Ricardo Rodriguez On Alberto Del Rio, Beating Roman Reigns, Being Bret Hart's Final Opponent

Chris, bud, believe!

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included in that VIP ticket there. So again, it's CV V T I X dot com to grab those Ricardo Rodriguez has one heck of a story. You'll remember him from his time in WWE when he was Alberto Del Rio's personal ring announcer. And for how long he would hold on the Alberto. You get the point would be much longer than that, but you don't need to hear me do that.

He had some hilarious moments, like when he dressed up as Seamus or when he dressed up as the big show. And he had that match with Santino where he wrestled in a tuxedo.

Ricardo opens up about the struggles that he had with addiction after he left WWE and his journey to getting sober and staying sober. It's an amazing and inspiring story that I can't wait for you to hear. He now runs wrestling school in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where we recorded this interview. He also has a wrestling promotion there called three legacies wrestling. I was honored to be part of one of their shows recently.

They do monthly shows. So if you're in PA, you got to check them out. Or if you're looking to become a wrestler, you need to check out Ricardo's school. Three legacieswrestling.com. That's three spelled out legacieswrestling.com. Also snap a screenshot, tag us so we can share out your tweet or your Instagram post about this. He's at R-R-W-W-E on Twitter. He's at Jay underscore Rodriguez 818 on Instagram.

I'm at Chris Van Vliet and enjoy this. Please welcome Ricardo Rodriguez. Well, first of all, thank you for inviting me here. Thank you and welcome to the Three Lakes interesting Academy. It's good to see you again. It's been a, well, actually, no, we saw each other not too long ago. Almost year. Yeah. It's been a year. But the last time that like we did an interview with you. Yeah.

Doesn't in 12? Yeah, 12, 13. Yeah, 12 years ago. You were rocking that mustache. Oh, no. It was for a good cause. It was. It was for November. People don't seem to realize that I was doing that, not because I thought it looked good because of it. I thought you looked like that 70s, you know. That's funny. I got made fun of so much for that terrible mustache back then. Mustaches are cool now. Yeah, yeah, they're maybe I need to bring it back. I think you should. So we're in PA right now. Yep.

And you've opened up this wrestling school here, you have a promotion here, three legacies wrestling, two year anniversary as well. Yeah, and actually that's why you're also a part of why you're here. A good friend of ours, Jared has brought you in and I'm very proud to be able to have something that we've been building for the last few years. And then to have you as a part of it, man, I'm beyond happy about that. I'm proud of that.

Man, I'm honored that you invited me out. So thank you for that. Congrats on everything you've built here as well. It's been a process. Just like, and I'm sure you know, the process of building something is it can't be strenuous and it could be very stressful. But when you finally see something grow that you put in so much love and effort and pain and suffrage into and then you see a blossom that you've nurtured it, it's pretty rewarding. Did you always want to have a wrestling school?

No, no, not at all. This is something I just kind of developed over the last several several couple of years, maybe, honestly. I've been grateful that I've had the privilege of running schools and at least running classes. And even in my time with WWE, I was put in a position to kind of help guide others through the help, obviously, of my mentors that were there with me. And as time went on, I just started taking that a little bit more seriously.

I got put in a position where I was given trust to be able to help others. And now that I have this opportunity to build my own thing, to build my own legacy, I'm very grateful for it. It's called three legacies. What are the three legacies? So there's a whole bunch of stuff that goes into it, all kind of mixed into one. So before WWE, I used to wrestle under the name of Chimera.

A chimera is a couple of different things, but ultimately it is a Greek monster and it is three animals in one. So it's a goat, a serpent, and a lion. So there's that's three. That was a mast wrestler, right? I was. So I started on Lucha Libre first before I switched over to the American side.

Also, the idea of the past, present, and future to me is something that's been pretty cool because you take the old style wrestling and you mix it in with the now, and then you're eventually going to progress into whatever the future may be. And then just also the idea of the body, mind, and soul is key. So that's also what goes into the idea of three legs is wrestling.

It's so interesting when you talk about having this other character before WWE, because everybody just knows you as Ricardo Rodriguez. Like this comedy character. But before that, you were a serious wrestler. Yeah, yeah. And it's night and day if you ever go back. And at the time, I mean, I started in Mexican literally, but that's how I started. And I was very grateful for my trainer, Latigo Blanco, who just would beat the living dog a lot of us, but in a good constructive way.

And I learned so much from that. And then when I switched over to the American side, it was a struggle at first. But then once I kind of started getting my groove, and I had awesome trainers that were helping me switch to from Mexican style to the American style, these guys named Los Luchas, Phoenix star and Zocre from PwG. So they were a big part of that too.

And when I started kind of modeling what I wanted to be in the American side, I watched like Super Dragon, Samoa Joe, Loki, Grimuda, how they were more just aggressive and they didn't really talk. And it was more so just the mannerisms. So in my head, at least I would tell myself, you're this badass.

They usually go and kick everybody in the head. And then you'll incorporate a couple of little lucha things here and there. But that's what I used to try and do and emulate. And then I became Ricardo. Yeah, all of that is the exact opposite of your character. Because I did not talk. And then I got hired to talk.

So that was a whole 180 because prior to that, I maybe had cut maybe one promo. No way. Ever in the four years, I was doing independent wrestling. Maybe one or two promos tops and I got hired to talk. So the irony of how all that kind of came about. Were you hired with the idea that you were going to be paired with Alberto Del Rio?

Yeah, sort of. So I ended up, this is a backstory to how things kind of happened. I had worked for this guy, this promoter in Southern California named Jesse Hernandez, who owns Empire Wrestling Federation. And Jesse used to be a referee for WWF, I think. He had been around for a while.

And he became one of the main promoters in Southern California. So I got to wrestle for him once, and right after the match, he comes up to me and he goes, hey, WWE's coming to town in a couple of, I think this one was like two months or so. He's like, would you be interested in doing a tryout? And mind you, this is the first time I've met him. So he didn't owe me anything. And I was like, yeah, of course.

So I jumped in on that. I did the tryout. And at the time, I didn't know too much about what was going on on the WWE television, because my full time job as a graphic designer was a full on production type of things. It was an all day, 12 hour or 16 hour shifts, right? So I wasn't watching wrestling, really. And then when I was getting out of work, I would go straight to training.

So then when I go and I did an actual tryout at the Staples Center, I don't know what it's called now. So I did the tryout at the Staples Center. It was the Monday after SummerSlam 2010, I think August 10th, I think it's when we did the tryout. Dude, your tryouts in the Staples Center? Yeah, the tryout. That's amazing. And we got there and we got there super early. We did like a three hour tryout.

So we finished that, and then they come up to me afterwards. The town scout guy at the town was named Tybelly. So Tybelly comes up to me and he's like, hey, we just kind of asked me a couple of questions. He's like, are you under contract anywhere? I was like, no, he's like, you married? I was like, no, he's like, you have kids? I was like, not that I know of. He's like, if given the opportunity, would you be willing to relocate to Florida? And I was like, yeah, sure, of course.

And at that point, I had been promised a moon by so many promoters, and I didn't know any better. So I was like, whatever, right? I was just kind of, we'll see, we'll just kind of play by ear and see what happens. So then we got a catering, and I was only scheduled for that tryout. I wasn't scheduled for like smackdown or anything. I was just scheduled for the tryout, but I stuck around.

Because obviously they welcomed me to stay, in case they need extras or whatever. So they went up to this other gentleman that had done the trial with me. And we did this thing where we did matches and we did tournaments style. And at the end of it was myself and this other guy. And they had gone up to him first. And they're like, hey, they're looking for this renouncing thing. And they had asked him. And for whatever reason, he said he couldn't make it the next day.

