Hey, this Almighty Bobby Lashly and you're listening to the baby Face Podcast. Hey, this is Brittle and you're listening to the Bros. This is the baby Faces Podcast. How's it going up? WB Superstar, the Celtic Warrior Shams And you are listening to the One the Only baby fake Fella. What's going on? Everybody? Hey, keep listening to iHeartRadio. This is the baby Faces Podcast. You hear that music and that means you're about to get in the ring with Billy and I taking a little bit of a hiatus.
You know, we always kind of warn you around this time of year, football seasons coming up. Uh you also, we have also have jobs to kind of keep us held back a little bit too. But when we have, when we have some noteworthy things that's going on, that's when we decide to dive back in and get into your ear waves a little bit. As you know, I am Austin. I'm here with our co host, Billy the main man. He is also the offensive court not offensive coordinator of the
quarterbacks here the passing game coordinator of More High School. They got a pretty big game tonight and they've actually had a pretty good season. That's why we haven't been in touch with Billy all that much is he's locked in and we want to keep him locked in for this playoff run. Billy, how you doing today, man, I'm doing well. And you know, I'm super excited about the podcast today because All Elite Wrestling is making its debut right here
in the Ville on November first, taking over the Young Center. And uh, not to say this lightly, but you know we don't throw this this word around here loosely on the podcast, but we have a legend joining us today Austin. Yes, an absolute legend. I mean, a big guest on the show. I would have him say our biggest guest literally ever on the big guest on the show. His name is Paul White. Yeah, and he is right here sitting next to me. And I'll tell you what,
it's pretty intimidating. I'm not gonna thought you guys were going to say Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle spent some time here in Louisville too. But you know he's he's he's probably second on the list right next to it. I love Dylan, Dylan's Dylan's a sweetheart. I had a lot of fun with Dylan. Did you ever see his boxing match. He did what I didn't see his
box. I still remember in Ireland when we got stuck in Ireland due to the volcano in Iceland, travel was shut down and there was a bar in the hotel and Dylan used to back in the day before he became a responsible father and everything now, he used to like to get drunk and run around naked in the bar. There's nothing worse since seeing a giant and the animal Dave Bautista chasing a little person trying to put their clothes back on him. No, dude, you gotta put your clothes on. We're in Ireland.
They'll take you to jail for this. Okay, this is not America. Like you know, they're serious about breaking the law over here, you know. So you're hearing it right now. Paul White and Dave Batista's basically biggest opponent is naked Hornswoggling. Naked You heard, Naked Hornswoggle is a giant killer without a doubt, absolutely, dude, Well you are freaking the giant. Dude. You're formerly known as a Giant from the Monday Night Wars back in
w CW and by all means, dude, you a wrestling legend. We've been watching wrestling for a long time, so it's really cool to be here in the same graces as you as I was downtown Louisville, as confusing as it is, there's one way streets everywhere. You mentioned going by the Louisville Gardens and you said you'd wrestle there before. Did any nostalgia hit you when you went over there. Being here in Louisville and seeing that garden sign or
wrestling history. My first entring interaction was it the Louisville Gardens Wow show for OVW, and there was a young man who was in OVW at the time that I met for the first time by the name of John Cenae, who had to run out during one of the match or something and take a few bumps. So it was interesting see where. Obviously his career is gone, but when I saw the Gardens, that's what I remember from that show.
I come in. I'd already gotten out of OVW and was back working full time with WW at the time, and Danny had a show and asked me if if he could, you know, if you could pay me to come do the show, and I was like, no, Danny, not everything that you did for me, not everything to OVW do absolutely not. I wouldn't take money for him. I came and did the show for nothing, and it was funny as John was. He had this eager, bright yeah man, whatever I can do, like, he had that great attitude.
And we've been friends for for years and guy knows that guy is transcend the industry and what he's done with it. And I'm very happy that I got to meet him and know him because I got to work with him a lot. And yeah, probably owe a couple of homes to him. So, I mean, you talk about a young John Cena. Now you find yourself, you know, you've seen and done it all in wrestling. You find yourself on the AW roster that has a lot of you know, young studs.
