Timothée Chalamet

Summary

Podcast Summary: “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” with Cody Rhodes — Timothée Chalamet

Release Date: December 10, 2025
Host: Cody Rhodes (WWE Superstar)
Guest: Timothée Chalamet (Actor)
Setting: Fanatics x WWE Lounge, New York

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Episode Overview

In this lively, unfiltered conversation, Cody Rhodes sits down with Timothée Chalamet—star of the upcoming movie Marty Supreme—for a deep dive into wrestling’s place in pop culture, the pursuit of greatness, and parallels between show business, sports, and personal growth. The discussion brims with mutual respect, candid stories, and personal philosophy, seamlessly blending wrestling lore with Hollywood inside talk and Chalamet’s love for WWE.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nervous Beginnings & Wrestling’s Pop Culture Ascent

• Cody admits nerves introducing Timothée, comparing it to his father Dusty Rhodes meeting Johnny Cash ([02:16]).
• Chalamet: “I don’t think in 2025, wrestling’s downstream from pop culture… I think it is pop culture now.” ([03:35])

2. Marty Supreme & Art Imitating Life

• Timothée talks about his new film, its sports-entertainment DNA, and training for high-level table tennis ([04:08], [04:31]).
  • On preparation: “I trained many years… the best table tennis players in the world couldn’t execute a 12-point sequence that’s pre-memorized.” ([04:31])
• Discussion of the movie’s themes: adulthood, ambition, ambiguous morality ([06:05]).
  • “The movie’s about being an idiot in your 20s… confrontation with adulthood, fatherhood, manhood.” — Chalamet ([06:10])
  • Cody relates, comparing Marty’s journey to his own wrestling career crossroads and how having children shifts perspective ([18:54]).

3. Wrestling’s Archetypes & Behind-the-Scenes

• Chalamet’s wrestling knowledge impresses Cody; they riff on legends: Paul Heyman, The Boogeyman, The Undertaker ([08:08], [11:20]).
  • Chalamet: “Paul Heyman… brings a level of authenticity. My favorite pay-per-view ever is ECW One Night Stand in New York, Hammerstein.” ([08:15], [08:22])
• Discussion of “proper lighting guys”—characters who need special effects or mystique (Undertaker, Boogeyman) ([11:14]).

4. Wrestling's Evolution and The “Risk & Reward” of Authenticity

• The hosts discuss the modernizing of wrestling, pulling the curtain back (“work under the work”), and the influence of series like Unreal on Netflix ([13:06], [13:19]).
• Chalamet on using real-life drama in the ring: “I love how… shameless [wrestling] is—so American.” ([13:47])

5. Respect & Trust in the Wrestling Business

• Cody describes the intense trust needed in the ring: “If you’re going to pick me up and slam me on this table… level of trust, I need you to do it in a way that… I can walk away.” ([14:06])

6. Wrestling/Bob Dylan Analogies

• Who’s wrestling’s Bob Dylan? The two debate idiosyncratic and mysterious stars, settle (for a moment) on Jake “The Snake” Roberts ([17:13]).

7. Pursuit of Greatness, Regret, and Growth

• Cody on ambition: “I did make… bad decisions… to get there. Now… I can’t see myself doing them.” ([18:54])
• Chalamet: “You’re not living for yourself anymore. You’re living for people that are depending on you.” ([19:35])

8. Making of Marty Supreme: Script, Pacing, and Artistic Intent

• Timothée details the unorthodox approach to script and pacing; not just for “pretentious Hollywood types,” but engaging and artful ([21:59]).
  • “The pacing is engaging… but also it has a really artful quality to it.” ([21:58])
• Parallels with wrestling: “I wanted to see if I could get it all… artistic success and commercial success.” — Cody ([22:18])
  • Chalamet: “The archetypes are so clear… a Hulk Hogan and a John Cena being a company man vs an Undertaker, Kane—never speaks but is perhaps just as popular.” ([23:31])

9. WWE, New York, and Celebrity Crossovers

• Knicks fandom: Chalamet is dubbed “prince of New York City” ([25:36]).
• The phenomenon of Bad Bunny in WWE, fan reception, and memorable crowd moments ([25:53]).
  • Cody: “He kind of put us to shame… That would have been a great way to end the night because they had toys, they had wrestling, they had gimmicks.” ([26:30])
• On Brock Lesnar, Goldberg, and wrestling in classic New York venues ([27:18]).

10. Chair Shots, Pyro, and Wrestling Nostalgia

• Cody shares a grisly story about a botched “safe” chair shot ([31:13]).
  • “Swing for the fences is the dumbest thing to tell another wrestler.” ([32:08])
• Nostalgia for pyrotechnic entrances; Chalamet’s favorites are Randy Orton’s “pyro shower” and Goldberg ([46:05]).
• Jeff Hardy’s in-ring artistry and famous backstage stories ([47:30], [48:05]).

11. The “Pursuit of Greatness” Speech

• Cody asks about Chalamet’s famous “pursuit of greatness” line ([51:21]).
  • Chalamet: “It’s just what I was feeling… you put something out in the world and that’s how it’s framed, see if it rubs people the wrong way or the right way… you have to shout it sometimes to get heard.” ([52:08])
  • Cody responds with admiration: “Mediocrity loves company. And when you find a circle of people… even those closest to you don’t want you to go for it.” ([53:29])
  • Chalamet: “They say in Australia, ‘Tall Poppy syndrome’… You have to be your biggest fan and your biggest supporter.” ([53:29])

12. On Evolving Icons & New Roles

• Discussion of Fran Drescher, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Winona Ryder in Marty Supreme, and the joy of seeing icons grow into new roles ([56:04]).

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• Cody (on nerves):
  “This might be the first time I’ve ever been nervous introducing somebody on the podcast.” ([02:22])

• Chalamet (on wrestling/pop culture):
  “Wrestling’s not downstream from pop culture now. I think it is pop culture.” ([03:35])

• Chalamet (on ambition):
  “The movie’s about being an idiot in your 20s… confrontation with adulthood, fatherhood, manhood.” ([06:05])

• Cody (on trust in wrestling):
  “I need you… to do it in a way that that segment ends and I can walk away and I can go back to my family.” ([14:06])

• Chalamet (on being bold):
  “You have to be your biggest fan and your biggest supporter… we’re in a culture of just… it’s hard.” ([53:29])

• Cody (on fake fans):
  “We get a lot of fake nerd girls, if that makes any sense. Where it’s ‘I love Star Wars.’ No, you don’t.” ([55:04])

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Key Segments & Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Topic | |------------|----------------------------------------------------| | 01:37 | Podcast proper begins; intro and setting | | 02:13–04:08| Timothée’s film, nerves, parallels to meeting icons | | 04:31–06:10| Making Marty Supreme, table tennis training, themes| | 08:08–12:19| Paul Heyman, The Boogeyman, backstage stories | | 13:06–14:06| Opening the curtain, authenticity, wrestling risks | | 17:13–18:39| “Bob Dylan of wrestling?”, bad decisions, drive | | 18:54–19:42| Parenthood, perspective shifts, ambition | | 21:59–23:31| Film pacing, wrestling/film crossover | | 25:51–26:35| Knicks, Bad Bunny, crossover star power | | 31:13–33:48| Chair shots, industry changes, safety | | 35:19–37:41| Filming in New York, personal stories | | 39:36–41:06| College GameDay, staying prepared | | 42:33–43:55| Movie promo timing, working with Dave Bautista | | 46:02–47:47| Favorite pyros, Jeff Hardy, wrestling stories | | 51:21–54:31| Pursuit of greatness, making it explicit | | 56:04–57:05| Evolving icons—Fran Drescher, Gwyneth Paltrow |

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Tone & Takeaways

Both Cody and Timothée maintain a tone that is candid, deeply respectful, and frequently playful—serving wrestling deep cuts, Hollywood anecdotes, and life wisdom in equal measure. For non-listeners or those new to WWE, this episode opens up how wrestling, movies, and the pursuit of authenticity and greatness are more similar than not—and how these high-profile creatives see themselves as both artists and fans.

