already had a few sips.

[A]

So that would be a app for this show. That's, that's, that's quite all right. Thank you again, Wheatley. I have the American Mule, as always. So you're talking about some things that didn't hit, some things that flopped. What's your favorite thing that that flopped? That didn't take.

[B]

Wow. There's a lot of them. But I think going back in, was it Wasn't my. It wasn't my idea, by God. However, I enjoy telling the story because it was just such a monumental. Can we say fart in church here? It was terrible. And that was the gobbledygooker. And the gobbledygooker was an idea to have a mascot for the WWE and be able to be present at all the live events just on sales and everywhere you could go. Kind of like the San Diego Chicken was the analogy used at the time.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Here we had this giant egg, and the egg hatched, and out came the gobbledygooker.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And the audience just. You could feel the anticipation in the air. And the egg cracked. And then it was. What's your name? What's your name? Guppy. Did you say the gobbledygooker? It was horrible.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And in that moment, you die a thousand deaths.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because you were already picturing the gobbledygooker at live events and kids flocking to the gobbledygooker. Sure. They ran from the gobbledygooker.

[A]

I think, though, you pointed out maybe the biggest flaw is not, if you look at it on paper, coming out of the egg, that might. You might think, oh, this was not going to work. But I think perhaps the biggest flaw was the anticipation. This giant fiberglass egg that you're building to the emergence of WWE's new mascot. And then it is a turkey. Oversized turkey. Correct.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

It was sure so rotten. I think something else needed to come out of the egg for perhaps it to work. But also, does the mascot ever work? I grew up wcw, kid, and I don't know if I was getting into my seat early to check out Wildcat Willie Slam dunk that basketball. I think he was more for.

[B]

I don't know who I think he was for the execs in the boardroom that thought, this is going to be a great idea, and this is a home run by God. But the gobbledygooker also had. The egg had so much anticipation grounded around it from wrestling fans and from the gossip mongers, what's going to come out of the egg? And there were people that were saying, oh, Ric Flair is going to leave WCW and join wwe. Come out of the egg.

[A]

Ric Flair is emerging from that egg.

[B]

Mean Mark, he's out of his contract. He is going to debut and he's going to be the eggman.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And the Undertaker believed that. He thought, oh, my God, I'm going to come out of an egg. And I'm. I'm I'm dead. You know, so there was a lot of rumor. And to rib people, it was. It was good to say, oh, no, we got a hell of an idea and you're going to. You're going to hatch.

[A]

You've made me think of something, though, in terms of when there's a surprise that they know is a surprise. So the egg, the this, the unveiling it does. Fans often can outsmart us and put us in a behind the eight ball situation where they say it's something way cooler than what it's going to be. And then it's. That's. That's. Yeah, that's. But that's a testament to fans and their love and commitment to this. And today it's. It's more prevalent than ever because social media, it's a 24. 7 news cycle of what could be happening, who's going where.

[B]

And they want. And they want things that a lot of times are practically impossible.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

So they dream of the impossible.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And you want. You want to deliver, and frankly, you always want to deliver better than you promised.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And sometimes that's just not possible.

[A]

What's something they want that's impossible from. From those days or from today? Something that's just. Stop, guys.

[B]

I think a lot of times the anticipation for another talent that may be signed to another company, I think that is probably one of the most impossible. It's like, okay, hey, sure, that could be great if they weren't signed three years to some other place.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

For example, with wcw, when WWE purchased the assets of wcw, the fans sitting.

[A]

At home read, we were getting all.

[B]

Those WWE buys wcw. They expected to see the nwo, Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, Goldberg, all of these people on WWE programming. We had purchased certain assets of WCW so that when the invasion came, none of those talent were available. And they had contracts that they chose to sit at home and collect their contracts. And I don't begrudge that for a second.

[A]

Well, you said something that made me think, well, that's again, serendipity that it's you sitting here right now, a talent from another company who's unsigned signed, and them to show up at a big event within a window that you wouldn't expect very much. Is the story our. Our most recent chapter of you and I and Vince having a meeting when I was out of contract, essentially working just.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Out of my word. And then looking into what could happen next. And I've told people, and I think you've heard it before, I've told People that I always was of the thought that meeting would be a good meeting. Very excited to see people that helped groom me and train me and build me and WWE being the house that I built. But I remember thinking, that's what it will be. Thank you. I'm glad you see me because maybe if you hadn't seen me, you, I can say I always did. But maybe if from a Hire the company, whatever, maybe didn't. Thanks for seeing me and thanks for helping me in your own way. And then we would go this way. That is not what happened at that meeting.

[B]

No, it's not.

[A]

It's not what happened.

[B]

And it's funny that you share that viewpoint of what your anticipation of what you expected was going to happen in that meeting from the other side of that meeting. Our anticipation and our expectation, frankly, was one of, hey, man, Cody, we want you to come home.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And that was our sole purpose was to say, come home. The doors open and we're glad you went away and did what you did. Yeah, we're very happy for you. We feel that the best place for you is back home and come do it with us. And I dare say that there wasn't. There wasn't a feeling on. On our side. Well, let me put this way. There was a feeling on our side. We were not leaving until we had.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

At least a handshake agreement as far as what the future was going to be and what the future was going to be with you.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So, yeah, we. We had a plan and it happened pretty quickly.

[A]

So it happened very quickly. And I have to ask because a lot of times I can imagine since you worked so closely with my dad for an extended period throughout different places you work so closely with him and Vince did as well. And I, I thought maybe you would have a conversation. This is me just thinking what. Wonder if they think, oh, he's Dusty's son and what would Dusty do? So in this same pitch, what would Dusty do? And of course, you already know the answer is the moment the figure slides across the table, Dusty is saying. Saying, yes, that's a neat. So I, in my mind, I wonder, I thought like, I wonder if Bruce is of the thought, like, hey, come on, this is Dusty, son. He's definitely gonna see that and go, yes. But what was funny was even though I was really well structured and prepared and had things I wanted to talk about and also wanted to be there in the moment, it hit me like a car wreck. It hit me like a car wreck. In one where you're not Hurt one where you're shocked. Where I remember because you walked me downstairs, which you walking me downstairs might be the reason I'm sitting here today. Do you remember what you told me?

[B]

Refresh my memory.

[A]

So you told me I went from being a well prepared 30 something year old professional who. That was such a beautiful offer and thank you. And I remember saying in the room, it's not one of these offers where if I leave today, it goes away. Right. No, absolutely not. But once I got out of that room, I became a little kid again. And as a little kid, I remember asking you what do I do? And you work for wwe. But I asked you as a person in my life who I'd been. You know, we had done a series of independent shows. We were just talking about off camera where you and Conrad's podcast would go on after the matches. I think it was cultaholic. I think was these shows. But we had that relationship and had that relationship as adults. So I asked you what I should do and what you said to me was the best answer, but not the best answer because it still led me in a. You said, I think you know what you should do. And I thought, yeah. And when I, when I say car wreck. Because then as soon as we parted ways, you know when you call your spouse, when you call your wife and you're like, hey, something happened. That's. It was. Something happened. Because again, she. We weren't. That wasn't the plan. And then something happened and I had to explain, well, I don't see a world if we're all operating on. There's like 20 versions of this Earth. I think in all 20 versions, I'm saying Seth Rollins WrestleMania as me changing nothing. Keeping the music. You're going to keep. Yes. But yeah, that's what you said to me. And that was a, that was, that was a very fun, fun experience.

[B]

And you knew what to do. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. And I, I think you understood a bit of the magnitude from. We came off of doing television and I spoke to you while we were at tv.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Said, okay, well let's meet when what you doing tomorrow?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And we jumped on plane and we came down and didn't want any grass to grow.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Underneath our feet before we got a chance to meet with you in person.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And that, that was important. That was important to us to just, just to show you that we're serious about this.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

We, we want you and this is what we want to do. And I think, frankly, I think you knew the answer. Before you came in, I get it. You were looking. Not really sure. We never really are sure.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But I do think that deep down, deep down in your soul, in your gut and your heart, you knew.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You knew. You knew what? I think you knew what you wanted to do. And if you had that magic wand to wave that magic wand that day, that.

[C]

That.

[B]

What would you have done?

[A]

What would you have done? Obviously, money is. Everyone loves money and wants to make as much money as they can and provide for their family. The thing that I knew what I should do. I knew what I should do the moment it was said seth Rollins at WrestleMania for a couple reasons. Seth Rollins is amazing and part of the furniture at wwe, probably a large part of the future of WWE and has done everything. But on a personal level, I had had Seth Rollins first dark match in Dayton, Ohio, at the Nutter Center. I had done live events with him, and then I had seen him fly past me. Fly past me. Rockets of the moon and well deserved. And could handle it.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

So the idea. And I talked about this with Wrestling Cena at WrestleMania 41. The idea of being in the room or in the ring with people who had one on me. And now. No, now we're sharing the same space now. Now we've caught up. You know, that's one thing I've kind of pestered Punk with over the years is, hey, you gotta catch up to me now.