Is there any that you would like shout out that you know have a bright future? And oh, we have a lot of young talent, but two talents that I really like. And you know, there's a lot of personal vested interests because I've known them since they were small kids. That's the thing too. I'm at the stage now where I have guys that I wrestled that now I'm working with their kids and like Tom Brady in the NFL. Tom, Sorry, Well, you know you've got a local ov W star
in Cal Hero. Yes, big shout out to Cal who's a very young young kid with a good attitude and you know he's he's on his way. Austin and Colton Gun, Yes, I mean I've known those kids. I've been friends with Billy since day one and where I started working WW. And I've seen Austin Colton grow up and it's funny how their personalities are so different. Colton is this very serious, deep thinker and Austin is his dad wide open on like energy drinks, Like Austin has so much energy, and they're
so young and they're so good at what they're doing. Their former AEW tag team champions. There's going to be more championships down the line for those guys. They've got everything from having a great dad like Billy that does a lot of the coaching and teaching who is one of the best teachers. That's one thing I've noticed since I've gotten to AEW. We have two guys that are just different from any teacher I've ever had and I've worked with. You know,
Terry Taylor had a lot to do with me. Paul Devesk had a lot to do with me my career and a power plant. And they're different styles of trainers and coaches over the year, and I've seen a lot of guys training coach and they do it they're with Billy Gunn has an amazing way of translating body mechanics and what you're doing and what you're thinking, like he just looks at it and knows what's going on in your head. Like Billy
is phenomenal. And then Jay Lethal there's also an incredibly kind coach. He runs a school in Tampa and uh, just when I watched Lethal, because I live in Tampa, so I'll go work out in Jay's ring, and just the way Jay talks to his students and he's just so it's such a calm learning environment compared to you know, when I came through the business, there wasn't a lot of There wasn't a lot of handholding, are stupid or something? You know that kind of thing. So it's environment. It's a
more conducive environment, I would definitely say. And then you know, also last night getting to talk with Al and see what else knows done for his group and absolutely out of this. It's just nice to see and be a part of. And I get it now at my tenure age and legendary status or whatever crap you want to call it, to see guys that are that are passing that that down to the younger generation. And that's a good thing
about ae W Excuse me, it's not a cookie cutter promotion. I mean, when you're a big operating machine, this giant machines, one hundred and seventy countries and one point seven followers in your social media platforms worldwide, it's run like a very efficient machine. Stand here to hard camera, face hard camera. This is your ring entrance. You do the same thing every time. It's laid out in a way that is very structural for the younger talent,
which works. And the one thing that I like different about AEW is it's a lot more authentic from the talent because the talent has so much more input on the decisions they make coming to the ring, the decisions they make
in the ring, decisions in their character. So that gets more back to the roots of what pro wrestling is of it's up to the talent to make those choices and learn from those mistakes and there's a it's a more of a forgiving environment in ae W two to learn to make that connection with the audience. And I think it's it's more conducive to getting back to the roots of being authentic and being in an individual that presents uh your character, whereas you
know in other places you don't have that opportunity. Yeah, that opportunity is given to you. You're given a name, intellectual property is then filed. That company owns the intellectual property. This is how your character is being presented. This is the way you fit as a gear in the cog of our machine. Which if you can adjust to that and do that, you'll you'll
do well and you'll make money and you'll be uh successful. But I think for younger talent, especially early in their career, you gotta trip, you gotta stumble, you gotta find yourself along the way. And even I did that. Like I started in WCW. My first match was Hulk Hogan. I thought, Hogan, I mean, that sounds great, fantastic, but at the same time, it's meant a huge hurdle. You know, you're not going to have a lot of experience, so a lot of the things
being told to you really don't understand what you're doing. You're just doing it, so you haven't had a chance to find out who you are as a talent. Sure, and that was one of the things about coming here to Louisville that helped me, is I got a chance to really figure out why I'm in this business and what this business means to others around me. Because I mean, if somebody comes to you and says, hey, you're twenty one years old, you're going to work with Hulk Hogan, You're going to
have a big contract, it's not that your head. It's just you don't know any different. You don't know you know, you know, you're you don't know that. Oh I've got to work a job at home depot and then I'm tired from working the hours to day, but I still have to go train. Yeah, you know when I trained in the power plant in WCW, that was my job. I had a contract to go train.
