Zaheer on Writing Nick Aldis Entrance Theme, Brian Cage Entrance Theme, Working Out With Brian Cage

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the ropes and riffs podcast.

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My name is John.

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am a wrestling entrance theme song composer.

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Thank you for joining me on today's episode.

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I'm excited to be having a conversation with Zaheer.

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Zaheer is a music producer based in the UK who's written themes for some of your favorite

wrestlers like Nick Aldis, he got to work with Mickie James, Brian Cage, Mariah May before

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AEW, Melissa Santos, and so many more.

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we speak all about the different wrestlers he's worked with, even the fact that he himself

is a wrestler.

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He's won a championship out in the UK and when the next time is that we'll see him back in

the squared circle.

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We also talk about Zaheer's journey in wrestling and music.

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I'm very excited for you to hear this conversation here.

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if you like what you hear on today's episode, check us out on your favorite podcast player

and leave us a review over there.

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If you leave us a five star review and a comment, I'll go ahead and read out your comment

on the show.

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for anyone who donates $10 or more to Ropes and Riffs via PayPal, that's R-O-P-E-S, the

letter N-R-I-F-F-S, a donation of $10 or more will get you a shout out on the show as

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well.

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Now, without any further ado,

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let's get into our conversation with the one and only Zaheer.

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said this before we hit record, but I'm going to reiterate it again.

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for those who have been listening to ropes and rifts and for those who are listening

before and, or after our conversation, here's a here.

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It is completely coincidental that within the last span of like the last couple of

episodes, the last couple of guests have been out from the UK.

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It is completely coincidental, but it is the coolest thing in the world.

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that's one thing I love about podcasting and technology and

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the wrestling scene and the music scene all together.

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It's not just in one place, it's global.

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So I am excited to have you for a conversation today, my friend.

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How you doing?

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me.

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Thank you for having me.

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Yeah, that's pretty cool.

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I guess it's just the way things work.

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We probably don't all know each other though, or live anywhere near us, but we might do,

you know, we could all be in like the same city or you never know, right?

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That would be crazy.

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when you live in the United States, you see how massive the States are.

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Like people go, yeah.

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Like, you know, and something I've seen from a lot of my friends who live outside of the U

S they're like, I just go to different countries all the time.

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You know, and it becomes this thing where it's easier to travel there, but here in the U S

because the U S is so massive and there's 50 States and even two that aren't even

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connected to like the main U S by like land or anything like that.

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It's like, have you ever driven through Florida?

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Florida is big.

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So it's like, it's so different to be able to be like, yeah, you may live down the block.

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might be four hours, but I don't know.

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It's crazy.

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That is the, the U S person in me, ladies and gentlemen.

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Yeah, that's like if you drive like four hours in the States, you're probably still in the

same area, right?

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Here you're at the other side of the country quite well.

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What's really, really funny though is I met a, who's now a good friend of mine who lives

in literally the town over.

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We both met in Philadelphia at the WrestleCon and we were like, where are from?

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And he was like, what are the odds, right?

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What are the odds?

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Yeah, and in wrestling you get that, think, a lot too, because everyone's traveling from

all over the place.

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you know, it's become less of just a domestic community and it's really become like a huge

community.

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for me, I love always saying social media has been such a great connector, being connected

with people such as yourself and all these people within the music and wrestling industry.

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And for those who may not be familiar with your work or for those who are joining us who

already know your work,

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I'd love for you to tell us a little bit about how you got started in the wrestling

industry.

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Cause not only do you do music, you also have made some in-ring debuts and you've worked

with some really great people.

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So I'd love for you to be able to tell us a little bit about your journey in pro wrestling

and in music.

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Sweet, sounds good, Zahamza here.

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I am based in the UK.

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I've been making music for, I don't know, 20 years.

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I was doing a lot of like the kind of international hip hop and rap.

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I've been a fan of Pro Wrestling since I was like eight years old.

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I've never really thought about putting the two things together.

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Somebody told me a few years ago, you should try putting the two kind of patterns

together.

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And I've always been like, kind of like leaving them separately.

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we decided, me and one of my best friends, both big fans of Nick Aldich.

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So we did like an old hip hop song for him.

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Kind of like surprise, he's a song that was all based on his gimmick and his character at

the time.

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And it went online, it just became so popular.

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It became his interest theme.

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And from there, he very kindly introduced me to his wife, Mickey James.

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And then she's a country singer, but we did some R &B and track remixes of some of her

music.

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And from then it's sort of grown really, I've got a chance to do songs for obviously NWA.

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AEW progress here in the UK, Wing of Honor, pretty much everywhere.

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And I think my biggest record is probably Brian Cage's AEW theme, which is one of my

favorite songs.

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So yeah, produced for all sorts of people.

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Mariah May, I did some of her independent music, Camille Brickhouse, Kiera Hogan.

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And then I produced music for people like Enzo Amore, Leo Rush.

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So yeah, I'm building quite a real cool catalog.

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And for Enzo Amore too, that was just on the slam-a-versary show that just passed.

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That's correct.

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Yeah, that has been a ride ever since that happened because obviously it's been quite a

big deal with him making his PNA debut.

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Fourth Rope is doing crazy things because within a week they did West Eye Gun did a live

performance at AEW and then you had the whole squad kind of roll up in PNA so they seem to

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be taking over.

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So that's pretty cool and just being able to...

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have a song.

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I've worked with Enzo a few times now.

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We've done a good few songs.

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For me, this is probably my favourite song of his that I've done.

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yeah, the feedback on the songs really well received as well.

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And I think it's good for Enzo to finally kind of go back and get on that kind of platform

because I don't think anyone as good as him on the mic hasn't been since.

