From wrestling, I learned what I'm not going to do again.
I let the WWE control my destiny, and it didn't work out so well.
I'm not going to have anyone tell me what I can do promoting my product.
Originally, when I was introduced to yoga, I kept resisting. I kept saying that I wouldn't be caught dead doing yoga.
When I blew my back out at age 42, I said, 'Okay, I've got to be more concerned about food and health.'
Bottom line is don't ever be afraid to fail.
Everybody on top has a ton of haters.
I can't tell you how many times I hit that mat, especially that first year, where I said to myself, 'Man, this fake stuff hurts like hell. Do I really want to do this?' And every time, I would come back, 'Yeah, I wanna do this.'
God has blessed me on a lot of levels. Have I worked for it? Absolutely. But it still takes that blessing.
How could I not be the underdog, starting at 35 and a half and going from a manager and a fourth-string color commentator to being a wrestler?
I was sort of like a scout for Eric Bischoff if I saw people who had the talent. Sometimes I wouldn't bring people to him until they had the gimmick, like Raven.
I don't think there is anybody, including Jeff Hardy, who puts their body through as much abuse as A. J. Styles.
People don't understand that, when I was at WCW, if I wasn't wrestling that night, I was down at the Power Plant teaching. I was teaching people how to do stuff, but every time you teach someone, you learn more. The more you learn, the more you teach. The more you teach, the better you get.
One of my biggest supporters is Gerry Briscoe.
No one iced their body in professional wrestling before me. I did it because I was 35, 36, 37. I was already what would have been considered an old timer.
I would have always liked to have worked with Randy Orton because of the Diamond Cutter and the RKO.
I knew no one had better ring psychology than Jake Roberts.
Wrestling is cyclical. And if you look at the '80s, it had an unbelievable run, and then it just fell down. '90s had the biggest run ever because of the Monday Night Wars.
Some of my biggest victories have come directly after some of my biggest failures.
Vince McMahon made me a much better businessman, and I'm super thankful to him.