I knew that my first match was going to be Hulkogan. Yeah. I also knew that if that match was bad, my contract probably wouldn't last more than a year. Sure, So it could have been a one and done, or it could have been you know, a chance to make something. But even then, there wasn't an opportunity to to really fail. You had. You were thrown in the fire. You had to find your way,
and mentally it was it was draining. Mentally, it was exhausting because you're you're not winning in any way in that stage and this is not a wine
poor me. I'm grateful for my entire contract, but at the same time, there was a lot of well, I'm working with guys that are so seasoned to make it so easy, and oh, just listen to me, kid, We'll be fine out there and you're doing stuff, but you're you're not understanding why you're doing it. And then you you know, I got the opportunity because you know, uh, my boss that I worked for was
a was a real tough dude, you know, Evince. I thought it would be really good for me to figure out what the other side of life is about. Sure, I mean he put his own kid on the ring truck. Yeah, you know what I mean. Shane worked on the ring truck and that was my thing. The first time I put a ring together was an OVW wow. Like you know, like I remember Jim Cornett coming to me I had a big Dodge dually Semi al co Is on a real
expensive truck. You know. I mean, I've already been in the business fore years making money and Cornett wanted me to pull the ring behind my truck. If I do, my truck's worth more than your ring. No,
you know what I mean. But again, when you do that, you start setting up a ring and you realize the sacrifices and things that people go through, and then you understand what's at the core of professional wrestling and the heart that goes into it and why you're doing it and making that relationship with
the audience. Sure, absolutely, and it seems like the company aw that you're at now and you've been a part of multiple and what you just said, it gives you a little bit more and wrestler is a little bit more of an opportunity, like you said, kind of be themselves and rather than just kind of go out there and make sure to look at this camera, make sure to look at this camer just make sure to get our character that
we gave you over which is completely fine and understandable from the business aspect or if you're fans of that, but you know, the pure wrestling side works sometimes, but you might go through one hundred and fifty two hundred talent to
get one, sure, yeah, you know what I mean. Whereas and along that way you might have out of some of those talents, you might have had talents that could have thrived with a little bit more individuality, a little bit more freedom of expression, a little bit more time to season,
right, you know what I mean. It's just and I think that's the thing that AAW really sets up. Well, there's there's a couple of good smaller promotions that or training schools that AAW works with with Jay Lethal School and Rhodes Academy in Atlanta and OVW like, there's a lot of talents that come in from that are getting opportunities that they wouldn't get in and the other place, because the other place actually prefers to take athletes that don't know anything about
wrestling and train them their way. Yeah, to mold that and mold them that way. So then and then that's the only system they know. And one thing I've learned and it reinforces it was with a success that AW had at Wembley Swing Out, you know, eighty thousand tickets and ninety percent of them were sold just on brand alone, without an advertised car, just on
the brand. Yeah, So that shows that there are a different way to do things, and it really gets back to the core of what's important for our industry is to be something unique and be something different and not be the same as someone else or try to compete with the same look. That's not what we're doing. We're offering aaw a very professional, viable product that's pro
wrestling oriented, that has great talent. Yeah, absolutely, and you know, and that's I mean, you know, a lot of fans that I talked to you like that that rigidness today W has and it does kind of I mean, if you may kind of go back to how w c W kind of looked back and it was just just a different brand, a different logo to look at and just like a different presentation. It's a different a different feel, and you're gonna have loyal fans on either side. But you
know, that's you know, and that's part of it. But if you only have one horse in town, sure, you know, you know, you don't know, like I mean, if you have steak every day your entire life, or or and then you try something different. You might like it, you know, it might be something better for you. Absolutely, you know, so you know that's whatever analogy I was going for there, that completely missed the mark. I mean, you think you're like me,
or you think food. Yeah, anytime you can put steak into a reference, let's let's sake, you know, good hamburger, good hot dog. Absolutely. I keep thinking about kfc'm Center November first, or a w show. How are they going to have chicken around there for us? Or is it just like a regular Like if you go to dunkin Donuts arena there's not one donut in the place. That's great, that's kind of ridiculous. What
are they doing up there? I don't know. It makes me think, do you do you remember any specific places here in Louisville that you guys used to tear down food wise after a show? Like places? Trying to remember it was on Hurstbourne Avenue, I think way out there, Max and Erma's Max and MS Honey. Okay, they had the honey croissants. I think thats okay. I think. So I feel like now I know, I feel like I've heard that before, but I feel like believe I've been hitting