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Yeah, you never know where these themes are gonna follow people.

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And you know, you never know where a wrestler's journey is gonna go either.

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And the music part of it is such a different level of the industry too, because I talk to

people all the time and I'm just like, you never know if someone that you're working with

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on the independence is gonna get signed tomorrow.

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You never know if someone who may have just had their contract expire or who recently got

released is going to be.

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rebranding their character, you know, and you don't know if it's all of a sudden going to

show up in GCW and AEW in WWE and TNA.

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But I think now in 2025, you have such a pool of entrance composers or people that are

musicians that really want to get involved in the wrestling industry.

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Something that most of the musicians that I've spoken to on here are also just like, man,

I've always loved wrestling or I've lightly liked wrestling, but we've ended up having

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this passion for it that's grown over time.

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now it's just wrestling's everywhere.

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And the fact that you've been able to work with all these different people is massive.

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And it's a huge congratulations to you and a huge testament to the work that you've done.

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Yeah.

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And you you've talked about a

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it never gets old.

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Like, obviously when I was a kid, for me, like, there's two real key things that are part

of a wrestler's kind of character and presentation.

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One is their attire and one is their music theme.

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I think having the right music company, a wrestler is very, very key in their

presentation.

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And, as a kid, one day I'd love to have a wrestler come out on TV and music that I've

made, you know.

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Being able to do that, like for me, it never gets old man, seeing people, whether it's,

you know, Brian Page at Wembley, whether it's Enzo at CNA, whether it's progress

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wrestling, and indeed, in front of 50 people is still cool for me, like it never gets old.

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So, little eight year old me is always very happy when that happens.

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And I know from, you know, we keep talking about, we keep talking about Brian Cage.

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We keep talking about Nick Aldis.

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We keep talking about a couple of these different people.

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I will always go on record and say that Nick Aldis is someone who is incredibly

underrated.

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He was underrated in TNA.

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He was underrated when for me, he ended up moving to NWA and he was just like, Hey, I'm

the champ, but you know what I get to do?

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I get to call shots.

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You have to give up money in order to do this.

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If you lose and just like,

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I always loved that character point of him.

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just like, I think he called himself the dealer at that point.

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And I loved it where he was just like, hey, you got to put something up to fight me.

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No one ever does that.

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know, they might every now and again, and it's like, your career is on the line.

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And it's like, all right, well, this guy's retiring anyway.

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So here's that story.

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But like, I always loved how he was able to tie that in.

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And the fact that you were able to work with Nick Alda speaks volumes.

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For me,

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Nick Aldis is somebody who, know, in years past, I'm like, man, I'd love to put together a

theme for him.

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But for Nick Aldis, what goes into it for you?

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How do you talk to Nick Aldis and say, okay, cool.

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I'm going to put this theme together for you.

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What music fits Nick Aldis?

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I think Nick, I kind of met probably, obviously with him being British, about 10, 15 years

ago, he's always just been so kind and supportive.

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And I just want to go on record and say, I think Nick Aldiss, I owe him pretty much

everything.

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So it wasn't for him opening doors for me and using that song or introducing me to Enzo,

introducing me to Mickie James, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't be where I am without Nick

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though.

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I have a lot of time for Nick and I think that's why when I came down to wanting to do a

song, at the time it was more of I wanted to accompany his kind of character, but more

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towards a line of sort of like a hip hop ode, as opposed to like a theme for him.

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It just so happens that the song became so popular online and it kind of, like you

mentioned about, you never know what's going to happen.

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And obviously in terms of licensing, me and Nick had an agreement with that song.

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So no one

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owns that song and no company has permission to use it, Nick had permission to use it, so

was a personal contract, so wherever he goes, mean, he could still use the song if he

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wanted to.

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So I think that's kind of how it worked, but I wanted to do the song where a lot of the

lyrics were, well, all of the lyrics were around him and his character, so it was kind of

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that kind of hype song.

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I also spoke to him about it and I was like, give me an idea of some of the songs that you

like that are more in my sort of sphere.

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Spear?

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Spear is a resting room.

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Right.

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Never mind.

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in my sphere and everyone uses the sphere nowadays so we know.

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Exactly, yeah.

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And going through that, it kind of gave me some ideas for music, but obviously I went to

put my flavor on.

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So me and guitarist friend, as I look, I want to do this thing for Nick Aldis.

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Can you help me?

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And he did.

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then the rapper on there is actually one of my best friends and he's a big wrestling nerd

as well.

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Again, he's never rapped.

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He's done a lot of hip hop stuff.

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We've done Radio 1, we've done the festivals here.

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But again, music has always been music and wrestling has been wrestling.

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I was like, there's no one else that I want to do this song with.

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And then obviously we dropped it online.

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just got so much recognition.

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then as Nick started to, well, I wouldn't say that the song was tailored to his like, hero

character at the time, as he started getting more popular and started kind of being a bit

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more basic, kind of fit his character, because it comes in, there's a lot of boom when it

comes out.

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It's just, it sounds quite, quite grand.

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And I think it sort of fit his aesthetic at the time.

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So we did the song for him as him.

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I do want to mention actually this is more about wrestling but Nick Aldis as you mentioned

he did bring prestige to the NWA.

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He also brought prestige to kind of being an independent wrestler at the time because he

obviously did his own thing and I think it's very very important he probably doesn't get

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the credit for this but he paved the way for the likes of

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Cody Rose to do his thing, you know, in terms of the suits and the championship and the

prestige and how he conducted himself and same with like Matt Cardona now.

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So I think those blueprints of their success does come from somebody who did it 10, 12

years ago, which was Nick.

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Yeah, I agree too.

