And Jimmy and I discussed that match on the air and we said, did they not get to anything? Did they not do it? Like, did they not hit all the beats they wanted to? Like, how do you respond to that type of feedback?

So I'm at a point where I worry less about the feedback about the match itself and more about what I think we've accomplished with it.

Right.

And I think we did exactly what we intended to go out there to do, which was have a great match between two baby faces that had a ton of respect for each other that were battling over a prize that they both valued very highly.

And we told this great story and that it mattered to me above and beyond anything else.

I wanted that for validation, that everything I had said up to that point, I needed to prove it to myself.

I needed to prove it to my family and the people.

Like, am I crazy for wanting to see that right now coming off of Penta?

And when is he going to get the opportunity to get the championship that we all think that you have more than rightly deserved? And the, I guess the payoff, I mean, to do it at maybe the biggest show that this state has ever had, I'm glad to see that it finally came full circle there.

Yeah, it's so humbling now to look back at it all because, I mean, I was right there with you, right? I was frustrated, but I kind of stopped telling myself that I deserved anything like a long time ago because you're going to torture yourself thinking that, you know, I, I am humbled by the people that say I deserve things and that I've worked hard enough and, and earned it.

Um, but I don't let myself buy into that because otherwise I feel like you may end up just getting either really jaded or really complacent.

And so I just kept striving, man.

And like, like trying to make it happen, believing and like you said now it's full circle and it's like it worked out better than it ever could have because had I won it from Gunther back then it would have been a great moment but would it have been as big of a payoff in my home state with my family, with my kids who had their hearts broken because I lost it.

But now it's like they made this whole, my whole character, my family, and we all got made whole, you know, in the end of the day, it's like, I don't know, man, God writes better stories than we ever could somehow.

It's like the injuries and the circumstances that led to this, just you, you, we could not possibly write it like that.

And again, as I said at the outset, it's about time.

And then just talk about the absolute rollercoaster ride your career took since making the return at the Rumble.

It's just so, like, crazy how unpredictable this business is, right? So not only would I have never predicted or expected the El Grande Americano thing to take off the way it did, but for the kind of raw, like, visceral route that it took down in Mexico, that it took on once we started feuding down there, um, was also something just completely unexpected.

So all that to say, like, you, you just have to give your everything to whatever you're given in wrestling other... 'Cause you never know where it's gonna take you, right? And, and this took me to places and heights that I did not know that I was ever gonna reach, you know? If, if it weren't for the El Grande Americano stuff in Mexico, would I be standing here as Intercontinental Champion now? Who's to say? But I would venture to say maybe not, probably not.

Um, and so just the whole story was fulfilling both creatively, you know, and athletically, which we don't also get very often.

Um, credit to Undertaker, Jeremy Borash, uh, for their roles in that down there, the Mexican crowd for their passion.

Um, just every little bit, um, every ingredient, man, added to it to make it what it was.

Chad, um, other than getting through like lackluster times with creative, like a Shorty G type situation, what has been the most challenging aspect of being a WWE superstar for you?

Oh, man.

Yeah.

I mean, I w- there was scary thoughts going in my head about, like, how dangerous I was gonna be when I came back.

So I knew I was gonna be a force, and all it did was say, "Brother, you're in trouble, man.

You're just stealing my stuff, um, trying to make it your own," and not only that, but being awesome at it, to his credit.

Like, he took it, ran with it to a degree that maybe nobody else that I can even think of would have.

And so it was that that made the magic.

It was competitive fire and spirit that, um, it doesn't exist often, but when you find it, it's like lightning in a bottle, man.

Yes

How would you characterize this when you watch it back now?

now?It's part of my legacy that I wanna leave to my kids, to show them, like, that you, you have to stick with these things.

You have to deliver on what you say in your life.

If you put something out in the ether, say you're gonna do something, it's on you to deliver that, and that's a lesson I wanna pass down to them.

Just so to get to do it right in front of them, to show them and live that out, live out what I say I'm gonna do in front of them, it's, it's just beyond valuable to me.

It's so important.

Gabes, uh, I, I know we're, you're, we're in your hometown of Minneapolis, but how much did your time in Mexico mean to you?

I call that just an absolute magic period in my career.