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Final Moments:
Cody and Timothée share gratitude and anticipation for Marty Supreme (Christmas Day release), a mutual longing for ambition in their fields, and a few words on the challenge and thrill of evolving in the public eye.

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For All Listeners:
Whether you’re a wrestling aficionado, a cinephile, or simply fascinated by the pursuit of greatness, this episode blends industry insight and human vulnerability with enough laughs and nostalgia to keep you entertained and inspired.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to. What do you want to talk about? We are not at the WWE warehouse. We are not on my tour bus. We are actually in this wonderful provided secret, as Louis like to say, kayfabe space by fanatics. And this is a fanatics in WWE original production my guest, not someone that has been in the locker room with me. This is an incredible situation that has just dropped on us and we have to do it. He is the star of the upcoming film Marty supreme which comes out Christmas day. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to what do you want to talk about? Timothy Shalab.

Appreciate it, appreciate it man.

[B]

Thanks for having me.

[A]

Oh my gosh.

[B]

I'M a big fan, man, so thanks for having me.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. Well, now. Now I feel good. We like to get real vulnerable on this thing.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And unnecessarily vulnerable for a podcast done by a wrestler with other wrestlers, but right out of the gate. So this might be the first time I've ever been nervous introducing somebody on the podcast.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Just because of what you're doing right now is incredible. I got to see the movie last night. Thank you for the sneak peek of the movie. It's a very special situation, but it made me think of. Because you're sitting here at this bar and I got a little nervous introducing you and I'm so glad you came to the podcast. My dad wrestler. Only time I ever saw him nervous.

[B]

Legend Dusty.

[A]

Only time I ever saw him nervous was meeting Johnny Cash on, I believe, the set of Gunsmoke.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And it's a very similar energy, which I got a good, like, deja vu even though I wasn't there for that. But basically they tell him like, hey, go meet Johnny. And he. I watched my dad like walk around. He was just a guest there on the set. I don't even know what it was, but he like takes his hat off and I have never seen him nervous.

[B]

Was he a huge Johnny?

[A]

Oh my gosh, a huge. But he was also of the thought entertainment and we're the wrestler and you know, make it seem like you've been to the end zone before all. He's trying to bring an energy to it, but it's the only time I think I saw him drop at all just to get a no hello with the man in Black. With Johnny's one of the.

[B]

One of the greatest to ever do it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

No, yeah.

[A]

But you, you and you and Johnny, you make the roads, boys.

[B]

And I'm a big, big Johnny fan from. From doing the Bob Dylan movie last year. And I can't believe that. Well, you know, I don't. I don't think in 2025, wrestling's downstream from pop culture now. I think it is pop culture right there. I remember growing up in near Times Square. They had the WWF store, I think at the time. Yeah. Was huge. You know, and just growing up on. On wrestling and sports entertainment and this movie really falls, I think in a category of sports entertainment, Marty supreme, because it's as much about the individual pursuit of athletic greatness, in this case, table tennis.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

As it is, you know, a popcorn crunch movie, you know, that's accessible. Do you play ping pong or.

[A]

No, I I do not play ping pong. I think I've. I've played for sure. The level of play that's in the movie.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Is. Is next level. And I, I ask the, the question. This is you. That's something you trained for and you did.

[B]

Yeah, I trained many years. But what you see in the movie, a lot of it is cgi but as our director Josh would say, it's almost harder to do some of these. Like the, the best table tennis players in the world couldn't execute a 12 point sequence that's pre memorized.

Just by nature of the sport. I was going to say maybe like what you do but then I'm like no, it's exactly what you're right. You guys are totally sequenced out. But. But no, it took a lot of training and. But super proud of the finished product. You know.

[A]

Of course. You know what I really loved about again, we got a sneak peek of the movie last night which. Thank you by the way. One of my favorite things is when you leave something like that and everyone wants to talk about it and everyone wants to talk about things you saw. And I don't want to drop any spoilers for the movies but like oh, the orange balls. What did you get from the orange balls or the dog? Oh, I'm so glad that there's these elements of the movie. One of them, a big one that was discussed was one of your partners in this film, that being Kevin o'. Leary. Tell me about that. No, we just were blown away.

[B]

We.

[A]

Because I also did one of the.

Shark Tank. Like, like I did. I was.

[B]

You passively watched Shark Tank or are you an active.

[A]

I. I watched a couple seasons of Shark Tank. So just the idea that he was in it and how phenomenal he was, like what a. Just I feel I got so much from watching the movie. There's a lot of choices. Who's making the right choices? What leads you to making the right choices? And this is just me personally watching it.

[B]

No, the movie's about being an idiot in your 20s.

[A]

That's a great.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then, and then what's that final choice someone makes and then changing. Right.

[B]

Confrontation with adulthood, fatherhood, manhood and. But we don't know. We don't know if Marty will cross that bridge or if he'll be. Continue to be a degenerate up.

[A]

I. I kind of wanted to ask. And again, no spoilers on the movie. Everyone should see this movie. It was incredible. Again, thank you for letting us see it.

[B]

Thank you, man.

[A]

What it do you Leave it open. I mean obviously we're based on. On a real life individual here where we've taken this. But you leave it open on the final part of this movie. Will the decisions he's made there at the end, is it still open ended on he'll continue to make bad decisions. Maybe he's making all good decisions. Maybe the life is driven. It just felt like it was left in a way that I needed to know more in a good way, you know. And I thought that was really, really special.

[B]

Yeah. I feel like it's a morally ambiguous ending. And you don't know. I don't know. I don't know if I can. If you have personal relation to it in your pursuit of your wrestling career, but in your early 20s or mid-20s and you'll stop at no. Yeah. You'll do anything to achieve your dream. Like I don't know when you met your. Your wife, but when, when did you meet your wife?

[A]

I met her. We've been together 12 years now. So yeah, I was, I was 28.

[B]

You were 28. So that's. You met someone at a later stage in life probably you were more settled and mature and with Marty and the character Rachel, played beautifully by Odessa Asian.

You know, he's not. He's not an upstanding guy with her by any stretch of the imagination. So we'll see where the movie goes. And. And I thought Kevin o' Leary was fantastic in it. He's a bit of a wrestling villain in real life. He's sort of archetypally like an asshole.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

Publicly, you know, like that's his thing.

[A]

Yeah. And I feel like though. But put. Put behind the cameras in a situation where his real life. I felt like he really just settled right in. It didn't feel like I was mostly.

[B]

No, it was amazing. Yeah.

[A]

I didn't feel.

[B]

No, the level of confidence was.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Something of a hole. Like he did not flinch.

[A]

He does from a wrestling perspective have a little bit of a Mr. Heyman, like you said, that type of villain. He fit in really well. But even his choices in the film.

[B]

I love the. I love Paul Heyman dude.

[A]

I like that.

