What does it take to become a WWE Superstar? For Chad Gable and Otis, it started right here in Minnesota with big dreams, hard work, and a passion for professional wrestling that's taken them from hometown heroes to the world's biggest stages.
In this episode, Chad and Otis share fun stories from their journeys to WWE, memorable moments from life on the road, and what it's like preparing for the spectacle that is SummerSlam. From their favorite Minnesota and Mall of America memories to the physical and mental challenges of performing week after week, you'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the lives of two of WWE's most entertaining Superstars.
We're also joined by Tyler Boike from Minnesota Sports + Events to talk about bringing one of WWE's biggest events of the year to Minneapolis and the incredible fan experiences happening throughout SummerSlam weekend. Plus, we'll discuss WWE's partnership with Kids In Need Foundation, the excitement building across Minnesota, and why SummerSlam is about so much more than what happens inside the ring.
1:30 Our pro-wresters describe what Summer Slam is and how its expanded to 2 nights
2:30 All about Minnesota Sports + Events and how they helped land Summer Slam
5:30 How WWE and our wrestlers help local school kids through Kids In Need
7:45 Chad growing up in St. Michael, Minnesota and career in wrestling
10:00 Otis was obsessed with wrestling as a child
12:00 Chad and Otis became friends at the National Olympic Training Center
13:50 From this point forward it’s just non-stop stories and laughter
Visit: https://www.mnsportsandevents.org/home
Visit: https://www.usbankstadium.com/events/detail/summerslam
Visit: Kids In Need Foundation
Guests: Chad Gable and Otis, professional wrestlers and fan favorites from Summer Slam; Tyler Boike from Minnesota Sports + Events
Hosts: Daniel Jasper
Presented by Bloomington Minnesota Travel and Tourism the official destination marketing organization for the city of Bloomington, Minn.
00:01 --> 00:04 Mall of America. It's home to world-class shopping, great dining,
00:04 --> 00:08 and amazing attractions and events. And these are our stories presented
00:08 --> 00:12 by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel and Tourism. Hey everyone,
00:12 --> 00:15 welcome to this episode of So Much More. I am your
00:15 --> 00:19 host, Dan Jasper, and I am excited for today's
00:20 --> 00:23 conversation. It's gonna be awesome. I'm gonna be truthful.
00:23 --> 00:26 I know nothing about this topic and I've already told our guest that.
00:27 --> 00:29 You're okay with that, right? He said sometimes we prefer it that way.
00:30 --> 00:33 Okay, that'll be good. I am, because today we're gonna talk
00:34 --> 00:37 things, all things professional wrestling, as the road to WWE's
00:38 --> 00:41 biggest event of the summer runs right through Mall of America and Minneapolis.
00:42 --> 00:46 So joining us today are Tyler Boik from Minnesota Sports and Events. Big Tyler.
00:47 --> 00:50 Tyler. And Winona State University, just saying.
00:51 --> 00:55 There you go. And along with some WWE superstars,
00:55 --> 00:58 we have Chad Gable. Thank you. And Otis.
00:59 --> 01:03 That's 2 of me right here, Pete. With SummerSlam coming
01:03 --> 01:07 to Minneapolis on August 1st and 2nd. Excitement is building across the state as
01:07 --> 01:11 fans prepare for 2 nights of action. And let's just jump into
01:11 --> 01:14 it. What is SummerSlam? I'm gonna have you, my experts, first talk
01:14 --> 01:18 to that. Yeah, the biggest party of the summer, man. Come on.
01:19 --> 01:22 What is it? It used to be one night, but guess what, baby? We got
01:22 --> 01:26 2 coming at you. Oh yeah, we have, uh,
01:26 --> 01:29 WrestleMania is like our premiere event, right? It's the biggest show of the year.
01:30 --> 01:33 SummerSlam is next in line. Okay, it's our second biggest show of the year.
01:34 --> 01:37 Minnesota landed it this year, so it's super exciting for us, baby.
01:37 --> 01:41 But you know what I mean? We got them, babe. Because you guys are locals.
01:41 --> 01:45 Yes, I was born and raised in Minnesota from St. Michael. Yep. And,
01:45 --> 01:48 uh, you know, just as of Monday found out that I will have a
01:49 --> 01:53 title match for the Intercontinental title this weekend in front of my hometown crowd,
01:53 --> 01:56 trying to win my first ever singles title in WWE. So it's
01:57 --> 02:00 a very, very, uh, important night for me. Was that the
02:00 --> 02:04 win over Ethan Page? Yes, correct, correct. Yeah, the old Eagle Guy.
02:04 --> 02:08 Yeah, see, and I said I knew nothing about wrestling. He watches every single night.
02:09 --> 02:13 That's what someone you talk to can do for you, right? He's, uh, Page or
02:13 --> 02:16 something. Is that his name? It was—
02:16 --> 02:19 I actually watched that match, believe it or not. It was really fun. That's the
02:19 --> 02:22 one. Yeah, very cool. Any match with this man is going to be a classic,
02:22 --> 02:26 babe. I love it. All right, I'm going to talk
02:26 --> 02:30 really quickly, Tyler. You're with Minnesota Sports and Events. Talk about
02:30 --> 02:33 what Minnesota Sports and Events does and how you guys helped
02:34 --> 02:37 bring these amazing athletes to Minnesota. Yeah, so Minnesota
02:37 --> 02:41 Sports and Events, the regional sports commission for
02:41 --> 02:45 the Twin Cities, but also, you know, the state. Pretty much our goal is to
02:45 --> 02:48 bring large mega sporting events to the Twin
02:48 --> 02:52 Cities, to Minnesota, to make a lasting impact, to boost the
02:52 --> 02:55 tourism as a destination, help with direct,
02:55 --> 03:00 you know, affecting our hotels, our businesses, and really just showcase Minneapolis,
03:00 --> 03:04 St. Paul, and Minnesota as a great destination. So WWE
03:04 --> 03:08 is someone we've been working with on, even past people before me.