So then Jesse goes up to the individuals that were in charge and he's like, well, he speaks Spanish. So then they approached me and they're like, hey, do you have a tuxedo? I was like, no. But I mean, I was like, yes, I told him, yes, of course. So and I didn't. They asked if I've ever done renounce me for and I told him, yes, which I never have. But I love that the answer is always. Yeah, of course. Yeah, of course.

So then they're like, all right, come tomorrow to SmackDown in Bakersfield. And they didn't tell me what for. They're just like, just come tomorrow. I was like, cool, awesome. So then I go and I go. A whole time, are you thinking, a tuxedo and ringing out? Right. Yeah.

So then I go to the Goodwill that was like a cross street from where I used to live, and I got a cheap little suit, and there was a bridal store across the street from that on Van Nuys and Victory in the Valley. And there was a bridal store, so I bought a bunch of bullet ties. And coincidentally, too, because I wasn't scheduled for that role, and that smacked him, excuse me. And Miro was actually on that trial with me.

and we were training together at Knox Pro. So he, I told him and he's like, well, just take the room that I had purchased for like the night, whatever, the hotel. Just take it. I was like, cool. So he let me stay.

He offered it, but a baker's was only like an hour and a half, two hours from the valley. But so we were in the trial together. So then I go to to Baker's field. I do the first little walkthrough and they tell me what I'm doing. And I get introduced to Alberto. And at the time, I didn't really know who he was. He seemed familiar. And so we go over the rundown of what we're doing. So then they tell me, hey, you're going to be announcing this guy.

And we do the first rehearsal. And Vince waddles down the ramp as I see him. And I was like, oh, so he does like the little walk. And I was like, dude, that thing's real. He walks like that real life. He's done. I mean, when I saw him, at least in my mind, he was doing that power walk that he does. Yeah.

And then he comes out to me and then, because I had already done one rehearsal and he's like, don't know like that, be more animated, be more Hispanic, whatever that means, right? So he should be more Hispanic. I was like, all right, cool. So then I started thinking of the AAA announcers, how they're so loud and this. And so I took that approach and he's like, yeah, that.

So then I do it. And obviously the first time around it wasn't as big and extravagant as once I got used to it. But they liked it. I did the first night. And then that week they were doing a double-taping of SmackDown because the guys were going overseas, the SmackDown guys were going over to Europe, to the European tour.

And I believe that's when they got stuck because of the volcano. There was a volcano in Iceland, and I think on the way back, they got stuck. I think it was that week. So I did Bakersfield on Tuesday, and then we did a double taping. So on Wednesday, we were in Fresno.

So then I go up, I do the deal, Alberto wrestled, there's this wrestler by the name of Alex Kozlov, who was a new Japan and see Malal in real honor. So he wrestled him. And then after that, Marco Rano and Johnny Ace, they pulls into the office and they ask his basic questions, they're like, Hey,

are you going to contract? And I was like, no. So they asked Alex the same. And I think at the time he was wrestling for AAA, but a per appearance type deal. So then they're like, would you guys want to sign? Basically, we're going to offer you, especially for me, because they talked to separately. But they both they offered us both contracts.

So that's kind of how it started. But at the time, I didn't really know what Berta was. And I had a friend who was a super, super, super, super like Mark fan. So I was like, hey, who's this guy? Because I knew he would know. Because obviously, dirt sheets and all that stuff, he will look into who he was.

So he's like, oh, that's those kind of junior. I was like, no way. So obviously I grew up watching you leave it. So I became an instant fan of just the idea that that's, you know, the nephew of me, Mascara, the son of those kind of, you know, the, the, the nephew of a, of Cecolelic or cousin, I believe. So I was like, cool. This is like Mexican royalty. So I found out for a little while. And, um,

So I got signed and then I was basically an extra for about three months. I did my physical, I did the background check, all that stuff. And then they flew me out to TV right off the bat. And then eventually I got the call that they're like, hey, you passed basically. We're going to send you to Florida. And it just kind of went from there.

to go from your tryout to the next day you're on SmackDown? SmackDown, yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, I was insane. And then just nervous, right? Because again, I go back to the same thing. I had never cut promos and I got hired to talk.

So that's the whole irony of how this whole thing. And also the fact that A, I had lied about my qualifications to get to that spot, but I had to be able to back up my BS. And thankfully they, I don't know if they saw through it, but it worked. Is there a part of you though that's going, man, I want to be a wrestler. I've been training to be a wrestler. And now they've got me in this gimmick where I'm a ring announcer for somebody. I want a wrestle.

That was definitely a struggle. The idea of, hey, now I'm a greenhouse, or I'm not a restaurant anymore, because that's all I knew at the time, right? I spent so many years going up and down the coast, on the west coast, in the US, in Europe, in Mexico, wrestling, and now I can't.

And obviously, I'm still trying to earn my, you know, my stripes within the locker room. So I can't just go into the ring and I had to just kind of wait, right? So that's where the ego kind of came in. And I was like, man, this sucks. I hate it. I want to wrestle.

But as time went on, they started putting me in positions where I think the first time that I got attacked was my ray. So I had to do a self-array. So he hits me from the back. I get in the position and it's 6.9. So that was like the first time. And I remember when we got to the back and they're like, man, you stole that really well. Because they didn't, nobody knew. Nobody knew. Because the only people that were there for the Daxxra tryout was Sidel, Matt Sidel, Tyson Kidd, and Jamie Noble.

Those are the only actual wrestlers that were there for the trial. So those are the only people that knew that I actually even knew how to wrestle, or at least what I call wrestling.

So yeah, so that was tough at first, just to kind of let go of the ego that I'm no longer that wrestler guy anymore, that I'm a Renaissance now and I have to be goofy. Because I was always serious and at least my persona was serious. So as a wise man once said, you know, I had to shut my mouth and alert, no, no, my role. So once I kind of took that in and realized, Hey, this is my position. And this is what my job is. Things got so much easier.

Do you remember when you moved to Florida and you started working for FCW? Do you remember that first match you had?

Let me backtrack a little bit, right? So when I first got to Florida, a lot of people did not like me because I had skipped the developmental system and I went straight to the TV and I went straight to the road. So I was already working television. Nobody knew who I was and I had no back story as far as developmental. So I come in and I'm just kind of like walking in and I'm trying to introduce myself and there's a lot of people that were not too fond of because I had skipped developmental and I went straight to TV.

But eventually, just like anything else, I'm the new kid in school and I have to kind of earn my way and get, you know, like earn everybody respect. So I started getting involved with the training and I started doing all that stuff and I started seeing that, hey, I'm able to do certain things. And then eventually, I think it was in December of 2010, I think December, when I finally got my first match in FCW.

And it was a 10 man tag. I don't remember exactly who was all in it, but I do believe Husky Harris, Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns were in it. It's pretty incredible. Yeah. And I think I think we won that match. I think I remember, but somebody had tweeted to me the other day that I had a victory over Roman. I was like, no, I didn't. And they mentioned that. So I don't know. I don't remember what the result of that was. I think you got a victory over Roman Reigns. So hey, yeah, travel chief. Yeah, I'm kidding.

Where did you start to tap into the comedic elements of that character?

I don't know, man. I think the more, cause I think a lot of it too had to do with the more I got comfortable with my position. And then the more I realized that what his, what Alberto's role was, and then that I was just kind of like the side, the decoration to the bigger picture. And I remember at the time I was a big fan of like more rats, clerks. So I would watch like Jang's time, Bob.

So Kevin Smith to me was just awesome because he was just in the back and all he had to do was facial expressions. So I would watch a lot of that and I would watch a lot of like silent movies just to kind of see obviously because they're telling you a story, but just this. And obviously I'm not talking and the very little that I am talking, it's more so just to hype up my guy.