[B]

I like that he's on all the broadcasts. I think he brings like such a.

I want to say level of authenticity. But he just seems like the real. And also he was away from WWE for a long time. Right.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

Or something. That's my favorite pay per view ever is ECW One Night Stand in New York. Hammerstein.

[A]

Hammerstein.

[B]

That was Sabu Ray.

[A]

Mysterious Know John walking out with the belt high up. They want murder him. RVD.

[B]

Yeah, that's NVD's push. Got, got, Got canceled.

[A]

Lot happens there for a weed violation or something. Yeah, a lot. This is the classic. John throws the shirt.

[B]

The shirt comes back, back. But that crowd was Electric man and JBL talking from the stands. I think they did two one night stands.

[A]

They did the one with the one you're talking about where they all get into it and they're talking, they're yelling each other. That's also where.

[B]

But that's like a ma. That's like a master talk about acting and Paul's. Paul's like that's. And also it's like, it's. What he's saying is from the gut. Obviously he's been hired by WWE on that occasion, I'm thinking. But his animosity is so real. For what are the corporate big dogs, you know, in a sense.

[A]

So this is, this is for a, a wrestling fan or someone who sees him only as Mr. Heyman. Paul Heyman, the wise man, the oracle. All these wonderful names he has what they'll. What they'll never see. And obviously on this show we let it fly. Well, people can know. And what they'll never see is that he sits in the corner of Gorilla Position. He's got his own little spot right over there. And really one of. We call him super geniuses. You know, where you've got like a Scorsese in the film. He's a super genius. But this is the thing that people don't know. When you talk about your segment for that night. Hey, I feel like I should have something.

I should be smart to this. I feel like I should empty the pockets on this. I feel there's, there's more when you talk about it. He does not go with wrestling parallels. He's not going to show you a clip of Interesting. Jake Roberts, Rick Rood. He could. But what he does is it's lately. Hey, check out this Gary Oldman clip. Check out this Billy Bob Thornton. It's. Those are where he likes to go. But that's something that people will never know. And I, I always liked it because you said it. And thank you so much for the compliment to our business.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That it's not far from pop culture. It's, it's, it's.

[B]

No, it is. And I feel like even when you see these.

Massive pop stars or streaming stars, this is where we all want to be. Like myself included. I mean, I grew up on this stuff and it's to me as a big sports fan, big Knicks fan, all that, but also a huge fan of acting and Hollywood. This was the intersection growing up. And that is for charismatic on the mic, guys like the Rock, you know, and Stone Cold, but also like Marty Wright, the Boogeyman. Like freaky, like, out of left field shot.

[A]

I'll let you know. Boogie's real name.

[B]

No, no shoot name. No, he was. He was. He was a tough enough contestant.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, and he's sort of like one of the most underrated. I feel like they didn't realize how big he was at the time kind of thing.

[A]

We have guys that we call and I don't know.

[B]

Sorry. So, I mean, I'm speaking out of turn.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. There's never. As a fan of our business, because.

[B]

Someone who's a writer on that 10 years ago is going to see that and go, fuck that. You know, we wrote him perfect. No, you know, yeah.

[A]

This is actually a lot of what the writers will say is we have guys that we call proper lighting guys. Actually heard this term yesterday.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I grew up in the business, is the first time I ever heard it. And proper lighting guys are the spooky, mystical characters.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And the toughest thing is to translate them sometimes to. Undertaker was the master of it. Nobody was better than being able to be backstage and be out in the ring and do it all sometimes with the mystical.

[B]

What do you mean by be backstage? Like in the room.

[A]

He could talk to a civilian. He could. He could merge them. Whereas Boogie was. You needed the. The lights. You needed the worms, even.

[B]

There's one where John Cena opens the door on Smackdown or something, and he's. He has a red light. It begs the question, what was he doing back there with a red light on? Right, right, right.

[A]

It's a very tricky week. I just heard it yesterday. I was like, well, he's a proper lighting guy. And I thought, what is. He can't be in a backstage. Oh, I got it. Because some can't do it and some can. But Boogie was great, right? Boogie was great. And the worms. I mean, he was really pushing it. He also still comes to the show. These guys actually do it.

[B]

Really.

[A]

Boogie still gets brought out to just scare talent from time to time.

[B]

Really.

[A]

Boogie appears again because he got in.

[B]

Trouble about lying about his age on Tough Enough reading about that.

[A]

He was 40, right?

[B]

And he said he was like, 40. Who cares, man?

[A]

We give a guy a break.

[B]

I mean, he looked awesome. His body was in insane shape.

[A]

That was A. That was an era of. There was these specifics. It's got to be six foot and up. Got to be right. But now it's so nice all the specifics are gone. Which old school wrestling territory, wrestling carnival stuff. All of that was how it used to be.

[B]

Well, I've thought a lot about that. And, you know, that's where I've admired Triple H Paul, and I don't know what you're supposed to say, but how he's modernized the business. Because when I watch wwe, it reminds me a little bit like I've done Saturday Night Live a couple of times, and it's these things that are these traditional forms and. And they're as rich and.

Iconic and productive as they are because of the forms. But inevitably, you kind of have to break them or upend them. And I feel the product now doing that at risk or at reward of.

Opening up the curtain too much. You know, I don't know if that's something you guys think about.

[A]

The beauty in it is it's risk and it's reward, and sometimes you'll know when it was all risk and.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But when you pull the curtain back, Netflix is the Unreal series, for example.

[B]

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

[A]

So when you pull the curtain back, here's like, the opportunity for someone in my position is, okay, great. They say this, is there something we can put work under the work? Which now I'm exposing that.

[B]

Yeah, I know now you're gonna go work, work, work under the work.

[A]

But that to me is, hey, look over here. And this is real. You aren't seeing something authentic, but sometimes the most authentic and personal stories make for great money, you know, ticket selling in terms of just general revenue.

[B]

I love how. I don't want to use the word shameless, but I love how is there something so, like, American about, like. Oh, yeah, it's just like, I think about the leader, Matt Hardy, edge.

[A]

It's right there.

[B]

Yeah. It's like, hey, yeah, there's.

[A]

There's a situation here, but in that.

[B]

Kind of situation in the ring, there's still a level of trust between the two guys that the blows aren't lethal.

[A]

I think the coolest thing about what we do is you're. You're really bonded by battle. One of the coolest things about what we do, you're bonded by battle. So even someone you do not like, even someone that you don't have a speaking relationship with, you might have full rivalry with full angle. And in there more than ever. That's when there's. There's no. Nothing slipped in there. You're as trusting with one another in wrestling. You'll see if you come backstage, like the Garden or Barclays or anything. Everyone's just overly shaking hands. Overly shaking hands. And I asked my trainer years ago, I'm like, what's the thought? Why are we doing this? And I remember him well. You tell me. And I thought it was a respect thing. We respect each other. Right. And. Yes. But what it actually is. I need you. So if you're going to pick me up and slam me on this table. Yeah. Level of trust, I need you to do it in a way that that segment ends and I can walk away and I can go back to my family. And that's. Consistently. People will never know how real wrestling is in different. Different aspects than just what they see in the canon and the narrative. And that's the most beautiful thing. I hate using him as example, but my greatest rival in this company, I don't even have to say his name. It's as real as it could possibly get. Nice. It's as real as it could possibly get. You would like to be QB1. I would like to be QB1. You. It's every piece of it, but it's also. When we get in there, that's probably my favorite guy to make music with. I don't know what that is, and I don't. It's. But it just takes a little time. And you having been around your world and the medium that you're in, I think it's really easy for you to spot.