the head with a lot of chairs, so you know. And I remember my first uh steak and shake experience was in Oh, yes, I think there's only like one or left Philly five way or something like that. Yes, yes, yeah, so and Skyline Yeah yes, Skyline. Yeah, that's Billy's favorite. He's from up North Kentucky. It's how bad my brain
works. Sometimes. You know, a good three way we'll get you right, I'll tell you the way, I'll do what, I'll do whatever, But the three ways the class like the three I'll do a four way with onion. Five ways onion and b I hate on and I can't do onions. Well, there you go. Not an onion guy, I'm not an I don't like it. I taste one onion. But here's a kicker,
Paul, I love onion rings well because it's fried. Who doesn't exactly exactly Listen if I get one piece of onion on anything that I eat and immediately ruins a flavor for me, Wow, feel bad for you. Like nothing makes me hungry than smelling onions. Yes, onions cooking in butter and garlic, like you prepping for something. I'm like, oh, that's a good smell. I'm not going anywhere all absolutely, I'm gonna sit here next to the dog and drool. So we're talking about, you know, all these
promotions having having success in today's wrestling world. I mean, we've talked about OVW a couple of times, obviously being local here in Louisville, and they just had the Big Wrestlers documentary hit Netflix. You know, there's a lot of little like you were mentioned, kind of breeding grounds like that and having all these promotions that are having success like the aw's and w we s and even the Impact Wrestlings and all that. I mean, that's huge for wrestlers,
right, have all that much more opportunity out there. It is, and that's a good way of looking at it too for the talent, because the talent may go somewhere and not see success in one company, and that gives them a chance because there's an old say in resting too, sometimes you got to go away to come back. So sometimes you have to try, fail, regroup, try something else. But you have a little bit more of a chance to do that at a professional level when you have viable companies
to go work for to make a living, so you try something. You know in ww that doesn't work, you can reboot yourself. You know, they wouldn't let me do this, but I'd like to try this, and then it becomes a natural fit and then you become a big star, and
you know, you create a relationship with the audience. And that's the main thing that I think is important for younger wrestlers to understand, is you have to come across with something that you can feel that's authentic, because the audience doesn't really know the ins and outs and behind the scenes and politics and business and you know, ratings per minuted. We pretend, but I mean there's a lot of minutia that goes into professional wrestling that is business oriented. But
at the core of it, it's making the fans. Our job and everybody knows this predetermined outcome and blah blah blah blah blah and all that stuff. For the technical guys, yeah huh. But our job, if we do it right, is we can pull you out of it and suspend belief for that time. Sure we all know that you know, Iron Man isn't real, but when you watch it, when you watch Infinity Wars, stop, you are breaking news right now. Yeah, you know, but the suspend
the belief. You're wrapped up in Infinity Wars, You're wrapped up in the characters, you're wrapped up in Black Widow, you're wrapped up in Captain Marvel and and all that stuff. So when we do our job right, and I can't tell you how many times has come up to me and people try to preface it, they say, oh, I know, I know it's not this, I know it's not this, but that one time, Yeah, but that one time, And in my mind I'm like, yeah, that one time we got you. Yep, we did our job because in
it's all people working together to tell the story. It's all that we rely on. The production crew, the camera crew, the lighting, the television editing people. All those people have a big play backstage that are unsung heroes, guys and the guys and gals in the truck. The instant replay people that you know, you see a great move and bam, instantly that replays
there. Well, that doesn't just happen magically. There's somebody back then the team who reads and knows the business, that understands that's going to be a great replay. Let me cut that queue that that's ready to go the announcers who tell your story Tony Shavani, ex Caliber, Jim Ross, taz Me once in a while. You know, we're trying to do our job and
help further along that story for the viewers at home. And then the audience is the other member of the show, because you have to feel that when you're between the ropes, you have to feel that audience and pull them in with you. You know, whether it's you need to be more aggressive, or you need to be less aggressive, or it's a time to have laughs
or some time to be serious. That's the thing that when our fans come to our shows, that's the part that we're pulling them into and let loose because you're not there just to sit on your butt and watch a show. It's not a play, you know. I mean, this is something where we want you to be a part of it. We want you to be engaged, and we want to create a moment for you. And that's the thing about coming to a live event. It's a moment. No I understand.