Yeah.

I mean, I, uh, there was scary thoughts going in my head about, like, how dangerous I was gonna be when I came back.

So I knew I was gonna be a force, and all it did was say, "Brother, you're in trouble, man.

You're just stealing my stuff, um, trying to make it your own." And not only that, but being awesome at it, to his credit.

Like, he took it, ran with it to a degree that maybe nobody else that I can even think of would have.

And so it was that that made the magic.

It was competitive fire and spirit that, um, it doesn't exist often, but when you find it it's like lightning in a bottle, man.

Yes

Yeah.

I mean, I w- there was scary thoughts going in my head about, like, how dangerous I was gonna be when I came back.

So I knew I was gonna be a force, and all it did was say, "Brother, you're in trouble, man.

You're just stealing my stuff, um, trying to make it your own," and not only that, but being awesome at it, to his credit.

Like, he took it, ran with it to a degree that maybe nobody else that I can even think of would have.

And so it was that that made the magic.

It was competitive fire and spirit that, um, it doesn't exist often, but when you find it, it's like lightning in a bottle, man.

Yes

Yeah.

Yeah, Penta.

Yeah, Penta.

Yeah, Penta.

Yeah, Penta.

Penta, as I look at you right now, I'm looking at a guy I've come to respect as much as any competitor I've ever stood across the ring from.

We want the belt.

Thank you, Chad.

It's amazing.

It was something.

And you can see the crowd as he's telling them, "Roll the clock over." Everybody just gets up as a sign of respect and just starts clapping.

And, you know, round of applause, standing ovation.

And they're both leave the match just bloody and beaten.

One guy's heartbroken.

They're both crying.

Yeah.

It was amazing.

It was something.

And you can see the crowd as he's telling them, "Roll the clock over." Everybody just gets up as a sign of respect and just starts clapping.

And, you know, a round of applause, standing ovation, and they're both leave the match just bloody and beaten.

One guy's heartbroken.

They're both crying.

They're hugging each other.

Yeah.

... like scouts like there are for other sports? Are there scouts in wrestling?

So we do tryouts, right? Like three, four times a year, and they'll pick them in very specific spots, and they'll invite people.

Um, so there'll be a tryout here in, uh, Minneapolis, right? Summer Slam weekend, 'cause it's one of our big events.

So they've got eyes on different sports and amateur sports, different...

And they'll invite people that they see that seem attractive to them.

They may have qualities that already stand out to them that they'll invite.

Then we also invite people from, like, independent wrestling organizations, smaller promotions around the country that have made a name for themselves that we wanna give a shot to.

Sure.

So just being in that environment, wrestling for AAA and those fans, tell us the difference between the Mexican fan and the traditional fan of United States.

First of all, their passion is unmatched.

All right? It's like...

you got little kids all the way up to grandmas and grandpas in there and they are all 100 all in um I believe I had some little kids yelling stuff at me that they I don't ever want to repeat um and probably the same thing for the grandmas and grandpas but I'm telling you man like we would do arrive to the building and I would walk in through lines of people and it was it got me a little nervous.

And you always hear stories of guys talking about the way it felt back in the 70s, you know, or the 80s when guys were really, truly hated in certain territories and stuff like that.

And I got a taste of a little bit of that.

Like, these people were...

What is one of those matches that sort of gave you that itch early on? You're like, oh, I want to do that one day.

It happened to do unbelievably well and have the biggest YouTube audience that the WWE has ever had live, um, but like, for you going into this stuff, do you process that idea that, like, "Man, everything is sink or swim," or do you go out there with the confidence of, I mean, an Olympic athlete?

So, I look at it in this way, uh, the pressure you alluded to is there.

Uh, I consider pressure a privilege, right? Some guys, um, might crumble under it.

I, I consider it a privilege and it, and it drives me.

Uh, you know, I, I don't beg for opportunities.

I, which may be sometime to my detriment, um, but what I'm good at, I think, is taking advantage of them when they're presented to me.

And so, the Triple A thing, uh, uh, above almost maybe any other one I've almost ever gotten was an opportunity and pressure like I've never felt because it's this new relationship that we've started with this company and, uh, this thing that we're trying to build.

... what do you think?