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As one of America's leading accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at Moss Adams.com. Looking for a meaningful career? Then come to RTD and make connections. We're currently hiring operators starting at $25.96 an hour, body shop tax at $30.26 an hour, and mechanics at $32.72 an hour. All positions are eligible for a $4,000 signing bonus. RTD offers paid training, great benefits, and a chance to make a difference in your community. To apply, visit RTD-Denver.com/careers. That's RTD-Denver.com/careers, an equal opportunity employer. What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at Moss Adams.com. I'm going to do a speedrun of why you should get NordVPN.com/fightful. Listen, all your favorites abroad when you're traveling, you can shield your data from snoops and criminals, especially on that public Wi-Fi, airport, coffee shop, venue, hotel. You can also get the Nord password manager in case you're always forgetting your password. It's available on all your devices and operating systems, whether it be TV, phone, laptop, desktop, whatever. You can even put it on your router. They also have the file encryption tool to help protect that. 24/7 tech support, so in case you don't know how to use it, they'll help teach you how to use it. 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I think it's the first time we've done an interview, man, like I've followed your career for an awful long time, and it seems like when people say what can he do, there's always something else that you find yourself able to do. You're involved in this program with Chad Gable right now that has integrated the Alpha Academy. How are you feeling heading into Scotland as it's not uncharted territory for you or anything? You've wrestled there numerous times. Yeah, but you know, I remember watching Clash at the Castle last year and granted that was in Wales and all that, but I wasn't on that event, and I did have a little bit of FOMO just missing out on that. So it'll be good to go and perform in front of that kind of audience. I think you've seen if you, you know, with backlash, even last year in Puerto Rico and backlash, just here in France, the Saudi events we're doing, the events in Montreal and Australia, all these sort of international PLEs that have kind of become a bit more commonplace now. You're just seeing the excitement of the fans really, really pour through your television or your, you know, computer screen or whatever it is, you're watching it on these days. But it's infectious, and I think it adds such a dimension to the matches and to the product and everything else. So I think it's just, it's very exciting. I've gotten to wrestle a chat gable many times now, and I think, I think our batting average is pretty, pretty good. And I think, so I'm just excited, especially now with the story with Otis and Alpha Academy and all that stuff, it just gives it another dimension and another layer. And so I think when you add that into a match that's, you know, given a little time, because these PLEs also have less matches on them now. So each match has a little bit more time to breathe. I just think all the ingredients are right for something pretty special. How do you feel about the less matches on PLEs? For a lot of wrestling fans, you know, they're creatures of viewing habits. So initially they're like, that's not a lot. Then you watch it and it does get a lot more time to breathe as you mentioned. Yeah, I have mixed feelings on it because certainly as a performer, if you're not figured in like, you know, with seven or eight matches, there's a little more real estate and there's a better chance of getting on. But now even if you're in a pretty prominent story, it still just might not make, and it's you know, not to say anything of the quality of your story, the quality of your performances, but it just might not be factored in if there's only five matches. Like five is really not a lot. It's a quality over quantity sort of mentality, which is hard to disagree with. And I don't know. I do think like it's been better. I do think it's been better. I feel like it adds bigger matches to television too. And it makes, yeah, and it makes matches that are actually on the event feel very important because there's only five. So it's like, if this made the grade, you know, it subconsciously tells the audience like, hey, this is something the company's invested for therefore we should be invested in it emotionally. You know, I think that's that there's like a subconscious component to that that I don't think is often factored in with fans, which is like fans kind of know their part in the dance a little bit. And they're when they see like, Oh, this is something we're supposed to care about. They care about it. You know what I mean? You have had the most like insane WrestleMania run. I don't know if I've had I don't know if I ever had more fun watching a wrestling match than you and Johnny Knoxville. All my friends were over and some of them hadn't much wrestling in years. And we saw that match and like we were we were just ready for whatever happened next there. What was it like preparing for something like that that is categorically different than maybe any match you have ever had before? Yeah, for sure. Very unique, very unique scenario, very unique circumstance, very unique match, very unique performer, performers. I think that's why I just enjoyed it so much is like it kind of can't be replicated. It really can't I don't know. It's very something I'm very, very proud of was there anything that you all pitched that couldn't that what maybe wasn't even plausible to happen or anything that maybe didn't get to happen that you guys had in mind. There was a lot, you know, so funny enough, I recently did this comedy show as part of this Netflix is a joke festival, which was pretty fun. And it was in Los Angeles. And of course, Johnny Knoxville, who I haven't I haven't seen in years shows up and you know, gets involved in the show and whatever it turned into a whole thing. I don't want to get into it. But all this to say, it, it kind of started