And then otherwise it's him talking, I'm in the back and then I just have to try my hardest not to be bigger, at least in my mind, be bigger than who I'm presenting. But yeah, I had to do, I think Kevin Smith had a lot to do with it when I started watching a lot of what he did. And I was like, I think I could do things here and there. What I thought was so brilliant about you was

You could tell that you trained to be a wrestler when you take bump and bumps in the ring, but you wrestled like someone who didn't know how to wrestle. So it's like almost like you had to forget how to wrestle. So I think my first match as Ricardo was an NXT was the original NXT when they were still on the road. And my first match was against Connor Bryan who now goes as Connor. Yeah, essentially. Yeah, essentially.

So, and there's a whole like full circle moment. And anytime that I see him, we always go back to that, but we can get to that later. But yeah, so it was an NXT. This is back when I think Alberto and Brodice were the pros and Connor was the rookie. And at the time, Alberto was doing a lot of main event stuff on SmackDown.

So he couldn't keep doing both. So we had a chat with the writers, and then they put Brodus and myself as the pros to Connor, because Alberto was busy. That was all legit. He couldn't keep doing both.

So then that match happened. And I remember, I remember who the producer was, but he's like, just pretend or just just go out there and suck. You're not a wrestler. Just remember, you're not a wrestler. So just make it as awkward as possible. So then we did this spot where I'm supposed to give him like a frog, a splash, a running splash. And I had to make it look as dinky and terrible as possible.

And that kind of happened. And then as time went on because of that, though, because people were praising it, I just kind of got more comfortable with the role and then just kind of said, you know, screw it. I mean, this is my position. So let me run with it and make the most of it because if I keep fighting it, then it's going to come back in a negative way towards me. So just embrace it. It's similar to Santino. Right. Yeah. Because when you look at Santino and it's legit.

He's a shoot fighter, man. You look at him in his WWE debut, and I think you just posted something recently on Instagram where he was in a judo company. Yeah, yeah, he's legit. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And then you see him wrestling as Santino Morella with the Cobra, and it's like, that guy? Yeah. You're telling me that guy's a serious wrestling?

very similar to what you do. Yeah. And some, I think also too, in all of this is retrospect, because at the time, I don't think it's especially for me, I didn't see it that way. I saw it as I want to wrestle, I want to wrestle, I want to wrestle. But then now when I look back at it, I was like, man, I had it pretty good. I didn't have to like destroy my body as much. And I was still on main event positions. Grant said I wasn't on, I was in the marquee name, but I was still a part of big, big, big spots. And

And I didn't understand the idea of gratitude back then either. So I was just like, man, I want to be that guy. I want to be that guy with the marquee and the paper views. And I want to be that guy. And then, like I said, it wasn't until I realized what my position and I understood my role. And I was like, man, I can just have fun with this. And I can travel. And I can make money. And then I can make people laugh. I can make people react and have emotions.

And I'm grateful for that now. Did you not have that gratitude at all when you were in WWE? I do a degree. Yeah, sure. Of course, I was grateful for certain positions and certain people that we were working with. But I think deep down, I mean, I still had that like, I want to be that guy. I want to be the star. Was it not until you got released that you were like, now I realize what I had? No, well, yes or no. So I think it had a lot to do with stuff I think

We, when we started, when Albert and I started, we were put in main event from the get-go. Our first few was with Ray. After Ray, I think it was like Edge and Kane, Christian, Randy, Punk, Cena, right? So right from the get-go, we were just, you know, boom, boom, boom, boom, let's go. And so we got used to that too. We got comfortable.

And I think after a while, just like anything else, you get used to it and you just kind of take it for granted after a bit. And yeah, and then it just kind of went from downhill. I also didn't understand the idea and the concept of it's all a cycle. So after a certain while, somebody else has to come up. And so they have to bring somebody down a little bit. And I didn't, especially we didn't get that at the time.

You were right there for Alberto's biggest moments. And I think also to the fact that we were legit always together. I think that helped the dynamic that we had. We traveled together. We roomed together. I remember there was this one time where

He was talking, we were driving somewhere and then he had, he was talking to his wife on his phone. And then he passes on and then because he had something else, he was talking to somebody else. And then he's like, her name was Angela, she passed away, but Angela goes, so she's telling me, she's getting me to fill in what's going on, what are we up to, what's next, because I knew more about what we're doing, and she did.

So it became like a marriage, you know, away from home. But yeah, but that dynamic helped a lot too. So, and I think, I think that that was very visible on TV, I think. Oh, it definitely was. You guys looked inseparable on TV and clearly because you were behind the scenes too. Yeah. Yeah. So you were there when you won the championship. Yeah. It was at the Staples Center. What was it called again? It's called the Staples Center. It was a stable. People hate when I point out that it's called the Crypto.com arena.

It's Kobe's house. Yeah, yeah. It was at the Sable Center, Summer Slam, and punk had just beaten booty beats, you know?

I think so. I think Sina and then Alberto cashed in. Yeah, yeah, because that's also when Kevin Nash came out, Jack Knight's power bomb, Nash, and then Alberto comes out, gives him the kick to the head, and then here we go. What was really cool about that, and A, for me, it was in Los Angeles, and in front of the Mexican and Latino rasa, so that to me was so powerful that we were able to get to that point.

And again, these are things that I learned after the fact that for that timeframe that we were on top, we were representatives of the Latino community and how beautiful that was. And because even now, every now and then, I'll do something with Alberto, we'll go do an appearance or something, and then we'll meet people that basically tells us that.

that for that time frame, we were representatives of the Latino community and how special it was to them to see one of them being in that position. So yeah, between that, when he won the Royal Rumble in Boston, that was a beautiful moment too. And he eliminated Santino,

And we were there, and I remember for that one, I forget who the ref was. He's like, just go crazy on the mic. So I started doing all that burrow thing. And then after a little bit, I got winded and the ref keeps going. He's like, go, just keep on, keep on, keep on. I just keep yelling. So I did that. That was annoying as hell. Oh, super annoying. So why, what do you mean? Yeah, it was annoying. It was, I annoyed myself. Well, that's the point of your character. Yeah, but I know it myself.

Um, like people were so legitimately annoyed by your character. Yeah, which means you were doing a fantastic job at your character. Right. Oh, yeah. And it was fun. And I got to take a lot of elements that I would see other people. Uh, like what, what annoyed me? So I remember my sister, I think whenever we were younger and we were getting to like fights, she would make this face that would just annoy the, but she's out of me. She would do this whole like.

And I hated it. So that's where I got, I figured that idea was like, if that annoys me, it's gonna annoy somebody else. So those facial expressions, right? Like that's where I started looking at Alberto, right? When he would do the hand gesture. Yeah. So that comes from De Guaramando Maradona was a soccer player from Argentina.

And whenever he would score against his opposition, he would run over to where the fans were. And he would basically just run and do this as a big bookie, right? Wow. So that's where that kind of came from.

And so we take elements of like what inspires us and what makes us feel a certain way. Then if we get that reaction out of that X, whatever that situation is, and somebody else is bound to do it as well too. How did you find the perfect balance of like the way that you announced him? So it didn't start off that way. Alberto didn't start off that way. It just kind of grew into that.

So another Argentinian. So there was a soccer commentator named Andres Contor. Andres Contor was the one that made popular the goal, right? Yeah. So after a while, and then I started elongating the Alberto, and people started doing it. So then I took that inspiration from Andres, and Andres, and I would tweet him too, and I would try so hard to get something going, and nothing ever happened.

But yeah, and then also to www.me.com or the Twitter, you should time it. And once I got wind that they were timing it, that's when I was like, all right, bet. Let me see how long I can go. And I think it goes for like a paper view or a WrestleMania where it was like 40 some seconds. What? It was like 40, so it was like 39 or some 40. Let's just say 40.

