Season 2 Episode 17: BEAR BRONSON

0:39 What's up, everybody? This is another episode of Bulldog Uncensored. We got my buddy prayer Bronson from TNA wrestling open AEW. You name it. He's there wrestling open heavyweight champion there. What's up, man? Thanks for doing this. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Yeah. So I guess we'll get right to the start. Uh, what got you in wrestling in the first place? For me, man. I mean, it was like, I mean, it's my earliest memories. Uh, I don't really remember a time where I didn't watch wrestling. I was hooked. It was, you know, as a kid, most kids are, uh, you know, hooked on power Rangers at first or all that stuff. And I was wrestling was my first, it was the first thing I ever, it was the first entertainment I really ever digested. Um, and my parents are just cool like that, you know, cause like, uh, my older brother and all my cousins were like super into the attitude era at the time. And I was born in 1995, uh, So it was at like five years old range, four or five years old.

1:47 Where I started really digesting it. And I just loved it better than all the other kid shows and all that stuff. And it was getting so big, you know, not getting so big. It was always big with action figures and all that stuff. So it was just a lot for me. And that's what, again, my earliest memories. My earliest memory is not live, but my brother taped it. Undertaker, Mankind, Hell in a Cell, King of the Ring, 1998. And that for me, I think that was the first piece of wrestling history I ever digested at the time. You started at a big level, man. Holy crap.

2:30 Yeah, that was my earliest memory of it. And then I fell in love with Stone Cold Steve Austin. And, um, that kind of car crash style of wrestling. And, um, I just loved it. I never fell out of love with it. I just, um, it's been my, my whole life. So, uh, when I got into it, I mean, I always knew it was what I wanted to do. Um, I did attempt to go to college, uh, for like a semester at the time when I graduated high school. But, uh, when I graduated high school, I, you. Know, I looked up wrestling schools, uh, And creative pro wrestling was, you know, 20 minutes away from me and it had just opened. So that was very appealing to me.

3:13 It had just opened and opened by Curt Hawkins or Brian Myers now and Pat Buck. And that's where I really got my first footing and my roots are in that wrestling school. So that's how I got into wrestling, literally got into the business. And I just never, man, I never imagined myself doing anything else. And I'm the. Type where it wasn't my dream to, like... I mean, obviously, everyone's dream to, like, main event WrestleMania or win a world title or something like that. But for me, it was to just be a wrestler. Like, period.

3:54 So, my endgame was, like, you know, joining wrestling school. My best friends were MJF, Max Caster. I knew those guys were going... you know, as far as. They wanted to go. And for me, it was like, I just, my goal was to be the cool indie wrestler that like they're all friends with, you know? And luckily I've, I've exceeded those dreams by a lot. So I'm very lucky and I'm very blessed for that, but that's how literally I got into the business. No, that's awesome. I mean, I, I'm believe it or not a few years older than you. Yeah. I'm 38. So I started watching in 92. Back when WWF was kind of shitty.

4:40 Sure. Things picked up mid-90s. I mean, I was a huge Shawn Michaels mark. Hell yeah. But my first favorite big man was Ahmed Johnson. And I was lucky enough to have him on the show. The first season I did this. So shout outs to Tony. He's a good dude. Always a big fan. But yeah, so I mean, I started with an episode of Superstars. I think it was Goldust and Ahmed Johnson going at it. Wow. Kind of prepping for their Intercontinental match. So that was pretty sweet. And then, like you said, Austin came about and Taker is my do or die guy, man. Sure.

5:33 Even in high school, I was dressed in like the American badass because I couldn't grow my hair out long at the time. That's what you get for having a cop for a flask. But, you know, it's a whole nother story. I love it. Right. Yeah. So, I mean, I've been, you know, I, even though with, you know, my disability, I wouldn't be able to actually get in physicality of it. Like I would literally work out in my room as a kid and just, wrestle a fucking bashing brawler in the bed just to keep myself healthy. And, yeah, it panned off. So, I mean, it's always been a huge part of my life. Nice.

6:18 You know, independent wrestling, especially, like, once I got into high school, I started going to a lot of indie shows and doing one that, you know, it was one thing to go to Raw or SmackDown or whatever, be a part of the whole vibe of it all. But when I started going to indie shows... I was like, wow, you know, like, I know these guys are all just regular people, but, like, I got to get to know a few guys that I probably wouldn't have otherwise, just in a more intimate setting, you know, yourself included. Yeah, well, it opens up a whole other, you know, TV wrestling, the library of TV wrestling in itself is so vast.

7:00 Yeah. And then you. I remember what I was like, I was 13 years old when I figured out what indie wrestling was. And that opens up an entirely different world where it's just like so much more, so much different. You think like, oh, wrestling's not like this anymore or whatever. And then you go to indie and you're like, oh my God, it can be, you know? Cause I was always at like, I loved ECW. I loved car crash style wrestling. So like, you know, for me, discovering at the time when i was 13 years old like i was discovering like czw at the time and you know tournament of death and all that stuff i was like yeah what is you know so it's a whole other world.

7:41 Oh yeah for sure no it's next level and i think you know between that and underground music like i think the the underdog lifestyle is always a thing so like i uh i found guitar 10 10 years old and i've been in metal bands since i was 20 Hell yeah. I love it. It might not be a high paying job, but I still book shows for other bands and stuff like that. So I get a real appreciation for all the DIY stuff that goes on with indie wrestling. Probably my favorite memory, I was at Good Times Emporium down in Somerville back in the day when they were still running shows. And I had pizza with Jay Lethal and AJ Styles.

