WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil Joins Shawne Merriman To Discuss Hosting WrestleMania 37 In His Home Town Of Tampa

Uh you know, I'm gonna ask him about the pandemic and how these guys found a way to keep going, keep figuring it out and uh having these great shows and what he has going on, because one thing I know about Titus, man, he does so much in the community. He does so much for people, and even once in a bluem on our Texas st Damn, dude, I just seen you and this in this state or this city and he's somewhere else. But he does a hell of a lot for the community. And uh So, anyway, guys,

Titus or Neil w w Yo, what's up? Man, What's what's going on? How much here? Funishing up some I was just finishing us on Wrestlemanian stuff we'll see. Um sorry, what you had? Uh? Did you had your cutting promos this week? Or? How involved do you what? Everything coming up?

I'm very involved mostly in the community community stuff and um right, and trying to make sure that we we we put on a we let people know just as great as we can put on the show, you know, we can put on for a community and leave the lasting legacy. So you know, that's what I was gonna ask you do because you know, we we talked here and there, but every time I see you, like got so many different causes and that you lend your time

and money too? Does how much? Did that just kind of pull you on different angles and still have to do stuff internally with the WW because I'm like, damn, how does how does height as do all that? Man? Because you be sometimes you're everywhere. Yeah, a lot of my charity itself inflicted, you know, um my punished and

up should I say? I guess when you when when people see you uh doing you know, great things at a high level on a consistent basis, you know, they either want to be a part of it or they want to be a recipient of it. And the one thing I've been very fortunate of is that w W has a huge platform and we have great partners you know that also believe in you know, making lives and

putting smiles on people's faces is our model. But making people's lives better in the end and being you know, most of our partners I have a direct connection with anyway personally. Uh, you know, with Susan G. Coleman. You know, my grandmother passed away from breast cancer. In the Boys and Girls Club. I'm actually Boys and Girl's Clubs alumni

and uh Hall of Fame inductee. This year with Nestlee Waters, we were able to do a beautiful campaign over the during the pandemic to raise and generate a lot of funds for No Kid hu Um. So it's it's it's a It's been a great relationship and a great opportunity for me and and for w w A to expand and show people that we were superstars. We do more than just wrestling. We do more than just talk trash. You know, we we talked to talking about the water too.

Has your role like what the w W transition into that more because I remember when you were more in ring and you doing more stuff and that kind of seem like a transition a little bit where you coming out and you're still part of the show, but it's been transition more. You've been in more in the community. Like when when did that start happening? To whose decision was that? Was that yours or was at WWS. I don't think it was ever anything talked about, you know,

it's just naturally has happened that way. And you know, the thing I tell every superstar you know, and I've learned this over my time there, is that you know, this business really is about longevity. Uh. You know, you can win a thousand championships in the first three years and be gone. Uh. I've seen a lot of people coming in and out of the doors of w W because they were great performers, but you know, not not not as great people, and then sometimes from a business perspective,

it just didn't work out. Uh, you know. And I you know, I love competing, I love being in ring, I love uh you know, everything that goes along with you know, the show. But I've always been one at whatever capacity that the company has needed me in, I'll be more than happy and honored to do so because they have provided me an awesome living awesome, an awesome platform, and uh, and my relationships within this company and within this business are very strong and they're all built on respect.

And uh, I respect this business. I respect everybody that came you know before me, those that are in it now. How well, how crazy was it over the pandemic, right, because I was like, it's one of these things where it's one thing to go out and play a football game or basket a game. Right, it was like no

crowd and everything else. But you got me, and I've been to probably shows before in my life between Monday Night raws McDonald's WrestleManias, I mean, you know, over the last fifteen years or so, and so the crowd was so important, right, and then how was that transition? Like this, y'all have to kind of hype yourself up to to come out the same energy with nobody there. Um. Yeah, So we obviously for the first few months we worked several months we worked without a crowd at all, and

