Future Aspirations and Closing Thoughts

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies Try it at progressive. com. Forrogressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, potential savings will vary, not available in all states For a small business owner, every day is full of surprises. Some great, some not so great, like when a client cancels their order at the last minute. But here's a surprise you will like. Progressive provides small business owners with thirty customizable coverage options to help keep their business going strong Go ahead, surprise yourself. Get a quote in as little as eight minutes at progressivecommercial. com Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates and third party insurers, coverages is not available in all states or for all vehicles and coverage selections Ever wonder who's out there making the world go round? It's truckers. Who unites baristas with coffee beans? Truckers? Who unites dogs with their favorite chew toy Truckers That's why Progressive offers truckers even more protection with cargo plus coverage to keep truckers moving right along truck insurance today in as little as eight minutes at progressivecommercial. com Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, coverage subject to policy terms, limits and conditions, not yet available in California, New York, and Virginia Before I switched to Wealthfront, my API was probably zero point one. L it was a joke. I was literally getting pennies. Once I switched stitching with a Wealthfront cash account, earn up to four point two percent APY on your cash. The high API with Wealthfront was a clear winner. There are no pennty fees. Every month, there's this much that I'm getting an interest in I didn't have to do anything. My money is working hard on its own and I can trust Wealthfront is taking care of me. Earn more on your uninvested cash with a Wealthfront cash account. No account fees, no minimums, and no strings attached. Get started today at wealthfront dot com dot Cliients were paid one thousand dollars for their testimonials creating a conflict of interest. outcomes veryary. three point three percent baseAPY as of january thirtieth, twenty twenty six is representative variable and earned on funds swept to program bank. zero point six five percent new client boost for three months on up to one hundred fifty thousand dollars. Direct deposit one thousand dollars a month and fund an investing account for zero point two five percent increase. Cash account offered by Wealthfrontrokerage LLC member Finr S IIPC not a bank V feis and eligibility requirements may apply to certain checking features of the cash account Ladies and gentlemen,'s the Americanightmare Cody Rhodes. Welcome to What do you W want to Talkb A Fanatics and WWE original production We We have a very special guest today Very special One third of fatal influence and brand new. to the Smackdown scene, not brand new to The wrestling space, which we're going to get into, but this is exciting. And I also I don't know if you can see from where I can see, but there are some cowboy boots, cow girl boots here their belt buckles. This is a bit of a It's all happening right here. Please welcome What do you want to talk about Fallon Henley. Oh Wow. onene third of fatal influence. Yes, sir. Fresh on SmackDown. Yep. How are you feeling I feel like I'm in a dream. It doesn't necessarily feel real yet I mean, just Bve been with WWE this long. Still feels like a dream. But the fact that I'm up On Smackdown Page. Rebella, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss All of these names, it's Surreal. I'm like, I'm on such a high I'll ask you a question that u someone watching is automatically and to go, I don't know if he should ask that question. but Were you happy to be called up to Smackdown versus Raw I think I was going to be happy no matter where I went. Yeah because On either brand, you have immense amount of talent. so I think in the future You can always go to raw, you can always change, you can always go to the next place. So it's like, I was happy wherever I was going to go. Smackown has I've been on smackown sincerestleMania forty It's uniquely positioned in the company But it's still smack downown It has so much quality content that's within it and fresh blood coming in is part of the WrestleMania cycle. It's also part of the wrestling industry in general. We just had Jimmy Hart talking about one class graduates, another class comes up, and that's And it's great being how young you guys are coming up because now benefit is the same benefit I had where you get to grow up in front of them, you get to Hate them, love them, be mad at them, have them be mad at you, slip, fall, do all the great everything It's it's it's just a great time for SmackDown. So I'm very glad that you guys are on SmackDown. I feel that I might have made a mistake I said, hey, you got to come on the podcast Jy and Laney are not here. Am I in trouble with them The thing is we're a unit. So if one of us does something, it's helping all three of us. Okay. So I mean, then again, you should probably have them on the future. I need to make it up. They Yes. Yeah. I definitely would make it up, but at the end of the day one of us does something good. Yeah. It helps all of us. I take that. A you are you enjoying your time together? I know as far as Wrestling goes. Partners are very real often. Yes. And then every now and then when you have no chemistry and nothing amongst you, then it's not And there's youd look for the things that come that link you and the connective tissue. but you guys seem very much just watching from a confidence level in the ring, you guys seem very much A unit? Yes And also It seems like you had good teachers at NXT and not just the obvious but good good advice too because you came up in a very ferocious way. Yeah, Well you're taking something. You have to. Yes. If you're going to make that big of a mood, you have to make a statement. And that's exactly what we did I mean, JC and I started training together ten years ago at this point, at the same place So we've known each other our entire careers. Yeah. So that helps in us being a unit and working together and being cohesive. And we brought Laney in and she's just a sponge. She's always learning, she's always listening. She takes what we say and she uses it and all together. We're all our different seellfves are individual selfves, but we all just work so well together And I mean Clearly, you can see Yeah, also you're the strength and numbers aspect of what we can do. There's been great examples of comes