8:32 Wow. Randomly just said, hey, you guys want to come sit with us? I was like, yeah, all right. And then a few weeks later, I went to another show closer to Boston and Chris Saban and Road Dogg were there. And I'm a diehard DX guy. And I ended up smoking a joint with him in the parking lot. So that was pretty funny. Um, well, yeah, like really cool experiences on indie wrestling. And, you know, I've gotten a chance to post a couple of events of different bars. Like I did the Royal rumble. I think it was like 20. Well, I think, um, but we had Ox Baker come down, uh, Maria can don't and all those guys.

9:20 So it was, it was really cool to hang out with people and just like, you know, I never really get the whole like starstruck thing with very few people, but, uh, yeah, it's, it's cool to really develop those kinds of friendships. I'm always appreciative of that. So obviously, you know, dead giveaway with your, uh, entrance music and whatnot, you're into heavy shit. Uh, what do you, what do you start off when it comes to music? So what's funny is my wife is a way bigger metal head than I am, like way deeper. She grew up going to hardcore shows. She grew up going to metal shows. She loves hair metal she loves uh not hair metal i'm sorry she loves uh like king diamond yeah you know like that style um and she you know when i had left aw and was trying to reinvent myself and trying to.

10:15 Um uh. Trying to change my image and try to make it more of what I want. I had a hard time because entrance music is so important, more important than you think. And it was actually her idea to use the hammer by Kublai Khan. And when she had showed me it, I actually dismissed it at first because I was like, there's no way no one's using that. Someone out there is using that. It's so good. And then I spent an entire afternoon really, really searching and nobody was using it. And I was very surprised. So I was like, hell yeah, let's do it. And it was just perfect.

10:57 Yeah. Now, how would you compare that to some of your other themes in, like, AEW? Like, do you feel like it's a different energy? Way different. Way different. Way more memorable. Way more fitting. Even, like, honestly, just my other, whether it's in AEW or outside of AEW or, like, indies and stuff, I always... used cool music but it was just not like memorable or iconic right um like i love like gojira so i'd use gojira yeah and um what's funny is like the two entrance themes i have now whether it's the hammer or in uh tna we have by downstate the system right right those are two of my favorite theme songs i've ever had and i bumped both of them at the gym and I'm like, oh, I'm actually, this is cool.

11:46 It's cool to be a fan of your own theme song. This is great. It's not something generic. Have you talked. To the guys in Kublai Khan? I have not. But I've heard a lot. I've heard cool things. I'm not as deep because honestly, I'm very one-dimensional when it comes to maybe I wouldn't say that, but you know, I had a lot of friends that went to hardcore shows and all that stuff. And I like, I had a lot, I had a lot of friends going out a lot. And like, whether it was like hardcore music people or whether it was like, you know, I played football. So I had friends in football. So I had a lot of like, I called them ESPN kids. And, uh, I just never cared. I never cared about any of that stuff.

12:36 Like I'd go over my friend's house and they're all sitting in the living room watching a sports center. And I'm like, Oh, like I can't, I, it bores me to death. I can't, I can't, I can't do it. Like, I just can't. And then like, I love music. I love music, but like, I, I didn't grow up going to shows a lot just cause I didn't really, I didn't have any interest in it. I just, I loved wrestling. Wrestling to me was just my, my everything. So, but my, my wife did though. She, she's been to hundreds of shows. So, uh, her, her, um, Her palette is very, very wide when it comes to music. Nice. Yeah, so, I mean, you and, well, for those of you who don't know at home, Gabby Flores is Bear's wife. She is newly signed to TNA. Congrats to Gabby again. And the new Limitless Wrestling Champion. Yes.

13:33 Crazy week, man. All in one week. Unreal. Crazy. They say when it rains, it pours, but sometimes it's a good thing. Yeah, man. And I love the rain. I actually have a tattoo that says it can't rain all the time. Right on. Because, in a positive light, because I love the rain, so. Yeah, I'm a big girl fan, too, right on. Hell yeah. Nice. Thank you, man. Fucking excuse me. Yeah, so, I mean, you and fucking, since starting in with AEW and the tag division and then kind of remolding yourself, like you said, As a singles competitor, man, like I saw you in Bear Country early on, and I'm like, okay, this guy's got something. The other guy's pretty good, but you stood out to me in a lot of ways.

14:24 Thank you. And, you know, I've always been, like I said, a big fan of the bigger dudes like Vader and Bam Bam and shit like that. Um, so I get a little bit more appreciation than most for guys of your stature, but, uh, it's, it's impressive to me how nimble you are considering how big you are. I get that a lot. I get that a lot. Yeah. I, uh, I don't know. And I don't even know what to credit to either. I guess put my mind to something and. Just do it. Now, something I've always wondered is, and I don't know why I never thought to ask any of my other wrestling buddies, but, you know, obviously when you go through training and whatnot, you get the basics down and all that kind of stuff and chain wrestling and all that. Um, how did you come up with like a move set?

15:17 Honestly? Um, cause the thing is like, you know, you do your fundamental training at school, right? But your, your real training is just getting out there and getting on shows. And, um, my first few years, you know, I think what's hard for newer. Wrestlers today is everything is streaming. So you don't newer wrestlers today. Don't have an Avenue to go out and go fail without any repercussion. And I did, I had that Avenue. So that was good for me. And like, you know, those matches, no one ever sees those, you know, the ones of my first two years where I was stinking up the place and having terrible, you know, like, or just, just learning, you know, like it's, that's where you get the real training being in front of crowds and just learning.

16:15 How that works. And, you know, so I would say with a move set, um, I. Later on in my career, especially these last two years, I've worked very hard on not being pigeonholed into one thing because I found if I look back on my career, I feel like that would happen to me often beyond my control. So like, even with like the bear Bronson character, I've had a lot of people throughout my career, maybe, you know, like years and years ago, like people would be like, Oh, it'd be cool if you came out on all fours and growl. And I'm like, no, like that sucks. Yeah. But you know, and, uh, I had to make sure I had to make sure everything was tailored to what I want it to be. And I'm a very ECW style, hardcore, right.