But it was because the Twitter thing started kicking off and I would hear people doing it too. And even now too, like I can go places and then I can hear it. Somebody will say Alberto, right? So they don't even know me as Ricardo. They just know me as Alberto. So they'll do the thing. It's like in the episode of Simpsons where they're looking at who was it that was at Millhouse or Barton, like do the thing. Oh, yeah. I didn't do it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So it was basically that. But then it wasn't just Alberto, it was also... Right, yeah. And it was cool, but it was like, I would meet folks and they would do that, they were trying to roll the R. And then we could just have a whole conversation about how to roll the R. They didn't always work, but it became a thing. I remember I would be places and I would have like my headphones on.

And then I could hear somebody playing Alberto's music behind me just to see if it was me. And then obviously once I turned around and I realized that's actually him. They were like, Hey, you're this guy. What a theme song. Yeah. It's such a good theme. So was man. It was catchy. And that's still what I use when I come out on independent scenes. I mean, why not? Yep.

Why would they arrange what kind of cars you guys would have in each city? Well, I have no idea. That wasn't up to me. I know there was like twice, I think, that they actually used Alberto's car. And that was when we were Miami, because at the time, he used to live in Fort Lauderdale. So he had, I think it was like a 65 Mustang, where it was that I think they used it twice, because obviously he would ride it. And then when we were done, he would go home. So and that was another thing too. After our first WrestleMania check,

We went out, we bought ourselves Mustangs. That's a pretty nice check. No, well, I got lucky with mine. I actually bought mine from Johnny Ace. Is he was selling? Yeah, so the story with that was he had bought it for his wife, but his wife didn't really care for it.

So he had overheard the conversation that we were looking for mustangs because I remember one day we were, I'll get back to that. So Johnny had heard that conversation and he's like, well, I have one, I'm selling it. Would you be interested? And I was like, how much? And he told me I was like, yes, yes, with that? Yes, absolutely. What year? Mine was 65. His was Alberto was 66 or 64.

And yeah, so then he had fixed it Johnny had fixed it, but his wife didn't care for it. So he was like, well, I mean, if anybody wants it, I jumped on it.

But how that story came out, we were driving somewhere to a show. It was one of those long trips where there was nothing, and we saw this car cemetery. It was all a bunch of old cars, and that conversation came up of how that was always a dream car. I always wanted a Mach 1, originally I wanted a Mach 1, and then I think he had said something about like a Shelby.

And so that's where the conversation happened. Still have your Mustang? No, I got rid of it. Yeah, I got rid of it. I sold it to Alberto, actually. No way. I sold it to Alberto. No. Yeah, that was a dark time. But yeah, so eventually once we got our first restaurant, that's what I did. Man.

And I remember at the time, my girlfriend at the time, when I told her, I was like, hey, I bought this car. It should be here like, cause obviously it was in Stanford and I was in Florida. So it should be here in about two weeks or so. And she goes like, oh, I've never driven a Mustang in my house. Like you're not going to. Yeah, you're not going to. That's, that's fine.

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How loud was the roar when Ziegler cashed in on a long road? To me, that's still top one. That's incredible. Just because I know originally there was a plan to do it the night of WrestleMania.

was originally planned and then they ended up switching it to the next day and then retrospect I'm glad they did just because I think it was a little unexpected it was and what was great about it too was when they were going over the match

They have like that, that false finish where they, I think, Dolph hit the Fabister and they go, one, two, kick out, whatever. And then, Alberto counters it. He doesn't see Gary. And then, I think he finally hits the arm bar. And then, because Dolph has been screwed so many times. And you can just hear everybody bite on it and how so beautiful. So that when he did the leg thing,

and he finally hit the zigzag, and then the three happened. The eruption of that arena was so incredible, and it was something that I think everybody in unison was very happy for Dolph. Do you know what was gonna happen? Dolph tells the story of like, they wanted him, I guess, originally just like win it really quick. He's like, no, no, we gotta like make it look, and these are his words. We gotta make it look like Dolph is gonna get Dolphed again. He's even passed up so many other times, right?

but it was just brilliant, like the storytelling in that three-minute match. Well, also too, because it was also a lead-up because prior to that, it was Alberto versus Jack Swagger, and Swagger had been working on his ankle, right? So that's where that idea, and I wanna say... Cole even says, the leg, the bad leg. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So at that time, I was very grateful to that, and any of those guys hopefully can vouch for it, was that they would come to me quite a bit to ask for transitions. Because I was like, I think I should be such a spot monkey on the indies. So I can remember matches. I was very, in my head, at least I was very creative with how to come up with certain things. So that idea kind of came up of just yanking the ankle. So then when we did, I was like, oh, that's so awesome.

But yeah, but also me, that's what it was. So we figured he had just gotten attacked by swagger, which obviously with the ankle lock. So what's the weak point is the ankle. So let's go after that. But yeah, that eruption meant to me still number one, cash in. You've had so many cool moments, so many fun moments like

You coming out as the big show and then all you can say is that so I did a couple of cosplays. He was one of them. What did you have stuffed in your singlet? I think it was a pillow. I think it was a pillow.

It was a pillow, and then we had, I think, I don't remember whose boots they were. We did the skull-capped thingy. What do you have in your hand? It was an oversized, like, I don't even know what sport that was, but it was a baseball mid, but it was something different. But that thing was massive.

And so make sure hats seen when they were doing it. The one that did not see when they were dressing me up with Sheamus when I dressed up as Sheamus. So they had gone up to him and they had asked him for the, oh, I did. I went up to him and asked him for his boots because I was like, hey, they want to do something with your boots for like a designer picture or something. Can I borrow your spare? So we didn't tell them. Oh, man. So they hit me in the room. They hit me in the room and then, um,

So they dressed me up and then right before we got to Gorilla, because all Seamus knew it was that we're doing a promo. That's all he knew. So then, so we're Gorilla and obviously we're about to go out. And then I just, I remember I stood next to Seamus and he just looks at me. And then he does that double tick and then he just lets out like a big new motherfucker. Because your hair looked so ridiculous. Oh yeah.

So then, yeah, so that happened. And then it was the same thing when I dressed up as Zev Coulter. They didn't tell Swagger, they didn't tell Swagger. Yeah, they didn't tell Swagger. Because I think a big part of it was trying to get their genuine reaction. So any sound like, for instance, with the cash in, obviously, we don't tell anybody except for the people involved. It's all about the genuine reaction. And then obviously the whole, you don't want it to get leaked.

but just gain that real genuine reaction of what they're going to be like when something happens. What was the Justin Bieber thing? So I did an inner gender match tag match. It was myself and Beth Phoenix versus Layla and Santino, which by the way, Beth and I are so undefeated as tag team. Just putting it in there. There you go. So Beth,

And I don't even remember what the setup or why it happened, but somebody had the idea of taking, ripping my tuxedo off, and then say, I don't know what it was, but somebody had already mentioned the Twilight or something, and that's when Twilight was like super big, and then I just said something about like, hey, wouldn't it be funny if, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So then they went out and they found a couple of shirts, but the Twilight one didn't fit at all. And then the only one that semi fit was that Justin Bieber one, which is like super, super tight. So we did that and then that kind of happened and that thing still to this day follows me. So every now and then somebody will tweet me a picture of that. If I still follow Justin Bieber, if I heard his latest song, they'll tag me with something that they tweeted Justin and they'll tag me in it. So I still get that every now and then and yeah.

I thought it was so cool. The reception you got when you entered the Royal Rumble in 2012. So Alberto's music hits. Everyone assumes it's Alberto. Then you come out in this beat up Dotson doing the whole thing, right?

And then you get into the ring and the crowd's chanting. So how that one came about was it was actually in December, Alberto had gotten hurt. He had, he took a weird bump and he had like a torn ligament in his leg. And it was actually here at the Wells Fargo in Philly.