and Threes and Sports entertainment, pro wrestling, the S shield being, you know, a very modern example. You guys have one another to lean on Yeah In terms of NXT and coming up, what do you what do you think the best thing because you're up. It's you're out, you know, not not to say it like that, but you're out. You've you've now moved on to what they were preparing you to move on for. What do you feel was the best thing that you got personally just you? U whether it was from Shwn or from Terry or from Bloom or what was the best thing you got before cameing up? Is there anything that rings in your head? when you're up doing this. That's a hard question because I don't necessarily feel like there's just one thing.. In the pererformance center, we have so many coaches and so many brilliant brains. So every time we go out, no matter what we're doing, I'm always hearing somebody in the back of my mind.. It's hard to pinpoint just one thing because I learned so much and I had the luxury of being there for a good amount of time. So every day I went in, I was learning something new and being able to apply it. Fair I can't pick just one thing. Do you have a coach you didn't like? Yeah all likes. No. Everybody has their own style. So some people are going to be a little bit tougher Yeah. someome people are a little bit sternner. But at the end of the day, everybody's there just to help us get better.. Nobody there didn't do that. Here's my u An observation I made from watching other folks come up from NXT and I just tried to explain this to Ricky the other day. One of the things that is It can only be taught by the natural experience of bouncing around, trying to climb the ladder, trying to get here in the first place, all these things. But one of the thingsings that I always am excited about someone new coming up because Sean's going to teach them pretty much everything they need to know about wrestling psychology. You're going to get so much terry about finish. I mean, there's just a unique ctrom and corornopia of advice there. but one of my things that I know is not taught necessarily when when they come up, I can be the one to be like, Hey is time management when it comes to how SmackDown and Raw work because it is is terrifying The you get there and it's Tommy or Kasama We're doing your walk in thirty minutes. It's it's and as soon as your walking, can you be at the ring? You're late for your rehearsal, which you booked the walk. How am I late for the rehearsal? And that you know you just They have a job to do, so you can't get mad at them. But then also you're trying to focus on the content. I'm going to deliver this unbelievable promo. I'm going to do something physically impressive. And I feel that's where I've seen you you're excelling at this so far and what you've done is it's hard get it all to where you don't want to feel like you overcame. You want to feel like you were fully prepared. You feel like you're fully prepared I feel like I'm as prepared as I can be. Yeah. I've had So much experience. I've had so many teachers. And I feel like they always say you're never going to be one hundred percent ready Yeah. but I feel like I'm as ready as I can be now Yeah given everything that I've gone through and everything that I've learned. Well, when you're one hundred percent ready, things like what happened to me at WrestleMania happen where You just pull your tights up just an extra and the knee completely rips. And you like that's that's what I feel like whenever you're one hundred percent ready, that's curveball City. And that lately has been my whole career, but that's a very, very good way to look at it. You talk about JC and training. this is ten years ago. gettinget into the industry. Yep. Walk me through it. your journey. How do you get here It was a long journey. Yeah. It was a long one to say the least. but yeah, I think it was like twenty sixteen, I wantanna say. Yeah.. Started training at a school. JC was there as well. I ended up moving somewhere. so I worked, I was in college at the time I worked at a gym And one of the personal trainers there was actually A wrestler. Okay who Only had like a small class of people Yeah. but she was doing training and she had just brought a couple new students in and I got linked up with her and she was like twenty minutes from my house so it was perfect versus like an hour drive, hour and a half drive that I was making before. Where is this? Where was this at? This was over in L like Tampa area. Okay G. Yeah. Lexie Fifee, Bonnie Maxson. Yeah. Bonnie Maxson was like my main She's wrestling mom Th and through. Lexi Fife, Mercedes Martinez They all helped me start in this journey. Yeah. So I did the Indies for a while. I was always I never hit them As hard as I wish I did because by the time I started to and I figured out the flow and because it's intimidating, you know. There's a lot that goes into it a lot of conversations constant different people. So as soon as I hit the ground running, I ended up having to get shoulder surgery Nothing crazy, just some bone spurg removal, but that put me out for about like a year. and then COVID hit, that put me out for about a year had some other work that helped me get back into wrestling and everything again Um And I think before that I had try out in what was it? twenty nineteen, I want to say. I think it was like I three tris total. Okay. So I had one, I think it was like twenty nineteen. twenty twenty and the twenty twenty one. I think it was back to back to back if I remember correctly My first one was actually with Jade and Ivy Nile. So that was really cool. I watched them grow. Ivy Nile is one of my close friends now U And then I think the second trout I had, it was like in the midst of COVID. So it was very, very small. I think there was like ten of us, twelve of us. It was just girls. Um I think that was the one that Tiffany got signed off of actually and then What was that? very first taping of NXT where they finally brought extras back in. because over my whole career, I was always doing extra work, whether it was up and draw. you saw me Yeah Raw, I did tons of NXT extra work Um, And in the very first taping they had. that they brought extras back I had an enhancement match with Electro Lopez. And everything went great, everybody was happy. So at the PC, sometimes they'll do like PC Live weeks where it's just practice matches, practice shows every single day So that was one of those weeks that I came in for and A lot of times when those tryouts happen, like extended tryouts is what they call them Normally it's like a group of people. So