03:08 --> 03:11 It's been a relationship we've been building for 10 years. And even
03:11 --> 03:15 when the stadium was getting finalized and discussions really kind
03:15 --> 03:18 of picked up back in like 2022 when TKO was
03:19 --> 03:22 kind of taking over and WWE was a great job of maybe outreaching to other
03:22 --> 03:26 cities, larger markets that they haven't necessarily brought some of these premium live events to.
03:26 --> 03:30 And we were just able to develop a relationship with them and kept pushing and
03:30 --> 03:34 finding that right event that worked at the right year. And 2026 SummerSlam was
03:34 --> 03:37 just the right fit. So we're really excited. This is the year, August 1st and
03:37 --> 03:40 2nd. Where does the event take place? Yeah, so it'll be 2 nights, both at
03:41 --> 03:44 US Bank Stadium, the best-rated stadium in the country. I'll just plug that
03:44 --> 03:47 for us. Oh, baby. You guys excited for that? Can't wait. I've never been,
03:48 --> 03:50 so it's going to be great. Oh, really? I'm a Green Bay Packer guy,
03:51 --> 03:54 but I will shake my booty in that place. I'm sorry,
03:54 --> 03:57 what did you say? You're a Packer fan? That's right. Yeah, we'll just cut right
03:57 --> 04:01 there, everybody. Send him home. That's it. I didn't make the cut.
04:03 --> 04:06 I love it. You're still welcome here. Thank you, babe. I say we adopted him.
04:07 --> 04:10 Yeah. That's good. Mr. The Wild, babe. Yeah. There we
04:11 --> 04:13 go. What, uh, what kind of an impact does an event like this have on
04:14 --> 04:17 the greater metropolitan area? Yeah, it's great. It brings in a
04:18 --> 04:21 lot of folks from, you know, out of the metro, from an out driving
04:21 --> 04:24 aspect, but also people traveling from out of state, internationally,
04:25 --> 04:28 uh, allows people to show us, to showcase the great attractions like the
04:28 --> 04:31 Mall of America here. But as well as, you know, our great hotel community,
04:32 --> 04:36 hospitality community as well. So it really helps drive that economic impact through the
04:36 --> 04:39 destination, through the state. And so, and those are the events we love. And it
04:39 --> 04:43 also is a way to celebrate professional wrestling in a market. And these guys can
04:43 --> 04:45 go into more detail than me, but, you know, we have such a rich history
04:45 --> 04:49 of professional wrestling in the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities, you know,
04:49 --> 04:52 back to the AWA days. And I grew up in the Attitude
04:52 --> 04:56 Era in the early '90s. So that's when I was exposed to professional wrestling.
04:57 --> 05:00 So it's just a great celebration. It brings all different types of people, new fans
05:00 --> 05:03 to the Twin Cities, and we're really excited to just celebrate wrestling as a whole
05:03 --> 05:06 in the community. And before we move on to the event and get into wrestling
05:06 --> 05:09 in general, there was a nice event here at Mall of America yesterday too.
05:09 --> 05:12 Can you guys talk about that? Oh yes, the school drive. We were giving out
05:12 --> 05:16 supplies, babe. It was my first time back in Mall of America since 2007.
05:17 --> 05:20 Wow. Yeah. So I tell you what though, it's changed. I mean,
05:21 --> 05:24 it's still the same, but it looks amazing. So it was cool to be there.
05:24 --> 05:27 It was just funny, you know, we're all talking there and like they were shouting
05:27 --> 05:30 down from the sides there, whose people shopping, you know, like, what the hell's going
05:30 --> 05:33 on down there? School supplies, babe, it's getting there.
05:34 --> 05:38 Yeah, providing school supplies for those in need, it was just a pleasure. What a
05:38 --> 05:42 great event. And then the thing is, like, we pull up this big wagon full
05:42 --> 05:45 of supplies to show everybody at the end, and this guy right here goes— he's
05:46 --> 05:49 about to start chucking stuff out. Not that kind of like— you want a notebook?
05:49 --> 05:53 We're not throwing things out, we're just showing them, dude. Chill out.
05:53 --> 05:56 But it was great. And, uh, a little rowdy. I love it. And I
05:56 --> 05:59 will say what's cool about this food drive or supply drive, it's with an organization
06:00 --> 06:03 called Kids in Need. So they provide school
06:03 --> 06:07 supplies for teachers with underfunded schools across the
06:07 --> 06:10 state. So by the gracious efforts of WWE, as well as Blaze
06:11 --> 06:14 Credit Union, we're able to collect school supplies for these 2 weeks leading up to
06:14 --> 06:18 SummerSlam and deliver these boxes of supplies to teachers across the state of
06:18 --> 06:21 Minnesota. So it's not just an impact here in the Twin Cities, but really a
06:22 --> 06:25 statewide impact, which is the kind of the initiatives that we like to do at
06:25 --> 06:28 MNSC. So people can still donate supplies? How do they do
06:28 --> 06:32 that? Yep, so you can donate at any of the 27,
06:33 --> 06:36 29, apologies if I got that wrong, locations. 29-ish, yeah.