[C]

Right.

[A]

You gotta. And I don't. We have a friendly banter.

[B]

Why you are dream son.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

There isn't. Let me explain something to you, son. It's good to be with you right now, right here. And all because I'm glad that you've got a glimpse of my tail side, if you will. Tail. But it's true. That's okay. That's true.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because when you. You've reached the point now and. And realize that, all right, I'm here, everybody's looking at backside old Bosephus. Yeah, well, you know, guess what? It's harder just to stay in that position. And now you got to fight 10 times harder.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

To stay there than you did to get there. But you are there, and it's good to recognize it and it's good when you can sit there and look at all those folks that. That were along. Along the way that fought for it and fought for it and fought for it. And you made your own way. You made your own way. You said, you know what? I. I see what you see in me. I'm gonna leave and I'm gonna go see what I see for myself.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And you realize what you saw for yourself and in that made other people realize, well, you know what? Maybe we need to look through another lens.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And try it on.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And that success wasn't given to you. You earned every bit of it. And that's the difference. And those that earn it, those that fight for it and continue to fight for it and talking to a punk or talking to a Seth or anybody else, don't think, they don't realize that. I don't think that doesn't burn inside of them to say, all right, you know what is right. And I've got to do even more. Also because they are at the top of the mountain, too.

[A]

Also don't think if I've learned anything, it's one thing to say, hey, you gotta catch up now. People like that do.

[B]

Yes. That's the point.

[A]

Then you're right back behind. Oh man. Like now. And I think that obviously makes great tv. I know my fans have been waiting for something new. Well, head to WWE shop and check out my new American Nightmare Stars and Stripes collection, including authentic tees, hat, box, weightlifting belt, and everyone's favorite windbreaker jacket. The Cody Rhodes Stars and Stripe collection is live now. Don't wait to grab yours now only on WWShop.com Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real.

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[B]

More clear at one year with monthly dosing.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

Race the rudders.

[A]

Race the sails.

[B]

Race the sails. Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching. Over.

[A]

Roger.

[B]

Wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution?

[A]

Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. Trip planner by Expedia. You were made to outdo your holidaying, your hammocking and your pooling. We were made to help organize the competition. Expedia made to travel. I love though when I came back, you were really adamant about it's. It's not yet. You're really adamant and, and I think we're still that way. You're really adamant about there's a lot more to do. There's a lot to do. There's a lot to do. And I liked that because I can always appreciate, hey, we're okay. Things are. This is what I wanted. This is all I ever wanted. My first dream in my life, and I'm having it. But still, you always positioned it from the place of, well, what else can we do? How does it continue? You know, I was watching Unreal, which I want to ask you about the way they position me in Unreal, no pun intended, is Unreal to me.

[B]

It's.

[A]

It's really special. And it's the first thing and I was going to tell Lee, fitting this directly. It's the first thing I've ever seen ever in wrestling with Me, where they don't say, that's Dusty Son. They just introduced me. Not Dusty son.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Comes out later. It's in the. I think it's in the other episode, but I, I went to bed thinking about that. I went to bed thinking, is, is.

[B]

That a good thing?

[A]

Is that a. Is that a great thing? It just, Was it special for me. And I. I'm glad I thought of it because I also should mention Bruce has one of the only two family endorsed impersonations of my dad. So everyone likes to impersonate my dad. Often to me, even if you hate it and I hate it and they'll talk about something serious. I could ask a fellow super genius, Michael Hayes, something serious and he will give it to me in Dusty. And I think, what, what is it? I mean, it was that iconic and it was that he. His way of doing it. But yours is the best. Heyman is stylized and Heyman's is his own version. Yours is very, very good. Did you pick it up immediately or is this years of traveling with the American dream?

[B]

This is actually as a child.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Houston wrestling. Dream came home for Christmas and Dream would come in. Your grandmother lived in Houston. Kathy would come home. Kathy lived in Houston. Dream would come home and see his mom and work in Houston.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And Dusty would do these captivating interviews. So as a child. As a child, 8, 9, 10 years old, I mimicked the American Dream. Dusty Rhodes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

280 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeals, you know, I am too sweet to be found. Duthie Rose, he captivated me then. So I have been working on it since I was a child. And then being around Dusty so much, I would pick up on the mannerisms and I would pick up on the nuances of everything that he did.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Meeting with Dusty, when Dusty was coming in in 1989 and we were going to shoot vignettes, and Dusty was sitting at Eddie Graham's desk in the armory there in Tampa, and I had my briefcase on my knees and I was going through something. My briefcase tumped over.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Everything fell out of it. And Dusty's just. The bag goes, it's okay, baby. It's just a dream, baby. Don't be intimidating. It's just a dream. I got everything down around my feet. I'm like, what? And when he said, don't be intimidated. Just a dream, baby. It was like everything was okay.

[A]

Then lifted it off you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It was like he was a disarmer.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I've heard from a lot of the luminary, a lot of the legends, a lot of his peers, there was a moment where they met, taught something, and then he felt like he was your best friend.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Did you.

[A]

Did you know, because you took care of Kathy. Houston wrestling. My. My grandma Kathy lived there. You. You would always kind of facilitate Kathy and her being there to her seats. Did you know that Kathy was German.

[B]

Thought she was Native American.

[A]

Right. We did think she was Native American because that's what we were told. And we probably should have looked at the giant Marge Simpson style lawn beehive and the fact that she was this large woman.

[B]

It, it was, it screamed German and very pale.

[A]

Yeah, it screamed German. And then when the genealogy, now, to be fair, we found out. I told you, you were the first person. I told you the Native American element is real.

[C]

Right.

[A]

On dad's side, on the plumber side. And it isn't Cherokee as he would tell you. He was full blooded.

[B]

Full blooded Cherokee Indian and full blood 100 Cherokee Indian.

[A]

He, he was not. He was Choctaw. Chickasaw.

[B]

Choctaw.

[A]

Yeah. So, yeah. And it was his. So it was his great grandfather. We got it back. And that was. Right. But so much of that genealogies just showed German. Just, just white people. And I, I, but I, I should have known right away when I saw Kathy. She loved wrestling, huh?

[B]

Oh, without a doubt.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

In her. Used to take her. Okay. Would meet her and walk her to the box. The box was box M. Yeah. And that was Paul Bosch's, the promoters.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Like private box. When he would have special guests come in. Very, very seldom used, really. And that's where she sat in the very front row, box M, row one. She had seats one through four. And they would come and it was. She stuck out like a sore thumb as well because she, her hair wasn't bleached blonde, but it was, but it was, it just. She was to a T. The hair didn't move. Nothing moved. And of course, Dream would come out and say hi to Mama in the middle of the show and everything. People would go nuts because they would see American Dream. Oh, my God. He's in the crowd. He's talking to that woman. Must be his sister.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

No, Mama Rose.

[A]

Mama, Mama, I. You mentioned Paul Bosch, Texas wrestling, which I feel like every day that goes by, new things come up and some of our history get, I mean, so nice that we're here to be around history. But some of our history just naturally gets lost to time.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Paul Bosch. I know. Is that ring, Paul Bosch's ring.

[B]

So Paul Bash had a ring? Yeah, just, just like this. And it was, I had that ring for a while. The, the ring was, was lost on the side of the road on the side of Interstate 10, throwing some trash out the window. Someone found it changing a tire. This is 1967. He had a second one made. Got held up. That one was stolen. Had A third one made. Booker T. Has the third ring.

[A]

I know that.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. So a year after Paul had passed, someone called the television station that we were on, channel 39 in Houston and said, hey, I have Paul Bosch's ring. Paul's widow got excited thinking it was the ring that was stolen in the holdup.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

The guy's changing his tire on the side of the road, found the ring. It had Paul's name on the inside of the ring. Took it home, lost it. 1989. Whatever. It was moving. Found the ring.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Gave it back to Valerie, Paul's widow. 2013.

[A]

The journey on this ring.

[B]

I'm moving.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

We don't know if someone coming through the house, stole the ring or whatever. Lost the ring. And I was bound and determined I was going to have a ring. And what it is, is it's two wrestlers in the middle and it has the microphone on one side. For me, that. That's about podcasting and also announcing, doing the brother love thing. And on the other side is a television from just all the time writing television, producing television. And it's kind of sums up my whole. My whole world, my whole life in the business on my finger.

[A]

Paul Bosch. I think, for those who don't know, legendary promoter Paul Bosch. Very important to you, Paul.