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And even if you think about Cody's, I don't mean to use this as a pun, but Cody's road,

right?

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If you think about his path to success, it goes through Nick Aldis in a couple of

different ways.

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And even going back to what we spoke about a little bit earlier about him being the dealer

and turning around and being like, Hey, you have to offer something up.

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Like there's so much cache that Nick Aldis built in himself with that NWA title.

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And he was somebody who, when you talk about somebody carrying themselves as a champion,

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He did that no matter where he went, no matter what promotion he was in carrying that NWA

title.

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always wore the suits.

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He always carried that title with respect and he held it in the way that I love people

holding the title where he was kind of cradling it.

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Like I thought that was always just again, unique.

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And I think without Nick Aldis, you still get Cody Rhodes in a positive place in WWE and

then the independence.

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But I think without going through Nick Aldis, the road of Cody Rhodes looks very...

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very different and that comes down to how he presented himself.

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That comes out to the music that you wrote for him too.

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You know, again, this presentation of this is the guy who's the champion of champions.

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You don't have a company put that on you.

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You're that person from before the bell rings.

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And when people hear your music, and if you're not that, if the music doesn't hit and if

the presentation isn't there, then you can make the argument that Cody Rhodes just beat

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somebody else, but he beat Nick Aldis and Nick Aldis beat him.

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And I think that the music is a huge part of that too.

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It's great, like it's wild because I remember the All In match and they proper sucked me

in because you know it was a big workhorse show and then they kind of spliced that in

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inside it but you know the Ring of Honor, NWA thing but like it's just funny now when you

mention that and it's made me think because I would never have guessed that that time you

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know a couple of years ago you'd be walking out for one of my songs like it's crazy when I

think of that.

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And now you go from someone like Nick Aldis and we're going to jump around a little bit.

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Cause again, you've worked with everybody.

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So we talk about working with him and then all of sudden working with Brian cage, right?

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Brian cage, who is just a monster in every way that you can imply monster is put, right?

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that guy can fly, that guy can move, that guy can just hurt you in every way possible.

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And you know, with Brian cage, he's somebody who.

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in Lucha Underground got a lot of play and a lot of notoriety and you know what a lot of

those guys like again Penta, Ray Phoenix, all these guys we have to give Lucha.

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Yeah, we have to give Lucha Underground so many flowers that it's continuously given by

the hardcore audience but just keep giving Lucha Underground its flowers because

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That's where a lot of your favorites really got on TV.

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That's still the best presentation of Taya that I've ever seen, ladies and gentlemen.

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But you got to work with Brian Cage.

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And we'll talk about Melissa Santos in a second, because you also worked with her.

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But I want to hear a little bit about how it got to be working with Brian Cage.

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Um, it was actually Melissa that, um, I spoke to first, because when I did the song with

Mickie James, we had like a, a, a TikTok slash Instagram challenge that was, that was

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happening, uh, where they kind of did transition, but generally like wrestlers where they

were like in their normal clothes for their wrestling gear or fitness people or whatever.

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And obviously, uh, she did that.

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And I remember obviously Brian liking it and commenting on it.

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And you know, it was just like, you know, Hey Brian, maybe one day I can do a song for

you.

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And then we just kind of sort of became friends as well.

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It's really, that's a weird friendship for me because I used to watch him when he was like

Chris Logan in FCW, right?

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And then you go from there to like going to the gym with him and hanging out with him.

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It's so weird like that.

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I can't really wrap my head around it, but.

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wait, wait, wait a minute, wait a minute.

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How is it going to the gym with Brian Cage?

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It's fun.

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It's quite an experience.

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Obviously we don't list the same.

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But yeah, it's crazy.

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I think he obviously does help you step up.

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I learned so much from him when I'm training with him.

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He came to Progress a couple of years back and then when he came down to All In, he hung

out beforehand and hit the gym and things.

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It's pretty cool.

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How many people can say that they've trained for this group?

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Brian Hayes, right?

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Pretty amazing, right?

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You've gotten to work on.

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Exactly, yeah, I feel like if you go to the gym with Brian Cage, you're just like, all

right, cool, I'm going to bench.

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I'm going to do this.

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He's like, all right, cool.

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I'm going to go lift this entire machine.

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And you're just like, what?

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How, like, how are we doing this?

245

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How are we in the same stratosphere here?

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But you keep bringing something up.

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want to, I want to highlight too.

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You keep bringing up all in.

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And I think you're the first person on the show that I've interviewed that has had

involvement.

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with All In and some of your music featured on that.

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you know, for you, when it comes to All In, did you have any insight as to what All In was

going to be before All In became a thing?

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For you, was it more like you've worked with these people and because of you working with

the music, your music just shows up on All In?

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What is your kind of take on how All In came to favor for you?

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I think, luckily it was me getting my music on there was based on Brian coming down.

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I've kind of friends with Swerve and the Flash Garments as well because obviously they're

both in the hip hop scene.

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It would have happened the year before but there was changes that were made on the match

with Steen and Darby Allen.

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I Christian ended up replacing Brian because he was injured.

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But yeah, it was just a case of, it's always been like a goal and I would have loved to

have had that done.

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having him come out to the song at Wembley.

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So it was very last minute having Brian on there and having all the multi-people match and

there a lot of travel involved.

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But yeah, it happened.

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I went to the first one.

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I went to the last one, so I'm a big wrestling fan.

264

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And the first one, yes, genuinely, it was a brilliant card, but also was quite historic.

265

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was the first big open air Wembley show since...

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at SummerSlam 92.

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So as a...

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It's really, really weird for me because I can't answer that whether...

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Because I don't know whether to answer it as a fan and a supporter of AEW or as a music

guy or as a producer guy.