getting me thinking about the match with Knox And a lot has been said about the match with Knoxville, which again, I am very proud of. But something that kind of gets glossed over is the build up to the match. People don't really remember that. And that was some of the most fun, most creative stuff I've ever done. And there was a lot more in the build up that I wanted to do that we never got to do. There was all kinds of stuff and some of it was pretty crazy. But that's the stuff that I remember really investing into that was really like a precursor to the bloodline. I mean, quite literally, actually, because that story and the humiliation coming out of that match was what from a character perspective and from a storyline perspective was like the fuel for respect that the character needed to seek out the bloodline. But in a in a in another sort of way, from a creative perspective, it was a precursor because of the the just the mental energy and the creative juices and all that into how to construct a story and how to get us there. And again, a lot of really unique things, like, I mean, him putting out my telephone number and and getting all these calls and like answering FaceTimes from the fans and all that kind of stuff. There's no other match you'll ever do where part of the build up to the match is answering FaceTime calls from fans while you're in the bathtub, like that just, you know what I mean? I've never done that before. I'll never do it again. And actually, I kind of got addicted to it at one point where I was doing these loops, you know, like drive in town to town from live event to live event and the phone just wouldn't stop. So it would like kill the drive three hours, I'd just be answering calls and actually like I grew really I grew to enjoy it because it was an interaction with fans in a way that simply just didn't exist. It's never existed before and it'll never exist again where you just have a wrestler's phone number and then you call them and he answers and he's like, I would start out in character sometimes and then answer the call like, what do you want? Stop calling and they're like, this isn't Sami Zayn, is it? Like, you know it's Sami Zayn. You called me. And they're like, oh my God, it's actually him. And then like you would hear the excitement of them getting their friends and family into the room. Like it's him. It's him. He picked up. And then it was just so exciting for me to feel their excitement. Again, it was just such a unique thing that I don't see that happening ever again. But I was just so lucky to be a part of something like that. Yeah, so I guess when it comes to the match itself, there's also the constraints of time. You know, especially with WrestleMania being a heavier show, there were more ideas I want to do with respect to the actual match itself, but you know, you just don't get time. But I'm still very proud of what came out. And I do think in some manner of speaking, I'll be tied somehow to Johnny Knoxville for the rest of my days and him tied to me, at least in the wrestling world. If he hit you up, would you do the next Jackass movie? Would you do like a skit or a segment or a stunt even? Yeah, we don't really have that kind of relationship. It would probably have to go through some intermediaries because he doesn't like me. And I, well, I don't really like him. But I also think he's like kind of obsessed with me because again, he showed up at my show. I haven't interacted with the guy in years and he still stalks my Instagram page. And like he's always commenting and insulting me. It's been years. He's just a, he's a bit of a lunatic and actually what was really funny was a year removed just talking about that, like the bridge between WrestleMania to WrestleMania to WrestleMania. So you go from one WrestleMania where I'm doing this stuff with Johnny Knoxville in the next year, you know, the bloodline story caps off in this really remarkable way. And Johnny Knoxville showed up to WrestleMania 39. But I guess he wasn't privy to the fact that like things had changed, you know? So he was actually in the stands and I was seeing some amazing videos. Like I got to try to find them of him like he's got to be drunk. He's belligerent for sure. And he's like, you know, sucks and he's getting booed by the entire, like the entire section because he's still, he was sexy and he's like, oh, it was just wild. It was wild. Well, I mean, we talked about again, your versatility at WrestleMania. I mean, this year, WrestleMania, the match with Guinter was was incredible. The brainbuster spot on the top rope is something that people have, you know, often brought up as a thing that they would love to see again. In a previous interview, I spoke to Kevin Owens and he was like, yeah, there were a few times during my WWE run, I tried to get the package, pile driver worked in, just wasn't the right time or couldn't get the approval. What was the process of that, like, making sure that it was okay to do and all that stuff because it's not something we've seen a ton of in WWE? Yeah. So for sure, timing played a lot, a big part of it. Because there were other times where I thought of, you know, pulling it out, but it just didn't seem right and this year it felt right. And also, you know, with Hunter in charge and he's a wrestler and all that kind of stuff. What's next at Moss Adams? That question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry focus insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at MossAtoms.com. What's next at Moss Atoms? That question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry focus insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at MossAtoms.com. Why wear a seatbelt? The math speaks for itself. You have a one in forty chance of being in a crash this year. The wearing a seatbelt reduces your risk of serious harm by fifty percent. A rollover crash, more than three out of five deaths are from those who weren't wearing theirs. Seatbelts save lives, over 370,000 in fact, most passengers killed in crashes weren't buckled up. Nobody is above the laws of physics, buckle up and shift into safe. A message from the Colorado