[B]

I started when I was 10 years old with Paul Bosch.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Selling posters. Selling posters of Rocky Johnson.

[A]

No way.

[B]

Yes. And going up into the stands and you got a quarter per poster to sell. The posters made $12. 10 years old. 1973.

[A]

Cheese. Okay.

[B]

And so, man, I. Wrestling business. Great.

[A]

A windfall.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

$12 in 1973 for a 10 year old kid. You're making. That's big money.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And I continued to do that. We were. My brother Tom and I were always the kids that hung around the office, would do whatever needed to be done.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And from. From there, you know, go on to assistant director of the television show as a child. And what that consisted of was giving cues while they did the commercials and the interviews and sitting next to Paul while he did commentary and tell him what to throw to in the commercial. But I did that as a kid, 14 years old. The ring announcer didn't show up.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I got to ring announce there was a flood. He couldn't make it in. You loved it and. Oh, my God. Yes. But I was also terrified. Imagine being 14 years old. And here you go, kid. Ring announce your first match. You asked people to stand for the playing of the Natural Anthem.

[A]

The Natural Anthem.

[B]

The Natural.

[A]

The Natural Anthem. Okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And then the first person I introduced was Torah Tanaka.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I introduced him from Yakahoma, Japan. So was it a great night? Superstar Billy Graham was in the main event and grabbed the microphone the end of the night because I said that he lost the second fall and called me a punk kid for the entire two minute rest period between falls. You're nothing but a punk kid. You don't know anything you talk about. Look at you. You're a punk kid. You're a punk. I don't even think that you could save him because you're nothing but a punk kid. Listen.

[A]

You know, and so had to be terrifying.

[B]

Two minutes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Of just berating me. And it was great.

[A]

What is. What's the number one thing? And I don't mean to put you on the spot, but what is the number one thing you learned from Paul Bosch?

[B]

Listen, I think that any great promoter. Paul listened. Paul listened to the audience. We had a ticket office in Houston where people would come to buy their tickets in advance for the shows we ran every other week. And they. They would tell you. They would tell you what they thought.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And a lot of it was. It reinforced what you were doing. You wanted someone to be angry. You wanted someone to see that, By God, I want Jose Lothario to come in and just beat the hell out of Gino Hernandez. That's what you wanted them to feel. But you listened to what was resonating and what wasn't resonating. And a lot of times you would have someone that was coming up underneath and they're coming up that you may not feel that. You don't envision them doing that. However, you're listening to the people that are buying the tickets. And that's key.

[A]

100%.

[B]

Listen to the folks that are buying tickets and watching the television show, not the ones that just want to critique it.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And they will tell you what's working and what isn't working.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And you can either take the opinion of, well, I know better than them, or you can have that open mind and say, wow, I didn't look at it like that. And if you listen, the audience will always help you and tell you what's working and what isn't working. You just have to be honest enough and open enough to listen. And I think that was an important thing that Paul did. Paul loved to come out and talk.

[A]

To people buying tickets, find out what they were into.

[C]

Right?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

What do you like? Who's your favorite?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Really? Why?

[C]

Who.

[B]

Who do you not like?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Is there anybody. Is there anybody out there, like, you seem like a fan that reads the magazines. Who's out there that you would like to see? And he would listen, and then he would go, go, okay, hey, Bruce, find this guy, or whatever. We would then go in search of that. So you would bring the audience what they were clamoring for. And our job is to piss them off at times, too. Sure. So if you piss them off, that's good. You just don't want to piss off the audience in the wrong way.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And, yeah, probably listening. Listen best. The best advice I've ever gotten from any most successful people before me.

[A]

Well, I. I think it's funny saying I, I, Obviously, you're incredibly on point with. You have to listen. You have to really listen. And even that what we would do in today in a survey or third market research, whatever it may be about, hey, who'd you like? What'd you. What was your favorite part of the show? What did you enjoy? Actually having someone who invested their time invest their time further to explain to you whenever I have. You've seen him at a few of the shows, but little Brody, he doesn't know this. And he probably watched this podcast and be like that. Oh, that's what he's doing. But that's what I do. Because he's not so connected to our world that it's. I'm not getting an internal opinion when I say, what do you like? What was good? Yeah, right. What was. What was. What was good? And sometimes it's a really simple thing. Really. And I think, yep, that's working. That's. And I have to be aware that that's working.

[B]

I had an opportunity in Houston with Mattress Mac Jim McInvale from Gallery Furniture, dear friend of mine. And he had a young man with him, 12 years old, named Bryson.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Who, my God, blew me away with what he liked and what he didn't like. But he not only brought. I brought him backstage for Raw. And he told Becky lynch and Gunter both when he met them, polite as could be. Hello. Very nice to meet you. It is. Oh, this is so cool. This greatest day of my life. I cannot wait for Lyra to just beat the hell out. And Becky, who. And I did not know he was going to.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

To respond like that. But he gave me an unfiltered, unbridled opinion of our product that I was like, wow. And when it came down to, okay, who's your favorite? And his favorite of all time was Roman Reigns.

[C]

Right.

[B]

And I said, why Is this because he's the man? He. He's it. He is real.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And you were number two.

[A]

All right.

[B]

And. But you were number two. You were number two. And it was close. And I said, why? He said. He goes, oh. He goes, cody's real. When Roman retires, Cody will be.

[A]

And I was like, oh, come on.

[B]

What?

[A]

I said, come on.

[B]

I said, look at him. You don't think right now. And yeah, but it was. It was a kid's opinion. Yeah, that was so. Just unfiltered and it was. Roman was in the spot longer. That's how he viewed it.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And I was like, okay. I said, but Cody's there all the time. He goes, oh, no, Cody's great.

[A]

He's.

[B]

Yeah, Cody's my favorite.

[A]

Chipping away, like.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And as you got down to it and you got down to. Yeah, well, then there's Jay uso.

[A]

And right there he's.

[B]

He's picking away at all of the things that he loves.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And it was. And it just encompassed everything and he himself brought it around to. I just love the wwe. Yeah, it's great. It has everything. Because I love to boo Becky lynch. And. And as he brought it all back around, I just. I was mesmerized.

[A]

That's such good feedback.

[B]

And I spent. I spent a day with it, man. We had lunch together and just got to talk and ask him questions. He asked me a million questions. But. But that's the best. Listen. Listen to those that are out there that don't have a dog in the fight.

[A]

I want to follow up on listening. But I also. You've done something that you do all the time and don't realize you do. And I walk away from it going, okay, all right. What I do is you. First thing I told you when it was official, signed Seal deliver. I said, I want to be the man. And I think I might have said specifically, I want to be the man. Like John. That tight. I want to be that for. For you guys because I feel it's different now, but that the way he did it is how I want to do it. And maybe there'll be my own spin on. But the model. I loved his model. And that's where I met you were. Well, yeah, it can happen, but this has to happen. You've got to do this. And then once it happens, nothing changes. It gets hard. You always found a way of. Because other people. God, you need those people in your life who are like, hey, you're doing great, kids. You do a lot better they say, they say. Exactly. You'll hear somebody say the face of the company thing. And I feel like everyone you say that to, none of them, nobody ever goes, yeah, that's me. Everybody's always like, oh, well, thank you. But I mean, we've got a good team because it's, it's a fight every day, right? So now you've said here and you've told me, this kid who we're going to find has got me. He's got me in the 2 slot. Yeah, but that. I'll walk away of that and thinking, I love that. I love that because I, in my own way, and I'm sure in his own way, I really have a unique affinity for Roman. How he does it, completely different how he does it. And all of the guys and Becky, who you mentioned, every one of them, the reason they care so much is because they take that as a responsibility. This, he's here, this guy's here for us. We gotta, gotta do all the things he said and then some. So, Paul Bosch listening, talking about listening to the fans today. The fans are not just in the arenas today. The fans are on social as well. It's always a tricky answer. How do you feel? Do you listen to. Because you yourself actually pre coming back here, I would say was pretty embroiled socially. You and Conrad's podcast, which took the world by storm, relied a lot on social media, relied on a lot on the hardcore fan. So today, are you counting those in listening? I feel like I know the answer to this, but to the social media.

[B]

Fan, I think that social media is a dangerous place to go because you don't really know what you're listening to. And it is such a small percentage of the audience. It's a loud, passionate percentage, without a doubt. I just don't know sometimes if that audience is saying it to be controversial or to just go against the grain or what have you. So it goes back to listening. For me, I listen to the people that, that pay. When, when I would hear things. When I started the, the podcast, a big part of the podcast that I wanted to accomplish was there was so much incorrect information out in the ether, out in the Internet world, out that had never been challenged, that had never ever been anyone that said, no, that's, that is not what happened. Because we were so closed off behind the scenes that in order to dispel that rumor or dispel that, you would have had to give.