17:01 You know? Um, so yeah, you know, uh. You know, you brought up Bam Bam and I love the greetings from Asbury parks, one of my favorite finishers. And, uh, that was suggested to me, suggested to me by Brian Myers years ago. And I I've used it ever since. And I love it. And, um, black hole slam, big abyss mark. I'm a huge abyss mark. Yeah. So, uh, and you know, I'm. A pretty heavy set guy. So like I do a lot of like sitting on people, you know, Yeah. So a lot of using my body as a weapon. Yeah. And, yeah, I would say my moveset is, I would say, heavily inspired. Heavily inspired by, like, those guys mentioned or, like, Takeshi Morishima.

17:53 Yeah. That sort of style. If you want to talk about nimble big guys. Oh, God, yeah, absolutely. He is the goat of nimble big guys. Yeah. My wife actually got me into New Japan, like right when everything before AEW went down and actually started up. So, you know, the Indies from 2016 to 19 were just insane. They were. The amount of good wrestling everywhere. It was just nutty. You know, so when did you start training?

18:33 I started training in 2014. So I was not, I was not prominent on the indie scene until 2019. Yeah. So I got like the tail end of that, like crazy insane. It was nuts. Yeah. Like I freaking shot the shit with Cody and the young bucks for like 20 minutes at a ring of honor. So like it was nothing. And now they're on to you. You'd be every damn week. Oh yeah. Insane. But yeah, huge Kenny Omega fan too. I've always been a big fan of his. So, out of the guys that are around right now that you haven't wrestled, who's your dream one-on-one opponent?

19:25 Well, active right now? Excuse me. My dream one-on-one opponent must be, I. Would say Kevin Owens. Yeah, dude. Kevin Owens or CM Punk. Yeah. CM Punk. Punk is somebody who is always good to me. And he didn't have to be because when I was in AW I was the lowest on the totem pole you could possibly be he didn't have to give a shit about me if he didn't want to but he did and he was super super cool I know everybody I know he's a very polarizing individual but always good to me.

20:05 No I mean that's kind of my policy with people if you're good to me I'm good to you Otherwise, I don't really give a shit. And I'm not the type either to where my best friends have a muddied history with him. Right. But I don't let that judge. I just go by my experiences with people. I do that with everybody. Absolutely. So always great to me. Always door open for anybody that needed help. Just super, super uplifting. Yeah. Yeah. No, he seems like it really depends on what kind of environment he's in. Sure. I think, and that's natural for anybody. But, yeah, so if Buck and Kevin Owens make total sense to me, I could totally see that. Kevin especially. I think he might put on a banger and a half.

20:57 Yeah, I mean, his Ring of Honor days into that first WWE run, you know, as a husky kid, there's nothing more inspiring than Kevin Owens. Yeah. Kevin seen into Kevin Owens, like nothing more inspiring. No. And he seems like such a genuine dude. Yeah. Which is, yeah, I value that greatly. Absolutely. For sure. So we got current roster. Um, we'll get to seeing you at, uh, in Boston a few months ago in a minute here, but, uh, Who would you pick from the mid-90s to go against?

21:41 My ultimate answer, of all time, so that's why I specified active before because Stone Cold Steve Austin. Hell yeah. That is my GOAT. That is my greatest of all time. There are people who argue who was better, Brett or Sean. To me, it's Stone Cold. I put Stone Cold higher than anybody. No, he transcended a lot of shit. Everything. Everything across the board. A-plus across the board on everything. Performer, you know, wrestler. How much money did he make? You know, that too. Yeah. The company, a fortune. Yeah. I just don't quote Steve Austin.

22:23 I even lived through Kevin Owens wrestling at WrestleMania 37. Yeah. 38, 38, 37. I don't know what it was. They all kind of blend into each other now, but, but yes, Stone Cold Steve Lawson. And then I should, you know, the thing was like, if anyone's watching and they're like, Oh, how come he didn't say a TNA person? That's because TNA is like, which, you know, my new home, uh, threw me into the mix right away. So I have kind of wrestled all my, in the first, uh, what is it now? I signed in January. So what is this? Uh, eight months now with the company, seven, eight months. And I've got to wrestle all my goals, you know. I would say the only one, maybe Mustafa Ali, I haven't gotten to really wrestle.

23:08 Right. But, yeah, I mean, the Hardys, got to do a bunch with them. Dude, that was a highlight for me, man. So I got tickets to Slammiversary in Boston only about an hour away from me, so it wasn't too bad. And, like, you and I had just kind of chugged the shit a little bit. a few weeks before that, originally. Yeah, they believe it was Syracuse, right? Uh, no, it would have been Rhode Island. Rhode Island, Rhode Island, sorry. No, it's not good. Um, but, I was like, holy crap, my buddy's wrestling the Hardys? Like, what the fuck? Crazy, man. My brother, my brothers were going insane.

23:49 Oh, I bet. I bet. Like, and that place was really well filled up. Yep. You know, I, I thought the production was fantastic. Like, It's hard to tell on TV sometimes, like, because there's all this camera work and funny stuff. But, like, you know, TNA really seems like they've got a good system going on right now. Pardon the pun. Nice. Yeah, no. I love it. I love it. That ladder spot, man. When you got sandwiched in that barbed wire ladder, I was like, oh, my God, please. There's a funny story behind that. Yeah. I'm growing a bit of a reputation in the company, I feel, where... So I had asked them, you know, because The Righteous, I had learned that they were going to have a Wicked Garden ladder.

