[MUSIC]
This year for WrestleMania XXXVIII,
WWE invited me back, first time in a couple of years,
35 was my last time, and I came in with some concern.
Will people remember me?
Would there still be a connection with the art?
I didn't know, and I'll tell you,
it's been amazing,
the reaction we got this week.
Blue Wave records, I mean, all-time new sales records,
but more importantly the connection with everyone,
in the past I've had to let people know who I am.
Educate them on the art of it,
I mean all of this relatively in the grand scope of things is kinda new.
But this time around, instead of that people were coming in,
showing me their collections, wearing the shirts,
it was something new this time around,
something that I don't take for granted at all.
And also for a few different verses here we had a gallery wall within the exhibit,
people to come up and really visualize what the art looks like,
framed and hanging up on the wall.
And watching people react to it that way was a different kind of
experience than we've really done before at Axxess.
And then on top of that, WWE asked me to do two different paintings this year.
Normally each year I do one painting live, this year they asked for two.
One for The Undertaker celebrating his career and
the Hall of Fame honor that happened.
And there's the finished piece!
>> Not bad!
[MUSIC]
>> But also a different piece to celebrate and
honor the late Razor Ramon, and
working on both of host at the same time balancing and
knowing that there was such an importance around both.
That I needed to not only get them both, right, but
do some career best work on them, and, [LAUGH] obviously normally
here on canvas and canvas I like to show you a lot of process footage.
This year we had a very good problem, and
that we were just really too busy.
I was sitting there working on the art, occasionally I would set up a tripod and
have a camera going, but a lot of the handheld stuff,
we just didn't have time, because it was madness.
The connection that people were having with me was something that
I just haven't experienced before, and all the nice, kind words.
This is my first public appearance with WWE since XXXV at all.
Again, I didn't know if I would even be remembered,
and instead it was a such a deep, warm welcome back.
And do all of that while doing these very special paintings
that have a lot of significance to all of us, that are so
passionate, that care so much about WWE and its legacy.
And bringing all of this together, and the crew that was helping me out,
my wife, my very best friend, another dear friend of ours.
Being able to do all of this with people that I love so
much around me, and then just tens of thousands of people
coming in and saying nice things about the artwork.
There's nothing in art school that prepares you for
something like this, and I'm so fortunate to get to do this for
a living to get to be out here and share it with you online, in person.
And I say this all the time but I mean it so much, I love you and thank you.
[MUSIC]