The beauty that's under it all.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely.

[A]

When it's done great, it's. It's hot. It's high up there. And when it's done bad, though, wrestling is some of the worst it can possibly be. When it's. When it's done bad.

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And when the day is over, nothing's better than celebrating with something truly American.

I want to ask you about because you mentioned Bob Dylan.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Michael Hayes, Dusty Rhodes. Massive. They were Bob Dylan people.

[B]

Who is the wrestling Bob Dylan?

[A]

A wrestling Bob Dylan?

[B]

It's not Honky Tonk Man.

[A]

No.

Gosh. That's actually, that's, I mean, I don't know.

[B]

Somebody's like idiosyncratic, kind of like mysterious. Doesn't say too much, but really good.

[A]

Maybe Jake Roberts.

[B]

Okay. Maybe. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[A]

Saying things that, yeah. Bold in his wording, in the vernacular and his verb, but also somehow relates that to. I'm gonna beat up Rick Martel.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's somehow, all right.

[B]

Kind of spooky.

[A]

I feel like anyone who's listening or watching, there's definitely a Bob Dylan of wrestling.

[B]

Yeah. I wonder who that would be. Who's the Marty Mouser of wrestling?

[A]

Oh, my gosh. In terms of. Without giving anything away in the movie, just bad decision, self sabotage.

[B]

Bad decision self. And then do the ambitious, ambition, driven.

[A]

Wanting something so bad, stopping at nothing to get it and kind of finding out their ultimate. No, it is. I'm not no younger, younger me. Yeah. I, I felt though that's one of the things that's super.

I remember when I left wwe, all it was was about getting to this end spot. But I didn't know what the end spot was like again, the pursuit of greatness, which is something I wanted to ask you about. I, I didn't know and I, I, I did make a mini bad decision and disruptor like decisions to get there. And now I get to a place whereby.

[B]

Do you actually think those were bad decisions or.

[A]

I don't regret them.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I don't, I don't regret them. And I don't think in terms of things I would say in a promo, how I left the company, any of that thing. I don't regret them. But today I can't see myself doing them.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Which is something from watching the movie. It's the thought of. And I think for me, my child being born now I've got two children now. People say oh, it changes your life. What I liked about what I saw in the film is it's not just that it changes your life. The big thing about having children for me was it changes your perspective on life. Like it's not. Oh, it just changes your life and everything is different. It changes why you do it. For me, at least it changes why. And it. We all make bad decisions and we continue to make bad decisions. Disruptor people and people with ambition and with drive and who. Who are leveling up. Up. And don't even know why they're leveling up or what their purpose is to level up. I just noticed for me, it became. It's the same, but with a different reason behind.

[B]

Yeah. And that you're not living for yourself anymore.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

You're living for people that are depending on you.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In fact, they're here because of you.

[A]

The movie has a lot of really shocking moments. Just out of nowhere, shocking moments. Like, don't get comfortable.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Type. Type. Type moments. I. Did you have a favorite part of filming?

[B]

No, because those. No matter how much I want to talk about them, I know they'll have more impact in that and being surprising. That's what's wonderful about Josh, the director of the movie. I don't know if you saw Uncut Gems. Yeah. With Sandler at the time, they kind of throw every rule out the window of script writing and they'll be very much. It can take on the structure of, okay, and then this happens, which is unrelated to this. And then this happens, which is unrelated to this. And then this happens, which is. And you know, typically in a screenwriting class, they would say, you know, you plant a thought here. That happens. And I really admire that. You know, like approaching a script sometimes as an actor. You'll have Act 1, you'll have Act 2, and you'll have Act 3. And you know, the lowest moment of Act 2 happens at the end of Act 2 and you kind of rise. And I would try to frame things like that sometimes with Josh and Ronnie, the writer, and they would go, we don't. They would say with humility. Like, we don't know what that is. You know, like we don't know if you've written the worst thing ever or the best thing ever. Because that's just not how we write. They write about what excites them. We have an actor in the movie named Abel Ferrara who directed King of New York. Abel's movies are a little bit like a 12 year old boy's fantasy come to life. And Josh I say this with, like, mad admiration. The movies are a little bit of that quality where it's like. It's almost like a fever dream from a kid, as opposed to which I'm really proud of some intellectual, boring affair. That's why trying to push this out as much as possible and reach new audiences with it, because this isn't Hollywood pretentious fare. I don't think maybe you could correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm saying the pacing of it doesn't take on a thing of like, okay, we're gonna educate you as to why this is good and slow and boring. And if you don't like it, that means you're dumb and blah, blah, blah. It's like, no, this. I saw a movie the other day without saying anything. It was an indie movie, but I was thinking, if you were a Marvel fan and you only saw Marvel movies, and then this was the indie you clicked on. You went, all right, I'm gonna give an indie a try. And it slow plotting thing that when you watch award shows and you haven't heard of anything. And then I'm so proud of Mari supreme because the pacing is engaging.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And. But also it has a really artful quality to it. I mean, it looks like 1950s New York's telling the story of this degenerate kid who.

Is looking out for himself, making terrible decisions and inadvertently getting people pregnant and pursuing his dream of table tennis. I think that qualifies as the best.

[A]

I mean, you said artful quality certainly has that. But then also in the beginning of the conversation, you mentioned that there's some popcorn to this. There's an element. And I think that there's a big parallel with wrestling in that as far as some of the best wrestlers in the world, you never, never made it, if that makes any sense. Some of the. In terms of your wrestler's favorite wrestler. And I never wanted to be, at least in my personal shoes or the type of wrestlers I liked. I never wanted to be a wrestler's favorite wrestler. I wanted to see if I could get it all and merge. Merge. What's that? Artistic success, which, when I was in la, I went to Howard Fine's acting studio, and maybe one of the only things I picked up was the door to commercial success is rather large. The door to this artistic success is he'd always do this. And I feel like with wrestling, I like trying to find both. I'm not afraid to do some crazy high spots and take some silly risk and break the wheel of psychology. That's been rooted in this since it started. But also I do like the traditional things that a Hulk Hogan did. A John Cena.

[B]

Hell yeah.

[A]

Because their number one thing was about engaging an audience. This performance wasn't for just them, it was for particularly a live audience. Which again, Marty supreme is no.

[B]

But I love talk. I love framing what I do through these lenses. And that's where being a WWE fan has been so helpful, honestly, because the archetypes are so clear of what you're saying. Let's say a Hulk Hogan and a John Cena being a company man versus an undertaker. A Kane never speaks, but is perhaps just as popular. And I, you know, one can apply them to to to their own career, you know, But I love that framing.

[A]

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[B]

Here we go.

[A]

Men and women. Women who know how to get the job done from the top.

And when the day is over, nothing's better than celebrating with something truly American.

Filming in New York, doing this in New York and New York is clearly part of your ab. Your life. I asked my sister, who's a big fan of yours, I said, what? What would you ask him? And she was just saying, that guy's a prince of New York City. That's how she described it. And I thought, yeah. I mean, at the Knicks game six.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Sitting next to Bad Bunny, which we have to talk about.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

[A]

Bad Bunny got into our world.

[B]

Big wwe. And his.

[A]

His.

[B]

His whole. I don't know what you call it story has been perfect and very well received, you know, because I felt. I think it felt very organic. He had one of the biggest pops of the Royal Rumble that year.