24:39 Right, right. Wrapped in barbed wire. And they have a production team that does it. And they show... I. Knew I wanted to do some of it. I had my ideas going into the match. Great. And I saw the ladder. And I went right to... I was like, guys... thank you, but you gotta wrap that shit up. You gotta wrap that shit up. And they said, they were like, well, if we do that, we're not gonna have time to clip the barbs. I said, don't. They were like, don't? And I was like, don't. Don't clip the barbs. I got, it's good. I promise. They were like, and they were literally like, are you sure? And I was like, yes, don't clip the barbs. I got this. And it was awesome.

25:24 And then it looked they, they wrapped it up and it looked absolutely terrifying. Yeah. Uh, cause that first, the first variation of it, you couldn't really notice. It was very, very subtle. Yeah. Then they had that shit wrapped up and it was perfect. It couldn't have been better. The production team did such an amazing job on it. Um, and, uh, I think just after, you know, they're, you know, the safety is always first and everyone's like, so that's, that's, you know, no, no shade on them at all. They're such a great team. Uh, So they were putting our safety first. But once I've given them the permission, hey, this is my thing, man. Don't worry. Just wrap that shit up. Don't even clip it.

26:04 Yeah, if I could wrestle, that's exactly how I'd be. I mean, I got fucking barbed wire all over my upper shit. Like, I'm all for it, dude. Hell yeah. Yeah, and it hurt. But you know what? Who cares? Like, I love this shit. This is my favorite stuff. And then when that ladder match was announced. The very first thing I knew I wanted to do, I was like, I don't care what anyone says. It's my dream to take the Bubba Ray, Matt Hardy, WrestleMania 17 bump. Yeah. That's my dream, man. And that's so funny because where I was sitting was like diagonal from the hard camera. So once you went over, it was like, oh, there's Bear. Bear disappeared.

26:50 Just disappeared, yeah. Yeah, that's the question. It was intense, dude. Yeah, that was a fun pay-per-view, man. That was really fun. Yeah, well, you know what? If I could peel back the curtain a bit, like, we were all. The entire locker room was so. I don't even think motivated is the word. We were all hell-bent on proving everybody wrong because of the... And I don't need to get into it, but all the kind of stuff in the air about, like, oh, like, you know, whatever about the show, which we don't care. We don't, we, I don't care. I'll say it. We don't, I'll speak for locker room.

27:30 We don't care. We care about us. We care about this show more than anybody. And we, I honestly, I talked to, sorry, excuse me. I talked to Frankie Kazarian about it, where I was like, we kind of looked around and we were like, man, this entire locker room tonight has an F you attitude. We're like F for what everyone says, man, we are all. And from match one, to main event, we all had an FU attitude to the world. And the pay-per-view shows for it, everybody killed it. Oh, 100%. I would love to see you in the Broken Bears. Can you imagine that?

28:11 Say that again, I'm sorry? Broken Bear with the Hardys. What do you think? Broken Bear. Maybe at some point. Like contacts and shit? That'd be crazy. That would be pretty funny. That would be pretty funny. No, well, we're all, you know, all roads are leading now to, uh, you know, we're, I feel like coming out of Slammiversary, we feel a lot of momentum going into now, uh, lockdown. In Chicago, uh, August 23rd. And, uh, we are, again, we have that same feeling. I know I do. I have that same feeling. And I'm hurting and I'm, uh, Definitely this year, the past two years are definitely catching up with me.

28:57 I've been burning the candle at both ends as far as my workload. Yeah, you've been on the road like crazy, dude. Since January, since the start of the year, I am at, I believe, 92. Matches for the year. 92. And I feel it, man. I feel it. And you know what? Everybody. tna gcw everybody has been extremely accommodating um more than i could really i i can't even like put into words how much i appreciate that and then putting my health first but I'm very much looking forward to making up for it at lockdown because I am I'm looking to go crazy, man.

29:43 I'm looking to go so crazy. So, you know, TNA is back to the whole four-sided ring like normal. Have you ever wrestled in a six-sided? I have not, but all my friends have. Really? All my friends have. And I hear mixed opinions. Some love it. Some hate it. I think anyone who loves it, it's for the fan aspect of, like, wow, this is cool. But anyone who doesn't, I've heard, like, it's a rough experience. Yeah, it seems like mechanically and, like, psychology-wise, it's kind of like throwing yourself in the deep end, trying to figure out, okay, can I do this, this, and this? Or, you know, laying spots out. Like, that's got to be tough.

30:28 I think I would love it because I am not much of a, uh, just the way I wrestle. I'm not like a very, I don't run a lot. I'm not a very, I'm not a flippy guy at all, but like, I'm not, I'm very grounded. I'm very just strike heavy, very move heavy. So like, I don't, you know, I can imagine for high flyers. I can imagine for guys who, use the entire ring to their advantage guys, you know, guys who are on the top rope a lot. I imagine it's tough for them, but yeah, for me, I don't think it'd be, I don't think it'd be as tough for.

31:10 Me, but excuse me, sorry. Allergies are rough, but yeah. I mean, I would love to one day if there, if that's ever a possibility. But I also love, but I love how we're, I really, I love our presentation. I love how we're doing things. So, Yeah, the neon yellow ropes, I love that. I honestly do. I love that. I love the yellow ropes. Yeah, like I'm big on, you know, I watch WWE a lot lately, and it's just like the white rope shit just bores the hell out of me. Yeah, right. I'm like, stick with the colors. Let's, you know, not keep it weird, but make it make sense.

31:55 Sure. Make it eye-catching, you know. I'm so old school. I like to veer away when it comes to match types, like being original and kind of creative, but we're all set up. I'm old school. Just give me fucking four sides and call it a day. That's definitely the way I prefer it. Yeah, I wouldn't change that aspect. I think TNA as a presentation, I love everything about it. I would say my cup of tea when it comes to wrestling or when I've been asked in the past or if I even think to myself right now, what do I bring to the table as far as how TNA goes?