06:36 --> 06:40 Blaze Credit Unions. I like it. But we have information on our website.
06:40 --> 06:44 There's also QR codes to donate financially as well. And we'll
06:45 --> 06:48 have an exciting event the Saturday, the first day of SummerSlam here at the mall
06:48 --> 06:52 at 10:00 AM to do a big celebration. There's opportunities to donate there.
06:52 --> 06:56 So yeah, it's just, it's been awesome and appreciate WWE and these guys for
06:57 --> 07:00 really spearheading that. I love a lot of beautiful smiles I saw yesterday. Let me
07:00 --> 07:03 tell you what, that's good stuff. I heard— I wasn't able to be down there,
07:03 --> 07:06 but I heard he had a nice crowd, a lot of fans, a lot of
07:06 --> 07:09 wrestling fans, and they're excited to help donate too. This man has this theme song,
07:10 --> 07:13 Getting That Mall Ready, Babe. Oh man, who's our wrestling
07:14 --> 07:17 fan? Goes, is that Nickelback? I got a brand new song, brand new song
07:18 --> 07:20 a few weeks ago, and it's starting to grow on people. I've never— this man
07:21 --> 07:24 especially, right? Yeah, I never came out with that song yet. I've only
07:24 --> 07:27 seen it with rehearsal, watched him with it, but Yeah, even I got excited.
07:27 --> 07:30 I was like, yeah, let's do this stuff. Yeah, let's do it. This is great.
07:31 --> 07:34 Uh, talk a little bit about your growing up. You're, you're local,
07:34 --> 07:38 very local, but local also, right? He's got way cooler stuff. Wisconsin.
07:38 --> 07:42 He's got an actual ring in his backyard. I just did grass,
07:42 --> 07:44 man. I was just taking bumps. I gotta hear— tell me about your upbringing.
07:45 --> 07:48 Born and raised in St. Michael, like I said. Uh, they have a strong amateur
07:49 --> 07:52 wrestling tradition in St. Michael and state champions,
07:53 --> 07:56 um, before I started wrestling there. But then also my senior year,
07:56 --> 07:58 we won state title as a team. I did it as an individual.
07:59 --> 08:02 I've been wrestling in some form or fashion like 35 years,
08:03 --> 08:07 you know, and it all tied back to that. And yeah, you know, even back
08:07 --> 08:11 then, my whole dream was always to be a professional wrestler. I always
08:11 --> 08:15 wanted it from an early age. My dad supported it. My mom supported
08:15 --> 08:18 it. My dad built me that wrestling ring in my backyard. Big D. Like,
08:19 --> 08:22 go out there and do matches. Who did you wrestle?
08:22 --> 08:25 Did you have siblings or neighbors? So it started with my siblings 'cause that's
08:26 --> 08:29 all that was available. But then once word gets out, you kind of find out
08:29 --> 08:32 that there's like, all this other, like, people obsessed
08:33 --> 08:35 with the same thing as you. And so we had a whole crew, we had
08:35 --> 08:39 like 9 or 10 guys that would get together and we'd do shows and have
08:39 --> 08:43 people over to watch and put on our own little shows. We're like little businessmen
08:43 --> 08:46 at the time, you know? Okay, I have a question. St. Michael, Minnesota,
08:46 --> 08:50 winter. How does that work in the wintertime? I know it's a summertime
08:50 --> 08:54 event. You have my word, I have footage still to this day
08:54 --> 08:58 of us in singlets with snow all over the ground. We were that
08:58 --> 09:01 obsessed with it. And like, you can see us wrestling and you can see the
09:02 --> 09:05 like our breath in the air because it's so cold. We just loved it so
09:05 --> 09:09 much. It's like, yeah, it was— it hurt a little bit more when it's
09:09 --> 09:12 that cold out. But cool. Um, yeah, we'd love to get some of those photos.
09:12 --> 09:15 We can put them on there. I would love that. If you're okay with that,
09:15 --> 09:18 I'll send you some videos. Yeah, a great college. Uh,
09:19 --> 09:23 how about professional? Talk a little bit about it. Yeah, there's a style of wrestling
09:23 --> 09:26 called Greco-Roman. That's what they do in the Olympics, one of them. I pursued that
09:26 --> 09:30 and wrestled in the Olympics in 2012. Which fortunately for
09:30 --> 09:34 me, that we had some WWE scouts were at the Olympics watching
09:34 --> 09:38 some of our practices. And the stars just aligned and kind of parlayed
09:38 --> 09:41 into this whole WWE career for me. And it
09:42 --> 09:44 was like it was meant to be, you know, from the beginning. I got to
09:44 --> 09:48 tackle just multiple goals and dreams and aspirations
09:48 --> 09:51 from an early age. And I've been very fortunate. Okay, very good.
09:52 --> 09:55 Otis, how about you? You grew up in a neighboring state.
09:56 --> 09:59 Yep, born in Duluth, St. Luke's. Oh, you were born in Duluth? Yep, yep.
09:59 --> 10:03 So you're Minnesotan, that's good. That's right. I represent both states very proudly.
10:03 --> 10:07 And, uh, it's down, you know, down over the Mong Bridge you have, uh,
10:07 --> 10:10 Superior, Wisconsin. And we, uh, grew up there. Uh, it was crazy
10:10 --> 10:13 too, it was like there's been 3 generations at high school. So my mother was
10:13 --> 10:17 first, my sister, then me. So you see all the old-timers go,
10:17 --> 10:20 I remember your mother, I remember your sister, you know. Yep. I mean, it got—
10:20 --> 10:24 it was an obsession since day one. I mean, I watched— it was WCW Thunder.