[A]

He also put. I don't want to say put me to shame, but one of my, like, oh, man, this is the new role type moments was the backlash in Puerto Rico. He wrestles Damian Priest. They have the Puerto Rico street fight. That's what they came to see. They didn't come to see me versus Brock Lesnar, however. It was me and Brock Lesnar on the poster, and we went last. And there's. I never. This is the only moment I'd ever be like.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because in that moment, I'm like, yeah, it's all right. You know, going on last. I got it. But I. He kind of put us to shame.

[B]

Because half the arena was filling out by the time.

[A]

No, I mean, they stayed and they enjoyed it because they actually set a good frame for us where they wanted the excitement to stay. But that would have been a great way to end the night because they had toys, they had wrestling, they had gimmicks, they had chairs.

[B]

Right, right, right. But it wasn't Brock Lesnar Goldberg at WrestleMania at the Garden.

[A]

Do you have an opinion on Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg at the Garden?

[B]

No, but grew up on the modern WWE product, and because there was an NBA lockout, it gave me a chance to go back and see all this. I'd never heard of Goldberg, and I don't have anything physically aligned with Goldberg. I got nothing to relate to him to, really. But I just thought it was the most epic push, I guess is the insider word, but from a fan perspective, like, just the greatest run ever.

[A]

And the.

[B]

The Hogan Goldberg at Georgia Dome.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

Like, it's just.

It was just so fucking inspiring, man.

[A]

There's certain places, New York, where the first match happens, where the crowd kind of turns on it and takes it on its own.

[B]

The Lesnar Goldberg one.

[A]

Yeah, that was bad.

[B]

So in retrospect, it's not fair, man, because it's like you have these two wonderful guys at their peak, or. Yeah, pre peak, even, you say, for Lesnar, anyway. Yeah, no, but I was gonna say. That's what I was gonna say before about archetypes and stuff that's right. I lost my train of thought. I. I can do it and shield myself from the Internet and stuff. But what I admire with you guys so much is the live feed, live reaction, even. I was watching Raw the other night and Cena goes, who wants to sing three on three, Mysterio, Seamus or. And most of the crowds enthusiastic. On tv. In the front. We have a guy go, Bo.

[A]

No.

[B]

Oh, yeah. No. You know, I couldn't believe it.

[A]

There' picture of me. I brought like the winged eagle back. I think it's a Saturday night's main event. There's a great picture of me. Glad handing coming down the crowd and the lady behind me is just holding a giant overrated sign and with full smile. And I now I try to kind of peek for them. But that's. That's fun in terms of what we do, in a sense. You. I. I appreciate saying it's not fair, but it's also one of the things I like the most. And back to New York and you being this being so much part of who you are. New York is the market for a wrestler to come to and see if I got it interesting. They don't if they're not with me. Philly too.

[B]

Philly sounds worse.

[A]

Yeah. With me, then I don't got it. I need to work harder. And sometimes they also. The fun thing about him, Hammerstein. I wrestled in Hammerstein.

[B]

I want to go see a show at Hammerstein.

[A]

Tell WWE to get a show in Hammerstein. Yeah.

[B]

Well, I told. When I talked to Triple H on the point, I said, he said it's basically impossible to make money there. Yeah, he said. He said there's one elevator you have to load everything in and out of.

[A]

And he's right. I appreciate that he gave you logistics. At least he was. At least he was thinking about it. The other thing is, it's the worst back of house ever. God bless Manhattan Center. Hammerstein. It's open windows, freezing. There's no room for anything. But there's a hidden little gym to Hammerstein wrestling in there. Other than the beauty of the fans being right on top of you, one of the things is at the end of the night, you can walk out front and they're all there, and it's a fun moment. But this is also me growing up in the suburbs of Georgia, just starting to learn to navigate some places I'd never been. I would. There's a little side door. It's right there. And I'd always. Whether I was in the main event against Jay Lethal, that night or whatever it was. I'd always wait a little while and everyone would be going out the front, and I just go out the little side door. And that was the first time I ever had the New York experience of waving down a cab. And it was this little escape. And I always thought I always look for it whenever I'm at Hammerstone. It's right there. That's the. That's the exit.

[B]

Do you miss the. The product having the. The head. The chair shots in the head and the.

[A]

I'll tell you, a terrible chair shot in the head. And everyone in here is gonna be like, no, tell the story.

I have always, having grown up in the business and wanting to get the business, and you said in the beginning. And that makes me feel so good about closer to pop culture and. And the big relevancy and. And be up there with. My dad was very much big on all he was inspired by. We'd watch the Oscars every year, which was a crazy. We'd always. And he'd talk about Robert De Niro on the front row, and he'd talk about Tom Hanks, and he'd talk about just this. These greats. And that's where he was trying to get some of his juju for wrestling from.

[B]

But that's a movie, man. Seriously.

[A]

Well, so I tried it because I thought, hey, listen, Chris Evans is hitting people in the head with the shield as Captain America. You know, why can't we. We're also entertainment. We've said we're entertainment. So in my efforts to do a chair shot to the head, this was when I was away from here. I said, let's do it safely. Let's shave this chair down. Shave it down. So the metal on a chair. It's a real chair. Sandpaper that chair. Sandpaper. It'll be just like a cookie sheet. It'll be just like a cookie sheet. It's fine. What I realized in the moment, because we do it, I get hit in the head. My Sean Spears, who's.

[B]

What's in the moment. Like, as it's about to.

[A]

Right after.

[B]

Right after. Okay.

[A]

So what I realized in the moment was twofold. The cookie sheet part worked, but I gave him the old swing for the fences. Sean Spears, he works at nxt. He can tell the story. It's terrible. I said, swing for the fences. And I could tell he's like. Like, okay. Like, sure. And the hands are down. Hits me. Sandpaper part worked. The part that didn't work was the giant bar at the lip of the chair. The seat wraps around. There's a scar all the way that's around the back of my head now. So I'm laying there thinking, oh, I thought that was kind of that. That hurt a bit. And then I start feeling the. The blood pool. Holy. And at the time, Brandy is trying to be scared of him, and. And look at the ref. And she'd be there for me in my moment of pain, but I can tell she's just furious. And she's just mad because now I'm busted open, laying there after doing this stupid stunt.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we're not really even. We're not in the. We're not in a narrative anymore. We're not in the fiction. She's just furious with Sean Spears. Well, furious with me. For me.

[B]

Did he botch it a little bit or not?

[A]

No, no. Swing for the fences is the dumbest thing. Tell another wrestler like, swing for the fences. He didn't. He. He was fine. He did nothing wrong. But the big thing I noticed is it wasn't about whether the chair is real, whether the chair is not. It was about the optics of hitting one another in the head, what they've meant for concussions. Right. So now two children, an adult. That's one thing I don't miss, is those moments that kind of detach us a little bit. I am a. You're saying take it on the chin type of wrestler. I do like a little grit and violence, but I don't want to distract from. Say you and I went out there and did 60 Minutes and had this unbelievable story that we told, and we got him here, we took it away. We got him here, we took it away. And then we did one thing in there that became the.

[B]

The focal point because of how nasty it would look or whatever.

[A]

Oh. But more because of how. Just the optics behind our business. Percussion protocol. Because now WWE.

[B]

But that wasn't a thing 15, 20 years ago. Right, Right.

[A]

No.

[B]

Yeah. So it's almost like you can't. The pennies at the bottle. You can't go back.