then we brought in some plexiglass and made a makeshift crowd. Uh, still not the same thing. And then the company made a huge investment and once we have as a thunderdome and that literally changed the whole feel of what we do. It's still not a live crowd because we love that live interaction, but at least gave us live crowd components from charing and booing and uh being able to tell a story. Obviously, we knew we were performing for a TV audience, so that was four millions around the world

and uh and uh. But there's nothing like having inside of an arena where you can you can. I mean, you know, like like you said, football, it's football no matter where you play. You know, if you if you're doing a scrimmage in in the preseason, or and you're playing in front of nobody you know, at practice, or you're playing in front of a football stadium, you still got a sack in quarterback. You still got through a touchdown, still got a flock, still gotta run with us. Everything

being you know, uh, based on crowd participation in crowd interaction. Uh, it was. It was a huge transition for our talent to make our huge a huge transition for everybody, our production team and everybody uh as a as a unit. But hats off to us all. We never missed a show. You know, we didn't take any time off. We performed fifty two weeks out of the year during the pandemic, which is unheard of. And h and we provided quality hours of quality programming throughout the year. No, that was

that was super dope, man. And you guys are still able to do that. And I'm gonna stick with this from the football tip because obviously you played ball. But one thing I always said, especially when guys transition from you know, and mainly football, because he's talking to M M A and wrestling and all this, it makes it

easier transition. What have you seen from some of these guys, man that came with it, because I can tell you this when they told me to travel schedule when I was you know, I was working with the network and I was on it and I had you know, one of the one of the greatest times, but that travel schedule. Like, have you seen guys a transition from you know, planning college ball, playing in the NFL and then now and see what goes on. Are they shocked at the amount

of work that it really happens behind the scenes. Yeah, I mean there have been several guys that are coming in, you know, thinking that I played football or I played basketball, and I did this. Prior to that, you know, they thought it was just something you know, that that was going to be easy transition. The physical aspect of it,

the midmal aspect of it alone is very grinding. But then when you throw in the travel, you know, uh, it's it's I mean, it's not for everybody, you know, three or four days a week, you know, all around in the world. You know, we can have a show in Saudi Arabia on a Sunday or Saturday, and uh and and being Green Bay, Wisconsin on the Monday for live TV, you know, so or be in Australia or China or Japan, you know, and they have to be in New in New York, you know, on Monday or

Friday for live TV. So people don't understand that aspect because they only see what's on TV. They don't see the non televised events. They don't see the appearances, they don't see the pay per views, they don't see all the things that we have to do to prepare for a show. Get in a car, drive to the next town four three or four hours, sometimes five hours, get in three or four in the morning after a show, get up the next morning, do it all again. You know,

um uh. They say that the things that or uh that we value the most, um especially during this pandemic, We've gotten a chance, you know, like it's the most I've ever been home, you know, in the last eleven years. And to be able to to be able to spend more time with my family and actually do things um uh with my family and with my friends, and commit more time to doing things in my hometown of Tampa Bay.

It has allowed me to you know, my foundation, especially to help a lot of people to raise a lot more money where raise a lot more awareness simply because I've been home, um And I don't know that I would have had that success that I've had with being able to have rental assistance and several million dollars and uh in food aid and and and in school aid and partner with the Hillsborough County School District to make sure the kids can eat during the pandemic, like they're

There's a lot of things that had I not been home, I would not have been able to do. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart Radio app search f S r to listen live No, and I said the same thing. And speaking of being home, and I was gonna ask you about your boys because I got you know, I got a ten year old son, and your boys are playing ball now right, and so you got a chance.