10:24 --> 10:28 I was watching the kitchen, the small kitchen TV. Raven versus somebody.
10:28 --> 10:32 And I was just obsessed with it to the point where I was just constantly
10:32 --> 10:36 breaking my mom's furniture. She would tell the babysitter,
10:36 --> 10:40 this is her word, she goes, don't have that guy, this kid,
10:40 --> 10:43 turn on wrestling or else he ain't never going to bed.
10:44 --> 10:48 You understand me, Sarah? That was Sarah. Shout out to poor Sarah, had to
10:48 --> 10:52 watch me on the weekends. But yeah. And of course I would politic and I
10:52 --> 10:55 would be like, yeah, it's only on for 15 more minutes. It's a big match.
10:56 --> 10:59 I gotta see. And I get excited and yeah. And I
10:59 --> 11:03 started suplexing myself on the table. So it's been an obsession and it wasn't
11:03 --> 11:05 really reality. I always just figured I'd just be working blue collar the rest of
11:06 --> 11:09 my life. And then all of a sudden, like, we meet with Gerald
11:09 --> 11:12 Brisco, who's at the wrestling events. Most of the— Another scout.
11:12 --> 11:16 Another scout there, US Open, national wrestling
11:16 --> 11:19 tournaments there. So I've seen him for about probably 4 years. And I'm like,
11:20 --> 11:23 he goes, you graduate yet? I go, I'm thinking with my GPA
11:23 --> 11:27 and grades, I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's gonna be, we're doing real good,
11:27 --> 11:30 sir. Yeah, things are going great over there.
11:32 --> 11:34 With all the, you know, all the great, you know, focus I was doing in
11:34 --> 11:38 college. And he, uh, this stud gets,
11:38 --> 11:41 you know, gets him getting a contract there, follows his dream after he retires from
11:41 --> 11:44 Greco. And I'm like, oh, he's doing damn good up there,
11:45 --> 11:49 looks kind of nice, you know. And we would talk, you know. So you guys
11:49 --> 11:53 knew each other? He was an amateur wrestler as well, like he said. So our
11:53 --> 11:56 relationship goes back to the Olympic Training Center. We were kind of like
11:56 --> 11:59 what you would I mean, almost roommates. We lived in the same dorm complex.
12:00 --> 12:03 I was across and I would just walk across. And we would just sit between
12:03 --> 12:08 practices. All we would do is watch pro wrestling and WWE and talk
12:08 --> 12:11 about someday, man, someday we're gonna do that. And then, you know, what was it
12:11 --> 12:15 like 7, 8 years later here, we find ourselves as tag team champions as
12:16 --> 12:19 partners together. You know, some night in Philadelphia, we were
12:20 --> 12:22 out there, we won the tag team championships together. And I just looked at him
12:22 --> 12:25 like, We did it. It happened. Sometimes life will pat you
12:26 --> 12:28 on the back. You just gotta let it happen, babe, sometimes, you know. And,
12:29 --> 12:32 and yeah, and I was like, well, I told, uh,
12:33 --> 12:36 my dad, I was like, I promised him I'd get a degree and it
12:36 --> 12:40 wasn't looking good. And I was like, then I basically was like,
12:40 --> 12:43 Dad, you know, it's my last chance, you know. And so got the tryout in
12:44 --> 12:48 2000, early 2016, got hired 2017, moved to Orlando.
12:48 --> 12:52 And then since then, man, it's been like a vacation because, you know,
12:52 --> 12:55 to me the job was traveling. But man, I just love— it's the only,
12:55 --> 12:58 you know, being— makes you alive right there. It's just like performing in front of
12:59 --> 13:03 a crowd and learning. And obviously this guy is a learning tree, and it's just
13:03 --> 13:06 like been so crazy to do with your best friend side by side. So it
13:06 --> 13:09 is, you know, it's just one of those things. Pat on the back, babe.
13:10 --> 13:13 It's awesome. Absolutely pat on the back, right? You guys had dreams when
13:14 --> 13:18 you were little, building a— building the, the, uh, in the backyard furniture
13:18 --> 13:22 and everything. And then being kid watching it on TV and breaking your mom's couch
13:22 --> 13:26 and stuff. Yeah, you had dreams. That's awesome. Oh yeah, because there wasn't like parental
13:26 --> 13:29 advisement. Like, my mom would let me watch it, but it was a difference between
13:30 --> 13:33 a babysitter watching me— got it— than her. When she said no,
13:33 --> 13:37 you listened. Yep. But it was like, I was like, you had the '90s,
13:37 --> 13:41 you had WCW, and you had WWE, and I was watching all these old
13:41 --> 13:45 horror movies and action movies. I watched RoboCop at 5. Yeah, you know, just like,
13:45 --> 13:49 yeah, like, this is It really is one of those things that it's entertaining
13:50 --> 13:52 when you hear it when you're young. It's a cliché when people tell you follow
13:53 --> 13:55 your dreams and you can do anything, and you hear it so many times.
13:56 --> 13:59 But now I'm like going above and beyond to instill
13:59 --> 14:02 that to my kids because I'm like, I grew up in St. Michael and it
14:02 --> 14:05 was just a small farming town back then. I remember. Yep. It's not like it
14:05 --> 14:09 is now. Oh dude. And like, these were my dreams and it happened. And I'm
14:09 --> 14:12 not, I'm not some special case since I, there's not some magic I knew.