[A]

Give up other things, give something else up.

[B]

I was away from the business. I, I didn't see myself ever coming back into the business. And Conrad was very big into the. What we call the dirt sheets and the Internet world. I took the opportunity to do the podcast to be able to dispel some of that in many ways. For so many years, There was Vince McMahon, Pat Patterson, and myself. And of the three, now, one is passed and the other one's not talking. So I had an opportunity to. To give a different version of things that actually. Actually did take place. Not what someone. I heard someone did this. No, this is what actually happened in the moment. And you and I can have a conversation, and we can go our separate ways today, and we'll each have a different version of that conversation. And that's okay, because that's your version. You were there, you participate in it, and you have that version for you. I have my version for me. To someone that was never there and is listening to a third party who probably wasn't there either.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Tell them something and then report it as fact. It's just wrong.

[A]

That's where.

[B]

That's the rub.

[A]

I will say it's a danger. A gag order of any kind. Whether it's a gag order because like you said, you don't want to give away something else, or whether it's just a traditional. No, this is. We don't need to show you everything. Not everything. And no. The process of The. The thought process of going into who is going up, who's going down, whatever that may be it.

[B]

Whoa, buddy.

[A]

Oh.

[C]

Now what are y' all doing in there?

[B]

Y' all spinning shit. Careful out there. Been warehouse. It's been 84 days without. Without an incident around here. We ain't gonna go back to one. No. Sorry.

[A]

What work goes on in here? I don't know. Forklifts and it's. It's just stuff. Someone just moving things every day that they rotate stuff.

[B]

I'm changing that number before we leave. One day since somebody dropped in the middle of a podcast.

[A]

Since an incident.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

That's what it needs to be.

[A]

Well, you mentioned. So you're talking about dispelling the rumor. And I feel like what I've. Is when you're not able to speak on something and then it goes out there. One thing that I did. I do agree social can be very scary, is when they take it as fact.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

There's a line about me in a book about how I was last to sign when me and the boys started the alternative promotion. That line is taken as if it is a biblical verse, and it is something that's used anytime you have to build a case. And so badly. I've always felt like, well, I'm gonna have to write my book. My version I'm gonna have to dispel. But here's what I enjoy. You said you took up the time to dispel some of these rumors, but really, if you listen to you and Conrad, you're doing impersonations, you're having fun.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And I feel like maybe if the goal was to dispel information, sure. But I think most fans enjoyed it because you gave them a little extra and you put such magic on it. It's a very entertaining duo.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Cause I feel like we do need to give Conrad his love. It's a very, very entertaining duo.

[B]

Oh, it is the duo.

[A]

And yes, dispelling rumor is one thing, but when I look at it, I never see it that way. I just see he's doing. He's taking these stories and he's painting them with a really great brush because he remembers what was said. He remembers what that person sounds like. Fans didn't get that experience. So I feel like from someone now who has a podcast, who. I did not anticipate having a podcast. You're. You're one of the ones that laid a really great precedent for how to do it.

[B]

Well, also, in telling stories, a lot of times, in pitching stories and pitching creative, you have got to become the character that you are pitching.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And so a lot of that comes from that. In that if. If we were pitching something for Paul Bearer, I had to do. Oh, yes. And then I had Undertaker's Mama. You know, you have to become the character, and you have to tell the story as if. And you have to believe. You have to become. And that's how I tell stories, just in general. And I look back on, we did the WrestleMania 9 making of, and there is footage of me where I. Because I just did it. It was just second nature. I never did it for any other reason than that. Just sometimes you had to hear Dusty and I was doing Dusty about something.

[A]

Dictating other things as Dusty.

[B]

As Dusty, just because it's. It's almost as if. And you get in that. You get in that mode, and you have to. You have to become those characters. And that's the beauty when somebody going off on another tangent is it's very easy when people always ask me, bruce, do you miss doing Brother Love? I do. I love performing. Absolutely love it. The beauty of being in creative and being on the other side of it is I have the opportunity. I Get to be everybody.

[A]

I get to be.

[B]

I get to be Cody Rhodes.

[A]

I love that outlook.

[B]

I get to be Cody.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

At the same time, I get to be John Cena.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I get to be Roman Reigns. I get to be Gunter. So on this side of it, you have the opportunity to be all of the characters as long as you can find their voice and be able to present as if.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

When we're looking at what is Cody going to do? So much of it comes from you. We just have to then channel Cody. And I got to channel Cody in coming up with a way to do said scenario.

[A]

I love how you asked me right before WrestleMania in Dallas. You just gave me an indication. You said, you know, on Monday, you're gonna have a promo. Any idea what you want to say? And that was a really great moment of. I sent you what it was, and that's a hundred percent what was said. You let it be. You let. You let us as a company see it. Okay. We can make. We can fix things or change things or. But you let them. You let everyone see it first. Yeah. And then, okay, what is. How does Cody fit in wwe? And that became a little bit of a journey, but we never really had anything where it was too much of a deviation on the character that was being brought. I'm glad you brought up Brother Love, because I knew Brother Love wasn't coming back. When I asked you to be Brother Love, to present me with the Winged Eagle title, and I wanted it, and I think I said it as if it was a joke. And you're like, ah, no, I wanted Brother Love in the ring. Going into Saturday night's main event with the Winged Eagle title, I ended up doing the Pulp Fiction with Triple H in the case. But I'm looking. There's a winged eagle, of course, off in the distance. So I'm not gonna ask you when Brother Love is coming back, because I'd be hot if Brother Love comes back for.

[B]

He didn't give you the Winged Eagle.

[A]

You're right. This was right. This was right there at the warehouse. As far as the eye can see, his history and some of it. I'm looking at a poster right here of Hulkamania and Randy Savage. You're so interconnected with that era of wwe, with that golden age of wwe. Is there something that you miss or stands out to you that was just a. I know you were having fun. You're still having fun.

[B]

I'm having a blast every day.

[A]

So is there something about it that you just. You loved a character that you were connected to, that you were right there with and helped drive them to the finish line.

[B]

The. The Undertaker immediately comes to mind in that it was. It was a vision. It was a creation in my own head.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And a very selfish one at that. Because I wanted. I want someone to manage and I wanted. I wanted Mean Mark and I wanted him as this really evil character. And the Undertaker was born from that and he grew. And also it's. I was given the opportunity to be. Stay behind the scenes and produce. Or we have this guy Percy Pringle. It's going to be Paul Bear.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And Paul Bearer was a much. Paul Bear was. Was the Undertaker's manager. And I think that was perfect. And that was the right choice in any scenario. History wouldn't have been the same without Paul and Undertaker being together. But that character was one that came out of my head. Same thing with Kane. That just kind of came out of my head and did. And what I miss, when you're asked and you looked at. Perfect example of WrestleMania 5, the mega powers explode with Randy and Hulk. Yeah. And knowing what I miss is having the ability to tell a story over nine months to a year and to do things that nobody else knows you're doing that you can then go back and call back on. Sure. And tell a complete story where the audience goes, oh, my God, I remember that. Oh, look at that. And make the footage, tell the story and have the characters do things. Sometimes the characters didn't even know why they were doing the things they were doing. But when we put it all back together, it made perfect sense. And it was as simple as, Randy, put Liz on your shoulder. Hulk, make sure you steady her right in the small of her back.

[A]

Yeah. It wasn't the small of her back, though. Not to Randy.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

No.

[B]

And little. Just the little things. When Randy sees Hulk down with Liz and it's. I saw the lust in your eyes, brother. Yeah. And it's Randy, the jealous guy, going back. And a jealous guy, when he goes back and looks at things through that jealous lens, sees it in a different way. The altruistic. No, brother. I was so pumped. You were so pumped. I didn't want her to fall down. Making sure she was okay. All those things.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But we. We had an idea and we wanted to plant seeds along the way and never pointed them out.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Until it was right there and it exploded.

[A]

I. I love that you bring up the mega powers, because after. And I'm not comparing myself to the mega powers, but I'll say a Story over the course of a year, who was the only person and the very first person. So there's gorilla position in wwe, then there's the stage. Right. Every now and then, there's a little buffer. There's a little phantom zone. I stand there. That's where all the cryo films up, whatever it may be. I hadn't made it into gorilla after WrestleMania 39, and there was one person in the little buffer zone just to make sure I was okay, because that was a emotionally exhausting situation. Anybody could recognize that the plan's the plan, but to make them upset, everything, your heart, you have to leave it all in the ring. And you were the one who was standing there. It was. And we got to tell a story, even though we had some major curveballs. Right, right. Thanks for that.