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Do know what mean?

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Well, I think when you're talking about that, you can kind of answer it as both, you know,

because when you're in this industry and you work in the way that we do, where you're

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working on the music and sometimes you're working with the company, sometimes you're

working with the wrestler themselves.

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it can really be a, depending on who you're working with, the experience can be very

different.

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I've worked on themes pretty consistently where it's with the wrestler themselves.

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And then like you said, they get the ability to use it wherever they want to and all that.

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I've had some times where I've worked with a promotion and they're just like, nope, don't

even talk to the wrestler.

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And I'm like, wow, that's hard.

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but that, that's a very different kind of experience, ladies and gentlemen.

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But when you are at something like all in and you're at Wembley and you see the open area,

like, there's a lot of people here.

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Dang, this is crazy.

281

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look, it's my music.

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How is that for you seeing it played in front of upwards of 80,000 people?

283

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Definitely a dream come true like I I've spoken earlier you go from I used to play all the

WWE games when I was younger right so you go from like putting your music into your

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creator wrestler in the game so then having Brian Cage who looks like he was made in a

factory somewhere like the ultimate creator wrestler and he's coming out to the song that

285

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you actually produced that's on TV it's a dream come true

286

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still something that I can't really wrap my head around.

287

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And I think you just touched upon it in terms of like connections and stuff.

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For me, I've always had to engage with the wrestler because the company might open the

door for you, but like I really like to sit down, understand the character and no one

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understands the character better than the wrestlers.

290

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Like things might fit a narrative, but it's like...

291

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when you're coming out to the ring, how do you want your song to feel?

292

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How do you want to feel as a song comes out?

293

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Like what really strikes a chord with you?

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So for me, it's very important to have that relationship with the rest or at least some

sort of conversation.

295

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Because ultimately, it's them that work out the...

296

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You can make a great song, but if they don't vibe to it, they don't vibe to it.

297

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Or I feel like they should definitely have some sort of influence or input on their music.

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Because I think it's...

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just as much theirs as it the company's and it's very key for their presentation and

wrestlers take a lot of pride in how they look and how they train and how they eat and how

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they present themselves.

301

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So I think whether it's working for a company or directly for a wrestler, think having

that personal engagement is so key.

302

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Yeah, I agree with that.

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And I think that the most successful themes are the ones where wrestlers have at least

some level of input in it.

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And I'm grateful that, you know, people like yourself, people like me, people like it

lives, it breathes, we all get to downstate.

305

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We all get to work mostly directly with the talent, right?

306

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Because then it becomes their song.

307

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It's your song, but at the same time, it takes on the life of what the wrestler is looking

for and it describes them.

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And I think you and I have a similar opening question that we talked to wrestlers about.

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What do you want the music to say about you?

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before people even see you, before you hit the ring, because you got to listen to it and

it's got to psych you up and the people got to listen to it and it's got to psych them up

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too.

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Or at least it has to give them the visual of what's going to happen before you come out.

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You you think of a luchador and you wouldn't have Brian Cage's theme, let's say for a

luchador probably and vice versa, you know?

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So it's these little tells and these little cues that give even more.

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to each of those people.

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You go from working with someone like Brian Cage at Wembley and, or you go from working

with someone like Brian Cage, seeing the music happen at Wembley, going all through all

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these different wrestlers you've worked with.

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And then you got to eventually work with Melissa Santos also.

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And that was an original song that recently came out.

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I feel like Melissa was very instrumental in introducing me Brian, not only professionally

but personally.

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I've always had time for her, she's always supported my work and we've had conversations

before and she's always like, I don't know the first thing to do, but I'd always love to

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do a song.

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know, obviously I wouldn't know where to start.

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I don't know how to go about recording and mixing and things like that and writing.

325

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But because she is an actual classically trained singer, so she doesn't know how to sing.

326

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So I was like, I would love to get her involved with the project.

327

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We have been working on a song actually for her, like a debut single, but she's so busy,

man.

328

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Like she's got so much going on.

329

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She's recently started two podcasts and I've just got two children, two mini cages to deal

with and then big cage as well, half a cage.

330

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So getting her to kind of like write a song is, there's only so much time in the day, but

we had this song, the song was written.

331

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with a guy called Willie Boyd who again, who's a lessons man.

332

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He wrote the hook and I was like, Melissa, I've got this song.

333

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Would you like to the honours of doing the vocals?

334

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He said he'd always wanted to do a song, so this would be your music debut.

335

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And he loved the idea and he did it.

336

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And then, yeah, the rest is history.

337

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I got to work with another producer who has done music for Lear Rush.

338

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It's again, it's like a family affair.

339

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I'm very, very, there's obviously the business side of music and wrestling, but like for

me, I'm very much like doing things that are meaningful to me and having projects with

340

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people who I have some sort of like relationship or bond with.

341

00:23:52,280 --> 00:24:02,247

like, I remember I was in a feeling for WrestleMania as was Willie Boy, and know, know how

cold it was that day, but we were tailgating in his car.

342

00:24:02,247 --> 00:24:05,468

after the show, so having him part of that song is pretty cool.

343

00:24:05,468 --> 00:24:16,712

Melissa opens so many doors for me with Brian, an advocate of my music, and then getting

to work with another really talented guy, SOS X Beats, for the production.

344

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Again, it's just like a, it's just cementing a moment that's very, very meaningful to me,

and the fact that people love it, and Melissa can say that she's done a song just the

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icing on the cake.

346

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Have you ever been at an event where someone has come out to your music and you see people

in the crowd just rocking and doing their thing to it and you're just like, they don't

347

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even know that's me and I'm just sitting here experiencing it.