Department of Transportation. I think there's a bit more leeway for that kind of stuff, but it's also different with the package pile driver because that's a pile driver. And a pile driver is different from a brainbuster, which I mean this is a very minor difference, but it's significant difference, but a pile driver has the potential to compress you more on the top of your head, whereas the brainbuster, even if it goes kind of a ride, it's a little bit more in the back of the neck. Again, we're getting technical, but that is a pretty big difference. And I think that's why there's a lot more apprehension with regards to pile drivers. I still think there's a chance we might see the package pile driver one day in the right circumstance, but I think that's the thing is the circumstance. And one of the other apprehensions I had about doing the brainbuster was how do you come back from that? If that becomes like your finish, how do you go back to the kick or the blue thunder or the whatever, it just becomes like that becomes the new standard. So that was one of part of the reasons I was apprehensive about it. But again, this here just felt like the right time and the right match and the right circumstance and the right opponent. What was the reaction like when you you had kind of pitched that? Was it just a, yeah, sure, we trust you or was there some back and forth there? Yeah, I don't remember it being much back and forth. I remember being a pretty painless process, to be honest. Had Kevin ever done the was it called the Stenilizer? Was that what it was where he had somebody up on his shoulders and it was like the inverted full Nelson and he pinned them with it? Yeah, I don't see that one coming to WWE. They put it in the video game. They put it in the video game and I was like, I was like, Oh my God. And he was like, he was like, yeah, there were after a couple of times I had to let that one go. That one's got to go. Yeah. And that one, you need like a certain type of opponent that we don't have a lot of those types of opponents in WWE. And look, there's just a lot of stuff that you just got to let go of at a certain point. Because I mean, sometimes I'll see footage of old stuff I used to do 10, 15 years ago. And it's like, there's a reason that stuff stops, you know? Yeah, you just got to enjoy it while it's there. So we had the Stenilizer and may it rest in peace. We also saw your original, well, original WWE theme music make its return. How did you feel about that when it happened? It's something very sentimental to fans to hear that because it's so feel good. Yeah. So I had reservations about it initially, but I think at the time it kind of made sense. And yeah, there is like, there's a real affection towards it from fans. So I wanted something new, but it also kind of made sense with it being a bit of a rebirth, you know, especially because it was in Montreal and all that kind of thing. It just, it kind of lined up, it kind of lined up. But I was advocating at the time for something new or something kind of old, but it would have been new. But all this to say, yeah, there are times and there definitely have been times where I was just kind of tired of that song, where I felt it didn't really fit anymore. But I don't know, fans really like it. And it does, I mean, it's a very unique theme song, if nothing else, like definitely doesn't sound like anybody else's theme song. So you know, I'll take it and it does make people feel a certain way and I don't know, it's very uplifting. And I think there's definitely a big component of that to my character. So it hits the mark in a lot of respects. You know, I'm not going to complain about it. We mentioned, of course, Scotland this weekend, a clash to the castle on peacock. You've wrestled all over the globe. And I mean, like multiple times over all over the globe. Is there anywhere specifically that you would want to compete? Whether it be a venue, a location, you got, there's like the spear in Las Vegas. I've heard people say they'd like to do a show at Red Rock, like all kinds of cool stuff like that. Well, one place that I've been advocating for with regards to these new international PLEs, I would love to do a PLE in Santiago, Chile. Okay. I've long said that's one of the best crowds, if not the best crowd in the world. And you know, they're not playing a part. They're not, they're not like, Oh, look, we're on TV or let's show them what good crowds we are, which there's nothing wrong with that. But I'm saying when you, when you go down and perform there, there's just like an authentic passion that's very hard to articulate, but you can feel it. And I love that country. I love those people. I love Latin America. I love, I love the people. And I would love to have a PLE there and I would love to do something significant at a PLE there one day. But that's, I don't know, man, there's, our fans are really good, kind of everywhere these days. You know, you go to Europe, they're amazing. I'd love to wrestle in Africa. I'd love to do something there, South Africa, we used to run ages ago. But, you know, anywhere, anywhere, Africa's my last continent, I guess, you know, excluding Antarctica, even that'd be awesome. But in fact, when I wrestled in Chile the first time in 2011, I found out that Chile is actually the country that has like the most actual land claim to Antarctica and is the closest country to Antarctica. So I was trying to get the independent promoter that I worked for at the time to try to run a show in Antarctica, just so I could do it. Just so you could check all of them. Yeah. And how historic would that be? You'd be the only person to ever run a show in Antarctica. And there are people down there, so, you know, I don't know, I thought it would have been something. But I don't know, that's a tough one. Santiago is the first place that comes to mind. But there are so many places I haven't been that I would love to go. And I think, you know, you say I've wrestled a lot of places, but the truth is like anybody who's been in WWE at this point has probably wrestled in almost an equal number of countries because WWE goes there. But I think the