[B]

Well, I. I know that, you know.

[A]

Look, you know that I was telling you I'm ready now.

[B]

I know you were. Yeah, you were ready. You were ready.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

However, there. The time, I think, made it even better. Yeah. And I know that you were ready. I know you believe that you were ready and you were. However, they weren't ready. They thought they were the audience. And for them to truly appreciate it all that much more and the. It was to say, hey, no, man, we're going to be right here. Yeah, we're going to be right here. Next year, it's going to be different. And that's. As a performer, I understand how hard that is. That is hard to accept.

[A]

I think that. I think being told we're on a journey and it's gonna be huge and it's gonna be. That's. Oh, okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But also, it's in the moment. In the moment and the fear. I've talked about this before. I talked about this with Jelly Roll. The idea that that was the. I thought everything I was doing up to then was hard was really hard. And I thought, man, this is what it was. This is what John was talking about. The level of work you think you know, then you find out. And then that's presented as the task. It became a moment of. I don't know if I can do it.

[B]

Well, let me ask you.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Was it worth it?

[A]

Yes. I wouldn't flop those out. I wouldn't trade those. But I'm going to ask you about somebody maybe who would, maybe who wouldn't. How Does Dusty book WrestleMania 39?

[B]

Oh, my God. Dusty 100% probably would have had David Allan Coe there and Bob Kent on his shoulder, and Dusty would have put you over. He would have huh? 100%. 100%. I wanted to ask you earlier because.

[A]

You mentioned Eddie Graham and that's a random dream I've had more than once, which kind of trips me out, but I've had this random dream where I worked for Championship wrestling from Florida. And I often wonder about how my own father would have booked me, but he looked at me and you know this because he looked at me so differently.

[B]

He did.

[A]

He, he, he really thought TV and film. He really.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

I, I, I, I, that's why I wonder, I don't know if he ever saw me as a, as someone on the sheet. He did, right?

[B]

100% he did and he saw. But I think that the totality of it all that I think dream looked at it as here's, here's your road to get there.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And that while he was saying TV and film and all that he was also looking at conquer this.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And be everything that this is and all, everything else comes. But you have to remain here because that's what's going to take you.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

To that. And as long as you get to that, you have to remain here to be able to maintain it all. And look, he, from, from day one and parents being a parent, you never, you never choose, you know, your siblings and dream told me this was Chicago. Right. The dream went in the hall of Fame Detroit.

[A]

You came in Grant.

[B]

Right. In the, in the theater. And he had told me before going in, he wanted you guys to induct in. Yeah. But he also said to me, I don't know if I ever said this to you.

[A]

I feel like this is new information.

[B]

That, but no, that, that would be your coming out party.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

He didn't, you didn't tell me that.

[B]

That that would be where we would see.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You'll see Cody there and Vince and I sitting at Gorilla Me saying to Vince, holy shit. Took a while. We got there.

[A]

Took forever. Took forever, bud. I remember he said, the chairman wants to talk to you. Right. I came back, said what?

[C]

Right.

[A]

Yeah, it's like blew it.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

No, but it was, it was, it was the poise in which, in which you did it. It was the way that you handled that audience. And that was a heavy burden. That's a heavy, heavy hitter to put into the hall of Fame. Oh, and by the way, it's your dad.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So you had two things working against you. Oh, I'm standing next to my big brother. Okay. That's hard.

[A]

I always, whenever I have to speak on his behalf. So speaking at the hall of Fame or speaking even eulogizing him. I always approach it from the perspective of people here. Consider Dusty the greatest talker, if not one of the greatest talkers ever in the industry. I can't, as his son slip on that. I could come right from the heart, and it would probably be sincere, but I also. I have to put a lot of English on this, a lot of sugar on this, because there's an expectation. The way he spoke and just legit breathed fire basically with that. And I. Whenever it actually is not just with him, it's with any time. I remember that you guys asked me to talk about Terry Funk, I was so excited. So I hated the circumstances. But I. I was so honored to. To be. Be asked to be in that position. Yes. Because these are.

[C]

How do.

[A]

How do you speak about people who did so much? And when we say, set the table for us, you guys set this table for us. It's so maybe that. But he never talked to me about that hall of Fame speech, which is why it's crazy that he said, this is coming out party. I didn't even. I don't think I saw him really until that day, because it was my first WrestleMania week. He was all over the place.

[B]

Oh, this. And this was before. This was week of. When he had talked about having you guys induct him.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Speaking of inductions. And I have thought about this a little. So we talked about you and your amazing Dusty Rhodes impersonation, which I. I do love. I. I slipped up a few times and maybe done a little of it, little of it. But I always peel it back before I realize I'm not. It's not as good. It's. I should be able to do the best one, and it's not as good. One of the concerns or something I've thought about is if Chicken, my brother, ever goes in the WWE hall of Fame. If Chicken goes in, I think I'd do one there. And I think I'd. I'd commit to. Because I've asked myself, what would he say?

[C]

Right.

[A]

And I feel the expert, at least on what he would. How he would talk about his. His other son. I feel I'm the expert. So.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

If it. If it comes up. No, I'm putting it out there in the ether now. No, I'm gonna. I'm gonna do my best, which I'd be basically doing my best to do a Bruce Prichard. Who does. Who does? My own father.

[B]

You could put me in the hall of Fame, and then you could do it oh, so that's one of the times. So that would feel safe. Not. Buddy, I am.

[A]

I am a.

[B]

About it.

[A]

I. I am about it. Oh, gosh, I didn't know he told you that. That's.

[B]

Look, man, you're.

[A]

You're around a lot in these. These core moments. I feel like I put that together more than ever just talking to you now. Core moments. There you are.

[B]

But. But they are. They're. They're truly moments.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And they're moments that happen within so many different things. And. And people will often say, I can't remember what I did yesterday.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I remember things that meant something to me.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

With people that meant something to me. That's. That's kind of how I. I remember those things. In. In that I remember him saying that and then sitting there with Vince when it actually happened.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And going, this is what Virgil saw, you know, And. And not. And not having. It wasn't like a big thing. It's a big thing now when you reflect on it.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But in the moment, it's kind of like, okay, he's going to be all right. He's got it, and we got something to work with here. And when you look at. You have the 20 years or whatever. Whatever it is to look back on and go, oh, shit, that was. That's a big deal.

[A]

He didn't lie to you.

[B]

Look, there. There were things in my life when we. We talk about. You talk about. You get to a point, then you realize, holy cow, I've got to go thousand times more than I've already been.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

To get where I want to go. And once I get there, It'll be another 10,000 more.

[C]

Sure.

[B]

I. I look at my life and I go, I wanted to be a wrestler. I wanted to be the world champion. Then I wanted to promote Houston. I wanted to retire. That was, like, very simplistic. Love and goal.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

At 24, I had 24, 25 years old. I had already been in Madison Square Garden. I had already worked with Hulk Hogan. I had promoted Houston. I had. I had made the money that I thought was unmakeable at that point in time and realized, oh, my God, what do I do now? I've lived my life.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm 25 years old. What do I do?

[A]

A lot of. A lot of time left, and I.

[B]

Realized there was so much more to live. And at that point in time, realize that, like, right now I'm 62, and I have no. No vision. I stopped looking at, well, I'm going to retire at 65 or I'm going to do this, and I don't know what I do. I love this. But there were moments in time. I remember Vince McMahon telling me one time, bruce, we will have our own network. I thought, okay, we'll have a cable network or something.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And, you know, we'll have different. Different shows on. We'll have Andy Griffith, by God, and all these things, but it'll be a lot of wrestling. It'll be our wrestling, by God, and we'll put it on. He had a network. When he talked about going public, I didn't even understand what that meant.

[C]

Right.

[B]

We were a privately held company that had good years and had bad years. When the good years were good, you did well. When they were bad, you didn't do well, and you felt it. And we were invested in that. So that if business was bad, that was a reflection on you and you didn't make as much money.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And if it was good, that was a reflection on what we did. We made more money. And so when we went public, I was like, wow. Just the. I realized that the criticisms of events were, oh, he doesn't know what's going on. He wasn't ever in the now. He was just so far ahead of the now that you. You reflect on those moments and go, wow, what vision? And when you. So when you have your silly visions and your silly thoughts of, wouldn't it be cool to wrestle on the moon? Wouldn't it be cool to do this? What if Cody could do this? It's not out of the realm. No, it is all possible. And if you keep fighting and keep working hard enough, to everybody. This is a lesson to everybody. You. You can reach it.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Don't ever give up. And you always have the philosophy three kinds of people in this world. Those that try, those that give their best shot, those that do whatever it takes. If you do whatever it takes and you're true to yourself.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Then, by God, you can succeed and you can do anything. So it's those moments in time help you realize that in this moment in time is where you're going. All right. You know, I thought about doing this and doing that, and when you realize it, I hope you go back and go, oh, God, I remember Bruce said that I would do all this stuff. And your dad talked about making movies. You know, he didn't. He didn't book a wrestling event. He wrote a movie.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

There was a wrestling event.