it's like, you know, four people or so. I was by myself. Luckily, I knew people You know, so it wasn't as scary, but at the end of the day, I'm not signed. I'm by myself. I'm trying to get here. Yeah. So we do the first day, I have a match, goes great. Second day is a TV taping. Hey I think we're going to have you come back in December for a try out. Yeah. In my head I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm like I must be doing something wrong, like this will be the fourth trial. likeike there's no way And I'm like, you know what Whatever. I'm here. I'm just gonna bust my ass The rest of the week. prove myself and 'll come back and I'll do the fourth tryout. No problem Well Finish the week Don't really hear anything. and about two weeks later, I get the call I want to be anXT superstar. Oh wow And it was like Six o'clock on a Friday. Yeah. I'm just hanging out and I'm like, h Im like random numbers calling me Oh my goh I' like it's Cnectic.'m like I don't know anybody in Cnectic. two hundredero three, huh? Yep. two hundred three. H, I'm like, do I answer? It's like, you know, we never answer phone numbers that we don't know, Eespecially with S spam nowadays. I'm It's very smart You know, You you never know what you're going to answer up to.. So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna to answer it. So I answer it. and It was the call So it was a It was a long journey to get there, but it always makes it more worth it in the end. Of course. Here we are, we're on the journey to you being ultimately where you are now, twenty twenty one, your life dramatically changes in terms of perspective. and walk me through them. Yeah. so Kind of crazy. kind of happened out of nowhere I have twin sisters who are no longer with us. The first one passed during in that year And That was right before I got the call. to do the extra work that started backup that got me by third try out before my enhancement match with Eletra Um It was a really hard time. Like I said, it kind of came out of nowhere. Essentially all of her organs shut down. She um got rushed to the hospital And before we knew it, she was gone And, um, She left behind Her two daughters that were still living with her and her son. They had lost their dad, I want to say a year or two before then So they've had a very very hard, you know, beginning of life But I was over in Tampa and that's where they had been living at the time. and the only options they really had were to go to Michigan to be with my mom go to California to be with one of my other sisters. or Come and stay with me I had a two bedroom apartment at the time So I brought them in. they shared One of the rooms, I took the smaller one. Um I think they were like, sixteen and seventeen. So One had to still finish high school and the other one was just starting college. So kindind of a Big change For what was I at the time? twenty two or something U taking in these two teenage girls who For my sake, we're extremely well behaved and mature given the life that they had gone through and all the hardships that they had gone through Um So when I got that call to do The extra work I mentally was not in a place where I thought I could do it and I almost said no And had I said no, I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't be on Smackdown. I wouldn't be doing any of the things that I'm doing Um, And I think that was like a little piece of my sister kind of kickking me and telling me to go do it because she knew how much I wanted this and She was probably Heather and Heidi were the twins and they were probably my biggest supporters ever. Um So a lot of What I'm working for now is for them The girls are doing well They're doing amazing. Yeah. Yeah. The younger one Tabby, she just started a full time job actually taking one of my sister's full time jobs that she had had. So she kind of stepped into her shoes for that role Um And then the older one, Julia, she is now in nursing school. what do they think of where you're at there He over heels for me. Yeah because they watched They were with me for a lot of my journey up until that point Yeah. So They had seen how hard I had been working doing, you know, other extra work in the Iies and other things like that So when I was able to finally get there. It was just we were all just happy That's Thank you for sharing. Yeah. That's I I didn't I didn't know and certainly, uh Like you said, maybe it' maybe it's your sister, but I'm glad that you went through with it. Me too Me too. So it's Just happy everything worked out in the way it did because like I said, I feel like A lot of what I do now is for them because they were always my biggest cheerleaders before I even decided what I wanted to do with my life. No matter what I like Every time I saw them, they were just pumping me up, telling me to follow my dreams and do whatever I wanted, even if maybe my parents thought that I was silly for chasing something that seemed out of reach They were always the ones to tell me to keep sticking with it You hear a lot about the why, you know, why are we out there that night? Why are we out there doing this promo? Why is these two guys or two girls fighting The Y behind the Y is the is the most important thing and Thank you again Summer for me is busy. The WWE has big events coming up, which means more travel and late nights. Keeping Aing one in my routine helps me stay consistent when everything else can get unpredictable AG one is a daily health drink with a multivitamin, pre and probiotics, super foods, and antioxidants One scoop, eight ounces of water The next gen formula delivers over seventy five ingredients backed by four clinical trials. clinically shown to support gut health fill common nutrient gaps and improve key nutrient levels within three months Late nights, long weekends, spontaneous plans, life happens. AG one helps you keep one thing consistent AG one fits into my daily routine because it's high quality nutritional support every single day, no matter where you start your morning Visit drinkagy one. com slash cody to get a free morning person hat and free Ay one flavor sampler in your welcome kit with your first Ay one subscription. That's do eighty two dollars value. That's drs Ay one dot com slash Cody As a small business owner, sometimes it feels like no matter how much planning you do, there's always surprises, like an urgent, expensive repair Here's a surprise you will like. For progressive, small business owners save thirteen percent on their commercial auto insurance when they pay in full so enjoy a surprise for once quote in his little is eight