14:12 --> 14:16 It's like, you're the same as me, everybody. It really is. It's a cliché
14:16 --> 14:20 for a reason because it's, it's true. You know, you can really accomplish anything you
14:20 --> 14:23 want. What is life like as a professional wrestler?
14:23 --> 14:26 You've mentioned a little bit about traveling a lot. How often are you on the
14:26 --> 14:30 road? What's it like when you visit other towns? What's that experience
14:31 --> 14:34 like? Well, summertime, you know, it's quite sweaty. And I
14:34 --> 14:38 will promise you, babe, I dress the same during the winter. Okay. And I'm
14:39 --> 14:41 at my— that's true. And I'm at home. Yeah, you know, like, I'm not bothering
14:42 --> 14:45 anybody. I'm just standing there and there's going to be people coming,
14:45 --> 14:49 goes, aren't you cold? And I'm like, babe, I'm just chilling
14:49 --> 14:52 in the corner here. Like, come on. Like, but now, now it makes sense the
14:53 --> 14:56 way I dress. But no, no, it's just, you know, small, uh, for me,
14:57 --> 15:00 the, the thing is, the only part is like the seats and all that.
15:00 --> 15:03 But hey, babe, like, uh, it's one of those things where you like, you visit
15:03 --> 15:07 so many places and you talk, you talk with him Like the
15:07 --> 15:10 road trips in between the shows, like, oh man, they're great. Those are my— those
15:10 --> 15:13 are probably my second favorite because we're jamming to tunes,
15:14 --> 15:17 you know, asking about the family. You find the right people to travel with and
15:18 --> 15:20 it's like a vacation, you know. But, uh, it took some getting used to.
15:20 --> 15:24 It's a lot. We go year-round with no— everyone always asks, what's your
15:24 --> 15:28 offseason? We don't have one. Yeah, it hurts. Like, we do WrestleMania, our big show
15:28 --> 15:32 of the year, and we do Raw the next night. And so like, it— there
15:32 --> 15:35 is no offseason, but you learn to just embrace that.
15:35 --> 15:37 It's like, we're always on the run. You can make the most of it.
15:37 --> 15:41 And I've seen the world 30 times over because of what I've done
15:41 --> 15:44 here, you know? And it's the greatest thing in the world. And, but it does
15:44 --> 15:47 get wild. Like there was a time in June, like just a couple weeks ago
15:47 --> 15:50 where I was on a show in Italy and flying home
15:50 --> 15:54 from that show. And I finished it going home. And on the connecting flight in
15:54 --> 15:57 Paris, they're like, actually we're gonna be on the show Friday as well. So I,
15:58 --> 16:00 and it was too late to turn around. So I flew home from Paris,
16:00 --> 16:03 got back on the plane and flew back to Italy. It was the same flight
16:03 --> 16:07 crew. They saw me again and they're like, what are you doing back
16:07 --> 16:10 on this flight? But yeah, I mean, but like, who's gonna complain
16:11 --> 16:13 about that? This is Europe. It's beautiful. And I love it over there. It's pretty
16:14 --> 16:17 cool. It's pretty awesome, man. What is your favorite place you've been able to
16:18 --> 16:19 wrestle at, both of you, and your least favorite?
16:22 --> 16:25 Not necessarily venue. Sure. City, whatever you want to say. I would say it was
16:26 --> 16:29 me and my old partner Tucky Heavy Machinery. It was an old
16:30 --> 16:33 circus venue in Paris. Okay. And I remember it was a huge rush. We were
16:33 --> 16:37 super delayed, babe, on Uh, customs, and I
16:37 --> 16:39 had to run to the Eiffel Tower. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:41 --> 16:45 And be like, cut a promo, get back, hurry up, because we had to get
16:45 --> 16:48 the show done before 9 PM apparently, because that's like the law, I guess.
16:49 --> 16:52 So it's a quick— an hour and a half show. No wrestling after 9.
16:52 --> 16:55 No, no, they had to get the, the actual ring torn
16:55 --> 16:59 down by 9 is what they said. So, but man, this old circus venue was
16:59 --> 17:02 so slick. It was like Like a very intimate, like it
17:03 --> 17:06 was kind of like an, what's that theater with the big screen? The— IMAX?
17:07 --> 17:09 It was like IMAX style, dude. And the ring was in the middle and I've
17:10 --> 17:13 never been in front of a Paris crowd. We got out there and we were
17:13 --> 17:16 kind of, you know, we're tired. That's the other thing too. Like the hard part
17:16 --> 17:19 is like, you know, getting it kicked in sometimes. And man, we walked through that
17:19 --> 17:23 curtain. I'm alive again, babe. And we were the opening match. We were
17:23 --> 17:26 working Wesley Blake and Steve Cutter. And it was just a,
17:26 --> 17:30 you know, 7-minute match. And we were up for 2 days after that. We never
17:30 --> 17:33 went to sleep 'cause it was just, the environment, the history of that venue.
17:33 --> 17:37 So that comes to mind first because it was like the,
17:37 --> 17:40 the sound just kept coming back down to the ring. It was so intimate.
17:40 --> 17:43 Like, it's not very cool. Some of these big venues, it goes up. Yeah.
17:43 --> 17:46 But wow. I think, uh, for me it'd be hard
17:46 --> 17:50 to surpass— like, I did one time did a main event in Madison Square
17:50 --> 17:54 Garden. So just to be able to say you main evented the Garden is cool.
17:54 --> 17:58 Plus New York City, like, domestically is my favorite place to go. I just— I've—
17:58 --> 18:01 the vibe in that place, I love it. And I'm going there tomorrow.