[A]

His vision.

[B]

Yes. People laughed at it. His vision. His vision.

[A]

Jim Ross had told me he's like, ah, your dad and his vision. I had to at least do X's and O's on a paper because it was always the vision here. Somebody had to be there to facilitate the vision a little bit. What does it actually look like?

[B]

Right?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But everybody laughed at it.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And they'll laugh at you and go, you're crazy.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But your vision can be, can be the reality. You just have to work and make it the reality. Yeah. When you, you talk about all the things that he did. Yes. He looked at it. And again, he never wrote. He never wrote a wrestling pay per view run movies. Him movies. We make a movie. That's what we're doing.

[A]

I wanted to ask selfishly, which is often how every wrestler asks, but I'm going to ask blanket more generic. Somebody wants to be the man in 2025. And you work with a lot of talent on multiple shows. You see talent in nxt, Smackdown Raw, see talent outside that. We're all. You see the board for all that it is. What does someone need to do to be the man for WWE in 2025?

[B]

Don't do stupid shit. And a lot of it does come back to. To listening and it's be available, but be available and do comes. It comes down to actually doing it and doing it better than anybody else.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

So it's one. It's one thing to say, yeah, I want to be the guy. I want to do it. Okay, need you to get up 4 o' clock in the morning to go do this and make this. And it's like, ah, whoa. I really. I mean softle early. I don't, I don't like to get up before nine.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And could we change that? Do the work. It is literally do the work. Great example of John Cena doing the work. During the pandemic, hearing about a child overseas in. And John couldn't get there conventionally, was able to find a private plane to get there, but we couldn't. He had no merchandise. And this child, they were coming out of Ukraine and they or it escaped. And the mother kept telling the son, we're going to see John Cena. And that's what kept this little boy going. And John went to go see him, but didn't have merchandise. It's pandemic ship anything nationally? Yeah, we were, we did whatever it took. We got, we got it on private planes, we got it on car service. We found people to meet John so that John could have something to give that child. When you wake up in the morning, you're waking up to start your day and go do something.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Every single day that you wake up, you should wake up to do something. And whatever that is, that should be to help your growth, whether it's your personal growth and your family or whether it's your professional growth in what you do. But every single day, do something. And once you do that, find out what else you can do and continue to do. Sounds like that simple. It's not. It's hard work.

[A]

So you said it, be available and do it.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And the be available is everyone who probably asks you that question.

[C]

Right.

[A]

And I love learning on the show, but everyone who asks that question, be available.

[B]

Sure.

[A]

But then the do it part.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Never had I needed to hear something more than what you just told me on today of all days. Do it is. Do it is the part where you drop off. Do it is where 8 out of 10 people ask you that. Oh, oh, never. No.

[C]

All right.

[A]

No, I can't, I can't. But, well, then there's your answer. So thank you for that.

[B]

Well, I, and, and I'm not, it's my job. I, I doing this today. Oh, this is not, this is a blast.

[A]

This is fun.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay. You've got a full day. Yeah, I've got a full day. And when it came down to it, they're going, all right, Bruce is the week of SummerSlam. And we, we told them no.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I asked what it was and told me, I said, well, Cody's got a full week that week too. So, yes, not only will be there, we'll make it happen.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And as I was coming in and called my assistant, I said, I'm running late as hell, but I will be on time. Famous last words. And I was, I was actually on.

[A]

Time, which is be available and do it good.

[B]

But yes. And that's what you have to do.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And if you want it, you want to succeed and then once you do it, do it better than anybody else can. Sure. And that's important.

[A]

This is going to sound like a really odd question to stem out of that, but I forgot to ask you, did you, Dusty, when you traveled together, this is around the time Sapphire, Macho King, Sherry, did you guys all travel together or what did the car look like?

[B]

So when a lot of times it was Dusty and I would travel together.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And then Liz Randy would travel together, and then Sherry and Sapphire would travel.

[A]

So I had heard that because Sapphire was not from the wrestling world.

[C]

Right.

[A]

I had heard that Sherry was kind of established as taking Care of Sapphire.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Through this run.

[B]

Yes. So Sherry wasn't really that happy about that, but yes.

[A]

Why didn't Dusty do this? Why? What?

[C]

What?

[A]

Why? Why was Dusty not tasked with this?

[B]

American Dream? Dusty Rose. I know, and I know baby Finn and him punking head with it. They got. They got. They got hotels. Okay. Where we were you and I going to stay? Everybody else need to stay somewhere.

[A]

That's why I asked. I had heard that you guys stayed at the nicer hotels. That. That was. You know, that she got a check for WrestleMania in Toronto and didn't cash it.

[B]

Didn't.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Until she asked him what I'm supposed to do with this.

[B]

Sapphire had no clue.

[A]

What am I supposed to do?

[B]

More money ever with this check.

[A]

And my dad was like, cash it. It's your money.

[B]

You wrestle it. Give it to me, baby. Listen. Endorse it. Pay to the old order of Virgil, Rally Runner junior iii.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh, yes. Cash. But we. Man, we had. We had. God, so much fun.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because every place. And another great thing about being on the road that I think people miss is the camaraderie in the car. Just the conversations in the car, the gems you find along the way, whether it's a hot dog stand underneath a highway in Philadelphia that you go to with a line of people and they go, oh, my God, it's Dusty Rhodes. And you walk up to the front and the guy gives you the hot dogs, because that's where Virgil goes.

[A]

This happened, actually.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay. Then one of the times they go, they know me here. And they walk in and go. And your name, sir? He's.

[A]

So we share a lot of. If they don't know you or if they. If they in. If the introductory overtures are done poorly, I want to leave.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Right away. I'm. Right away. He's the exact. I. I can't tell you the amount of Longhorn steakhouses I went to, and. Because they didn't overly put him over the moment, walk through the door.

[B]

I'm out.

[A]

I'm out.

[B]

I'm out. Can you believe the audacity? I'm gonna call Charlie as soon as I get home, and I let him know, fire everybody. We gonna go in there on Thursday. They're gonna be a whole new. Whole new crew in there. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, it was great. But that. Those were. Those were the things. Everywhere we went. He had a spot. He had a spot, and I loved it. Because it wasn't the normal spots.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

We didn't just go to the hotel bar no. We went off the beaten path somewhere to go have chicken pot pie or a hot dog and sit there and drink beer where the bartender or the owner, the manager knew him and kissed his ass.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I was all good, but you didn't get messed with either.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And we could sit there and have fun and just, you know, I. It was the best. It was. Look, I would partake in. In. I like to inhale things and all this stuff.

[A]

Not dream, though. Maybe. Maybe every now and then. Right.

[B]

But he didn't. And out of respect.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I didn't do it in the car.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And we would be on a long trip sometimes, and he'd go pong it in. You probably thinking maybe right around now, you, like, have a little puff of your little pipe in the trunk of the car. Pull over, let me get it. And then I would, like, partake. And then he would look at me go, you ain't gonna share, but okay. Yeah, he would have a puff or two and.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And just. Just to, you know, be apart and. And have fun.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And that's what, you know, I loved about it. That camaraderie. That fun. Those stories, the. We talked about everything in the business.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

We talked about everything in life and those life experiences and stories. The best.

[A]

I think you probably had an experience with him that I had as well, where when you got him by himself, he was very honest about what's cooking.

[C]

He loved.

[A]

Yeah. He had all the belief in himself, and he certainly. He had an ego and all, but he did. When you got him by himself, could tell you that person's moving up. That's. He had a awareness that I always found when I was around different legends and stuff. I couldn't tell if they had. He had a. He had an ear for it all and listening and. Maybe that's from the promoter and, like, talking about Paul.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

No, he was the best. And look, and there were. There were also times that the eagle would take over in the ring.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And. And we would have to, you know, slap him in the back of the head and never did. By the way, your dad owes me $5,000.

[A]

He owes you 5,000.

[B]

He owes me $5,000.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. Does this end up with me giving me $5,000? Yeah.

[B]

Just. Why is your dad.

[A]

Why does he owe you $5,000?

[B]

Well, because I think I. Yeah. I've told you this story.

[A]

Is this an athletic element of it?

[B]

Like, there is somewhat.

[A]

Yeah. Okay.

[B]

Yeah, but there was. Look, there. It's. It's a.

[A]

You couldn't catch him, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's okay. Yeah.

[C]

But I did.

