I knew Roman Reigns when he used to come into the locker room with his father, holding his father's hand, barely out of diapers. And I don't say that as an ironic statement... I mean it sincerely.
I can't deal in ifs or in hypothetical situations. I only deal in absolutes.
Unlike Frank Sinatra, I have no regrets in my life. Zero. Whatever hardships I have faced, or have caused myself, are moments I have to embrace in order to move forward. I have no problem coming to grips with either the highs or lows in my life.
Roles constantly have to be redefined in any form of entertainment. Look back at the gangster pics of the 1930s and 1940s and the way James Cagney or Humphrey Bogart would play the part. These roles were redefined in the 1970s by Al Pacino and Rober DeNiro. And again in the 1990s by Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins.
My role is different than Freddie Blassie, the Grand Wizard, and Lou Albano's, and Bobby Heenan's, Jimmy Hart's and J.J. Dillon's as well. I legitimately consider myself Brock Lesnar's advocate. That's my primary purpose to serve to the WWE Universe.
Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are the main event of WrestleMania 34 because neither one is content, and both are ambitious enough to push the limits of what is now considered their greatest moment, and that's the point that neither one will ever accept. They will never accept the idea that they've peaked as individuals.
The audience wants something that entertains them, and whether that entertainment is in the form of a physical match or in the form of a skit or video or promo, it's our job to deliver it to them, to the point where the audience becomes the biggest champion of our brand. And if we can't match that, then we're falling short.
I think The Undertaker is, much like Brock Lesnar, a once-in-a-lifetime wrestler, a once-in-a-lifetime athlete, and a once-in-a-lifetime performer.
I think the fact that Brock Lesnar is not on the road 52 weeks a year, is not on 'Monday Night Raw' every episode, is not performing 300 matches per year... I think that dictates to the public, 'Brock Lesnar is special.' That an appearance by Brock Lesnar in an of itself is newsworthy. It's not commonplace.
To me, a WrestleMania Sunday is 'I serve at the behest and at the pleasure of my beast.' I'm there to lighten the mood. I'm there to keep the mood light and not make it too heavy, and to keep the pressure off Brock Lesnar.
I broke into the business in the '80s, and the '80s was based on hyper-exaggerated reactions.
I approach my interviews with the mindset of, exactly what are we selling? How can I sell it the hardest and the most effectively in the fewest words possible? And how can I make each word that I say mean as much as it possibly can? And I bring that perspective to the table because I used to focus a lot on the character that I had to play.
We live in a society that has ever-changing values and ever-changing standards and ever-changing criteria to determine who is a superstar or not. If you want to be a superstar, if you want to main event, if you want to profit in the entertainment business, you have to go with those trends and spearhead new trends.
I've always been a big believer in diversification for anybody. It's never good to put all of your efforts and all of your time and all of your financial resources into just one project. Diversification is key for any individual and any business.
I don't think Roman Reigns should for one moment of his life be worrying about earning the respect of the WWE audience. Because what he has is their willingness to pay to see Roman Reigns whether they respect him or not.
My first memory of the Garden, it's probably like any other kid in New York: it's either watching the Knicks win the championship or Muhammed Ali against Joe Frazier.
The key to WWE's success and longevity is that they are, as modern and as relevant as the company may be in modern social media and platforms and contemporary distribution, the company is still built around old-school promotion. Who are these two fighters? Why are they wrestling? And why should I pay to see it?
I never envisioned multimillion-dollar offices for ECW.
If you're content in WWE, then you have peaked. You have peaked in your own earning capacity for what you're going to bring home to your family, and you've peaked in what you offer to WWE in terms of your own talent to exploit.
I mean, truly, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king, and if you can't spot that CM Punk is magic from the moment he walks in the door, then you're reading a playbook from an antiquated writer.