348

00:24:41,594 --> 00:24:46,174

yeah, yeah, especially some of the more independent shows.

349

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I think a lot of them do know, which is pretty cool.

350

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But the person who's normally the most hype in the crowd coming out to a song I produce is

normally me because like I it never gets, it's so cool.

351

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It's still so cool.

352

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Like when a song drops, I kind of do the whole, and everyone always like, don't find that

neat, but it's just it.

353

00:25:07,249 --> 00:25:07,692

Yeah.

354

00:25:07,692 --> 00:25:11,791

time and the second time and the 300th time it still hits the fan amount.

355

00:25:11,791 --> 00:25:12,311

I love it.

356

00:25:12,311 --> 00:25:12,572

Yeah.

357

00:25:12,572 --> 00:25:24,793

There's a song I recently did for Layla Hirsch when she ended up going to GCW and I'm

watching the video of her walkout and it's the first time that she did an event after AEW

358

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and you see the crowd start kind of bopping to it and start kind of jamming to it.

359

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And you're just like, all right, cool.

360

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Like it works.

361

00:25:30,638 --> 00:25:32,869

You're excited when you see that it works a little bit.

362

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And then the wrestler comes out and you're just like, all right, this, this totally works.

363

00:25:36,472 --> 00:25:38,770

And you know, I've been at a couple of different.

364

00:25:38,770 --> 00:25:43,323

badass.

365

00:25:43,323 --> 00:25:47,565

had a really good run at NWA as well.

366

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feel like the last time I saw her was probably at a Ringo Ronan show.

367

00:25:53,167 --> 00:25:56,163

AEW just have too many records and not enough.

368

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And they have a lot of TV time but it's only a certain amount of time.

369

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I'm glad that she's doing well.

370

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She's good person for doing her music as well.

371

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Yeah.

372

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And you know what too, it's good in a way that I think a lot of these companies, AEW and

WWE are doing the whole stockpiling of talent.

373

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you know, over the years, we've always said the same thing.

374

00:26:15,737 --> 00:26:18,820

If you have too much talent, you can't leverage all that talent, right?

375

00:26:18,820 --> 00:26:22,693

But at the same time, at one point it was like, well, where are they going to go?

376

00:26:22,693 --> 00:26:22,893

Right?

377

00:26:22,893 --> 00:26:24,984

If you're a wrestler, where are you going to go?

378

00:26:24,984 --> 00:26:30,108

And now you have these different companies that are out there and even TNA is doing, you

know, gangbusters.

379

00:26:30,108 --> 00:26:31,860

Again, give TNA their flowers.

380

00:26:31,860 --> 00:26:32,360

They're

381

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continue, they've always been there, but they're continuing to even get more momentum now

with the WWE partnership and what they were doing with AEW before time.

382

00:26:39,716 --> 00:26:49,845

And you turn around and you go, you know what, without all of these, you now have WWE, you

know, AEW, you have all these other companies like MLW and WA and TNA.

383

00:26:49,845 --> 00:26:57,113

So you're now able to have more wrestlers who as time goes on, WWE and AEW, yeah, they

won't be able to sign everybody.

384

00:26:57,113 --> 00:27:00,263

And they're not signing everybody when they're starting, you know, so.

385

00:27:00,263 --> 00:27:06,343

You get to work with these people who are either on the come up and starting to make their

brand, which there are a lot now.

386

00:27:06,343 --> 00:27:11,763

And especially now with social media, being able to grow a presence, that's an even deeper

conversation.

387

00:27:11,763 --> 00:27:20,103

But even people coming from a lot of these bigger companies and saying, you know what,

once I leave, I want to change, or I want to take this to the next level and being able to

388

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have that community being built there too.

389

00:27:21,883 --> 00:27:22,543

Yeah.

390

00:27:22,543 --> 00:27:26,747

It's, it's a crazy time to be in wrestling and it's a crazy time to be a fan of wrestling.

391

00:27:26,747 --> 00:27:33,911

and I think, you know, everyone keeps, maybe because of internet, but they get hung up on,

you know, the competition and the us versus them mentality.

392

00:27:33,911 --> 00:27:43,243

But people don't actually consider the fact that you have an opportunity to play a crowd

at a big company, but then you also have the time and the chance to then reinvent yourself

393

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elsewhere.

394

00:27:43,743 --> 00:27:47,754

And you can always go back and forth because as we've seen, some people are going back and

forth.

395

00:27:47,754 --> 00:27:54,020

They'll go from WWE to AEW to WWE, but like, look at Rick Astley, was floundering as a...

396

00:27:54,020 --> 00:27:58,764

as a face and wasn't really getting any time and they turned him into AEW?

397

00:27:58,764 --> 00:28:02,987

You'd think it's a bit silly, but he's doing like, in my opinion, he's doing the best

work.

398

00:28:02,987 --> 00:28:07,051

He's toned down his moveset, he's doing more character work, which is probably better on

his body.

399

00:28:07,051 --> 00:28:11,465

So you get people like Toni Storm was treading water for so long and now she's in AEW.

400

00:28:11,465 --> 00:28:13,686

Does she need to be at AEW forever?

401

00:28:13,686 --> 00:28:14,028

No.

402

00:28:14,028 --> 00:28:15,951

But ultimately the fans win, right?

403

00:28:15,951 --> 00:28:18,482

I think it's a win for everyone because people just...

404

00:28:18,964 --> 00:28:26,939

everyone's playing on good TV shows, whether it's WWE, AEW, you've got the freedom to move

around, whereas at one point it was just a monopoly, right?

405

00:28:26,939 --> 00:28:31,391

You either work at WWE and get paid a big amount of money or you get by an indie.