[A]

So, yeah, in the ring.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Like, couldn't catch his back, basically.

[B]

So basically, he would come in and he would ignore us.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

And he would do his Dusty stuff.

[A]

Back on the head.

[B]

Told him, you turn your back on me again, I'm gonna knock you out. He goes, you too slow. And Randy said, he goes, hell, he goes, brother Love could catch you, knock you out. You go, $5,000 that brother love can never catch me. And the matches were rotten for the next, like four or five days.

[A]

Yeah, you're involved in this game now.

[B]

Because all I'm. All they're trying to do is Randy set Dusty up so I could get in behind him.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And matches are terrible. So we like. Okay, we go. We do a couple of nights where we just don't do it like it's ruining the match. We're not gonna do it now. We did not call the bet off some fair. So we did not call them.

[A]

Well, you, you moved away from it.

[B]

Came into.

[A]

Well, you let business take over.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

These batches, we're businessmen here.

[B]

My God, it's a professional. Yes.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And right time, man. Dream came in and Liz needed help getting in the ring. He turned his back. And Brother Love, without him, you got him.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Like, right on, right? Boom. And I rolled out and we were laughing so hard and he was livid.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Took the microphone in. Listen to me, tonight I'm a whoopi ass for real. And your old man was fast.

[A]

Yeah, no, he was quick. Yes, he was very quick.

[B]

And he got out, caught me and he. He proceeded. Beat the shit out of me. But, yeah, I got him and I won. So that night was St. Louis, Missouri is where it was.

[A]

And not a good town for him.

[C]

Right? Yeah.

[B]

And I said to him in the back, I swear is my $5,000. And I said, he's just hems and halls. I said, you never thought that I would ever get behind you and hit you. Well, you never thought I'd actually ever pay you $5,000 if you did, did you? So I look to you, you shook.

[A]

Hands on this bet.

[B]

Yes, we did. Well, I mean, I look at you, you came straight from his lawyer.

[A]

I'll have to look into the great from his Lord.

[B]

And you was here. So, like, from the low ends and.

[A]

Well, you know, the dollars, you know.

[B]

Five of them with three, zero.

[A]

Mama Rhodes is. Mama Rhodes is rather frugal compared to Dream. And that's. I mean, I'll look into it. You're owed. You're owed money.

[B]

I. I am owed.

[A]

You caught him.

[B]

I did.

[A]

So $5,000. We will have to look into. Yeah, we'd have to look into it, but faster money.

[B]

That was the.

[A]

Good to know. We talk so much about him. How do we not. I didn't wear it. Which is, of course, I didn't wear the gimmick. I blew it. But how do we not talk about the watch? Ah, you're. You're. You're facilitating that. You Nick on Triple H. Yeah, facilitating. Finding.

[B]

Facilitated it by telling the story.

[C]

I had.

[A]

Put it out. I mean, that's true.

[B]

Put it out there.

[A]

Yeah, I got that. You never got your $5,000, but I got my $10,000 cash to go to LA.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And was happy as can be and had an apartment and all this. And then come to find out a few years later, hey, where's my watch? Oh, he sold it.

[B]

Found that apartment.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Acting list.

[A]

That was Howard Fine's acting studio.

[C]

Right.

[A]

So after maybe 40, it did.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Here's the watch. And definitely didn't expect it because I went and broke the bank on WrestleMania 40 Rolexes. I'd. I'd given up.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I'd given up on that. And it's. Again, part of Unreal has. Has the clip in there of me getting it. I was legit.

[B]

You rest.

[A]

I feel like we never get shocked.

[B]

Yeah. Well, Jeff help so much in that because it was. It's a unique watch.

[C]

It's.

[B]

It's unique in. In the style. It was unique in the band. It was unique in the face jubilee bracelet.

[A]

But it's a datejust. It's not a presidential, but it looks like a presidential.

[B]

Everybody thought it was. And that's what everybody was going on. He looked at it, goes, no, that's not it. And then he came back and. And couldn't find it. Couldn't find.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Anything. And said, well, that was in September, October, WrestleMania, April. And he called me, like, I think in November, December that year, and sent me the picture. And. Do you want it? It's like, yes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Here. And gave. Literally gave him my credit card on the spot.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And he sent it the next day. So it was. Yeah, that was. That was pretty cool, you know.

[A]

You know, part of that story, you guys finding it has started something in wwe. You know, when you start trends that don't completely affect you, and then you kind of look at yourself and go, hey, I feel like I'm part of this perking up again here. Watch culture. Watch culture is Taken off. If. If in 10 years from now everyone's at WrestleCon trying to.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because Gunther, no clue he's talking about aps. And I mean, just what. What's going. It's not just Rolexes anymore. And then we have our Dark side of the moon, Omega. So you and I there.

[B]

I should have won one day. I got the. I got the.

[A]

I have my Speedmaster Dark side of the Moon. And you have your seamaster.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And why. What I. What did I tell you when I said why I got it. Do you remember?

[B]

No.

[A]

I said the reason I be like me. Well, to be like I love yours. I said the reason I got it was because we were going to the moon. Yeah, that was. We got to keep breaking records. We were going to the moon.

[B]

Yeah, we will. We will. And then you got my band for mine.

[A]

I did.

[C]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Put me to put me to task. So still owe you $5,000.

[B]

But you still owe me $5,000.

[A]

I had such. Especially with what you mentioned about be available and do it. The high of today, the sinking low, is that I owe you $5,000, and I've got to find a way to, you know, cash. You know how hard it is to get. You know how hard it is. They think. They also. When you get cash today, look at you like you're.

[B]

Oh, yes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Because Mama Rhodes likes cash.

[B]

I still.

[A]

Cash, huh?

[C]

Cash.

[B]

Big.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Cash guy.

[A]

Super G. That's a super genius thing. Because Heyman's cash.

[B]

The cash here last. Heyman can't get credited.

[A]

Well, Heyman reminds me of Jim Carrey and Dumb and Dumber when he's at. They all laugh.

[B]

They know it's true.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

But Heyman, I mean, anybody. If you'd help him sit down. I've never seen anything like it. It's an endless supply of. He's just the real deal.

[B]

Learned that from. From the old man walking in and just going through Smith and Wolinsky's and the restaurant was closed, and they said, oh, we can take you guys in. So. No, no, we'll go to the Grill and instead of walking right around the corner, walk through the restaurant, through the kitchen, through the back door, into the Grill, and tip everybody there $100 for staying. And I love it. And it's just like that's. It's weeks pay.

[A]

Yeah, that's still popping up, though. Yeah, yeah, that's. I love that.

[B]

Drives my wife nuts because. Yeah, I kind of picked that one up.

[A]

Well, I mean, you've been. She's she knows you at this point.

[B]

Yeah, it's.

[A]

It's terrifying, right?

[B]

It's terrifying. Yeah, I, I actually have like the, I have the, the, the clip and then I've got like the, the tip cash separate.

[C]

Got it.

[A]

So you don't understand.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

You know, I got you.

[A]

I got you. Wheatley American Vodka. Again, the I love you, martini. American Mule. We like to say myself and Wheatley American Vodka. The American Dream Team. Who makes up your dream Team? And I'll give you some qualifiers because there's always questions. Survivor Series, it. War games, it. Zombie apocalypse. We've had 30 people. We've made it simpler where it's just four. But who is coming with you? Who is. Who is riding into battle on your Bruce Pritchard American Dream Team?

[B]

Now, are we going to fight?

[A]

I think most of the times, yes. Yeah, yeah. You know what? Bar fight. Yes. You're just going to fight. All right, who's. Who's with you people? I can tell. I can already guess. One.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Well, okay, well, let's start with who you get.

[A]

Dead man.

[B]

Dead man is.

[A]

Dead man's coming. Okay, good.

[B]

Dead man is one.

[C]

Yep.

[B]

Layfield is one.

[A]

Okay. All right, all right.

[B]

And everybody probably names this person, but they are a dear friend of mine. And. And anybody that doesn't want him in a bar fight is a fool. Haku.

[A]

Oh, there you go. What a dream team. You're not giving the opponents much option.

[B]

Yeah, no, I'm not like a guy.

[A]

In there that you can.

[B]

You shouldn't. You know what, Booker? Because Booker would probably love to love to fight more than he would love to breathe.

[A]

That's a great dream team.

[B]

Yeah, they're almost all Texans.

[A]

My. My dad had always told me when you put together a war games team, he'd always remind me, he goes, hey, just remember, there's got to be one you can beat on both sides that seems like a team that no, you're going to beat that nobody's looking up.

[B]

No, I'm the one looking up. And Are you kidding me? I'm the one looking up. But I hope that I would be surrounded by that. And if the other team only has four, I really only need Haku in that situation. But from just tough guy status, but also a friend and one of the best human beings I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Great guy.

