Were there any more positions in the company that you were slated for that you know of before your release?

Yeah, I mean, I was supposed to cash in my brief.

There was a time where I was supposed to, I remember I left after a SmackDown.

And I was traveling with Matt Hardy at the time, and we left.

When you were there, when I was there, there was still an expectation that if you were in the opening contest, you still had to stick around and watch the entire show, just out of respect.

for everybody else and to know what was going on in the product, you know, make sure that you were paying attention to what everybody else was doing so that you didn't repeat stuff that they did unintentionally.

And I remember we, for whatever reason, we just decided like, let's, let's dip early today.

I want to know like where that came from and what the inspiration behind that was.

That's right.

It was, uh, one of the coolest tours that I've ever been a part of, and I got to know Hulk, and I got to know Eric.

And we got to understand each other a little bit and have a good working relationship.

So when they got into TNA, they were like, "Hey, this guy should have a, have a place here, too." So they really helped me get in the door at TNA and be in the position that I was in.

You know, like, I ...

When I first started in TNA, I didn't have a great contract.

It was a pretty ...

Yeah.

What was it like working with him, Jim, Jim Cornette? I know he's a polarizing figure.

Um, I, man, I learned so much from Jim.

He's just, whether you agree with everything he says or not, like, he is right about a lot of things, and he knows a ton about the business.

And, uh, you know, he used to w- he would write TV.

TV was always taped on Wednesday night, and then Thursday they'd wheel out the TV, and we would sit in the bleachers, and we would watch the show, and he would break it down.

He would pause and just, you know, we would basically do film study the next day, and I, it was just really cool.

And I remember, so my first day, Tommy Dreamer, and I, I called Tommy 'cause I had moved myself to OVW to, to Louisville.

Wow

W- where do you stand on that, Ken, as somebody who I think has that timing?

I absolutely believe that comedy will always have a place in wrestling.

It's, at the end of the day, we're, we're just supposed to entertain people.

That's it.

And I find it super entertaining, and it, I guess if enough people don't like something, then, then they'll stop doing it.

You know? If, if the numbers, if Danhausen's numbers tanked every time he touched the screen, the numbers took a nosedive, and if the merchandise sales were nonexistent, then they would stop using it, but apparently it's working, so I think the people who are complaining are just, you know, it's, it's like people with the loudest voices sometimes actually are in the minority.

I think, uh, I, I try to add comedy whenever I can, um, when it's appropriate.

We have to, that, that's where I wanna be." And, and what do, do, you know, do you say, you know, "There are alternatives"? [laughs] Is what I'm trying to get to.

Like I see, like for me, I would say like, uh, there had that, you had to have been an influence in some way to like LA night, you know, he has his own character and everything, but like, and he's kind of found himself in a similar situation too, as far as, um, being very over going from heel to face and, um, you know he's got the mic you know and he's got the comedy as well but yeah I don't know what do you think about that or who are some wrestlers that you kind of

yeah so this happened to me my wife and I went to an AEW taping here in the Twin Cities they came through here about a year ago and one of my favorite wrestlers right now I think I would you know hands down i could say best on the microphone period in the business is mjf yeah and uh you know like kind of a cool thing my wife and i were standing by the monitor watching with another one of my students was standing right next to me and mjf walked up to me and he was just like shook you know stuck on his hand introduced himself he was like hey i just wanted to tell you that um He's like, you and Randy were it for me when I was a kid.

Like I loved heels and you guys.

And he goes, I still, I still do certain things that I do in my repertoire.

The way that I act sometimes is a direct reflection of like things that you used to do.

And he's like, I don't know if you like me or hate me or whatever, but like, I just felt like I needed to tell you that.

And I just thought it was kind of a, really kind of, I was like, I fucking love you, dude.

Like, what does it mean to you to like be able to connect to fans in such like a tangible way? So,

Or was that something that you always had? Like, how did that come to be?

So it's a weird thing.

it's a weird marriage of like all these different things happening.

And for one, it started out, I was, uh, I used to announce basketball games when I was in high school and I used to like as a sophomore, I think I started in my sophomore year and, uh, I did it through throughout the rest of my high school run.

Um, and I would hit the last name twice.

When I was calling out the opponent's names, I would just throw them away, kind of, like John Smith, Bob Edwards.

And then I would do a big introduction for every single one of our players, and I would always hit their last name twice.

this out i love that so we got one more question before you before you leave my friend and i asked everybody before they leave and just so the crowd knows i didn't used to tell people this and people thought it was the hardest question in the world maybe it is even when we let people know in advance but i'm going to ask you today if you had to put three songs on a playlist that represent you as a person what would those three songs be

Yeah.

We left the building.

So normally, at the time anyways, you had to stay till the very, very end.

If you were on match number one and tore the house down, you were expected to stay until the very last bell and sit there and watch the monitor.

And you weren't allowed to get in the car and go.

And for whatever reason that night, we were like, fuck it, let's get on the road.

We had a long drive.

What type of fulfillment do you get in trying to pass down your knowledge and help shape and craft the next generation of talent?

What's the, what's the thing you did in the ring that hurt the most?

Um, I, I, well, this, uh, I worked with Tisa.

It's a heck of a great American bash.

And he posted me.

He sent me, he, he was supposed to like, he was just coming back off an injury.

Mark Henry had injured him, taking him out.

And, uh, He was making his comeback.

It's going to be you.