406

00:28:31,391 --> 00:28:35,924

But then you have people like Nick Aldis who's come along and made it well on the indies.

407

00:28:35,924 --> 00:28:39,416

have people like Penta and Phoenix and all these different people.

408

00:28:39,416 --> 00:28:43,559

And then obviously Cody, and it kind of built that foundation.

409

00:28:43,559 --> 00:28:46,364

But yeah, I think it's an awesome time to be a wrestling fan, like...

410

00:28:46,364 --> 00:28:51,304

I don't understand the whole you're either a WWE fan or an AEW fan.

411

00:28:51,764 --> 00:28:52,444

It's stupid.

412

00:28:52,444 --> 00:28:53,144

I watch both.

413

00:28:53,144 --> 00:28:53,864

love both.

414

00:28:53,864 --> 00:29:01,164

There's certain things I don't like on shows I don't want to pay attention to, it's a

great time to be a wrestling fan.

415

00:29:01,164 --> 00:29:05,675

And it's also a great time to be a music producer for wrestling as well, I think.

416

00:29:05,675 --> 00:29:07,235

Yeah, no, I agree with that too.

417

00:29:07,235 --> 00:29:12,335

And for anyone looking to get into doing music for wrestling, there's not a, there's not a

better time to be doing it.

418

00:29:12,335 --> 00:29:13,235

I agree with that.

419

00:29:13,235 --> 00:29:21,955

And, you know, talking about all these different companies, AEW, WWE, you have also, we

talked about it a little bit earlier, but you also got to work with Blake Monroe, also

420

00:29:21,955 --> 00:29:26,575

known as Mariah Mae, before she ended up going to AEW.

421

00:29:26,575 --> 00:29:30,315

And she was all over before she even signed with AEW.

422

00:29:30,315 --> 00:29:31,195

People knew who she was.

423

00:29:31,195 --> 00:29:32,671

People knew what she was about.

424

00:29:32,671 --> 00:29:40,659

But when you started to work with her, was it through the promotion or was it again

another connection and then she reached out to you and you guys started working together?

425

00:29:40,727 --> 00:29:45,018

That was through the company at the time.

426

00:29:45,018 --> 00:29:51,358

she's, Mariah at the time was obviously part of the BritRift team, which I just started

doing matches myself.

427

00:29:51,358 --> 00:29:56,438

So she was at show where her partner at the time was wrestling and she came down.

428

00:29:56,438 --> 00:30:00,858

She was actually the women's championship at Apex for wrestling in Middle-East.

429

00:30:00,998 --> 00:30:03,098

That's where I my fight, I was there.

430

00:30:03,118 --> 00:30:05,878

And so obviously, got to have a chat with her there.

431

00:30:05,878 --> 00:30:07,755

So we were kind of aware of each other after that.

432

00:30:07,755 --> 00:30:08,935

ever look at music.

433

00:30:08,935 --> 00:30:14,035

We did speak about it at the time but nothing really came into fruition then.

434

00:30:14,035 --> 00:30:16,306

Sovpro started Sovrin Pro Wrestling.

435

00:30:16,306 --> 00:30:24,466

Two of my very good friends ran that company and they started it so for their first show I

did some listening for that and one of them was was Myrna.

436

00:30:24,746 --> 00:30:31,446

I would say that is probably the most unconventional theme I've ever produced.

437

00:30:31,446 --> 00:30:33,117

It's also one of my favorites.

438

00:30:33,117 --> 00:30:40,812

But again, it came from a conversation that I had with Mariah across the Instagram where

she liked, I apologize, I don't know the name of the song, but something about Girls Who

439

00:30:40,812 --> 00:30:41,650

Run the World or something.

440

00:30:41,650 --> 00:30:43,163

It was very cheesy pop.

441

00:30:43,163 --> 00:30:49,626

And she sent me another song and I was like, you know what, I'm gonna really go down that

bubblegum pop, but a bit more cat thing.

442

00:30:49,626 --> 00:30:57,049

And I took inspiration from her theme at the time, which obviously wasn't life, and then a

little bit of a Mickey James' original song.

443

00:30:57,049 --> 00:30:59,927

know, the Hey Mickey kind of drums.

444

00:30:59,927 --> 00:31:09,087

I love to think of your song man, love when you see it and see what you think but it

really fit her character at the time and that was, yeah that was, and she's just gone.

445

00:31:09,087 --> 00:31:11,927

Clear she was in the stardom and she did really well in AEW.

446

00:31:11,927 --> 00:31:22,847

think, again fans were, oh she, you know she went to WWE, first of all it's always been

her dream to be a WWE superstar so when the opportunity comes you take it.

447

00:31:22,847 --> 00:31:29,611

But also like, if you look at her body of work in AEW, it was pretty much perfect, like

that.

448

00:31:29,611 --> 00:31:33,142

That last match with Tony Storm was so good.

449

00:31:33,142 --> 00:31:34,483

Like the whole story was great.

450

00:31:34,483 --> 00:31:35,695

Tony's incredible.

451

00:31:35,695 --> 00:31:38,877

They had a great feud and it finished there.

452

00:31:38,877 --> 00:31:41,018

For me, that's like a perfect AEW run.

453

00:31:41,018 --> 00:31:47,070

Now if you get stuff to apply a craft in WWE, which is always something she's dreamed of,

you might go to AEW again, right?

454

00:31:47,070 --> 00:31:47,641

You never know.

455

00:31:47,641 --> 00:31:55,345

So maybe it's just that we see too many, because we're so busy on social media marketing

and promoting, we see too many.

456

00:31:55,350 --> 00:31:57,730

What's thing her?