[A]

Somebody the other day was asking me about who I'd go into a fight with, and I. I had randomly said Chad Gable. But the logic I had said was, I don't want to get into the fight.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

So if Chad Gable's already tied these guys up and humbled them, I can just say we won. Yeah, we did it, you know, like.

[B]

So well, you got your shooters of Brock and Kurt.

[A]

Yeah. All the shadows. And you've got Haku there where you're not. You're not having to do much.

[C]

Much.

[A]

Yeah, you know, I don't know. If you're grabbing somebody, you're not having to do a lot of that.

[B]

Like when Eddie Guerrero and Kurt Angle got into a fight, it didn't last long because Eddie tried to double leg Kurt.

[A]

I heard.

[B]

And it was. It was over.

[A]

And I heard Kurt was shocked. He tried to double leg it. Very like you tried to take me down.

[B]

And Eddie sitting on a box and Bradshaw asked him same question. But I went up and said, eddie, what possessed you to try and double leg K? I'm just stupid. I don't know.

[A]

So good. Okay, again, I knew. I knew what happened, you know, last night I'm thinking about you and I chatting, and I'm thinking maybe we don't talk about Dusty at all.

[B]

It's hard. Not.

[A]

It's so hard. But you. Nxt, Triple H, nxt, black and gold. All the men and women who get under the learning tree of Dusty Rhodes. And they got him as Dusty, their teacher, their guide, their mentor. I got that, but far more. I got small percentage and I got a father instead. So the trade was outstanding. However, one of the things I remember about coming into OVW was someone telling me it was Dean Malenko actually telling me, hey, it's probably a good idea to get as far away from Rhodes as you can. You're a Rhodes. That's a thing. But to learn from people who maybe he didn't like, learn from people who maybe had a different style, learn from his closest peers, learn from people who learned from him, but don't be under his tree directly. And I feel I don't know how many you have, judging from this warehouse. If you really think about who's a Bruce guy, who's somebody who was under Bruce's learning tree, who's someone who remains under Bruce's learning tree. I hope I am considered in that mix. I hope I am considered one of yours, because you've certainly been one of mine. And it's not just kind gestures, beyond kind gestures like the watch, or beyond kind gestures like walking me to my car and I can't catch my breath because of the meeting I just happened, or beyond kind gestures of being there when I thought I should have been me, and it wasn't. You continue to teach and learn, and also you do it in a way that's not war and Peace. It's not life or death. We're going to keep going. And I hope I consider, you know, you consider me one of Bruce's because I have learned 100%.

[B]

100%. And it's humbling and it truly. It truly is an honor, but it's nice to. You also seek it out and it's. You listen. You listen and apply.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's for us to live on. Look, I'm. I'm not going to be here forever, and you'll be here long after I'm gone. It's a. It's a way for us to live on and for our legacies to live on. I'm not. I'm not really big on a legacy guy. However, at the same time, if in 20 years somebody brings up my name in a positive way or, hell, a negative way, as far as something that I contributed, that would be pretty damn cool for my kids sake and for everything.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Is as you go through life and my kids listen to my podcast to learn about me. It's strange when. Because I'm different, I'm dad. I try not to be this guy. That has been my profession in my life. It's. It's hard because I. I look at so many of the. The old timers, the funks. For my heroes.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And your dad was my hero. And for your contemporaries of Hulk Hogan's, Ted DiBiase's, Randy Savages, Hacksaw, Jim Duggans, Jimmy Harts. That, that were my contemporaries, but they were just so much. They were. Most of them were like 10, some 20 years older.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Than me. But because I started so young.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Till the very end.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Dusty always called me kid because he remembered me as a kid.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

But yet when Dusty came in and Vince told him that he was my subordinate, and I very quickly went to Dusty when we were alone, said, you're not my subordinate hero. And. Yeah, but I work for you. I don't want anybody to work for me and work with me. And I hope that some of the younger folks in the, in the creative room.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

We. They all have Bruce imitations. Is as often as Dusty's imitated.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I imitated in. In the, in the writers room. Yeah. That's the shit. You know, I hope that, that, that continues on. So a lot of those kids are my kids. I look at Ed Koski As I.

[A]

Was about to say, my kids.

[B]

Yeah, it's, I think it's important. I, I, I just love, I love the, I love the guys that want to learn. The guys that want to sit and learn. Sits there and just will milk you for, for everything you're worth.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And, and I love that. I absolutely love it.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because he wants to learn. You never, never cease to, you know, to milk it and then what else can we do? So, you know, to that I look at, I look at guys like Undertaker as a wealth of knowledge, and every time that the legends are around, and I am shocked at the lack of people that go and want to talk to them about what it was like then.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And get that. Live it. Live vicariously through what they did. Hacksaw Jim Duggan, you know, was like, Jesus did everything. Was such a big star. They look at him go, okay, well, who's, who's that guy, man? That's Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Still is to this day. Just lost Hulk Hogan.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It was. There was no bigger star in the world when he was at his peak.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And I was in the ring with him.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Humbling and, and just surreal when people look back 20 years from now and they'll be able to, to look at the stars go, wow. I was in the ring with Cody Rhodes. And they'll be, oh, my God, like, you knew him. No, man, I actually, I was in the ring. And they will be talking about that then. And it just, yeah, it's, it's, there's a, there's a lot that you, you have effects on Booker T. When Booker came over.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

From wcw, and I don't know that everybody made those guys feel as welcomed as they should have. Never, never understood that. We're all on the same team here, guys.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And Booker always. We lived in the same town. We didn't know each other.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Had same friends and everything. Didn't know each other. But when he came to work here, we got to know each other. We're best of friends. Our families are best of friends. My daughter took care of his kids.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So, But Booker was one who always came and, and we shared ideas and we, we talked about different things on plane rides, on, in our houses and just would, would always talk about the business. He was a sponge. And so, yeah, there, there are a few out there. It's, Yeah. I really own John Layfield. There's another one. But just.

[A]

You love these Texans.

[B]

I do.

[A]

These are your people.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's why I think I'm Kind of half in, half out. Because I'm like, the quasi Texan. I was there. Yeah, I was there. Dusty's Austin, you know, Bosh.

[B]

We give you that.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

So when I go. That's why I said on the mic. I appreciate that, guys. You guys always make me feel like I'm from here and, you know, did you. Did I. Wait, did I ask you about when I was coming back and on Saturday night's main event about the hat? I did, and you told me not to wear it.

[B]

Which one? The.

[A]

I wanted to wear a black cowboy hat.

[B]

Oh, yes. You were a vote of.

[A]

Not just. No, no. Like, absolutely.

[C]

No.

[A]

Like, just. Just instant. I thought, all right, well, I'm gonna get.

[B]

Kill that.

[A]

I'm gonna get in there somewhere. I'm gonna. It's gonna happen.

[B]

We'll kill that.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

This is our friends at Wheatley. Here, let me make sure I get this turned on.

[B]

Kyle, sir, he gave you a turned off iPad.

[A]

Kyle's been getting in trouble left and right. You know, Kyle's father is.

[B]

No, he's.

[A]

He's Nepo, but we don't know who. There's a whole. The whole team's trying to figure Kyle, red shirt. He's. Somebody juiced in. There was a rumor that it was Lorne Michaels. We've dispelled that rumor. I think I heard that from Drew the Barber. But we're going around. We're gonna figure it out. Okay, this is Wheatley's song. I'm gonna ask you to replace a single word in it at the end. I'll let you watch it.

[B]

Vodka soda. Wheatley so good I drink it this song right here is for the red, white and blue. You got good taste and you drink like it, too so weekly so good.

[A]

I drink it neatly, neatly so if you had to replace neatly, what would you do as a super genius? Wheatley so good I drink it well.

[B]

The obvious one just is right off top of your head is Wheatley so good I drink it sweetly.

[A]

That's a good one. I don't. We have had a sweetly before. Yeah, that's good. That can be yours.

[B]

So good I drink it lovely Wheatley.

[A]

So good I drink it lovely Because I love. See?

[B]

So weekly so good I drink it lovely, perfect.

[A]

And in all sincerity, thank you so much. Thank you, Bruce. I love you.

[B]

And I love you. And that's not a gimmick. That's real life, man. I truly do. And. And I'm so proud of you and happy for you. And again, this is just the beginning.

[A]

I gotta catch up.

[B]

This is just the beginning.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm gonna find that kid. Yeah, can. We.

[C]

Gotta keep going. All right. Amazing.

[A]

Thank you, sir.

[B]

Thank you. Thank you very much. Oh, mic's down.

[A]

Thank you.

[C]

Mr.

[A]

Gave me time too.