[A]

Right. And now today, you can't have a hangnail backstage at WWE without Larry coming.

[B]

Around the corner, you know, really like.

[A]

Hey, what do you got there? The other day, brother drags me in there. You got to get your blood work. All these things, these commission states, if we're going to expect to be held to the higher standard. I like that. We hold ourselves to the higher standard.

[B]

Right, right, right, right.

[A]

I still miss a thing here and there, but chair shots to the head are not one. I Don't like chairs at all. I'd rather go through 55 tables, get hit with 20 Singapore canes. I'd rather do Tax Legos.

I'd rather do any of it.

[B]

My God, the chairs.

[A]

The biggest shock for a fan who loves our game and goes and picks up a chair for the first time is they are heavy, right? So you gotta get behind that and bring it. And then it's like you protect your elbows. You do the tabletop. Never actually protects your elbows. It's.

[B]

I'm surprised that they weren't. There weren't more techniques to shave them down. And we're a little behind. Yeah.

[A]

You can't wrap togetherness, but you can frame it for a limited time. Save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get 35 off. Or as best frame selling carver matte frames named number one by wirecutter by using promo Cody at checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code Cody. This deal is exclusive to listeners and frame sell out fast. So order yours now to get it in time for the holidays. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply. Wheatley American Vodka is for hard working people with true American spirit. People who never just mail it in. Oh, a thing of beauty. People who rise to the occasion. Here we go. Boom. Men and women who know how to get the job done from the top. And when the day is over, nothing's better than celebrating with something truly American. Meat leaves. So good. I drink and beat me.

This has to be very exciting for you though, to do this in New York. Absolutely. Period it in New York at that.

[B]

No, it was, this is, I think, the third film I did in New York. This is the most New York movie I've done. And Josh, who's our director, is like the most New York guy you'll ever meet.

[A]

Oh, I love that.

[B]

I mean, he's like, I brought him in Knicks games or whatever. Not brought him. He's gonna hate if I say that he goes to Knicks games anyway. But he'll kill me for saying that. But he goes to Knicks games. Maybe you brought him and maybe I brought him once. But I was amazed because we're in the front row and he's heckling the players and the refs like we were like in the bleeds. And. And I'm like, bro, we're in the front row. Like, these guys can really hear what you're saying, you know, like. And it's the most Josh thing ever.

[A]

Got a little decorum in the front at least.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. But then I. But then I got self conscious. If anything, that's. It was Joshua inspired me through my playoff run last year. It's like how self important I am that I felt like I was part of the team but that I would.

[A]

Having not been a. I'm not a Knicks fan. I'm having not been watching the playoffs. I feel you were very much part of the team.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

And that they were on a run.

[B]

It's a little like in middle school. I couldn't make the team, so they made. They gave me a triple XL jersey and I ran back and forth with a flag. So I was like, sort of like a mascot. But the most New York. Yeah. By far. And no. So proud of how the New York edge this movie has. And just the faces in the movie are extraordinary. Like, Kevin o' Leary went out on a limb and he said we could have AI'd all the extras in the movie. It was like, Kevin, you're snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Like, this movie's been well received. Why would you say something like that? Fucking Kevin. Keep your mouth shut, man. No, but point being, all those faces.

They'Re extraordinary. I mean, Josh, with the background casting with the detailing of the sets, it's really the most New York move I've ever been in. I feel like one of the most New York movies that's been made recently. Without saying anything, I just saw a show on Netflix a couple months ago that takes place in New York. You can tell as a New Yorker, if you watch something if it's not New York, you know.

[A]

So again, I've been very.

Suburbs, Georgia south, sheltered. Kristen over there, who does the men's grooming we're talking about. That's probably the first main, like New York person.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I ever met. And it always is really intriguing. Like, oh, that's a whole nother. So a movie based in New York feels very.

[B]

Yeah. About a kid growing up in New York. As I've grown up in New York. But I got a lot of love for Georgia. Like.

I'm in a different life.

I'm from like Gwinnett or something.

[A]

From Gwinnett.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right around the corner.

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Men and women who know how to get the job done from the top.

And when the day is over, nothing's better than celebrating with something truly American.

College Game Day is one of my favorite shows.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

And when they sent me to do College Game Day, I'm really thinking, chip on my shoulder, I'm gonna have my. I'm gonna know. Yeah, I'm gonna have my picks.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

I'm gonna have. Oh, you gotta. You're gonna throw me a question. I'm gonna have some. I'm gonna have an award that this guy won. I'm a little performative in the sense that I'm now talking about some teams that definitely didn't know Kansas, but I had some facts.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I, I went up there and I remember I had no notes. I was trying to lock it in, Right. And I've got both titles because fanatics, God bless them, always likes to give a title. So I've got the Georgia Bulldog title and I've got the WWE Championship. I got them. And I remember Lee Corso sitting next to me looking at me goes, no notes, huh? And I'm thinking, why didn't I bring anything up here? Everybody has notes upon notes. But when you went and did College Game Day.

[B]

Oh, I had notes, man.

[A]

I was so excited because I thought. I don't think they know that he knows.

[B]

Yeah, they had no clue.

[A]

I don't think they know that he's in this. Like, he's a dog. He knows.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

So just nailed it, dude.

[B]

I appreciate it. I had my notes, and they definitely didn't. I think that was, like. So Fox Searchlight, which is a company that did. A complete unknown. They're owned by Disney, which owns espn.

[A]

Right. So I think it was a little.

[B]

Bit of a thing, like, we don't want this guy on. And then I think the. The heavy hand came in and said, no, have this guy on. But I know I went up there and I was like, Saban was looking at me like he hadn't seen something like that before.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because I had a pink jacket on. And he was like. I was imagining, like, imagine if I. Imagine if I tried out for one of Saban's teams, man. He would have, like, probably would have traumatized me.

[A]

But.

[B]

But that was hilarious. No, I had my notes, and I was locked in, man. I was locked in. But. But I was walking. It was the Mercedes Benz thing.

[A]

I was.

[B]

I was walking through. I did Drew ski last night. I was in this, too. I had a little bit of this feeling, too. I was like, what am I doing here? I'm like, is this pushing it too much? You know, but.

[A]

But college football is everywhere, and it's. And yeah. And you came in and you knew.

[B]

Yourself and Cam Scatterboo, man. And now he's a New York giant. I was shouting out Scatterboo before he was a giant and before he was shoving Dominic Mysterio with an ankle and falling off.

[A]

And Andrew Schultz stirring it all up.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I just did the first movie I've been part of. I did Street Fighter with Andrew schultz.

[B]

Oh, cool.

[A]

1994. And it is the game. So trying to capture 16 bit guile, 16 bit Ken and. And Chun Li. And Andrew plays the joke character in the Street Fighter series, which is Dan Hibicki.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. But I. Again, that's a new world for me. I'm there. What do you need me to do? I'll be there early. I'll stay until everybody. What would you need me to have a coach give me all the things. This is not my world, and I don't want to embarrass my home, but I want to do this correctly. He was the most welcoming presence, Andrew, on set. And also, I realized really quickly there was a lot of wrestling elements to what we were doing. Because they kept asking, just say it, do it differently. Run. And that I got to just roll. And he was the perfect person for the character to roll with. It was.

[B]

So you're talking promos backstage. Yeah.

[A]

And it was. A lot of that stuff had really loaded me up for. I got one.