32:42 Because TNA has some of the best wrestlers in the world. Mustafa Ali, Nick Namath, Eddie Edwards, some of the best in-ring technicians, in-ring. Wrestlers in the world. But if you look at the history of TNA since the beginning, it has very hardcore roots. And I believe my role, or I believe my, like, if you were to ask me, what do you want to do in TNA? I want to bring TNA back to hardcore prominence like Abyss did, you know? And, uh, you know, cause those are some back in the day, those are some of the most hardcore matches I'd ever seen.

33:23 Oh yeah. Uh, and I believe that's, that's, that is what I really would like to do with TNA and push those boundaries as much as I can, as much as they'll let me, you know, um, which so far it's been pretty cool. So, but there's. So much more. Yeah. And I've only been here for a cup of coffee. So, uh, I'm excited to, uh, see what I could do here. See what the boundaries are. I could push here. because I love hardcore wrestling. That is my thing. I love hardcore wrestling.

34:05 Yeah, same. Yeah, so that's what I'm excited to see what I can do going into lockdown, also going into the rest of this year. I would love to be in a Monsters Ball match. Yeah. I would go crazy. You know? Absolutely. That's music to my ears, brother. I like it. Hell yeah. Good shit. So, I guess my next thing would be, you know, if you had to look a little bit ahead in the future, what are some of your goals over the next, say, three years? Sure. So, for me, it's... My goals are a little different.

34:49 And they've changed along the way. Where.... I would say the normal answer for any wrestler is all like, I like the place I'm at now, but like, uh, the long, you know, I want to go to WWE, you know, and you, you'll not intentionally, no one's maliciously doing this, but you'll see a lot of people use the company they're in as like a springboard to WWE or a springboard to a W. And that's just not, that's not me anymore. At least, um, I truly believe TNA is my home. And, uh, I believe, you know, cause something me and my wife work on very heavily is staying present. You know, if you have one leg on the past and one leg on the future, you're pissing on today. So I, that's something, uh, that is a quote that has stayed with me pretty heavily. And you know, I don't really worry too much about the future, unless it's my future of where I am like TNA.

35:56 So I'll think about the future there, but like, you know, I just don't see the sense in it either of like, well, what if you go to WWE and you go to, and it's like, well, I'm not there. And I don't even want to, that's not what I want right now. What I want. Is, you know, I have a home that's, that is literally saying, Hey, be you, you could be yourself here. Yeah, exactly. You could be yourself here. We are not going to change you. You just... You get to be yourself. That's where I look and I'm like, well, why would I want anything different? Right. You know? If anything, to me, that's just greedy. Yeah. Well, it's the authenticity end of it. Like, you want to be as authentic as possible. And with wrestling fans, that's how you get over it. Exactly.

36:46 And that's how I've... These past two years have been the best of my life because... You know, I'd actually, when I had left AEW, I told my wife, I said, I don't care if I get signed ever again. I don't. I just, I need to be, my ultimate goal is to be the wrestler that I dreamed of being growing up or be the wrestler that teenage me would be a huge fan of. And I accomplished that. And then when I just accomplished that goal, everything worked out for me. This is the best I've ever done in my career these last two years. And it's gotten me now to, you know, TNA kind of like fell in my lap, you know, it kind of like just was brought to me one day and I was. Like, Whoa, cool. You know?

37:26 Yeah. So like, I would love to awesome. And it wasn't even my, like, I wasn't even trying. No, I don't want to say I wasn't trying, but I wasn't like, it was never begging or it was never like, I was just happy with what I was doing. And then it fell in my lap. They were like, Hey, there's this idea. And I was like, that sounds fun and great. And it looks like room to grow, you know? Yeah. So, and it's just been great ever since. I have zero complaints. I love TNA. I love how they, I love how I feel there. I feel like valued, but also just from the start, I was so welcomed. And now it's the home, the new home for my wife.

38:09 I know. I mean, how great is that? What a crazy, you know, that to me, even it's like, man, what an insane, like, one absolutely. Insane series of events leading up to today. Like, uh, now, not only do I have this new home that I love, but now I'll be able to go to work with my wife, which is like, how did this happen? Yeah. So crazy. I mean, obviously you guys have both been in wrestling for a while, but I'm curious, how did you guys get involved at first? Sure. So, uh, so Gabby fell into wrestling. Um, she was not like a huge fan. She, uh, you know, she, she, she has a heavy football background where she was a linebacker linebacker for the New York wolves and the WFA for 10 years, um, was an alternate for team USA. Um, and also as a power lifting background and a personal training background. So she was a personal trainer. She is currently still a personal trainer for, Stoked Athletics on Long Island.

39:19 And it was a Long Island-based wrestler by the name of VSK or in. AEW who's Jeeves with. I forgot what the group was called at the time it was Ari Javari's group. And he him and others they started going to Stoked and the trainers there including Gabby were like whoa you guys are wrestlers like. What you know and they were like just come to a show, come check it out. So they did. And they started coming to the shows as fans and they started loving it. And, uh, that is where, uh, eventually her and I had met at one of those shows and, uh, just fell for each other instantly, instantly. And, uh, that is where, I mean, we fell in love with each other, like right off the bat. And then, uh, six months into us dating, she thought, she had asked me like, what do you think about me trying this?

40:25 And if it was anybody else, I think I'd be hesitant. But with her, I was like, I was like, you absolutely should try it. Like, I feel like you, you have all the qualities of what, you know, so she did. And it was kind of off to the races from there. Everything had started happening so fast. And, um, you know, I, I really don't, I don't, take credit really for anything that she's like done. Uh, if I was to take credit for anything, it was. Just kind of introducing her to this world, I guess, which isn't even really true. Uh, I taught her how to wrestle, but you know, as far as like her run the last few years, like on the independence and, uh, she did everything herself. Honestly, I know the way it looks and people can believe what they want, The way it looks is I got the TNA and now she's in TNA.