mininutes at progressivecommerercial. com progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates, discounts not available in all states or situations Insurance isn't one size fits all That's why customers have enjoyed progressives name your price tool for years now With the name your price tool, you tell them what you want to pay and they'll show you options that fit your budget So whether you're picking out your first policy or just looking for something that works better for you and your family, they make it easy to see your options prorogressive. com Find a rate that works for you with the nameame Your Price tool Progressive casualty insurance compomany and affiliates, price and coverage match limited by state law Truckers aren't just moving goods. They're making sure bakers get their chocolate chips and hotels get their tiny soaps. Tuckers can't do this if they're not on the road That's why Progressive has over three hundred and sixty heavy truck employees to help truckers stay on time and on track Quote truck insurance today in as little as eight minutes at progressivecommerercial. com prorogressive casualty insurance compomany and affiliates We have the tech to get food delivered in fifteen minutes, but we all have horror stories about buying tickets. The Gameime app gives fans the advantage. Get amazing tickets in just a few taps. Fes are included, so what you see is what you pay, and the Gameime guarantee means authentic tickets at the best price every time. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets to concerts, sports, comedy, and more with game time Download the Gameime app and create an account for twenty dollars off your first purchase. Terms apply You mentioned all this extra work, right? Yes. I actually am very curious about this. Elsewhere, you were doing extra work. I was. And I was there in my executive role in wrestling and all those things Did we interact much? I don't know, man. There's a really specific conversation. Yes, it is. I need to clarify something on this specific conversation. Beause you brought something up to me and then I thought, am I misreembering this? It was Arby's. Okay, this pops me every time because you would always say rallies, But it was Rb's. But it was always RBs. And for some reason, it would always make me mad that you would say Rb's orr say rallies when it was RB's. but you wouldn't be eating rallies. No All right, so the story goes, fair enough, fair enough listen That's understandable. Arby's acceptable. Honestly I don't think I've ever had rallies Well, rallies is for those who don't know is also like checkers. It's u Wh' who knows by rallies in here Nash No Well, I'm the only one. It's a south thing, huh Well, all right, well, we were in the south kind of, but anyways. so you were working there, you were doing some extra work and it was COVID bubble kind of CVid bubble Like the end of the COVIid end of it. a lot of us in the hotel and I had a Worplace Pximity associate Aaron Solo. He often talked about you very fondly and very like sincerely He's, she's so pretty and she's really smart and then this whole thing. And finally, he didn't talk a lot, if you remember is very not like a mute. Not mr. Personality, right? Yeah, I often the last time I saw him, I reintroducce myself to him because that's how limited our conversations have become over the years. But I think we're kind of friends anyways He had said so much that finally we all just were like, well, you should talk to her. This is a basic common. you learned this in high school. You learned this before You should say something to her. You should say hello. You should ask her if she wants to hang out. You should do anything. Anything other than talk to us about it. And we were all sitting right adjacent to the elevators, Marriott, Jacksonville, Florida. And it's important because the way I remember the story with the correct food being RB's. But You walked in And you had a bit of a social club. there I felt there was a group Yeah that was always together. It was a good crew. And you guys always seem to be in good spirits, which was nice for me because my time there was down and you walked in and you had a bag of Abyss and he literally nudged me And he goes, I'm going go say hi to her I'm going to go I'm going to do it. And I thought great, this is do it. here he goes. Now we're watching and we're not we're not roasting him. We're not giving a hard time. We are sincerely looking hoping Hope this goes well. like no one is making fun of him, which is normally what guys I feel like would do to each other and you walk past so he missed that first opportunity. And then it's even weirder now because he trails you to the elevator and you have a group. So it's Not looking good. And you turn and you smiled at him. You were very nice. And I like to think I'm a nice person. Yes. And then he just looked at you and he said Arby', huh and You went and I feel like I could hear you say it because we were far away at this point. and then I just heard Yeah And then the The elevator door shut in my story and you went away. and then he came back to us. as if Why would you even walk back to us? Walk to your car, drive away, leave this city, donon't ever come you like that's all that talk like a month of buildup, all that for that moment Arb's, huh? Re really, but that he he he shot his shot, I suppose. And that was it. And u, you know, nice guy Very nice, rightight? Ver nice. Nice guy. Did you have any interaction after that Or was it just that story that bonded you? J because I think I brought it up to both of you at one point You did. you ring it up every time you saw me. I do. Yeah. Yes. It was a significant moment. It's pretty funny. I needed it at the time. It was good. Yes.. But no, I don't think there was ever any interaction. So you feel, I probably now that we're doing this podcast together, you're on Smackdown, you're cruising, I probably should we should get a new story I think we should find a new story. I think you're right. We should get a new story. But I really was excited. I don't think I've ever seen any male or woman drop the ball. in that he never even had the ball. L I've never I've never seen anything like it. God bless Aaron Solo. what a disaster Well yeah, so our new story is SmackDown. Yeah Ultimately, you group however you look at it I feel like something I learned from Cena a long time ago was the why. Why are we doing this? Why are we doing this promo? Why is whyy? why why It also can kind of equate to the goals in terms of what you want to do What's the goal for fatal influence. What's the goal