[B]

Well, not to like be the most cliche guy, but when you watch the Rock promos.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's so obvious how that translated into his movie work in the best way. Just timing wise and instinct and what it was like a. An insane training ground for his career. I feel to do it in front of the audiences and stuff.

[A]

I. I feel very much. I was gonna ask you about another wrestler. Yeah. I'm blessed that we have that experience. But on Dune, which dude.

[B]

Yes, thank you. Yes, thank you, thank you.

[A]

You're in there with. With Big Dave.

[B]

He couldn't believe it. I knocked on his trailer door and I had the animal theme song playing. And hadn't met.

[A]

Oh, yeah, No, I hadn't met him.

[B]

And I came out and I did them. I was going like that.

[A]

Machine guns.

[B]

Yeah, he was. He was. The look on his face was priceless. He had no clue, you know that. No, But I love working with Dave. He's a very serious guy. Very serious actor.

The last time I saw Dave, I couldn't locate my mom at the Oscars. I feel bad because I hope he doesn't think I was Hollywooding him because he was saying hi and I literally couldn't locate where my mother was. And so anyway, Dave, if you're watching this, I don't know if I just shot myself in the foot by saying that, but.

Love Dave, man. And wasn't. And also I loved, you know, Batista and Rey Mysterio growing up. That was like the WWE I grew up on. And Dave's got one of the best entrances of all time. I miss the pyrotechnics, man. I gotta say. I miss the pyro.

[A]

So I have pyro.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I have almost the majority of the company's.

[B]

Exactly, exactly.

[A]

The budget is allocated.

[B]

It's the Cody Rose.

[A]

It's really annoying too, because some of the people in Guerrilla will be like, oh, you got all three bursts tonight. And then I'll.

[B]

But what's up? Is it just too expensive to do all the time anymore?

[A]

No, it's. We've been blessed in some of these buildings. We're doing 360 now. So we went from a sellout is what we.

[B]

Okay. Paul explained this to you. The call out, which I was, was like 40 minutes logistics and 10 minutes.

[A]

I love that you got all this information about our operating. Exactly.

[B]

Well, because I said the Raw with the gray steel, he had a fancy word for it. I missed that set because Titan Tron. Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Oh, yeah.

[B]

And it was kind of on an angle and I missed the smackdown fist and all that. And he was basically saying that you sell more tickets now. Right. Or basically that that was there to hide.

[A]

Exactly, right.

[B]

Exactly. A lack of, you know, so. But I missed that set.

[A]

Yes. Because we go 360. Sometimes you have pyro. That's not even pyro. You do the punch and cold hearts, but it's just a noise. And also, I think we've as a company maybe tried one time some digital pyro maybe in San Antonio.

[B]

That's awesome.

[A]

Yeah. That was coming off the roof, but wasn't coming off the roof. There was some moments. It's all in. It's all in the efforts, because we want as many people to get in the seats as possible. But I would be really sad if they came to me. I always wait for the shoe to drop. I'd be really sad if they came to me and said, all right, that's it.

[B]

No, they can't.

[A]

No.

[B]

Yeah, we've made it.

[A]

Very much part of the thing opens, then the Whoa. Then the punch. But then there's an indulgent extra one that's on the buckle, and that's the one that most talent get a little, like, I can't believe for the kid.

[B]

Are we talking about like, the cane one on the buckle?

[A]

Yeah. So mine, I. I go.

The old school. And he'd be in the center, and they'd always tell you, like, if you were in the ring with him, get to the middle, get.

[B]

No, I can't believe, knock on wood, that there was never an X in movies, if you had a live thing going. Yeah, There'd be yellow tape. There'd be a guy whose one job it is to keep you away with it with a pool noodle. And he'd make sure, you know, it's the money back. Yeah, exactly. But, yeah, the cane thing, I can't believe.

[A]

Who.

[B]

Who for you, has the. Had the best pyrotechnic entrance.

[A]

Easy, Easy. Randy Orton. The pyro shower.

[B]

The shower on it, which I don't.

[A]

Want to say the golden shower, but.

[B]

It is a golden shower. That was the inspiration. It worked. That was the inspiration.

[A]

Because I thought, that's easy. We're not blowing up Mortars. It's an easy drop. I also think Goldberg was pretty cool, too. Goldberg is great breathing through his nose. I try to get a retro hail every now and then from Mike Fryo. Pyro. I don't think it ever works, but I try. Another one was 90s when you had Sid and Razor do the random rig behind them in the ring thing. Like, Razor's doing his whole thing, and there's just a. What's supposed to be maybe an R or something behind. There's Pyro behind them.

[B]

Like the X a little bit with the pyro in the ring or not.

[A]

Yeah, a little bit. So DX has actually great pyro, too. The green.

[B]

I like the Jeff Hardy that would shoot out as he's doing this.

[A]

Yeah. Jeff Hardy we joke about a lot because if you're ever making a run in and, like, say you're down in the ring and you're hurting, and I was supposed to come and save you. Jeff is the type that famously, one time came out still doing, like, bro.

[B]

And I'm dying in the rain, and.

[A]

Then ran to the room, which is. It's always brought up a lot of times, like, we. Proper nouns, like, hey, don't Jeff Hardy me out there. Which is that, like, all the amazing things he did.

[B]

Yeah. Like, there's.

[A]

You could use it in another way. Jeff Hardy from the. There's other Jeff Hardy versions, but that's a famous one where. Have some urgency. The police coming and getting me. Because if you don't have urgency, the audience won't have urgency. That's a famous one because it's very Jeff.

[B]

He's sort of like. He's like the Heath Ledger of wrestling or something.

[A]

What a great way to put. Yeah.

[B]

He's like a brilliant artist. Weird. What a strange. But it's. I love Jeff Hardy growing up. One of the best finishers ever, too.

[A]

Swanton.

[B]

Swanton.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

As.

I think when he was younger, hit different. You know, as you get older, that Swanton starting to look for him.

[B]

You're saying the gravity's pulling, like. Oh, yeah.

[A]

You got it really tighten up.

[B]

Oh, you're saying on the receiving.

[A]

Yeah. If you're on the receiving end, I. Jeff's the best. Yes. Here's why.

[B]

Because he used to roll off the shoulder.

[A]

It was a little bit more like. It was just different, you know?

[B]

Now it's like.

[A]

I would tell you this. This is such a silly Jeff story. I'm positive we can keep it. We were in Mexico. We're all at this hotel lobby and Cena always used to like to hold court. He didn't like to go out. He didn't really want to take any big risk with partying or anything like that. Our bus is leaving the next day at 5pm him, it's very important that we stay. It's 5pm he sees Jeff walk by and he's like, hey, Jeff, come hang. I can't.

[B]

I can't imagine seeing on Jeff Hardin.

[A]

He literally was like, I can't. I can't miss the bus. Because he had a habit of missing the bus. I can't. I can't miss the bus. I have to be on it. I want. And John goes, dude, it's five o'. Clock. It's 8:00pm right now. Like, you're fine. You're going to make the bus. And he legit is like, no, I'm not, I'm not. He goes, hey, you can be the dj. You can play Pearl Jam. He's got like the beats pill at the time. And you can see Jeff, like, like.