457

00:31:57,730 --> 00:32:18,225

eh

458

00:32:18,225 --> 00:32:19,976

Yeah, yeah, and you know what?

459

00:32:19,976 --> 00:32:30,783

I don't think there's anything wrong with, especially when you're in, I don't think

there's anything wrong with the way that her time in AEW went.

460

00:32:30,783 --> 00:32:31,683

She's amazing.

461

00:32:31,683 --> 00:32:34,565

She, like you said, had a great trajectory, a great story.

462

00:32:34,565 --> 00:32:44,616

And I think a lot of the times we think of wrestlers having to have these just crazy

long-term times that they're in these companies, whereas...

463

00:32:44,616 --> 00:32:47,759

You know, you had the character that Mariah May was portraying.

464

00:32:47,759 --> 00:32:52,002

She and Tony Storm were connected at the hip the entire time.

465

00:32:52,002 --> 00:32:53,473

Everything that they did was gold.

466

00:32:53,473 --> 00:33:00,488

When you're watching AEW during that time period of Mariah May versus Tony Storm, you're

basically just like, this is the story.

467

00:33:00,488 --> 00:33:04,292

And this is the story that runs the company, right?

468

00:33:04,292 --> 00:33:09,561

And so for me, when all of a sudden she ends, it's writing her off and then she's done.

469

00:33:09,561 --> 00:33:13,654

I didn't see it as a slight of, now she doesn't like WWE, no, she doesn't like AEW.

470

00:33:13,654 --> 00:33:19,696

It's more, yeah, this is the story that was told and we could come up with something

later, which is fine.

471

00:33:19,696 --> 00:33:20,518

But you know what?

472

00:33:20,518 --> 00:33:28,401

Why take a story that was written perfectly and add a new chapter to it if you don't have

to.

473

00:33:28,401 --> 00:33:29,862

You know, there's nothing wrong with that.

474

00:33:29,862 --> 00:33:34,444

Again, it, you're in a wrestling company that produces TV.

475

00:33:34,444 --> 00:33:38,106

So you don't just think of it as one-off wrestling shows.

476

00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:42,533

You can think of it in quote unquote, lack of better term, seasons, right?

477

00:33:42,533 --> 00:33:47,095

In this season, we did this with this character, they got written off and now they're

somewhere else.

478

00:33:47,095 --> 00:33:54,169

And I think that, I think you said it perfectly that what she did made the most sense for

that character.

479

00:33:54,169 --> 00:33:56,942

And now she's in WWE, she's in a crush at there too.

480

00:33:56,942 --> 00:34:06,012

And it's just so interesting that you were also talking about, you know, the British

wrestling scene, because again, there's so many wrestling scenes now throughout the globe.

481

00:34:06,012 --> 00:34:11,226

And in every place, especially here in the States, there's wrestling everywhere in the UK.

482

00:34:11,226 --> 00:34:14,070

There's been wrestling there for so many years.

483

00:34:14,070 --> 00:34:19,014

And you know, you had the NXT UK that ended up happening that pulled a lot of people in.

484

00:34:19,014 --> 00:34:23,139

before that you had, after that, you still have such a scene out there.

485

00:34:23,139 --> 00:34:27,864

And I tell this to people all the time who are looking to get into doing music for

wrestling.

486

00:34:27,864 --> 00:34:33,739

And Montese says this too, in the interview that we had, you can find wrestlers who are on

the come up.

487

00:34:33,739 --> 00:34:34,899

and just start working with them.

488

00:34:34,899 --> 00:34:36,880

There's schools all over the place.

489

00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:38,591

There's wrestlers all over the place.

490

00:34:38,591 --> 00:34:45,173

And if you're nervous upfront to start doing that, do songs that like you said and like

Teezy said, start doing tribute songs.

491

00:34:45,173 --> 00:34:46,754

This wrestler means this to me.

492

00:34:46,754 --> 00:34:50,955

So let's start with this kind of track that's mostly just about the wrestler, right?

493

00:34:50,955 --> 00:35:00,509

There's so many ways that you can angle into it, but you have such a unique way of being

in the industry too, because not only have you produced for people like Mickey James,

494

00:35:00,509 --> 00:35:01,819

Keira Hogan,

495

00:35:01,933 --> 00:35:09,450

Mariah May, Nicole, this you've also been in the ring, something I'll never be able to

say, but you've been in the ring before too.

496

00:35:09,450 --> 00:35:12,492

And you were hyping that up for a while before you did it.

497

00:35:12,492 --> 00:35:13,878

And it wasn't just a one-off.

498

00:35:13,878 --> 00:35:15,576

Like you've done it a couple of times now.

499

00:35:15,576 --> 00:35:24,644

Yeah, yeah, before we just go on about my restaurant, I did want to say that the British

wrestling scene is paving the way for future stars.

500

00:35:24,644 --> 00:35:35,009

Leon Slater, he's so young, just, he got the coastline from AJ at Slammiversary, but I've

seen him on wrestling many times in the UK, Mariah May of course.

501

00:35:35,009 --> 00:35:39,391

There's a lot of talent here and it seems like they're finally getting their flowers.

502

00:35:39,391 --> 00:35:42,192

If you look back at even, you mentioned NXT UK.

503

00:35:42,241 --> 00:35:46,383

You had like Tyler Bate and Walter who made his name here as well.

504

00:35:46,383 --> 00:35:53,976

Like they were putting on great matches that aligned were up there with AEW and New Japan

and things like that.

505

00:35:53,976 --> 00:36:03,459

So there's a lot of talent and it's good to see recognition and there's things like CCW

working with Progress and bigger progress have a lot of time for the guys who run

506

00:36:03,459 --> 00:36:03,970

Progress.