So that happened, so obviously he was out for a little bit. And we were still down in FCW. And I remember after FCW, we had gone to the Cheesecake Factory, a bunch of us, and Pat Patterson had just happened to be there too. So Pat was sitting at the bar, so out of respect, I'd go up to him and I'd just say hello, whatever. And then he asked me about Alberto.

He's like, oh, no, he's doing fine. He's healing up, whatever, and we start chatting. And then just for shits and giggles, I was like, hey, wouldn't it be funny if they're in the rumble, why come out, right? We play as music, and we come out, and then we laugh about it, and then we just leave it. Shortly thereafter, we did something like, I think in Dallas, and we got stuck in Dallas at the airport because of a storm. So, and I'm sitting next to Milenko, and then we're just, you know, again, just talking, we're talking about Cruiserweights and whatever. And he had mentioned back then that he had pitched the idea of a Cruiserweight tournament back then.

and until he asked me about Alberto, and then again, I just brought it up. I was like, hey, wouldn't it be funny if during the rumble, you know, whatever. Yeah, we just laugh about it and just leave it. So the day of St. Louis happens at the rumble in 2012, I get to the arena, and I was typically usually one of the first folks over by the ring, because I wanted to get in and just roll around.

And then Michael Hayes comes up to me and he's like, hey, did you see your car? And I thought that he was talking about my rental car that somebody had done something to it. I was like, no, what? He's like, your car, did you not see what happened? Or did you not see in the back? He's like, no, what happened? So he's like, come here. So we get to the back behind the, the, the, the, the time run, whatever.

the stage and then he's like your car and it was the car but it was covered, it had the cover and he lifts it and I'm looking at it and I'm looking at him and it didn't click in my head. He's like, did nobody tell you? I was like, no. He's like, you're in the rumble. I was like, huh? So then that's kind of how I found out.

So then he's like, yeah, this is your car, whatever. And so then I talked to his name was Ellis, and he was like the stunt coordinator guy. And so he saw me in the car, and then I realized it's a stick shift. And then my house was like, dude, I'm from LA, man. I'm from a city. We don't have stick shifts. And then the last time that I drove one, I was probably like 17, 18.

So I was like, hey, is it possible if I can just take it to the parking lot and then just kind of get a refresher? He's like, no, you'll be fine. I was like, dude, this is live pay-per-views, man. I'm doing the rumble. I don't want to step on the wrong thing. And then either stall or even worse, just haul ass into the people. He's like, you'll be fine. And dude, I tried convincing them.

to make them either A, because I had something about like, can I get like stage hands to like legit push it? So we can play an audio where I stall and then you just see the stage hands push the car out. He's like, no, you'll be fine. I was like, dude.

So I went on YouTube and I just looked up a video of how to dry stick. That's so fun. And then that's just kind of went from there. Man. But yeah, I did the whole time. The whole time I was just sweating buckets. But then you get in the ring and what a reception. Man. And then also to just who was in there just make fully in it.

He's such an angel, man. He's such a kind soul. Him, Cody Rhodes, the first person I attacked when I got into the ring was Cody Rhodes in the corner. So I started pumping Cody. So I'm just saying, he's a champ right now, and I took that Cody. I'm just saying. But there must have been a moment where you're like, they appreciate it. This is surreal. Yeah. It was surreal. It's not often wherein when a

At least from me in my head, a comedy role.

or a comedy personality kind of gets that appreciation. Cause obviously this whole time I was just on the side and I was just, obviously I'm there to help out Alberto. That's my role. Until to have that spotlight for even those, that minute and a half or whatever that was, that was kind of cool. To share that ring with, you know, Justin Gabriel Cody at the time, Santino and Mick Foley was really cool. And I got to live in a Justin Gabriel. So PJ, sorry man.

So I have one elimination in the rumble. You're the answer to a trivia question, and a lot of people won't know this. You wrestled in Bret Hart's final match. Yeah. And you are the last person to tap out to a sharpshooter. Yeah, on TV. Yeah. It's insane. We were in, I don't know, in Ontario. I think we're in Ontario that day. We're at the gym. Alberta and I, and then we get a text from Road Dog.

I mean, he tells Alberto, like, the rundown. He's like, hey, tonight's going to be you and Ricardo against John Cena and Bret Hart. And we're like, ha. So we're waiting for the LOL, right? And it never came. So we're like, OK, so then I got the text. And I was like, wait, what? All right, this is going to happen. So obviously, Ricardo's not a wrestler. So I had my wrestling gear, but Ricardo's not a wrestler. So that at that gym that we were at, they had they were selling like women's tights and stuff.

which I like them a little bit more because they're more colorful and then, you know, they have more designs and men's and obviously there's not any men's tights. So I bought a couple of the female workout tights and I took it to the production office or to Road Dog and then he's like, yeah, that one. But yeah, so then we go over like the match and then

It's still not clicking in my head that what's about to happen. And then we get in the rain, I'm like, dude, this is cool. This is awesome. I'm working with, I mean, I've worked with John, but I was always grateful for the opportunity. But just the fact that, hey, we're in Canada, Brett Hart's about to put me in a sharpshooter. This is cool. This is super cool.

So that's one of those images that I still, like I think I have that printed in the office too. Does he walk you through it before? No, no, no, no. No, we just did it. Wow. Yeah, we just did it. I mean, obviously I've been wrestling longer if I knew how to take it. But still, it's just one of those surreal moments where we're like, I remember I'm on my back and I'm looking up and I'm like,

Dude, this is cool. This is cool. Yeah. Tapped out to the sharpshooter. And also, too, another cool woman with another submission was Jericho actually put me in the line tamer. It wasn't a Boston crab. It was a line tamer. With the knee. Yeah. Oh, yeah, that was cool. That's awesome. Yeah, I was I was marking out like a little bitch. That match you had with Santino was hilarious. You wrestle the tuxedo. Yeah, that was that was I think I was here in Pennsylvania, the first one.

And that was cool because they just kind of let us do our thing. And we just had a lot of fun with it. It was all comedy. And yeah, Santino's a genius, man, like his whole thing. And how that started was Santino on WWE.com had his own little show, his old podcast. I think it was like the Santino exchange or something. And I think the guy that he originally had for that day, he got busy or something, so he asked me. So we did an interview thing, and it was all just on the fly.

And then I guess whoever was one of the writers liked it and then we started doing skits for WU.com and then that's how the whole storyline happened. So it was just one of those that we did something for his YouTube thing or WU.com and he just went from there. It was just so funny. Like you don't see a ton of comedy on comedy matches like our truth is obviously genius in a legend, right? Yeah.

but to have two comedy acts together at the same time, it was magic. That was a lot of fun. He's a genius too. I mean, Centino's awesome. He's so quick, I'm sure you've talked to him. Yeah, he's great. He's super quick on everything. Yeah. He's the best. So where does everything go from all of these amazing moments that we're talking about to

Is there a falling out there? Do things start falling off and you realize maybe I'm going to get released here? So I never got released. I asked for it. So it wasn't like I was a part of that big thing or whatever.

At the time I had already been separated from Alberto. I was doing the Spanish commentary, but I wasn't feeling it. At least I wasn't happy at the time. I was going through a lot of depression. I wasn't happy. I wasn't making what I had been making prior, and I had a lot of discussions with the office, with Carano, and we just couldn't get anywhere.

Uh, they got to honestly one day where I just, I, I didn't get on the flight. I woke up the next day on a Monday and I called Corona. I was like, Hey dude, I'm still at home. I'm, I'm not coming in. Was the reaction to that? Uh, he's like, are you, are you all right? I was like, yeah. Uh, I've tried talking to you a few times, man. And it's just not going anywhere. Uh, and at the time I was 29.

