I quit wrestling in 2006 because I just got lost. My mom didn't want me wrestling. I was wondering if I was going to make it in wrestling; I got injured in a match. I was 19. I was away from home, living in Florida, and I just got lost. I couldn't face it, so I stepped away.
I look at a guy like Velveteen Dream who has only been wrestling for a couple of years, and he's just filled with charisma, filled with talent.
Kurt Angle was amazing. He was the person who got me into pro wrestling. He found me when I was at the Olympic training center just wrestling, amateur wrestling.
I didn't even know what Chikara was... So I show up at the show, and I'm expecting a normal wrestling show... there's like a f#%ing dude in a dinosaur outfit walking around, and there was a stipulaton that someone would be sent back in time... Not that I disliked it or anything, I was just like, what the hell is going on.
There's a television show, 'Hoarders,' where people have those homes filled with stuff. Emotionally, in our minds, we get so filled with resentments where we've got a story about absolutely everything.
While wrestling in college as a junior it came to a point where wrestling just wasn't enough for me anymore. I love wrestling, but I felt like I was missing something, and so the striking part about MMA, the boxing and kickboxing, was what got me really interested in MMA. I saw it on TV and I just knew that I wanted to do it.
The first two, three, four weeks are wasted. I just show up in front of the computer. Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too. If she doesn't show up invited, eventually she just shows up.
You didn't just show up on planet Earth by accident.. You were handpicked by Almighty God.
Nobody can ever make enough money for as many poor relatives as I've got. Somebody's got a sick kid, or somebody needs an operation, somebody ain't got this, somebody ain't got that. Or to give the kids all a car when they graduate.
That's when I finally got it. I finally understood. It wasn't the thought that counted. It was the actual execution that mattered, the showing up for somebody. The intent behind it wasn't enough. Not for me. Not anymore. It wasn't enough to know that deep down, he loved me. You had to actually say it to somebody, show them you cared. And he just didn't. Not enough.
I'd never seen a professional wrestling match. First one I saw, I was in. It was just an accident.
When I started 'This American Life', one of the reactions I got was, 'When is the adult going to show up who will host the show?' At some point, people just got used to it.
I liked wrestling a lot better than boxing. I remember thinking at that time that wrestling was a pure demonstration of strength, which I was interested in, while boxing was just hitting somebody or getting hit, which didn't appeal to me. But a demonstration of strength was okay, so I chose wrestling.
It took me a few years to explain to my colleagues and my mentors and the people that I looked up to and I wrestled that I'm not in wrestling anymore. I'm in sports entertainment. Pro' wrestling doesn't mean that we're saying we're a step up above amateur wrestling, because there's nothing above Olympic wrestling.
In wrestling, you've got to be an athlete. You can't just be a body builder; you can't just be this big strong guy who picks people up and throws them around. For longevity in the business, you got to keep your body fit and together.
Ribbing is a part of wrestling. That's the way they show a fondness for you - they play practical jokes on you. They put your wrestling gear in plastic bags and throw it in the shower. Just stupid stuff.