for you? this first year? this first if you're a goal type person Yeah. So I think for us It's just taking over everything running everything. I mean, when we were in NXT, we ran NXT for almost two years. So I think As a group? Yeah. We just want to run everything, run it allrunch it That's our goal. All takeake over everything Three hours. Dominate everything Yeah Can I tell you something from my perspective as someone on SmackDown? I suppose. Secretly, I would love that because you know, there's a lot of segments And you have those days when you get there and they're like, all right, so seg one arrival, seg one promo, seg sixteen' going to be the match, but then there's all these other ones again time management. Here's Tommy, hereere's Kasama, hereere's the new guy Zane from the writing crew. like you got to do this warm upp and it's sponsored by Googoo Gaga. We got to, you know, just something that's like it's a contractual deal and I didn't know And what do I wear? A I in gear? Yeahet? Well no it's it's five segments for your match. It's just a whole A lot of stress. so yeah, run it. Yeah, go run it. I think that's a a great a great goal is running it. The cowboy boots, the belt buckle. Do you feel authentically that you are a cowgirl heart Yeah Modern are always grew up that way A Little bit of both. Yeah Mostly modern, but I grew up in a really small town. Yeah. like My driveway was a half mile back into the woods. You could not see anything around you. you could not hear anything around you. Behind the woods was cornfields on cornfields. I grew up riding horses so you you're automaticallyow cowgirl cowboy you're absolutely Riding horses does it. Absolutely. There's a wrester. I'm not going to namees because he's gigantic. He's retired and he wears a hat. And I remember when I was wrestling him, I kind of thought Are you And he technically, yes because he worked with cattle. So that's all you need. Riding horses, cattle some sort of thing agriculture, I guess based or equestrian based, something. but okay, so grew up riding horses. Yeah, my h I leased a horse, his name was Edwin for a really long time. and then my horse that I owned his name was Oliver Yeah. It was an X race hce I did a lot of, um English riding competitions. What is English riding So there's two different styles of writing. there's English. I mean there's more than this, but there's English and there's Western. Western is going to be more My modern day. Yeah. in English is a little bit more prim and proper Okay. so Western's all the barrel race in B riding all that stuff Yeah. and then English is gonna be like your show jumping, dressage, cross country. Dressage. Dage. Dressage when we got our horses kind of bucking back and forth, right? Like they're doing They're doing a dance. They're dancing. You've seen the famous Snoop dog going over the dressage clip? Yes. Yeah, that's aip Yeah, ' he's crip walking the one horse. Yeah Okay, so you were on that side of the English writing? Yes, more so. I did both, but mostly mostly English. That's how long did you do this for probably like Five years? Yeah. Any horses now? No, unfortunately not. That's a goal of mine. Yeah Definitely when, you know in the future, I want to have a farm. I want to horses. I want to have goats, I want to have chickens, I want to have land I want all the things. So that's definitely something I want to get back to Um, because I miss it a ton I miss it so much. Yeah If you had a new horse, I mean, this is on the spot question, obviously, your horse is going to probably inspire something differently, but this future goal horse of yours, what would you name it Well, here's what here's here's my whole thing as I ask you this question I'm playing this game Gost to Sushima on PlayStation. I've played it like sixty thousand times Mm Nothing pisses me off more than you can't name your horse. You have to pick from them. And The n also And my old name Noobu and he's cool and I respect Noobu, but it's like come on. Yeah. I want to put I want to put my own spin on., right? I want to put All right. all right Hmm, I don't know. because I feel like when you pick a name Yeah It goes with the personality, it goes with the look of the horse So like Pull something out I would was just be making something know. Your horse knowledge, do you know all the different breeds of horses? Let me hold up, hold up. So I had to read this thing when I was younger because my dad was so into horses. Okay. And all this color the different color and the apple was a word you kept seeing and all you know, like And the only time I ever thought, I'm glad I knew any of this was again, when I played Red Dead Redemption of all things because like, oh, that's a good horse. You want that Arabian. That's a good horse. L there's a really strange outlook on it, but okay, you knew these horses. You knew them all. ye. Yes. I mean, all the markings have different names, the markings on the face, the markings on the legs. Yeah. you're not the only cowgirl in the wrestling space Uh, you, uh Mickey James Absolutely. Yeah Tell me about it One of the nicest humans, I think I've ever re it. Yeah. just always so sweet, always so helpful likeike She was coming to NXT for a while when she was doing the LFG show Yeah. And every time I saw her, it was just tons of hugs, lots of advice compomlimenting everything like she is just sweet as pie. Yeah. like it's sickening how sweet she is. I like that can be, you know, some people it's too much, but She was the same way at OVW. Yeah. And she was actually just breaking in. This is like post the moment with her and Trish happening and all that post that. but she was still just young herself and she was incredibly helpful. becausecause I think that's the thing is like You said it can be too much sometimes, but I think it's too much when it's not genuine. And for her, she's just a straight up genuine person no matter what she's doing where she is. Yeah. is is there a current locker rooom leader in the I mean, youre again, you're coming in a group of three. Yes going to be a little heat on you naturally, which is a good thing as Michael Hayes told me many years ago Too much heat is not good though, apparently. But yes, you've got each other. Is there someone in our current locker room or on Smackdown that you look to, at least look to or model anything after or like what they've presented named bunch of people off the top, all people that you're gonna to mix up and get in the ring with already are. Yes. Is there someone who lead leads that gang I've seen and I feel like again Pam Bailey is incredibly She seems