18:02 --> 18:05 A day earlier than I need to because I love it. And then my— actually,
18:06 --> 18:09 one of my favorite things is going overseas because, uh, like our
18:09 --> 18:13 UK crowds and European crowds, when we go over there, they're so appreciative.
18:14 --> 18:18 And it's like they treat every show like it's the biggest show in
18:18 --> 18:22 the history of ever been to their town, you know? And so it's, it's got
18:22 --> 18:25 special energy there too. Do you think that's just because it's Americana,
18:25 --> 18:29 American wrestling? It's kind of that vibe. Do you think that's what resonates with them?
18:29 --> 18:33 Or— yeah, I think it's like they just feel like at times
18:33 --> 18:36 they're earning maybe a potential WrestleMania or a potential
18:37 --> 18:40 SummerSlam. So if we give them this kind of energy now and show them what
18:40 --> 18:44 we're capable of, they're going to come back. They'll come back. Yeah. And do it.
18:44 --> 18:49 Um, have you, uh, can I ask what's the least favorite place
18:49 --> 18:51 that you guys have been to? And yeah, I don't want to get you in
18:52 --> 18:55 trouble with anyone, but— or something that went wrong or something,
18:55 --> 18:59 right? Sure, sure. I have to say, what's that live event Uh,
19:00 --> 19:03 venue in Poughkeepsie, New York, babe. Yeah, we have to share the bathroom with the
19:03 --> 19:07 fans. Oh, okay, that's a good answer because,
19:07 --> 19:12 babe, that's not gonna happen here. I can't sneak anywhere wearing clothes
19:12 --> 19:15 or not. I don't stay— I'm not gonna mix with the public. Yeah.
19:16 --> 19:19 And I'm like, and you gotta pee before a match. And yeah,
19:19 --> 19:22 I go out there, my vest, and they're just— it's a, it's a meet and
19:22 --> 19:25 greet while you're peeing, babe. Whatever, it's Poughkeepsie. And were they like— and
19:26 --> 19:28 it's not like annoying, but it's just like, babe, I just wish I just pee
19:28 --> 19:31 and just get ready for my match here, baby. But you're standing
19:31 --> 19:34 there and they're all going like, oh my God, I'm waiting in line for the
19:34 --> 19:37 urinal. Yeah, I'm waiting in line in gear and boots, ready to go, babe.
19:37 --> 19:41 What was the one we went to, uh, just recently where the— remember
19:41 --> 19:43 how hot it was and the floors were all wet? Oh my God, I don't
19:43 --> 19:45 know why that didn't come to my mind. Yeah, uh, um, oh, I know,
19:46 --> 19:49 it was Knoxville. Now I have nothing against Knoxville.
19:49 --> 19:52 I've had actually one of my favorite matches was there, but this day
19:52 --> 19:56 specifically, the humidity, right, is what it was. It's always been me,
19:56 --> 19:59 babe. And I think, and I think the AC was out in the building.
19:59 --> 20:02 Oh no. I remember this happened. The entire floor,
20:03 --> 20:07 anywhere, was soaking wet. The whole day you're walking around slipping
20:07 --> 20:11 all over the floor. Everybody's just in the ring now, musty and sweaty
20:11 --> 20:14 all day. And like, extra musty. I am, I am. Everyone's just
20:15 --> 20:17 like, let me do my match and get out of here. Like, we have a
20:18 --> 20:21 massage lady and I got on the table and I warned her, but she's like,
20:21 --> 20:24 yeah, you smell, man. I'm sorry, go take a shower.
20:25 --> 20:28 Well, the, the mayor of Knoxville is Kane, right? Yes.
20:29 --> 20:32 Yeah, so you should have taken it up with him, man. Good. That's his style
20:32 --> 20:36 though, baby. You know, he puts his hands down, fire comes out of nowhere.
20:37 --> 20:39 You know, he's gonna blow out, you know, Mr. Freeze air from Batman.
20:40 --> 20:43 There we go. There we go. Talk a little bit about what, uh, fans are
20:44 --> 20:47 gonna see at SummerSlam this year. What's the lineup? What's the— how's it gonna play
20:47 --> 20:50 out? And how many people are gonna be in that stadium? I'm gonna ask you
20:50 --> 20:53 that. I don't know. Any idea? I'm not sure. I'm not sure on the
20:53 --> 20:56 attendance. I know It varies, but it's a big crowd. The side
20:57 --> 20:59 of the stadium, we kind of leave that to WWE and, right, and the stadium
21:00 --> 21:04 side. But yeah, usually it's a— well, this comes out before SummerSlam, so let's
21:04 --> 21:07 sell it out, people. Show them that there's a reason we're doing it. And honestly,
21:07 --> 21:10 yes, if you don't have tickets yet, go down and see these guys. I will
21:10 --> 21:13 say, like, 2 days of fun for anyone that's even on the fence,
21:13 --> 21:16 or maybe you haven't experienced pro wrestling before.
21:16 --> 21:19 It's this unique art form, and I, I do believe it's
21:20 --> 21:23 an art form. Where you don't get it with anything else, right? You get— we've
21:24 --> 21:26 talked about this before, where you can go to a concert and you're getting great
21:26 --> 21:29 music, or a basketball game, great competition, all that.
21:30 --> 21:34 I really think we're the only place that you get everything combined in one.
21:34 --> 21:38 And we've done such a good job of making it so family-friendly, and at
21:38 --> 21:41 this point, that like you can bring your tiniest little kid and you can bring
21:41 --> 21:45 your grandma, and they're both gonna have an awesome time. I promise you.