Yes, there's there's so many things to entertain you when you can sit on the couch and watch it on the team, but when can you take your friends or your family and go to an event that you create a memory. Even if you never go again, you will never forget that experience the rest of your life. That's one of those things. Or that and it will be that how about the one time so and so did this? So that one time? You know, And that's the beautiful part about our business.
The core of it is making that relationship with our fans to give them memories that one time, right, that's all that one time, one time and one time little giants. You all ever seen the movie, Yes, yes, one time, one time, on time, but you just get that one time, right. Randy Savage used to have a saying like that. Yeah, he would say, I might throw ninety nine pieces of crap
against the wall, but one might step. I love that. It's like, okay, just let me know where that wall is because I don't want to go in that room. Right. But you know that was and that was that was Randy's attitude too. Randy was a get knocked down, get back up, keep punching. Yeah, you know, if I want to dig a little bit deeper kind of bit, if you can try to remember back to the old old Monday night war days, billies, had just uh
mentioned wrestlers. It's kind of taking Netflix by storm a little bit, kind of chronicles everyday life and going into what it's like for a wrestling business to kind of survive right now. And of course, ay you know it's translated well with like it's turned into like reality and they've garnered some stars from that. If you can think back to your old WCW locker room, if they had something like that where a camera was on someone, who do you think
would be the star? I can think of one talent that I know off my off the top of my head. He's no longer with us, but was the most incredible, dynamic personality, funny, just great dude was Brian Adams, remember him as Crusha and I used to play golf a lot with Brian, and Brian was always running some kind of scam on strokes per hole and it always ended up at the end of the game where he got three
or four bucks off of you, you know. But he was just like he would do things like unclip your golf bag so we take off in the golf car, go bag falls out. I mean, but he was just one of those guys that was just so fun to be around and yeah, and uh, if you had to put it had a camera around Brian Adams, he would have been like your favorite dude back. That's awesome. Owen
Hart was another one. Owen Hart was like. Owen Hart would do things like, uh, hang out in the lobby at hotels and when the guys would like order because back in the day there wasn't new reats, you have to order a pizza. Yeah, So of course the delivery driver comes in,
you know, I got a pizza for Jim Duggan. Well that's me, you know, And then he would take the pizza and hide it and Jim Duggan would come down and says, oh, yeah, the pizza guy came in and said you weren't here and told you to f off, and he's gonna take the pizza home. So then Jim Duggan's man because he didn't have a pizza. Then Owen would run the pizza up to his room,
get a free pizza. There's all those kind of fun stories. But I think part of the magic of going through the trials and tribulations of taking bumps learn how to take bumps lasen up boots. Because there's the thing you people look at it from the the glamour side of it. Oh, you're on TV or you're making money. Yeah, but you're also working. You're missing Anniversary's birthday, Smalliday's recitals, arrest seventeen years and flew out almost every Christmas
Eve because we had a show on Christmas. You know, that's just part of the gig. You know, you the talent makes such a sacrifice and there's not you know, uh bagage hand those like NFL and MLB where they're handling your equipment. Yeah, you're staying at five star hotels. Yeah, you know, you're three or four guys deep in a car, stay at the red roof in driving two hundred and fifty miles the night after a show like it's it's a business that I don't think people would realize how non glamorous
it is. Sure, you know so. And it's one of those kind of things that I'm excited because I think the product is matured, and I think the fan base is matured, and sure, I think it's an interesting look for people to see, just like I like to watch Hard Knocks when I see the teams and what the players are going through, and you know, I think that's a great introduction to maybe make fans and even especially if you've got a situation where it's younger fans that aren't really big stars yet you