41:19 So people put that in the air. But the real. Truth is, and I'll say it here, like I actually never pitched for her once. She never wanted me to. And honestly, she was doing so well. It was never even really a thought of my mind because I knew she would be successful regardless. And I kind of feel irresponsible navigating that road for her. Where I'm like, yeah, cool. I'm in TNA, but if she was to end up in somewhere else, that's great. You know, I would, I think I'd feel very irresponsible if I had a hand in that. So I kind of left it in the air.

42:00 And then I had learned something that was told to me by someone high up in TNA was they actually found her before they found me. Oh shit. So there were, they had kept an eye on her and all that stuff. So I was like, Oh, that's really cool. And yeah, the truth is like I had zero hand in that. I'm not saying people didn't pitch for her. I just wasn't one of those people. She just never really wanted me to in any Avenue. And I respect that fully. So I'm so proud of her. I care about her career more than I care about mine. That's the truth. Or maybe care isn't the word, but I I'm just so much more like, I'm so dialed in on her career.

42:47 I even as like a fan. So, uh, I just let that, I feel weird manipulating the universe and to like, let me try to get her here or whatever, whatever I've, I've been very hands off. Um, and she has done everything herself at all of her success is because of her. So, um, I'm extremely proud of her. And I get to reap the rewards of it because now I get to go to work with my wife. So it's pretty awesome. No, absolutely. And I know there's a lot of people out there, marriages and relationships where that doesn't always pan out. So especially in the wrestling business.

43:28 Especially in the wrestling business. Yeah, it's tough. We see it a lot, but we're very, very lucky. No, definitely. Yeah. Cool, man. Ever think about going in after some intergender titles with her? Yeah. So we have in the, uh, independent scene. Yeah. Um, especially with like GCW, GCW is such a huge part of her career and mine as well. Um, honestly, an extremely pivotal part of both of our careers was, was, was game changer wrestling. And, uh, for me, it was with the death match stuff, but for her, it was wrestling men. And it was a place for her to wrestle top stars like Manders and Jordan Oliver and, these guys who will push her.

44:13 Yeah. And, you know, uh, they have, and those are some of her best matches. Yeah. So, and then when, you know, with your question with the intergender titles, like one of my favorite matches was in Hartford, Connecticut this year, uh, me and gab versus busted in the brain is one of my favorite matches. Um, so that's been very, very cool. Uh, and I don't know, it's very hard to predict, uh, intergender wrestling's place on a TV level. Obviously, I would hope. But, you know, even. It's tough because even she had just defeated Dijak for the Limitless Wrestling World Title this weekend.

44:56 And that was amazing. And if you're in wrestling as a fan, it's the coolest thing ever. We had a lot of people watch outside of wrestling. And one of the big questions is, why is a man fighting a woman? So. There is a very, very sharp divide between the wrestling fans who get it and the casual fans who would look at that and go, oh, that's not right. So I think that would be a hurdle. That would be a hurdle. But there's ways to navigate it. And they have navigated it in the past. And my thing with Gab is like, you know, if you want to talk about what you could believe or what you can't believe, I don't care what you believe in or not. She, when she lifts somebody over her head, it's real. We're not turning the gravity button off.

45:46 Exactly. You know, it's one of those deals. They're impressed. Endlessly. Endlessly. No. And I just, I love how much of her personality shows through with the character. Like the normal thing is just incredible for her. It's crazy. You know, it just, it was something that I was like, I don't know if this is going to work, but the longer I've seen her do it, I'm like, you know what? She's getting it over, and it's hilarious and great. Me too, even at the start, because that's actually the Nomi thing goes back to when she was 10 years old. She's always been a Nomi aficionado, and then she had wanted to introduce it in wrestling, and I liked it.

46:30 I definitely was like, I don't want to say I had doubts, because when she had started wrestling, I just wanted my ultimate thing was it has to be fun. There's no goal of getting signed. There's no whatever. It was just something she was trying. And I was like, the ultimate goal is it has to be fun. And even still to this day, well, maybe not anymore because she's. Fucking killing it. But for years, no matter how good she was getting, no matter how much of a following she was getting, I always told her, if this is not fun anymore and you come to me and say, I don't want to do this anymore, you will never disappoint me ever. I will pull you right out of this. I don't care what anyone says.

47:12 I don't, you know, this has to be fun and you have to love it or else it's not worth it. Right. So, but she's, but we've never, we never hit that point. She's loving it even on days where it's hard. And even on days where she's not loving it, she's still got it. You know, she's still, you know, cause we all hit those days, but yeah, you know, it reminds me a lot of, uh, Chris Statlander. Where when she started the alien gimmick on the Indies, we were actually all pretty doubtful. We were all like, I don't think that's going to work. And she proved all of us wrong, man. So it's kind of the same deal. She's another one that just blows me away. Yeah. Unbelievable.

47:55 I'd love to see the two of them go at it in more recent times. Yeah, actually, their last singles match was May 11th. 1st of this year. May 1st at Creative Pro Wrestling. You can check that out. I think it's free on YouTube. Actually, I think it's on YouTube. Cool. Yeah, they're both incredible. I think it's refreshing to see the originality, especially with women. You get the borderline valets and you get the girls that transition into things, but they definitely both held their own Who's your favorite woman wrestler besides your wife?

48:40 Oh, that's tough. Of all time? Sure. Because Gab's also like one of my favorite wrestlers, period, too. So it's tough. I'd say Megan Bain. Really? I think Megan Bain is my favorite. Okay. Megan Bain, Chyna, Jordan Grace. Yep. There's definitely a theme there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I've only run into Megan, but she's always impressive to see what she can do for girls. I mean, she's really fucking tall. I mean, everybody's tall compared to me. Her presence is insane. Her presence is crazy.