21:45 --> 21:48 Especially grandmas, they love Otis. Yeah, they do. He's not lying.
21:49 --> 21:52 Right, I go out there, I'm like, who's gonna like me? That's his demographic.
21:52 --> 21:56 And then I'm just like— she's like, you're a grandma magnet.
21:56 --> 22:00 Yes, there you go. We all have our— the kids are just confused. They're like,
22:00 --> 22:03 I don't know what I'm looking at here. Yeah, the grandmas bring it in,
22:03 --> 22:07 big boy. Do we know some of the matches at this point, or— yeah,
22:08 --> 22:11 we're going to. I mean, my head is totally dialed in
22:11 --> 22:15 on my singles championship match. I'm wrestling a guy named Penta.
22:16 --> 22:19 Okay. Um, who— I was his first match ever in WWE,
22:19 --> 22:22 so now it's like this full circle. He sent me on a downward spiral
22:23 --> 22:26 and made me be kind of be become a character I'm not very proud of.
22:26 --> 22:29 I was very mean to this guy because of it. Um, so now I'm trying
22:30 --> 22:33 to get some redemption, um, just for myself in general and for my career.
22:34 --> 22:37 So it's kind of going to be— hopefully, if all goes well and I win
22:37 --> 22:40 and I deliver, like, it would be kind of a crowning moment for me.
22:40 --> 22:42 So I got to do my best to make that happen. So he was part
22:42 --> 22:45 of the impetus that helped break up this partnership? Yes.
22:46 --> 22:49 And sent you the dark side? Yeah, he's what we call a luchador.
22:49 --> 22:52 So he's from Mexico, he wears a mask, and I was having a lot of
22:52 --> 22:55 trouble with luchadors at the time. He beat me I
22:56 --> 22:59 went out, I got my own mask, I tried to be a luchador, I insulted
22:59 --> 23:02 the Mexican culture. I did a lot of bad, bad things.
23:02 --> 23:06 Okay, but I am trying to redeem myself here, so that, that will
23:06 --> 23:10 hopefully happen. Forgiveness. Yes, come back to the light. Yes, I'm coming
23:10 --> 23:14 to the light. I'm trying. And it would— and a
23:14 --> 23:17 fan too, seeing Penta's entrance at that stadium is gonna be slick,
23:17 --> 23:20 dude. Yeah, yeah, that's good. You mean that ring, dude? You're gonna be like,
23:20 --> 23:23 dang, because that's a great Pyro. It's great music,
23:23 --> 23:26 dude. He does his little cello, bello. I don't know how you do it,
23:26 --> 23:29 but yeah. Do, do people that come down and see this, do they have a
23:30 --> 23:32 chance to meet with you guys at all or interact with you? I'll be doing
23:32 --> 23:35 plenty of meet and greets. I don't have the top of my head, but I
23:35 --> 23:38 will be there, babe. And yeah, yes, we have, uh, you'll meet the big guy.
23:38 --> 23:41 This thing called a TR app that shows us all our appearances. Perfect. When there's
23:42 --> 23:44 a red dot, that means you have something that day. And I think both of
23:44 --> 23:47 ours, the whole month of all the way leading up to SummerSlam, is just
23:47 --> 23:52 red. So like, we're involved in some kind of meet and greet. Everybody's names,
23:52 --> 23:55 Aggie. Some kind of meet and greet or appearance pretty
23:55 --> 23:58 much every day leading into that. I think they have a lot of them scattered
23:58 --> 24:02 at the convention center. So in addition to the stadium, the Minneapolis Convention
24:02 --> 24:05 Center is hosting what they call their Superstore. So it's a—
24:05 --> 24:09 yes, 50 square foot retail space where,
24:09 --> 24:12 you know, when wrestling fans, like, from seeing these in other markets,
24:12 --> 24:16 like, they all— like, every 4th person has these giant belts there. Yeah,
24:16 --> 24:19 who knows what they pay for those, but they— and you guys are big on
24:19 --> 24:22 merchandise, so I've seen people wearing those here at the mall. Yeah,
24:22 --> 24:25 I'll see a skinny little dude carrying 3 belts. How do they do it?
24:26 --> 24:29 So the Superstore, and then I think a lot of the meet and greets are
24:29 --> 24:32 at the convention center Friday through Sunday as well. So that'll be open Friday through
24:32 --> 24:35 Sunday? Yep. I don't think they've announced the hour. Hopefully by the time this comes
24:35 --> 24:38 out, the hours will be announced. But yeah, it's another cool place for fans to
24:38 --> 24:41 hang out during the day before the action starts at night. And I know there's
24:41 --> 24:44 some other charity stuff lined up with this you had mentioned before we started taping.
24:44 --> 24:48 What is that? Yeah, yeah. So while they focus on the entertainment side,
24:48 --> 24:51 from Minnesota Sports Fund's side, we really focus on the community aspect, the legacy aspect.