to have that same thing that Mici has about It's all about leading to the next, the next generation and what she's doing with her camps and all that For you got For Smackdown It's hard it's it's really hard for me to name one person when it comes to Yeah. es to these things because I feel like everybody plays their part in guiding everybody through this because at the end of the day, like We all work together. Yeah. and We're all a team as much as we're not. We're all in competition, but we all work together. So I think The locker room has been really great. Everybody's been super nice, super supportive You know, obviously they have to watch their backs, but o yeah I think collectively it's just incredible. And it's really insane because I think about when I first got into wrestling because I was never someomebody who watched it growing up I didn't have friends that watched it. My family didn't watch it. It's something I found when I was in college I didn't know what the hell I wanted to do with my life. I ended up getting a degree in criminology and business. What I was going do with that? I don't know. Um But when I was, you know, lost trying to find what I wanted to do, I found wrestling and During that time, you know, black and gold was really big. U, man it was. you have the the Baileyyss, the Alexas, the Charlottetes, like seeeeing all of those people and then now being on the same roster as them, it's insane So It's just It's just incredible. because I never would have thought that When I decided I wanted to wrestle, I really didn't think I was going to make it this far. Yeah. When you're when you're across from somebody that you felt you were a fan of or watched Do you where you at in at all? I know that for me personally, I have now I'm mean a lot of rooms where I'm impressed with someone in that room. I'm also forty And I point in my career, I always have to remind myself and sometimes I literally have to say it under my breath, Hey, I'm meant to be here Yeah. I' meant to be here. I you're yeah, you're my favorite wrestler ever. I just had a conversation with Jimmy Hart Prim. Yeah, all that but also What can I do for you And it seems like the energy you guys have brought is very you're not star strruck by anybody. Again, these are all people You admire, but that's the greatest thing in wrestling is is the real you mentioned. we're a team, but it's a competition and If that If you I don't know what the word is for it, whether it's collaborative or, but my biggest competitors at WW At I'm huge fans of theirs. But I'm not giving them that. I'm not conceding that to them. Not in these moments at least, you know, like you what are you doing for me? What am I doing for you? I don't know. It's a whole It seems like you guys u You guys very much are not star struck by anybody. They if that makes sense. I think yes and no. I think when it's game time, it doesn't matter who's standing in front of me. You're the target. Yeah. but At the end of the day, when you go home, it's like, okay, cool moment. Yeah Big news. WW and sports fans, the world's number one sports fan festival, Fanatics Fest is making its return to New York City. Fanatics is bringing you closer to the league', teams, superstars and athletes you love across four action packed days in July. Meet your favorite WWE superstars, get your hands on exclusive merch and interact with the biggest names in sports Tickets are on sale now and fans of the podcast can use code Cody Tin at checkout for ten percent discount. Head to fanatixfest dot com to get your tickets today. At my bank, I was literally getting pennies using Wealthfront to che meet Angela, a wealthfront catch account client since twenty twenty three. I lost my job, not having something else lined up yet. I was pregnant with my second. We had to think about how do we make our money work for us Every month there's this much that I'm getting an interest and I didn't have to do anything. My money is working hard on its own and I can trust Wealthfront is taking care of me. With a Wealthfront Cash account, earn up to four point two percent APY on your cash. No account fees, no minimums, and no strings attached. Plus free instant withdrawals to eligible accounts. Get started at wealthfront. com The client was paid one thousand dollars for their testimonial creating conflic of interest outcesary. three point three percent base AAPI as of january thirtieth, twenty six is representative variable and earned fund swept to program bank.ero point six five percent new client boost for three months on up to one hundred fifty thousand dollars. Direct deposit one thousand dollars a month and fund an invest account for zero point five percent increase. Cash account offered by wealthfund brogage LLC member Finra SS IPC out a bank Ins withraw subject coitions fees and eligibility requirements may apply to certain checking features of the cash account re talking about watching Black and Gld. Did you have a favorite wrestler, finally? And a lot of times I found this with OVW when I went there, everyveryone assumed, oh, it' Dusty's kids so Dusty's favorite wrestler or he's already been trained, which I hadn't been trained at all was in love with wrestling but I fell deeper in love with wrestling when I first startorted doing it myself and figuring these things out. when moments were happening for me. and oh, they told me to do this and I did it and it worked. and that felt good. and o, I can do this and My favorite wrestlers would change and evolve. Did you have one as you were training and as you were coming up or through all that extra work? Was there someone a guiding light for you or just someone is your favorite I think because I was able to meet her, it was like, I think it was I had just started wrestling like just started at the wrestling school maybe like a few months and it was Dallas, WrestleMania I think it was twenty sixteen, twenty seventeen, somewhere around there But Im met Baile. And she came to one of the shows that we were working at. and again, same just like Miickei So nice, so genuine. So I think because I had that little bit of time to connect with her. When I got to then watch her again on TV. She was just somebody that always stuck with me. Also Sasha Banks Watching them G. Amazing. Yes. I mean What they did in NXT was Yeah for women just huge. So to be able like Because obviously I didn't know much wrestling before then. Yeah. But when you would hear the people talk about it and you would see the crowd and you would see the way they were able to connect Yeah it just blossomed. Yeah and and because of them and