Reluctantly get called back in. All right, so he comes in, the night turns incredibly fun, and I'd say tame, but still wild. People are in their gear in this fountain, in this hotel. Cell phones aren't a massive thing at the moment. It's not all there, but, man, next day, five o'. Clock. Oh, no. Jeff. And I'm on the baby face bus. 5:10. No Jeff. And then finally at like 5:20, he comes on. He's still in the clothes from the night before, and he's not like he's got a mission. He comes on, he finds John. He goes, I told you I could not go out. And you did this. This is your fault. It was just one of my favorite things ever that he gave him such a specific. I can't do it, man. I can't. And then John called him in. The poor thing didn't make it.

[B]

But, dude, he partied hard, huh? Yeah.

[A]

Jeff was incredible, though.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And still Jeff is one.

[B]

So in the baby face bus, they would literally make you. Guys, guys.

[A]

We still do. Yeah. Unless you get real.

[B]

Talk about, like, get a car. Yeah, no, but talk about, like a Hollywood mentality, like a level of commitment that's insane. That's like staying in character to the nth degree.

[A]

There's also a great byproduct to it. If you're a baby face and you're on the baby face bus. Maybe you don't like all the baby faces, right? Well, if you spend 11 days with them, you get to know something, you learn something, you bond with someone you don't really know. Every now and then there's a baby face bus, a heel bus and a party bus. Then you have a pretentious like me. Because I like to stay really late after the show. I try to meet every fan. Oh yeah, that's just a car. Car. And I, I used to think the idea of being in a car would be fun. And then there's a lot of times at like three in the morning in that car where you think, what am I doing? I miss it. Yeah, I could have just got out of there earlier. I missed a party bus, man. Yeah, that happens every now and then. The parties are fairly tame, but at least that we know whenever you plan something, it's never going to go as intense.

[B]

It's not the Ric Flair days of partying.

[A]

No, not at all.

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One of the big thing I wanted to ask you about and I, I forgive me if a bazillion people have asked you about this. Your speech, talking about the pursuit of greatness, saying you were going for greatness and saying. Most people don't like to say that, but you're saying that and talking about being inspired by these actors, but also these athletes, which is. Glad we're in the fanatics lounge. You know my favorite athlete of all time, Tom Brady's helmets, right over there. This is an odd way of wording this question. I feel like I know why you said it or I, I in my mind, but I want to know why you said it. If that makes any sense in terms of I'm a big. Will it into existence. I. Oh, you don't believe me? Hey, I'm gonna, I'm, I'm going to do it. I just, I needed to say it to believe it myself in that moment. Was there any, anything behind what you were saying or it was just what you were feeling and what you meant?

[B]

It's just how that was just what I was feeling, man. Yeah, it's not more complicated than that. And also, you know, you put someone out in the world and that's how it's framed all of a sudden. See if it rubs people the wrong way or rubs people the right way. At least that's the framing. Yeah. And I'm sure you feel it in your business, too. There's such nostalgia for De Niro and Daniel Day Lewis and. But if you're a young gun like myself or like yourself, it's like, wait a second, we're still doing it. And because attention is so fractured now online, I feel like you kind of have to shout it sometimes to get heard. And so that was the. The. That was the thought.

[A]

Might be my favorite thing I've ever heard on this podcast. Amazing. Cool. Because I hate nostalgia, but I love my business. I already know what these guys all did for us. Thank you. They've set a table that I get to eat at. But, man, they can't keep coming back. Right? We had to just from a wrestling perspective, we've got to move forward. I don't want them coming back, and I don't mean any disrespect. I want them come to a show and sit and watch a show show. Right. Watch the show, watch what they've done for their business. But the idea of you saying it. It was something that I found. It definitely didn't rub me the wrong way. Is incredibly appealing. And I don't think enough people are in the pursuit of greatness, are afraid to say it. You know, mediocrity loves company. And when you find a circle of people that don't, even those closest to you don't want you to go for it and.

[B]

Exactly, man. Yeah. They say in Australia, Tall Poppy syndrome, which is like every. They want all the poppies to grow the same height. But what I would hope, even in you recapping it like that, is that it's not to go. It's not to say, put yourself or myself in another category. It's to say to anybody watching or listening. It's to almost speak to them and for someone to know, oh, if I'm going to do it, you have to be your biggest fan and your biggest supporter. And like you just said, we're in a culture of just. I don't want to say negativity, but it's hard. It's hard, you know, And I went to performing arts high school, so I was well supported. But. But there are all those moments when you're a teenager, someone says the wrong thing and you feel down. You Feel bad about yourself and you don't feel like you can pursue what you want to pursue, you know, so, you know, and all the music I grew up on and the wrestling I grew up on, it was ambitious. It was larger than life. You know, it was stone cold. And I know we just said we're going to be nostalgic right now, but it was.

[A]

No but.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That inspires you to be the same.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

To go. To be bold.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

To be bold and go for it. And again, this movie is.

[B]

Is.

[A]

Thanks so much for letting us look at it. Oh, man.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

I cannot encourage people who are watching this for the first time and wrestling fans to. To see Marty Supreme. It was very special. And again, being bold, being ambitious. Yeah. And the choices. Choices that you make comes out Christmas Day.

[B]

Christmas Day. Yes, sir.

[A]

Is there anything else you want us to know?

[B]

No. I mean, no. I mean, we hit all the wrestling.

[A]

I mean, we went way too wrestling.

[B]

Okay. Really?

[A]

There's going to be some people who are like this. They just talked about wrestling. Right. Which I knew you liked.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The. But we get a lot of fake nerd girls, if that makes any sense.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Where it's. I love Star Wars. No, you don't. You know, you tell me this was a case.

[B]

Never heard that. Fake nerd girl.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, like where they're trying to, like.

[B]

I love that.

[A]

And you don't have to say it if you don't, you know, now you set the bar for yourself in this case. You clearly. Clearly have a specific era in mind, too. And love our industry and the more. I'm so glad you have to get. Get out and come to a show.

[B]

Absolutely. No. And thank you so much for having me on. And keep. Keep crushing it, man. And keep. You got the company on your back. So.

[A]

Yeah. It's just all downhill now.

[B]

So I said. I read that the other day, started at the top, and I've been working my way down ever since.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's a great way to put it. You know, like at a certain point.

[B]

Oh, man.

[A]

Again, Marty Supreme. It comes out. Christmas Day is absolutely incredible. And I. Again, the thing I like the most is that I got to ride back with the crew people and discuss all the things we got from it. Wondered about it, intrigued by. And then, of course, Kevin o', Leary, Fran Drescher.

[B]

All these, like, Fran Drescher.

[A]

All these moments of. What's your relationship to Fran Dresser? None. Just growing up on the Nanny. Just growing up.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then to see someone in that light is special to see them grow and see them be in a different role. I got the same out of Winona Ryder. He's, you know, there's the transitions that goes on there. I, I, I, I.

[B]

Who was more on your wall growing up, Gwyneth Paltrow or Fran Drescher?

[A]

I'm gonna probably say Gwyneth Paltrow.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Which one of the reasons, again, I don't want to spoil any of the movie. Gwyneth Paltrow, who's amazing in the movie. I didn't really. It's hard to bring up because there's a lot of, there's a lot of Riz going on and there's a lot of.

That's, that's amazing in terms of her, her performance in this as well. So there's the difference in terms of nostalgia and active and still and changing and evolving. And those were two great moments where we saw people that we see and we grew up with in completely different roles and giving you your, your platform.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. And her part is heartbreaking and.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And nostalgic in a sense.

[A]

And dude, thank you so much, Cody.

[B]

Dude, thank you.

[A]

I really appreciate it. Thank you, buddy. I really appreciate.

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