I was gonna go with somewhat pink hair, but I'm glad I didn't now.
>> No, not the Stone Cold shirt?
>> No, I mean, the Stone Cold shirt is in my everyday life,
any time I'm not here wearing this.
>> Was Stone Cold ever a favorite for you?
>> Huge, yeah, yeah, him and Shawn Michaels.
>> Yeah. >> Yeah, absolutely.
I once almost passed out because of his return.
He came back in Montreal in 2003 and I screamed into oblivion and
almost passed out.
>> No way.
>> Yeah. >> Did you bruise vocal cords?
>> Yeah, I didn't talk for a couple of days,
which my parents thought was great, actually.
But yeah. >> No way.
>> It was yeah.
Steve and Shawn were my favorites, now I get to hang out with them and
pick their brain whenever I can.
So that's pretty sweet.
>> I mean, did you ever tell Steve that- >> Yeah.
>> That story, what did he say?
>> Yeah, yeah.
He actually, I met him in 2005 at an airport.
And I asked him this was back when I was just doing independent wrestling.
And I asked him if he had any piece of advice.
And he told me to never stop running my mouth, which I've taken to
heart since then, and probably helped me get here today actually.
So yeah, he knows all about it, yeah.
>> So funny.
>> Yeah. >> Do you have any SmackDown memories,
over the last 20 years, that really stick out?
Matches that you just die for?
>> Yeah, well, I've watched every single, I wanna say every single SmackDown, maybe.
I might have missed literally five or six over the past 20 years, so
that's pretty crazy but I mean, for me, obviously,
the top memory I have is the one I created myself, with Vince a couple years ago.
When I headbutted him, and then did a couple more mean things to him.
But it was great fun, so it's probably at the top of the list for me.
>> So funny, do you ever YouTube these moments?
>> Yeah, well, I don't even have to, honestly.
Because every year, on the day of I'll get a bunch of tweets from people saying, hey,
two years ago you did this.
So it's nice to relive them, you know?
>> Those fans are everything.
>> Yeah once in a while it's very cathartic too so it's nice.
Yeah. And they keep track of it and yeah,
fans are I mean, without them, I wouldn't be here, so.
>> Yeah, big career match tonight.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> Tell me what you got planned.
>> Well, I've been in many ladder matches throughout my career.
And actually, one of my most memorable one happened not too far from here in
a run-down tiny building when I was on the independent scene.
And earlier today I drove to that building because I
kind of put myself back into the zone I need to be in.
And it turns out they're shutting down that building now, but I've created so
many memories there.
And now to get to do it at the Staples Center, it's like a nice come full circle,
and hopefully, I don't lose my job, hopefully,
it's just the beginning of a new chapter for my career, that's what I plan on it.
>> Yeah, well, it feels like it shut down for a reason today.
It's ready for you- >> Yeah, it's so poetic.
>> Ready for the new memory.
>> So poetic, yeah.
>> Right? >> That's great, yeah.
>> Any matches you're excited to see tonight?
>> Yeah, obviously I'm really excited to see Kofi Kingston kick Brock's head in.
I think everybody's hoping for that to happen.
And I mean, it's just gonna be you just know it's going to be like,
incredible spectacle.
So I'm just looking forward to being able to watch as much as I can,
while still preparing for my own match and then you know take in the night and just,
this is just such a huge deal for everybody.
>> What's it like to go from super fan who lost his voice for
days, to superstar, to now being on Fox Sports?
>> Again, like for me, even beyond like I've been living this dream for
years now my whole career my whole life was all about getting to WWE.
So I always have these little moments where I have to kind of pinch myself even
to this day even though I've been on the main roster and whatnot for five years,
but Staples Center is also a special place because I saw Wrestlemania 21 here,
I saw Shawn Michaels and
Kurt Angle have a classic match, I saw all these big moments happen.
>> Hey.
>> [LAUGH] >> Its' like a-
>> A big moment.
>> It was like an eclipse just- >> That's a big moment.
Hi my love, you didn't even know it was me with my pink hair.
>> [LAUGH] So it's cool to be here for sure.
>> Yeah, I love it.
Well, good luck tonight.
>> Thank you.
>> I'm excited to see the match.
>> Thanks a lot. >> All right, take care.