because of every, you know, all the women before them, it's let us to be able to do what we're doing now. Yeah. So For me, Sasha and Bailey were two really big people that J just ignited that fire. It's a very common, what's your favorite wrestling mag of all time? att least at the nightmare factory. It's a very common our Female trainees, that's the one. Yep, that's a great one to choose from. Y because that's as Arn Anderson would say, that's a very high tech match U which It just meant there was athleticism in it. I'm not sure but he would always say they do the high tech stuff too, But are you able to watch old old wrestling? Yes. Yeah. Does it hold up for you? It's just different. Yeah. It's just evolved, but Terry We'd watch stuff in Terry's class. Is Terry Taylor?es. Terry Taylor.ot out' Terry Taylor. Oh, he'd pull up old clips and stuff in s Differe, yes, but there's always something that you can take from it. Yeah. I think You know, sometimes people who newer people coming in can't necessarily see it because now Everything is so fast, especially in NXT. It's go, go, go, go, go. Yeah. So much is happening. but There's still so much you can take because the devil's in the details. And a lot of the old stuff has a lot of those details that We might pass over or maybe don't think about going into a match And so I think that no matter what kind of style, what era, there's always something you can take from it I think you're uniquely positioned to answer this question more than maybe anybody who's come on this podcast. No, I do. because I fall into a different category of the type of wrestling I like and the type of wrestler I am and definitely the type of wrestler I'm becoming But I hate when the old old timers, I don't even know if old timers OG's, luminaries, Hall of Famer. I don't like when they explain it as if there's only one way to do it and they're really and this isn't all that, but they really push the moments and the cinema and the and that they push the moments and then it seems like there's almost this punk rock rallying cry against it amongst the really young where they're not saying, hey, screw your moments, but we're just going to do these really awesome moves that you can't do And they're going to blow the, you know, crowds mind. and u I have said, I think it's in the middle Yes. Right? And you have the same thought that it's in the middle? Okay. Because if you have All of this cool awesome stuff happening. Yeah But you have no emotional moments that somebody can connect to then it was just a bunch of really cool stuff. Yeah. If we're always doing really cool stuff What makes it different than the last match that went on before you The gentleman who trained me, he He always used to say it was like Fireworks. He's like, you go see fireworks. It's awesome, but you just go see fireworks. onnce twice a year, maybe or you're impressed when they come up, but you're not seeking active fireworks. bonus And that's how I used to describe overly High spot filled shows, overly dream match filled shows because after a while there's the crowd can only do so much And it's almost where your position on that card can be beneficial to you Whereas when you're in the beautiful spot of being last, but also sometimes the burden of being last of What is there left? and do I have enough of a connection with them which at that moment, that's when you want to have that connection the most because that's what we will We'll get you to the finish line. Yeah, he used to say fireworks. Right now, a lot of discussion in general about your psychology at a young age in terms of in the ring, is this something that Innately Some people just have it O people can Learn it People can take forever to learn it Speaking NXT and coming from under Seaun Michaels and everyone else there Is that something you picked up from Sean being one of the greatest in the ring ever and to many, the greatest ever and my favorite wrestler growing up? Is that something that comes from Sean Michaels? Is that something that you felt you had in your bones already No, I think it definitely comes from my time in NXT and learning under Seaan because Whenever we're having rehearsals, you know, we do them a little bit more. Thorough then Oh, I noted on main roster. I notice. But with that comes the ability for us to learn The why. Yeah the why' for everything because you can tell me to do something all day long, but if you don't tell me the why, it's not going to stick in my brain.. And I think that's something Sean really takes the time to do is especially when there's there's stories in the matches whyy we're doing what we're doing. Yeah And because if you don't know the why, it just is not going to click. So I think that's something that he was really able to help me and the girls kind of grab ono is the why and the how and and the how to show it. Sure. So no, Sean is Unbelievable bottle of knowledge Yeah So to be able to have learned under him for so long, it has helped propel me and my career tremendously. Well, there's this famous class years ago from OVW, which is Brock and Cena Um, Batista, someone else. I feel like I'm for Randy. Oh my God. this is this unbelievable class I was just thinking the other day, I'm thinking we've reentered one of these amazing classes because we got fatal influence, we got OBA We got trick. Ethan is on his way cry baby Ricky Saints is doing stuff. You know what I mean? And they're all hitting at once which is You don't get I feel like as a wrestling company, you don't get that lucky that often that this all This all happens at once. We talked about bllack and Gld. We talked about Sasha and Bailey and that specific match is Barclys tearing the house down and being a lot of people's favorite matches There's setting a table and then previously to that you had the Divis generation who was working their tails off the nadties and the Bellas and they they're trying to create a, you know, Mickey. they're trying to say and it's building upon building. And I think unfairly building slower, but it's here now and it's at this apex that you're coming into two fold in terms of how do you feel being part of that now, but also have you noticed that. The wrestling audience is veryery female Ver I mean, that and what does that mean to you It's really exciting Um, little bit intimidating. Yeah, because, you know, the groundwork was laid for it to be all the way up here and it's up here and now that's where I'm coming in at.. So a little bit intimidating But Very motivating. to keep it going because withithout everything that's been done before I want't be