I was like, I think I'm so young enough where I can kind of do stuff. And I just want to say thank you, but I think I'm done. He's like, all right. Well, you know what? Stay home. Let me talk to Vince and Hunter and let me call you back. I was like, cool. A big deal. And he called me. He called me like on a Wednesday. I was like five o'clockish on a Wednesday. And he's like, hey, I just talked to Paula and Vince. And we're going to grant you the release. You know, you always welcome to come back, whatever.

I was like, all right, no, thank you. And then a lot of bitterness kind of went into the next couple of minutes because as soon as I hung up with the phone, I started getting all these alerts on Twitter that had been released. And in my head, I was like, these motherfuckers.

They didn't even wait a day or anything. As soon as I got off the phone, they had posted that I was like, oh, I was like, dude, you couldn't have waited. I'm sure they have a reasoning. Or they have somebody on standby that as soon as that happens, hey, let's get the first leg up there. But I was just so angry and bitter.

for months and years. Really, I had this like disdain for wrestling and just the company. And just because there obviously was a lot of stuff that led into it, but I was just, I wasn't happy. Was there a part of you that went, maybe I made the wrong decision. Maybe I shouldn't have asked for my release.

Yes and no. I think at the time, I felt like it was going to happen. And then the last thing that I wanted to was to talk to them in person, because I've seen what they've done to people sometimes when when they're on their way out, they try to put them in a weird situation on TV. Yeah, on TV. Yeah. And I don't want that like they ridicule you. Yeah. Yeah. And that's, I mean, I've heard reasonings for that, but I didn't at the time, I didn't, I don't want to do that. Yeah.

I was already a comedy role as it is, so I'm like, how far are they gonna take me to ridicule me? When did you start being okay with wrestling again? Almost immediately, I got contacted by Carlos Colone and WWC, and then he had asked me if I wanted to go wrestle for him.

Um, so even though I still had this little bitterness to wrestling, whatever, I was like, well, I mean, life still has to go on. I saw, you know, I, I need to make money. Yeah. Uh, so I went, I did that and it was, it was a good experience. It was fun. Um, but I still have that hatred towards the company. Um, I obviously there was a lot of alcohol that was involved with a lot of,

my social media postings after I left WWE and stuff that I'm not necessarily ashamed of what I said. I'm more ashamed of how I said it. And I wish I would have approached it differently. Because a lot of those things were valid. I just didn't know how to manage them. And obviously a lot of them were alcohol induced. So that became a big problem as I went along. And then I just went on a downhill slope from there. When did you realize alcohol was a problem?

When did I know it was a problem and when I actually decided to do some about our way different timelines very different when I knew early on it was but once you're addicted to something and there's it's hard to let go that and and I tried I tried so many different ways to to to get out of that little cusp of that that hold

that addiction gets on you. It was every day? It was every day, yeah, it was every day. And the only time I did it was when I was sobering up so I can kind of get better and enough for me to be able to get up and go get more. Obviously, the alcohol led to the drugs, the drugs, the women and all that stuff, the partying, that whole lifestyle became a thing because obviously, once I left WWE, I had all the time in the world. I didn't have to show up anywhere. I gained a lot of weight. I was just always angry and bitter.

I was so good at self victimizing. This is happening to me because of all of you. None of this is my fault. It's all your fault. I was so good at that because that's what it does. And there was a lot of people that were trying to help me that I didn't realize that they were and at the time.

I think I saw them as they're just trying to get in the way of my good time. So FM, and I kept pushing people away. And in retrospect, a lot of people left me. A lot of people that I thought were close friends, they left. And I was so angry at the time of why they're leaving me. They're deserting me. But when I look back at it, I don't blame them. I was terrible. I was constantly drugged up. I was drunk. I was miserable. I was a slob.

I didn't care about anybody. I didn't care about me.

And it was a cycle, it became a cycle where obviously because of the WWE schedule that we had, it was always go, go, go. And then we get out of raw, let's say 11 o'clock, by the time you get out of the arena and then the city, maybe midnight, you get to the next town, three, four o'clock in the morning, you go to sleep for a couple of hours, you wake up, you go to the breakfast, you go to the gym, and you go straight to the arena. So I was used to just running and functioning, I'm very little sleep.

and I don't know how to manage it. So obviously when I left WWE, I still had that same cycle, but I had nothing in between. So I used to supplement that adrenaline of being in front of a camera because obviously that's not there anymore. So what happens when the red light goes off and I have no way of pushing or getting that high is was alcohol.

And so the insomnia kicked in a lot too. The insomnia led to me drinking wine because at the time wine would make me sleep because as the irony was, I did not want to do pills because I didn't want to get addicted to pills. That turned out very well for me.

So the wine and then I had one glass and then two glasses and then the whole bottle and then two bottles and then three bottles. And I was like, man, this is getting expensive. So let me just get a box wine so I could chug a whole box wine by myself. Um, but then it was a lot of sugar. So I was like, all right. So let me switch over to alcohol. It's a hard liquor. So I went to vodka because vodka is healthier, right? Um, so and I was, it just became a thing. And then from there, did it go to drugs?

No, I mean, that was always in there. But then, and actually the drugs stopped when I started getting more heavy into the alcohol, because I could just do it all at home. The drugs was only when I was out, when I was out and about. If I was like a club or a party, whatever, and I was out and I knew that somebody had it. I was like, let's go. Like two can't Sam. Follow your nose. Follow your nose.

But yeah, but once once he got to the point of it was just liquor. That's all I needed. Yeah, because it was easier, obviously. I would like scrape up as much loose changes I could because I had want to stop using my card. And I knew that as soon as that seven o'clock in the morning hit, I can go to a little store and I can buy those little like little cheap pop off BS vodka. And that will set me off for the day.

But then the liquor started becoming a little bit too much. So I was like, all right, so what's my next fix? So then I became in the four locals, because for three bucks, right? Mentally in my head. That was an easy, easy, quick buzz. But then it became a thing, just like anything else your body gets used to it. So one became two, two became three, three became four. I could down like seven a day. Wow. And it became an issue. Again, the way gain and also just the not caring and

And then in 2017, I had a quick little mild baby stroke-ish.

And the way that the doctor described, because I had so much going on in my heart. So what happened was after that, they had put me on this medication to kind of regulate my heartbeat. But that just got me even more depressed because they brought me so down that the suicidal thoughts started kicking in. And I tried. I tried. Obviously, I failed because I'm still here, but I'm grateful that I did. We're all glad we're here. And there was appointment. I wrote a letter. I was dating this girl who

She used to own a gun and she left it at the house one day because she couldn't have it at her place. I was home alone and I was like, you know what, screw it. And I remember holding it in my hand. I wrote a letter and that letter still exists somewhere. I never got rid of it. So I rode my whole, there was a whole lot of fuck use in there. But I was still angry. I was still angry. I was so angry. But there was a whole lot of fuck use in there, that letter. But I remember a hole in that gun in my hand and something clicked and I was like, nah.

And I'm done and I don't want to do this. I still went on this little bender for a couple more years. And then like my girlfriend, another girlfriend I was dating at the time, she would constantly go down to Florida just to see me to make sure I was okay. Because she would call me and I wouldn't answer because again, I was so far gone. That blessed her for sticking around for as long as she did. Ultimately, she left and I don't blame her.

I get it and same with my mom. My mom would end up flying from LA to Florida to make sure I was still alive. I had so many of those wellness calls from the police that people had called in just to make sure I was still alive. Because once I got into my little bender, I would turn off my phone or I would just lose it somewhere and I wasn't. And you'd be alone? Yeah, I'd be alone. I would lock myself in my room. I would go buy enough booze to last me a week or so.

so that I don't have to leave anywhere. The only time I got out of there was to go pee, or to go to the bathroom. I weren't even eaten, but it was because I was consuming my calories and liquor. And it was terrible, it was terrible. And I did my first stint at a detox, like in 2000, I think it's like 2000s when I did my first one, 2001.