get a chance to see them on their journey. Could you imagine you know, some of the something like that years ago at the beginning of like John Cena's career, we talked about Louisville Gardens, you know, to see where he's gone and what he's done and what he's had to endure, and it's a it's a good interesting way to humanize pro wrestling where it's the lack of a better term, the red headed step child. You can be. It's okay now to be a pro wrestling fan. Absolutely, you can't have to
quantify it with something else. It's like, well because yeah, because no, you're just a fan. It's okay. ESPN covers it now, it's on Bleacher Report, it's it's a legitimate sports entertainment. You know. It's a viable in countries overseas, Japan, Australia, Europe, South Africa. I mean, it's everywhere. So it's great for fans to see the product, to see the talent and the pick and shoes who they like, yep,
Paul, this has been awesome. Man. Make sure you all check out Paul and all the aw superstars at the Young Center November first that that's like, what AFC you center? I will be severely disappointed if if I do not have a bucket of chicken. We got to get this centers, listen right now, Center reps. I have to make a couple of calls for you. The big ball guy likes extra crispy. I'm just saying, there you go. If you're going to do it, do it. You
know. I'll just I'll have to put my calorie points in that day, Like I only get thirty nine hundred a day. That's fine. Yeah, I'll just eat once that day. Maybe you forget to click on your calorie counter that day, don't click it don't count. Yeah that's what I think. Maybe just that fat guy. Yeah, yeah, it's exactly. If somebody gives it to you, there's no calory, absolutely exactly. You don't. You don't actively take it. It's it's it was giving to you for
a reason as a gift. I got one more question. We'll send you on your way. There's been you know. The choke slam is a popular move in wrestling, right, do you have the best of all time? I'd have to say so. I would say, well, you can brag on yourself, paul you do it. I don't like to brag on myself because I understand. The two guys that I know that also do choke slams are Undertaker and Cane. Yeah, you know, they do them a little
differently. I think my when I first started doing the choke slam, Terry Taylor's the one. Terry Taylor and Paula Besk gave me the chokes line because we're trying to think of a finish because back then that was a huge deal. And there was a guy in UCW named nine one one that was doing the chokes line yep. And I remember telling Terry Taylor and nine one one is a great dude. And I remember telling Terry, I said, yeah,
but isn't that guy nine one one's finished? And he goes, kid, when you start doing the choke slam, no one's going to know who we But my first choke slam was planing out and going all the way down, yeah, and then I changed it to just doing the regular one. Yeah. Because when I hit the mat with the other opponent. I lessened the recoil. So sometimes, like I knocked Shane McMahon out twice with the chokeslam by going down when it's like, okay, well if I just dump
you or lay you down flat. But wrestlers, we know what dump means, all right, So if I just dump you down, then it's better then I go down with you. Sure it looked great me going down and playing in it dead, yeah, but it was tougher on the other guys. And when you're working four or five nights in a row or seventeen eighteen days in a row on tours and the guys taking that every night, like you want to help your opponent out and make sure that uh, he's okay
with it. So I think that my choke slam was pretty good for pausing. Gotcha? Gotcha? Well, once again, we appreciate you coming. You could check Paul out once, say, and they are going to be making their ae W Dynamite and debut at the KFC Young Center, so you can go check all those tapings out and come check Paul out, and come check all the superstars that they have there, fresh off the heels of their highest paid out selling audience at all In in London. So now's the time
to get a ticket. If you want to go check out aw right now you can go ahead and do it. We are the Babyfaces. My name is Austin with Billy and our special guest Paul White. Thank you so much for coming by, Dude, I've never had so much fun as a heel with two baby faces. Look at that, Look at that.