So what what's that like? Man? Because you spent majority of your time on the road, and you know, doing it was an opposite for me because my son is across the country, so I I gotta go to spent time with him. But I didn't the opposite. I couldn't go see him as much. So I felt it was it was weird. It was different. Yeah for me though. I mean my kids were two and four when I started wrestling, and uh so they've kind of grew grown

up in this. They knew what it was. But at the same token, it's never been like they've been a secondary UM priority for me. Have always been number one. UM. There will be my prime pary priority. I would fly home, I would go to a show, fly home, uh to do to watch one of their championship games and they fly back out in the West Coast. You know, Like I've always been a committed father to my kids. So

and I know that you are too. And it does get difficult sometimes when you got work and you're trying to provide and you're trying to balance this thing we call life and and you've got a lot of different people pulling at you. But for me, uh, you know, I always tell people as long as as long as your kids know that you care and that you're there when you need them to be there, they'll be fine. You know. They're kids are the most resilient individuals in

the world. You know, they can bounce back from anything. It's just a matter of us being able to reassure them that, hey, you know, Dad is always here for you. Hey, if you need something, and and don't make it just about you know, don't make yourself into a t M and just think that you can throw money at them and everything will be fine on trips and gifts. They is really the quality time. And I spend quality time with my boys collectively, their fourteen and sixteen. Now there

two different boys, but one and the same. Uh. My oldest son is being heavily recruited right now. He's got like twenty one uh college scholarship offers as a junior. And then my youngest is gonna be an animal too. He's almost as big as me, and so he's bigger than his big brother. Uh and that he reminds them of that on a regular basis. Uh So yeah, we we uh we as fathers. I mean, that's the number, our number one I think title, our greatest title that

we're ever possessing on life. It is not a super Bowl ring. It's not w W champion, it's it's being a dad. And speaking of the champion in w W, you guys got WrestleMania coming up. And I was just telling Vito, my producer before we came on. I think it was in two thousand and fourteen when they first launched the w W network and so I was hosting uh there in New it was. It was at the Silver Dome, and so mind you, I've been around the Super super Dome. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. He

said the same thing. He actually called it the Silver Jon that the super Dome too. Yeah, I know. I remember I'm sitting up there, and you know, I met a bunch of the guys right for for years, I've known a lot of behind the scenes and had conversations with him, but it was my first time working in that environment. So I grew up a rest of the fan. I grew up w fans as I was a kid, and so being around guys and uh, you know, DJ and I met all these guys or more than a

few occasions. But this is the first time I'm sitting up there in the booth with everybody, and I got mad kind here, and I got Shawn Michaels and I got Book of T So I'm I'm happy as hell, right, I'm like a ten year old kid again. And I remember Coking came out and they played this so he came out. They played this song, right, so I'm getting

on kind of giddy again. I got the headsets on, like I'm I got the headsets on, and then uh, stone Cold and then Stone Cold came out, So this inner kid, right, I'm sitting there and I'm working and every I'm having a good time because I'm talking, you know, for the first time. And they just launched network and then finally they said if you a smell, And then that's when I was like, okay, I hold on now, you know, so I just for me and watched as a kid. It was it was funny. The rest of

Restu Matia. Now this year. I think it was in It's in Tampa, right, coming up. Yeah, I we played the Red Skins back home my rookie in two thousand five. I bought ninety two tickets for all for all my family, friends, high school coaches. How many tickets you gotta get people this year for restume mating. How many people? How many people? How many tickets you get? I'm we don't have any comps. No, wait,

we didn't have to. Yeah, and uh and uh, capacity is limited, and so I'm purchased the tickets for my immediate family and everyone else can go to ticket Master. I will be uh, you know, getting some kids and teachers. I do want to support some kids and teachers from underserved area schools here in Tampa. So I will purchase a black pot and allotment of tickets to take some kids both nights. Uh. Have a group of kids that will and teachers that will go one night, and a

group of kids and teachers that will go night too. Uh. Just so that we can spread the wealth and give people an opportunity to experience WrestleMania, which is not as much like Super Bowl. You know, we don't get them that often in the city and a lot of times people in underserved communities definitely aren't able to party part taking any of the festivities when it comes to big,