I think it was 2000 when I first went to the detox. I did like the five-day cleanse thing. 2020? Yeah, 2020, yeah, 2020. It was when I first went in LA in Tarzana. So I went to Tarzana, whatever is on Ventura Boulevard. So I did that. I did five days there, and they put me on Vivitrol. So I was on Vivitrol, which helps

So you don't get the cravings. So it helps numb the sensors in your brain so you don't get cravings as much. And it worked for a little while. From there, I ended up going to Egypt. I got an offer to go to Egypt. So I spent time over there for almost a year. And I did well for a while. It's a very conservative country. So liquor's not as

widely promoted as it is here in the States where you can see advertisements all over the place, right? You go to like here in this case, the sheets. And there's like the fireballs right next to the cash register. So over there, it's a little bit more hard to get, but like a good addict, right? You have to find it somewhere. And I come back to the US and I go right back to my BS. I spent time in San Antonio, went down to Mexico City. And just again, I was just on it.

I kept waking up in alleyways. I kept waking up in my car in the side of the road because I had taken the alcohol and I was just drinking on the way home. I would wake up super early to go to like the 7-11, get enough booze at 7 o'clock in the morning once they started selling it and then walk back and then some somebody would even make it back home because I had gotten super plastered on the way home that I would pass out in an alleyway. I woke up in like hospital that little

the detox centers at hospitals, I woke up in a few in quite a bit. And every single time, they will always take your phone, right? And this one time, it was the last time, obviously, that I woke up in the detox center in San Antonio, is the only time I ever had my phone.

I had one of those moments I was like, dude, I can't do this anymore. I have burnt every bridge. Is this the police bringing you to the detox? I have no idea who brought me. I would just wake up and I'm in the hospital. How I got there? I don't know.

I remember once I woke up in Barcelona in the hospital and I had like IVs and I had all myself with me and I just took them off and I walked out in Barcelona and I don't know how I managed to get back to where my hotel was because I don't remember where I was but I somehow managed to find like a landmark. I was like, oh, I know that.

But yeah, so I woke up in San Antonio and I had my phone and I put out a tweet. I was like, hey, I need help. I screwed up. And this gentleman by the name of Christopher Drysbach had just happened to see my tweet and he's never on Twitter. So then he sends me a DM and he's like, hey, if you're really serious about getting help, let's talk, let's figure something out. And WWE has this really cool wellness program part where if you've been with them,

and you encounter a similar situation that they can help you out. They'll figure something out. So then I got in contact with WWE, and this is where a good friend of mine, Drew McIntyre, comes in. I sent Drew a message, and I was like, hey, can you find out the information of the wellness? Who's ever in charge? Something. So when he dug around and he got me the info, I contacted WWE because of that, and it just

Yeah, it became a thing. And that's how we got connected. I had talked to WWE, and then I told him who had contacted me up here in Lancaster. And he's like, oh, we've done stuff with him before. Go ahead and set it up, and we can figure out the details later. So yeah, so Drew was a big part of making that connection.

the moment that changed everything for you was just you were fed up yeah you didn't want to keep doing this well cuz I knew I had a problem I knew I had a problem I knew it sounds like you knew you had a problem for you yeah for years I knew I had a problem but just like I said just like a good addict I mean you're so trapped by by that feeling

Because ultimately what it is is that we have this void inside of us and I'm trying to fill it with something. And that quick little rush of the alcohol was the closest I felt to feeling good. For that temporary moment, I felt happy. It's fun until it's not. And then that passes really quick. But you're already so far in that, hey, we're there and then that's it.

But then ultimately it was back in March March.

March 23rd, I got picked up here in Harrisburg, PA. I got taken to the recovery center. I got checked in. And yeah, that's how that started. And two and a half years later, here we are. Congratulations. So clean this over. Yeah. And that's why you're still here in Pennsylvania. That's why I'm still here. And you've built a life for yourself here. Yeah, it's business. It's been, I mean, it does have a happy ending, honestly.

Yeah, it's right here. It's this. It's all this. And then just the fact that I'm able to give back to the business, right?

If it wasn't for a lot of folks that were very open about their addiction and how they got better. And then I've been very open about this too. Like X-Pac hit me up a while ago, early on too, if I was okay. I saw Mick at a convention and he's like, hey, you're right. I was like, yeah, man, I'm good. He's like, I'm just worried about you. Thank you, sure you're okay.

And I was like, yeah, no, thank you. But then I would see the daily post of like Road Dog, where he would do like his version of the Serenity Prayer. I would see like Mike Bennett posts certain things, right, about his recovery. So if it wasn't for them recovering out loud, I wouldn't have known that was even a possibility. Because ultimately when it comes to like the whole aspect of mental health and talking about your feelings, we're fucking men. We don't share our feelings, right? We're goddamn men. We don't do any of that.

And then obviously a lot of us, especially in the Latino community, would grow up as like, you're not a fucking pussy. Get up. Get up. Are you hurt? No, then get up. All right, so we have that mentality of unless you're like dying on the side of the road, get up. You gotta keep going. So, and there's no sense of verbalizing how you feel. It's like you're a man, nobody cares, get up, keep going.

Until the degree, I still hold on to a little bit, but I'm more open to the idea of, hey, man, I'm not feeling good right now. Let me just take a breather, and I can kind of regulate myself. So just that sense of regulating your emotions instead of letting them overpower you, because then the moment you let your emotions get the better of you, you've lost.

You feel like you're still battling it every day? Oh, of course. Yeah, yeah, this never goes away. But I've just gotten better at managing it. It's a daily battle. I've gotten better at how to control it and how to manage it.

the concept of being mindful and grateful is the key element. Also learning how to take a pause when something upsets me, instead of instantly reacting to whatever just pissed me off, just taking that pause. That's powerful right there. You just take that pause and weigh out the pros and cons of what you're about to do. Because if I go back to the same route that I used to do of the insane, fuck me, fuck you. That's where that's gonna take me. And that's not gonna be anywhere good.

Uh, so, so that, that, that sense of taking a pause, slow down. Uh, I'm not, I'm not not answering you because I don't care what it is. Like I'm just, hold on. Let me just process this before I give you a more accurate, uh, answer.

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Have you heard of the book, The Four Agreements? No. One of them is, it's four agreements that if you can make them with yourself, life will be a lot better. One of them is never taking anything personal. Right, yeah. And that reminds me of what you're saying there. It's so easy in the moment to just be reactionary and take it personally. You're doing that thing because of me. And it's like some random person at the airport or something. Yeah, yeah. They don't know who you are. Yeah, they don't know. Yeah.

But that pause, man, that's so powerful. It is. And it's helped me so much. And that's another one, too, of just not taking everything personal. Because while it's eating you up to them, they're not even aware of it. So you're upset at this, but to them, I think it goes like in Thanos or whatever. It was like, oh, it's just another Tuesday or whatever. So that kind of a thing, unless you actually go and talk to them, they don't even know it's a thing.

The four agreements are never take anything personally. Don't make assumptions. Right. Always do your best. And I always forget the control control control control was such a good phrase that I live by as well.

It's going to come to me. And ultimately, too, man, when we think about it, there's only one thing that I can control. Be impeccable with your word as the other one. And if you can do that for yourself, taking that pause will come with that. You say something, you're going to do that thing. And then that goes into, we can go into the whole business aspect of all of this and how creating checkpoints along the way. Instead of having one main goal, you have to create checkpoints along the way. And then you have to celebrate those achievements. Love that. So that's a whole other animal.