able to do what I'm doing now. and I want the people coming in after me to be able to continue to do it. Yeah. And I think the women all togetherether have just been killing it across the board, across all brands. In NXT, the women were main eventting so often It was incredible. Like I was able to have so many main event matches. I think it was twenty twenty five and that was awesome. So it's It's really cool And to be able to do it alongside with the people, that I watched is even cooler. And again, it's one of those things that's just very surreal. like If you would have told me when I first started watching wrestling, hey One day you'll be in the ring with R Bell and Paiage and Charlotte and Alexa and all these people I would have said, no and I am So it's just really cool. and I'm very grateful to be able to do it because they have so much knowledge that I can learn from So to just suck all the knowledge out of everybody and continue to pass along like Pret pretty freaking cool. You mentioned main evcing and particularly the Royal Rumble this past year The Royal Rumble this past year, I watched backstage in Saudia and I was just watching the rumble go on And I knew Again, the rooyal R was not entirely dependent on you, I guess unless you're winning the thing or if you're in there the whole time. you've got your block in it. you've got your moments. some people pretty long You know, they' they're basically the spine of the book on it, but I knew it would be very difficult for the men to follow And I could see as they got to the deeper water of it and they got down to live and they got down to it that This is hitting hard You know, and I feel like taking it on the chin and executing on some pretty difficult stuff, which kind of shuts up the the old timey type Oh they can't pull it off in those settings and then they could pull it off in those settings. But so really this year was a prime example. Also anytime EO's been in the ring or on like there's big there are cards we have that all look and be very thankful some of the names, and EO's one that I'm always of. Yeah is incredible. Incredible. And it in a way it lightens things like all right If I blow it. They're going to be fine. Eo's going out there and putting a shift already. She's she's killed it. And and I noticed and that's why I asked you about it with a lot of the different meet and greets and signings and just appearances that we're out all of us doing Very, very large female audience very large. And I think that numberers gone up from years ago when they finally, you know touted, Hey, it's thirty percent or whatever. And I actually this week did the the Disney upfronts and ESPN and. and that was a big talking point was, oh, we didn't realize How many Yeah, I Do you this is crazy. Mbe this might be a misogynistic question. I might not know it. so call me on it if it is Do women watching Do you what do you think they want? do you think they're looking for women made eventsing women on top of the cart at WrestleMania? O do you think I'm curious what the women fans watching I mean, I think They would all love to see it. Yeah Like absolutely But I think that's kind of the beautiful thing is like, no matter where you put us, we're gonna to kill it It would definitely be cool to see us in those spots. Oh, no, for sure. And I feel with the conversation every year becomes And somebody said it two years ago The fact that it's a discussion, And it's always discussion, men and women discussion. What could be it? What could be the one? That's really great problem to have reallyally and Hunter being really honest with us always about it's the best story. The best story is going to be and to your point about NXT, you'll see that because it was happening down there and now down there is coming say up but coming to Smackdown, coming to raw, coming to the l. So you'll see it transfer in real time, which is a really beautiful thing. And again, it's a competition, but it's also collaborative effort This is awesome. Yeah. You mentioned running it all Running at all. Are there any girls on the raw side that you feel you want to step into the ring with I mean, there's so many. Yeah Bailey for one U Bailey' a big one. Bailey's a we had Bailey on the pod before I feel like we got to get Bailey back. Bailey's been up to a lot of stuff, huh What's Bailey's camp called? It has a unique name. I just say her camp I always say L Lodestone. Lodestone, right? Yeahike Colldstone A lodestone. Yeah Do we know why? I don't actually know. Yeah. no, I kind of was counting on you to know why. I just know I feel like I'm sure she said it, but I' probably bring her on to explain it. Deep insightful reason why But that camp is amazing. But that's like the amazing thing is just like watching all the women help each other and bring each other up and share the knowledge and want everybody to succeed and do well and like No, it's amazing that she's doing that. It's incredible. Not to mention how busy her schedule is and she's still making time for all of that talking about that camp And I feel like you you having just been, you know, you've been with WWB for some time but coming up Is there anyone out there that we don't know about. I mean, there always is, but there anyone you have your eye on that's not signigned to WW y Ooh, that's a hard one. Yeah That's a real hard one I feel like I've been in my own bubble. Oh yeah Coming up here. I'm gonna to have to you gota get out of the bubble. I gotta get out of the buble But it's you know what feels good to be in the bubble. It does feel good to be in the buble. But I feel one of the biggest things I found when I was away from here was, oh Got to get out because because other places have bubbles too.f course. I remember restrestling in Japan, their bubble was we're the only thing. Nothing else exists. And I thought yeah here But like, and then I thought, hey, you know what, the best thing would be is just not be in any bubble. Yeah, not be in any bubble. And then again, when you go do all these things you're doing and going to be doing with all of ESPN our PLEs and all these, you know Fanatics fest coming up and the fact that we're ' with the sports elite, they have their own bubbles as well Ours is the best bubble though Are you ready to hold WW History in the palm of your hand Tops is bringing you closer to the action than ever before with WWE Tops Now highlighting the biggest matches and milestones from WWE shows and PLEs throughout the year. COs now is enhancing the fan experience by connecting collectors to the superstars and spectacles that ignite their passion