reason I have that reputation is because I did that before WWE, that was already sort of my MO was trying to find as many countries as possible and wrestle in them all. So if there is an opportunity to go somewhere that WWE hasn't been already, I mean, I'd definitely be up for that, you know. Yeah, I think you've wrestled in Scotland like a half a dozen times for WWE already. So. Exactly. Exactly. And on the independence, I think I only did it once or twice, but all was a great crowd. All was a great crowd. Yeah. I found a match with the late Lionheart, actually, that you had done in Scotland. Oh, is that right? Yeah. You know, I think I remember I met Noah Darr there. I want to say, and he was like he was 14 or 15. It was wild, you know, how long we've all been around now. Speaking of, like, I mean, I would like looking back through your cage match and stuff. I see stuff very early from like you and Kevin, where you were in a triple threat with PCO or somebody like that. And was there a time like maybe even early on or your first few years, you locked up with someone and you're like, yeah, they're probably going to end up in WWE. Um, no, not early in my career. No, because it's hard to remember, um, how things were back then. Sure. And like, I mean, look at the independent names that were left on the independence for five, six, seven, eight, nine years, ten years. Brian Daniels and Seth Rollins, myself, Kevin, Nigel McGinnis, who was unbelievable. All these guys were just doing the indies because guys just didn't get signed back then. We were really kind of off on an island doing our own thing and creating our own thing, which, which sort of became, um, now in hindsight, looking back what a special time it is or was especially for the independence that you can go see these world class performers. And everybody's better than they were now, but at the time, like, we were still really good back then, too. Um, like if you look at a, uh, P W G poster or something from 2009, credible or like a ring of honor poster from 2008 or something like that. I mean, the amount of talent you have that have all gone on to be in WWE or AEW or TNA or whatever, Japan, it's like, it's, it's a world class roster. All this to say it was hard to, it was really hard to tie up with someone and go, oh, this guy, this guy is good enough to be in WWE because we're all good enough. It wasn't about talent, like the real talent at the time, the mentality was like the real talent was actually there. And what you were getting in WWE was kind of just something else, you know, not to say they weren't talented, but they were just looking for something else. It wasn't like, um, it wasn't based on talent or exclusively on talent. Like, I didn't walk up with Brian Danielson and go like, Oh, this guy's not quite good enough for WWE, you know, like it wasn't like that. It had nothing to do with talent. Um, it was, there was a lot of other variables back in the day and it's just, it's hard to remember because the world of wrestling has changed so much and the landscape has changed so much in a way that may even be regrettable in some, in some respects because, um, you know, you're not going to get guys developing on the independence and going through that, uh, the wave and the kind of circle of life sort of process that gets you to where you want to be by the time you come in. I don't want to say the finished product, but as a polished product, because you're kind of never a finished product, but, um, you kind of just don't get to get polished totally out in the wild because if you even start making a name for yourself remotely, I think you're just gone, like someone will sign you up. But look, I'm also maybe speaking out of school because I've been removed from the independence for so long that I don't have my finger on the polls completely of like what it's like these days, but I certainly know it's not like it was. Well, guys, we encourage you to check out Clash of the Castle this Saturday from Scotland. Samey Zayn. I want to thank you so much for being so generous with your time and, and joining us today. Uh, I mean, you got this, this huge match coming up you and, and Chad Gable, uh, have, have the audience in the palm of your hands already. Like we've got, we're wondering what's Otis going to do? How will Maxine react? How will, how will Tezawa react? Another guy who has wrestled all over the globe and, uh, man, people are ready, people are ready for this. That's, you know, that's just my favorite thing in the whole world, uh, is just having people getting them hooked on a, on a, on a ride like this and not knowing what's next and just wanting to see how a story is going to unfold. It's just like the most addictive and most amazing thing and I just, I know I've been wrestling for a long time, but God, I still love it so much. And I love this aspect of it that you don't really get to do even in WWE. Like you're lucky to get to do a good storyline that kind of has people on the edge of their seat. Like just what's going to happen next? Oh, when's it going to happen? You know, like that's, it's just the funnest thing in the whole world. So I'm really looking forward. I'm sure something will happen. Something consequential is going to happen this Saturday because it feels like it's really at a boiling point. But what it is, we'll just have to watch and see. Oh, I love the Otis promo because I don't think there was any on screen. A lot of performers that was hurt more by the pandemic than Otis and getting to really fulfill what we saw with he and Mandy. So for him to bring that up and bring up Tucker and bring up all that stuff. Ooh, I love that because that wasn't something you used to really see referenced on on WBTV. I'm here for this ride. Sammy Zayn, I want to thank you so much for all the time. Thank you for having me, buddy. Until next time, guys, we're out. Appreciate it. What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry focus insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance. Taking cover opportunity and move upward at MossAtoms.com. What's next? 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