24:51 --> 24:54 So we're working with WWE on other stuff. Recognizing what they
24:54 --> 24:58 call community champions. So we're working with 4 nonprofits
24:58 --> 25:01 from the state of Minnesota that are receiving grant money from WWE. So we'll be
25:02 --> 25:05 doing a big celebration with them out at Vikings training camp, thanks to the
25:05 --> 25:09 Vikings and TCO there. But then we're also capping off our supply
25:10 --> 25:13 drive that we talked about earlier here at the mall, which will be a public
25:13 --> 25:16 event on Saturday at 10:00 AM. So yeah, a lot of good effort
25:17 --> 25:20 by the community. And if you haven't seen these guys specifically, 'cause we've had
25:20 --> 25:22 the pleasure of working with them for a year and a half now at a
25:22 --> 25:27 number of events, but the WWE Superstars are like, the best community
25:27 --> 25:30 workers. I mean, our teams, our sports teams are great, but these
25:30 --> 25:34 guys do unbelievable. Every group, kids, adults,
25:34 --> 25:38 it's amazing to see them. So it's really fun and we're
25:38 --> 25:42 really excited. That's awesome. One last question before we go, because you're both
25:42 --> 25:45 born and raised around this area, and I have to ask about the mall,
25:45 --> 25:49 right? First of all, please tell me you're fans of Mall of America. What's your
25:49 --> 25:51 favorite thing to do here and your favorite place to eat here? I'm gonna ask
25:52 --> 25:55 all of you. I'm gonna start with Tyler. Tyler. All right. Well, my favorite place
25:55 --> 25:58 to eat is actually the new conveyor belt sushi place.
25:59 --> 26:02 Oh yeah. Apologies if I don't know the thing, but to do,
26:02 --> 26:05 you know, me and my in-laws, my brother-in-law
26:06 --> 26:08 and my father-in-law are really big into mini golf. Yeah. So we do like a
26:08 --> 26:11 tour of mini golf and we always start at the mall doing the Black Life
26:11 --> 26:14 and the Moose Mountain mini golf. Sweet. But I also wanna hear if they know
26:14 --> 26:17 the history of wrestling here at the mall.
26:17 --> 26:21 Yes. Well, I know that the first ever
26:21 --> 26:25 episode of WCW Monday Nitro was right where we
26:25 --> 26:28 were yesterday. Oh yes, um, that is epic.
26:29 --> 26:33 I mean, it's one of my favorite episodes and just visuals of all time because
26:33 --> 26:36 they never duplicated that, you know. Um,
26:37 --> 26:40 so I'm a nostalgia guy, so some of
26:40 --> 26:43 everything I did when I was a kid, I'm trying to like infiltrate my kids
26:43 --> 26:47 with it. Rainforest Cafe was like, I have some of the fondest memories from
26:47 --> 26:51 there. Um, and then just going on rides
26:52 --> 26:55 with them, which not a lot of the OG rides still remain, but like the
26:55 --> 26:58 swings, just going on those and like telling my kids, this is great.
26:59 --> 27:01 They want to do the big fancy ones, but I'm like, no, just do this
27:01 --> 27:04 one with me for a couple times. So you remember? Yeah, just coming with my
27:04 --> 27:08 kids, man, it's great. I love it. How about you, Otis? So babe, you're gonna
27:08 --> 27:12 be disappointed in me, but, uh, I haven't been to Mall of America since 2007.
27:12 --> 27:15 Yep. It was a church field trip. Yep. The reason I went, because I had
27:16 --> 27:19 a crush on a girl. I found out the bad news during that trip is
27:19 --> 27:23 she likes somebody else. It's fine, man. But I, I don't
27:23 --> 27:26 remember what we did. I remember we kind of did some of that stuff.
27:26 --> 27:29 Yeah. But I was telling, uh, my wife and mamas, I was like,
27:30 --> 27:32 this is the most I've been to Mall of America in 2 days. But I
27:32 --> 27:35 mean, hey, I mean, I don't— but I don't have a really favorite place.
27:35 --> 27:38 That's all right. We're glad you're back. Try the rides though. I do love— we'll
27:38 --> 27:41 get him on some rides. I love them. I do love some rides. We'll get
27:42 --> 27:44 you tickets. You can— I'm just being a nice man here. I don't wanna make
27:44 --> 27:47 up something, you know what I mean? I love it. Where can they find out,
27:47 --> 27:50 where can our listeners, viewers get tickets, find out more about the event?
27:51 --> 27:56 Yeah, ticketmaster.com is kind of their source for tickets, but also WW's
27:56 --> 27:59 website, our Minnesota SportsZone website, will have information on
27:59 --> 28:02 stuff going on. So that'd be your first bet. I think they,
28:02 --> 28:05 at least, I don't know if it's been announced, but sometimes they air the first
28:06 --> 28:09 hour of these live events on ESPN, ESPN2. Oh yeah, check out the
28:09 --> 28:12 show. Otherwise, I think it's the ESPN+ or one of those.
28:13 --> 28:16 Those subscription apps to, to watch it, the content. But we hopefully you come.
28:16 --> 28:18 But if you're in the area, don't you dare do that. You know,
28:20 --> 28:23 you got to be there in person. Got to be there. We need you,
28:23 --> 28:27 man. I will be there. I'm going to bring my grandson. It's gonna be—
28:27 --> 28:30 I think he would love it. So let's do it. Oh yes. Uh, Chad,
28:30 --> 28:34 Otis, Tyler, thank you so much for joining us. Everyone come down,
28:34 --> 28:38 see SummerSlam. It's going to be absolutely amazing. Uh, August 1st and
28:39 --> 28:43 down at US Bank Stadium. It's gonna be an amazing event. Go to
28:43 --> 28:47 the convention center for the merch store, the 3 days of the event, Friday,
28:47 --> 28:50 Saturday, Sunday. And thank you so much for joining us on
28:50 --> 28:54 this episode of So Much More. Thanks for listening to
28:54 --> 28:57 So Much More, a Mall of America podcast. Subscribe wherever you find your
28:57 --> 29:01 favorite podcasts. This show is presented by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel
29:01 --> 29:02 and Tourism.