49:23 And then, you know, I kind of had a theme there with the ones I named, but if I was to break away from that theme, somebody who I think is bound to be one of the best in the next few years is Polly Alexa from the NWA. Yeah. She impresses the hell out of me. Unbelievable talent. Unbelievable talent. That girl is 22 and she's already got it in her. Like all the things that she needs. It's just there. She's just super. Yeah, no, just super aggressive for such a small person. Like so aggressive, so loud. So like captures your attention, whether you like.

50:05 It or not. And those fucking drop kicks, man. Holy shit. She lays her shit in, man. It blows my mind. Like, she just had a match with Olivia last week, and that hardcore match was a lot of fun. Yeah. Yeah, they were swinging those trash can. Lids at each other. I was like, wow. Yeah. Man, it's crazy. Like, you know, getting to be 38 years old and you're looking at, Okay, when I was watching Lita and Trish and all that, they were about the same age. But now it's like I'm on the flip side of that. So I'm like, oh, my God, you're young enough to be my niece or something.

50:46 Oh, man, I'm experiencing that too, dude, as a wrestling trainer. Because now with Creative Pro Wrestling Academy, I'm one of the trainers. And, man, I have to bite my tongue a lot. At some of these things. It's not their fault they're young. No, no, of course. Bro, like, I'll have students that are like. Oh, yeah, when I was a little kid and the shield broke up, I'm like, oh, my God. That's crazy. Like I said to Olivia, I made some comment about, you know, being a cuter version of Tully Blanchard in that match with the way she was just throwing shit. That's amazing. That's amazing. She just kind of looked at me like, what? Oh, okay. Right.

51:32 Probably has no idea. No, exactly, but it was just funny. Really fucking funny. Well, that's with Gab, too, and not in an age sense, but Gab, again, like I said, she fell into wrestling with no prior knowledge. Yeah. So, you know, it's funny. This year, she has wrestled in Cork and Hall in Japan. She's wrestled in the ECW arena. And she knows the capacity of those things. Yeah. But don't ask her to name five matches in each of them. Because, like, she doesn't know. Right. You know, she knows, like, because Cork and Hall, you can't not know. You walk in and you're like, you're just walking in and the history is all over the walls.

52:16 And you're like, whoa, this place is crazy. But again, she doesn't really know. Right, right. I mean, the appreciation level is completely different. Completely different. So I think that's something as this new, you know, we're getting into this new generation. I mean, honestly, the way I, from my point of view, even at wrestling open, there's like two new generations. Cause there's even younger than like the DJ powers. And then, you know, there's like, uh, you see the breadwinners. Yeah. Those kids are fucking, those kids are so young. Yeah. I'm like, since when did they let high school kids in the ring? I'm like, I'm like, Oh man. Like, You're making me feel really old.

52:58 Yeah. But it's cool, though, man. I love to see it. I love to see the wrestling business evolve. And they're all very still appreciative of the past, at least in my experience. I'm sure some people might say different, but I. Think it's a very cool thing. Maybe my opinion will change when I'm 35 or 40. Right now, at 30 years old, it's pretty cool to see. I think it's in good hands. Definitely. I just love the amount of indies that are popping up. I work in underground metal 24-7, so there's a lot of parallels to our business and the wrestling business as far as multiple promoters, same talent going in and out. I've often tried to put together things similar to like the territories and the NWA kind of thing so that we're all on the same page and not tripping over each other. But it's tough in today's society.

54:02 It's a little bit harder to get people to work together at times, but I love the fact that wrestling has become less competitive in an ego sense. I don't know if that's true in your perspective, but it seems that way to me. With the performers or the promoters? A little bit of both. I would say not the performers with the performers. This feels the most unified, I would say. Yeah. Everybody. I mean, I think Gabby's a good example of that where like, if you saw the reception online of how many people were so happy for her, I think that's a good indicator of where indie wrestling is or everyone's kind of supportive for each other. Yeah. I'm not going to get into it, but on a promoter side of things, not so much.

54:47 Yeah, promoter. Every promoter I know hates each other. I've been on for 15 years, and it's not easy. There's always some kind of drama. There's always some kind of, you know, put-through business move or just overreaction to things. I think every promoter I know right now hates each other. Yeah, it's tough. I stay out of it. I stay out of it. And sometimes I'm looked at as a bad guy for staying out of it, but I don't care. I'm just like, I don't give a shit. I'm not a promoter. I'm a wrestler. You pay me to wrestle. Exactly. And there's days where I'd love to just go back to being a guitar player and not worrying about anything.

55:29 But at the same time, if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself. So I always cover my own ass in that particular department. Sure. So I'm trying to think what else we have on cover here. Oh, so like I said, my wife and I are big New Japan fans. Obviously, the landscape has changed dramatically over the last 10 years or so. If you had to pick anybody from New Japan in the last, I'd say 20 years or so, who would you want to face? I could see you going against fucking Ishii.

56:14 Oh, hell yeah. Ishii would be great for you, I think. That would probably be my answer. Yeah. I'd say Ishii or. If. We're talking like last 20 years. I would say. Huh. Yeah, I'd probably say Ishii. Yeah, because I mean, I could see like Tenzan too. Maybe. Yeah, for sure. He's definitely who I would pick anyway.

56:55 Yeah, I think that's the best answer. Right on. Good deal. So what are you listening to music-wise lately? Anything new? Sure. So I'm very, I love, I've kind of been getting really back into nu metal. Because I would say the last two years I was very into hardcore New York Long Island hardcore Like Pain of Truth. But I'm also like I. Change a lot I feel So like I'm getting back into new metal I love like You know obviously the classic new metal Like Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach And stuff like that but I also see, you know, if you're big on Tik TOK, I don't know if you're a Tik TOK guy, but there's a lot of new artists that are trying to bring that style back.