But yeah, and ultimately, too, is like the only thing that I can ever control is how I react. I can't control you. I can't control what happens outside. If it's cold, then all right, it's cold. It sucks. But I'm like, I'll just put on a hoodie. I'll put it this way. So this is where the idea of mindfulness to me really kicked in. We were

going back to our house from the rehab center, right? Because we had to go from the where we were all staying to the actual like where we did like the therapy and all that stuff, right? And it was all like a big van. So they were feel like told us we call it the drugy buggy.

And so then we're coming down this hill and then I'm by the window and the driver slams on the brake. And then everybody's like, ah, what the fuck? And this and this right through the yelling. And I remember I had my headphones on and then I'm looking out the window. And then there's this tree and there's this bird on it. And there's this ray of light that's hitting the bird and it looks so beautiful, right?

So even though for what I'm getting with that was the perception of our reality and then just being mindful of our surroundings, because even though we all experience the same thing, that car in front of us, Simon paused in front of us. So the driver got mad, everybody else got mad. And well, I'm not mad because I'm watching this over here. But we all experience the same thing. So my idea of concept of mindfulness is see everything else that's around you. Because oftentimes when we just look at one thing,

And we forget about everything else. And then you think of, for instance, like the horse blinders, you know, you become never-minded. And that's all you see. You miss out on so much that's around you.

And that's been super helpful. I think I realized in the last few years, no one cares if you complain. No, there was no benefit to complain. It might make you feel a little bit good in that moment, but nobody cares. Nobody cares to hear you complain about whatever it is. I was on a flight recently and it was delayed and the guy who was sitting across the aisle kept doing, oh my God.

Buddy, that change is nothing. Maybe you're gonna miss your appointment or whatever it's gonna be, but complaining and making these weird noises isn't gonna do a damn thing. There was a point where, because I still do therapy, my therapist, he said a lot more aggressively, but sometimes that's what I need, right? And you need that little like, all right, dude, what are you gonna do about it? I remember was complaining about something, he's like,

And what's, what's that going to do for you? So you bitch in complaining, what's that going to do for you? Yeah. Do something about it. If you're unhappy with something, start instead of bitch in complaining, do something about it. Yeah. You know, fix the situation and ultimately that's how you react. And then you being upset about this situation is only going to put like a little cloudy rain or a rainy cloud over your head. And instead of like, all right, so that happened, you can't control that, but you can just look up and see that, hey, there's this thing going on. And

But like you bitching a moaning and that's not going to help anything. Have you seen that meme where it's two people riding on a train? Yes. And it was looking that way. Yes. Yep. One person's looking at like a rock wall. The other person's looking at the beautiful sun. That. Yeah. It's that it's exact same train ride. And we're all experiencing the same thing and then just different different perceptions. They get different, you know, universe. Yeah. I could talk about this stuff all the same.

I love your perception on things and congratulations on your sobriety. Thank you. And it doesn't happen overnight though. It's all a process. And that's another thing that the whole trust in the process of what I know now is something that I did not know or that I was not aware of six months ago. That was not aware of two years ago. And that person that was three years ago is nowhere and it's not anything where I am now.

But I'm grateful that I went through all that though. I have to be grateful for those experiences because of all that that I experienced I'm able to appreciate what I have now Because I lost all of it I lost all of it and I'm very very grateful that I was able to build it back up But I'm also humble enough that I know that like that I can lose it because the moment we leave this if for every reason I go outside and have an anxiety attack and I'm like screw this I'm gonna go get drunk and

And it's all gone. So I can't promise that in five minutes from now, it'll be sober, but I can promise you right now. And as long as I just keep applying that every couple of minutes or every day, so the whole one day at a time thing. Yeah. Dustin Rhodes said in the interview that we had, keep stepping. Yeah. And whether that's minute to minute, hour to hour, day to day, whatever, just keep stepping.

Yeah. And ultimately, too, I think a lot of times with a lot of folks, it's a lack of purpose. And I think that's where... Is this your purpose now? Oh, yeah. Three legacies is my purpose. The fact that I'm able to help others live their dream, that I'm able to provide a platform.

to help others. And then another thing that we do too is we go to different rehab centers and we talk to individuals. We do this thing with my partner where it's called night of recovery. So we'll get people that have gone through this whole process of the addiction and then the getting better and then coming on the other side and how we were able to turn our life around and with intent of offering some bit of hope. And if we can reach at least one person that that could potentially save their life and we're happy.

And also a matter of educating the family members of those who have somebody who's going through that. Because I remember when, how alone I felt, even though I was surrounded by people, how alone I felt. And then when people gave up on me, and that's a shitty feeling, a lot of people gave up on me. And again, I don't blame them. But I feel like a lot of it was because they didn't know what to do with me or how to.

out to handle my situation. And they just didn't want any part of it. Again, I don't blame them. But just also to offer the idea that there is help available, that it is possible to get better, that it is possible to overcome those demons and become a function member of society once again. So that is possible. And then if there's anything that I can guarantee is that this idea that people never change, I call bullshit on that, because if you want to see somebody change, look at somebody in long-term recovery.

Because that person that is now is not what that person was back then. It's a whole not in day. And there's a whole lot of wide examples of that being true.

I'll link up through Legacy's Wrestling down below, so if people are watching on YouTube, they can go click and subscribe to you guys. And if you're listening to the podcast, I'll have them in the show notes. I'm honored to be part of the show. I'm happy, man. It'll be a whole lot of fun. Two years of building this up, man. It's been a whole process and it's been wild, but we're here. Yeah, I can tell the excitement when you talk about it. Yeah. And I love that. This is my baby, you know? And like you said, it's also your purpose. Yeah. And I love that that's the thing that drives you now. Yeah.

and I feel like all of us in our life, whatever it is, we need something to continue to be pushing towards. Yeah, definitely, definitely. My little girl has changed my life. We got a little boy on the way as well. I also enjoy having these conversations, but that's the purpose for me. It's cool that we all have something. I think that's an important thing.

Thank you for inviting me into your room. No, thank you. Thank you for having me here. Of course. This is awesome. You've mentioned gratitude 100 times in this interview and I love it because that's like the focal point of my life is Living with gratitude. It's the last question I ask in every interview. So what are three things that you're grateful for as we sit here right now? I'm grateful for everything that I was able to to

to overcome. It was an experience that at the time I hated, but I'm grateful that I went through all that to have what I have now and to be appreciative of what we have. I'm grateful for the circle that I have. It's a small circle, but it's a very powerful one that keep me in line and they keep me motivated. And ultimately, I think the biggest thing that I'm grateful for is that I'm no longer the reason why my mom cries. And then that's a powerful one.

Thank you sir. Gracias. Appreciate you.

Well, such a great guy and such a great conversation there. A huge thank you to Ricardo for inviting us into his three legacies wrestling school for this one. Check him out. Three legacieswrestling.com if you're looking to go to one of their shows in the Lancaster area.

Or if you're looking to train to be a pro wrestler, three legacies wrestling.com and snap a screenshot and tag us online. He's at R. R. WWE on Twitter. He's at J underscore Rodriguez 818 on Instagram. I'm at Chris fan fleet. It's funny. I was saying Lancaster the whole time I was there. Landcat because that's how it's spelled Lancaster. And they're like, Oh, you mean Lancaster Lancaster. Lancaster.

Yeah, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There you go. I'm going to leave you with a quote from the curious case, a Benjamin Button. I always love when we can throw in a movie quote every once in a while, especially a movie quote that just makes you think about life differently. Our lives are defined by opportunities.

even the ones we miss. Fitting for this episode here, I think. Be great and be grateful, my friends. We'll see you back on the next one for some more insight. It's tomorrow. Ask CVV number 58. If you've got a question, send it in using that hashtag ask CVV or leave a comment on Spotify. And we'll see you back here tomorrow for that one.