big events. Uh. But as far as like friends and cousins out of the blue and all this and that, Yeah, I just send them a ticket Master and they like, and a few of them text me back, Hey man, they only got two pods, four pods, Like, hey, bro, you gotta work that out with ticket matter, right know, I'm just the hope. I'm just the host with with Hulk Hogan and and uh, we're going and trying to make make uh make our Tampa Bay Area proud being

able to put on one hell of a show. Uh, and and as well as our our community is looking to put on the hell of a show too, because we want to see, uh, if it's not another WrestleMania, maybe a Rural Rumble or Survivor series or a Summer Slam come back here to our city. And so we want to put on, you know, the best show that we possibly can. Obviously, in the midst of a pandemic, we can't really go all out like we would normally traditionally do as a w W style, but it still

would be a hell of a show. We got to awesome Action Pact nights. We got a historic night UM, and the historic moments all throughout you know. UM. The one thing I will say that I'm extremely proud of, UM, you know, our company and our talent, UH is the representation and the diversity of representation on both cards and prominent positions, UM, which is probably the most prominent and

diverse group of individuals. And they all deserve, every last one of them deserve this opportunity that they have right now. And you know, it just shows that you know, time and talent and character mean a lot, you know, and UH, and that our company and our business has grown so much because there were times that there were not there were very few people African Americans or my minorities on

the car. And now you know, UM, now we have you know, African American Champions, the first ever women's World ONEMA run Roar ONEMA win winner African American. UM. We uh the New Day obviously you know now eleven or twelve time tag team champions. Uh. We have Bad Bunny you know who brings a whole demographic new fans and old fans together obviously with a large Hispanic community. That that that prod you know, very proud w W E fans.

We get a chance to open our our our audience up even more in our fan base stuff even more. Um and again I get a chance to host, you know, with with the guy that put WrestleMania on the map and Hulk Hogan and uh and uh. I think that is going to be a very special moment for both of us, obviously being you know, from Temple, living here and working here and doing things in the community here. You know, Vince told you know, Vince just told me,

you know you're gonna be host in WrestleMania. Um. It's only right, you know, this is your city and that is were his words. You know. Um and uh you do a lot in this community and people love you and we appreciate you here with w W and all that you've done and continue to do to represent our company well. And we think this would be a great spot for you. So it wasn't something that I, you know, say hey, I need to be the host. It was here you go, you know, and you and Hulk Hogan

go out and make that no doubt my doing. Hey, I appreciate it, and I know you're flying around and got a bunch of stuff going on. So I'll go looking at him coming through, and then I'm gonna definitely get down there. I was. I was just down I had a signing for uh should be the wind to two weeks ago. I was down there for about three or four hours. But I gotta get back down there again soon. And you didn't call how you do call? Called me at all? When he came, I could, Man,

I hain't been listening. Ain't nobody come? You got thirty two events today? Man? Anybody messing with you? Yeah? Come on now, y'all can record an episode of the lights Out down here? Yeah, all right, I appreciate you. All right, man, thank you, Thanks guys for listening to another lights Out podcast for me. Sean Merriman, uh and man, that was awesome. You know I've always asked, uh Titus every time? Did he flying this place? For flying that place? And how

does he make time? And you know, great person, great at so much for the community, and WrestleMania is in his hometown of Tampa. I can't wait to see it. Um. I posted restlemning before and that was my first time. Uh, you know, kind of fan boying out, you know, watching South of the Kid, and I'm up there and I'm hosting with Booker t and Shawn Michaels and Mankind, all these guys and one of the greatest time, funnest times I have on the w W network launched and it's

been awesome. Man. So I appreciate Titus for coming on the day. I know you got a lot going on, but I appreciate you guys for um just tuning in and leaving these great reviews and subscribe and I see you, I see the comments. I'm glad you're enjoying, and we're gonna keep going. You got another one next week.