57:53 Yeah. Um, there's actually in particular where we're kind of a new metal slash. Very cool. Oh, very cool. Yeah. So awesome. Oh, that's awesome. I got to check that out. No, that's sick. I'll send you a link for sure. Please, please do. Um, yeah, like there's, uh, I'm definitely after this. I'm going to be like, Oh, you know, but, uh, I even, I even just fell into this Tik TOK kid. He's just by himself. He's a one man band, but, uh, is, is, it's a band called miscellaneous department. Oh, okay. Miscellaneous department. He has like not a lot of followers, not a lot of whatever, but I'm like this, this hits. I like this.

58:34 Nice. Um, uh, yeah. Kind of into that new metal. Cool. Lately. I love like old Chevelle. Yeah you know stuff like that um i have i love the playlist on spotify wwe pay-per-view themes. So yeah yeah you. Know um i love i love that playlist so i'll kind of like just binge those all day back into like i haven't listened to like i went like years without listening to lincoln park and i love them again because i'm like oh yeah i forgot like you know um not new lincoln park i don't really like that new album but i love like obviously hybrid theory i think is such a yeah goaded album yeah um actually i could probably pull it up right here let me see i actually have a Cause I have you.

59:28 Hooked up to my car. Cause I always do podcasts in the car. Right. And, uh, Oh yeah. Like I've never been a, uh, I just got. To do, I love the original album by primer 55. Yeah. They're good. Like I never really listened to them. And then I did this past month and I was like, Oh, these guys are sick. And, uh, it looks like that's where they kind of. Stopped, but you like static eggs. Sure. Yeah, sure. I like static eggs. They're pretty cool. Um, yeah, like that kind of stuff. I love, um, I love the band. I've always loved the band stained. Yeah. Huge stained guy too. Huge stained guy.

1:00:09 I think Aaron Lewis is kind of a little insufferable when it comes to, he brings politics and everything. And I, I don't, I don't like politics at all. I keep politics out of everything I'm involved in. I just, I hate, I hate politics. So I, I went to a stained concert and he's a bit insufferable when it comes to that stuff. But, other than that it was really I loved the show when there was music playing but yeah or even like the. Band Flaw. Yeah Flaw is good too so good. Dry Kill Logic yeah love Dry Kill Logic especially the album The Dead and Dreaming yeah yeah Oh, I love, when I was listening to a lot of hardcore, me and my wife got into Dying Wish.

1:01:01 I don't think I've listened to that before. Dying Wish is a, I would say a more recent band. Okay. With a female front lead. And yeah, unbelievable. Really unbelievable. There's an album, Flesh Stays Together. Okay. And it's very, very good. I highly recommend. Yeah, I'll definitely check that out for sure. Yeah, I think, you know, much like indie wrestling, there's a lot of underground metal especially that's just so good that people aren't really hearing. So I'm trying to do my best to help get that out there, at least in the Northeast.

1:01:43 But my other goal within the next year or two here is to kind of bring back the whole rock and wrestling thing. my promotion specifically is going to start doing metal shows that combine with like yeah I'd say maybe four or five matches in between things or whatever we'll figure it out but I think connecting those worlds make. A lot of sense yeah absolutely so. I'm going to talk to the powers that be at Wrestling Open and see if we can get those ball rolling on that but yeah definitely.

1:02:23 Never give it a try. Yeah, can't hurt, right? Yeah, for sure. So aside from metal and whatnot, is there anything you do on your very little spare time that people might not know about? I mean, I love movies. I love movies. I just watched Friday the 13th Part 5 last night just because I felt like it. I still have to see the new Spider-Man, but Again, just making time for theaters is pretty tough. Yeah. I'm a huge video game guy, but I haven't been playing lately. I love Xbox, but I'm very, very excited for Gears of War E-Day.

1:03:05 I just played the beta yesterday, dude. It's great. Wow. Yeah. Wow. That's awesome. Yeah. Very cool. That's badass. Hell yeah. Oh, man. I'm so jealous. And then hopefully if we see GTA 6 this year, if they're actually coming out on the date, it says. Definitely. I think this is the most interesting. Release probably of all time. Where it's the highest, the biggest budget for a game ever. Yeah. With one trailer. I know. It's like they're really keeping us salivating for sure. There's no, yeah, there's no gameplay. No.

1:03:50 At all. So I don't like it that way. It's kind of nuts. Yeah. So that's like really interesting. I think that's going to be a really crazy, like everyone's kind of like, what are we in for? You know? Well, yeah, I think it's going to be monumental for sure. Yeah. So I'm very, very excited. I think that's really cool. So, yeah, I mean, anytime I can make time for gaming, me and my brother are really big in the rocket league. Yeah. So we love, we love rocket league. Uh, he just made me download. I'm not a sports guy, but he made me download college football. Um, that's pretty fun. It's, it's, you know, right, right, right. Definitely. Cool, man. Well, I totally appreciate your time again.

1:04:33 I'm glad we got a chance to chat. Um, and, uh, hopefully we'll, uh, have you in the wife on at some point. That'd be a lot of fun, but, uh, I will catch you very soon. I usually see you Monday nights anyway. So hell yeah. All right, bro. I'll definitely see you soon. If any, if anybody watching, if you'd like to follow me, uh, you can follow me on Instagram at, uh, underscore bear Bronson underscore. Uh, you can follow me on X at bear Bronson, BC. Uh, you could go to my pro wrestling teas website, uh, my store and pressing keys or on, uh, TNA merge.com. Um, And you can catch me on TNA, TNA Wrestling on AMC every Thursday night on AMC, AMC Plus if you're in Canada on Sportsnet. And tune in.

1:05:26 For Lockdown in Chicago, August 23rd, live on pay-per-view. It's set to be one of our biggest pay-per-views ever. So we're very, very excited. Well, folks, that's another one in the can for us. We'll see you next time. Oh, yeah