507

00:36:03,970 --> 00:36:17,250

Me as a wrestler this again came from making the music as I kind of got my kind of brand

and name out there I Learned that there's a school this year wrestling school just down

508

00:36:17,250 --> 00:36:27,570

the road in Milton, Queens which is where I live and I was like I had a look into it they

did like a free case for anyone and I was like go on then let's go along then see what

509

00:36:27,570 --> 00:36:34,152

it's all for like like I think I've always respected the business and wrestling too much

to even like consider training so

510

00:36:34,152 --> 00:36:37,286

but thought I'd go for a laugh and I just kind of fell in love with it.

511

00:36:37,286 --> 00:36:49,048

It's very painful man, but it never gets easy, it So obviously we started learning how to

run the ropes and learn how to bump and I just kind of started doing like this is a good

512

00:36:49,048 --> 00:36:51,380

day for like cardio conditioning and the week as well.

513

00:36:51,380 --> 00:36:59,328

I'd stay active but never really had an interest in doing it in a match but a lot of the

people were like, you should give it a try and have a match and it was like that.

514

00:36:59,576 --> 00:37:00,737

Then it was like, why not?

515

00:37:00,737 --> 00:37:04,149

Let's have a match and then let's have another match and then let's do a couple of

rumbles.

516

00:37:04,149 --> 00:37:07,801

And then think a year later I won the Apex Rising Championship.

517

00:37:07,801 --> 00:37:09,722

What used to hang on here?

518

00:37:09,942 --> 00:37:12,623

So yeah, it was, was really cool.

519

00:37:12,684 --> 00:37:15,462

I got to wrestle Enzo as well in, in, New Jersey.

520

00:37:15,462 --> 00:37:17,708

That was like one of my first matches.

521

00:37:17,708 --> 00:37:22,492

So I think I couldn't have had better experience in wrestling.

522

00:37:22,492 --> 00:37:26,354

I, you know, I still kind of keep in shape, but.

523

00:37:26,422 --> 00:37:32,222

The music is just so busy and one thing I don't tell you about like a rest of the day,

they are very, very long, right?

524

00:37:32,222 --> 00:37:37,482

You're in there for like, anyway, it's been eight, 12 minutes, but the show starts at like

4 p.m.

525

00:37:37,482 --> 00:37:39,662

You're there from like 11, right?

526

00:37:39,662 --> 00:37:43,542

You've got to set up the ring and then there's a lot of waiting around.

527

00:37:43,542 --> 00:37:50,662

You plan your match and you've got to wait for your match and then after your match, you

kind of wind down a bit and then you've got to wait for the end of the show and then pack

528

00:37:50,662 --> 00:37:51,002

down.

529

00:37:51,002 --> 00:37:56,302

So it's like a 10 hour, 11 hour day for a 10 minute match.

530

00:37:56,678 --> 00:38:04,418

I just got to a point where I just, because I've got so many opportunities, so many music

things happening, I can't really justify the time, but yeah, I haven't done one of these

531

00:38:04,418 --> 00:38:07,838

like 16 retirements things, that's not the plan.

532

00:38:07,838 --> 00:38:12,529

just, I'm away for now, but I'm sure I'll be back when the opportunity allows.

533

00:38:12,529 --> 00:38:15,060

It's like for anyone that's ever been in a band too.

534

00:38:15,060 --> 00:38:19,801

It's not just that you go on stage and you play your set for anywhere from 20 to 60

minutes, right?

535

00:38:19,801 --> 00:38:22,062

You also are responsible for loading.

536

00:38:22,062 --> 00:38:25,903

You're responsible for watching the other bands, making connections.

537

00:38:25,903 --> 00:38:32,274

And so, you you watch a, you watch any show, whether it's wrestling or live music and

you're seeing, okay, cool.

538

00:38:32,274 --> 00:38:38,316

There's a two hour show, but the people that are performing on there have been there

before and are going to be there after too.

539

00:38:38,316 --> 00:38:42,303

So it's one of these things that I always draw that parallel between.

540

00:38:42,303 --> 00:38:45,787

performing in a live show and performing with wrestling too.

541

00:38:45,787 --> 00:38:53,532

Back when I was playing a lot out with different bands, that was, think, the one thing

that I don't want to say soured me on the experience because I still love live music.

542

00:38:53,532 --> 00:38:59,097

I still love performing, but I think it kind of changed the way that I approach doing

music professionally.

543

00:38:59,097 --> 00:39:03,620

My wife and I run a music school and then I'm doing the wrestling themes and, you know,

all these things.

544

00:39:03,620 --> 00:39:10,869

So for me, I was just like, I love the performing side, but the whole before and after

that is hard for me to

545

00:39:10,869 --> 00:39:12,520

be able to continue to invest time into.

546

00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:15,353

And I still have friends, obviously, who are performing all the time.

547

00:39:15,353 --> 00:39:16,064

God bless them.

548

00:39:16,064 --> 00:39:16,774

They're amazing.

549

00:39:16,774 --> 00:39:20,980

Shout out to a friend of mine, Alex, who just got to play a pretty big festival up here.

550

00:39:20,980 --> 00:39:23,143

She'll be on the show coming up, ladies and gentlemen.

551

00:39:23,143 --> 00:39:29,069

But yeah, I just I have loads of respect for people that invest that additional time into

the live side of it.

552

00:39:29,069 --> 00:39:36,425

It is a side of my life that, you know, it sounds like we're simpatico on like it's hard

to be able to invest outside of just that.

553

00:39:36,425 --> 00:39:42,956

and you want to give it the full, you want to give the thing that you're doing the full

respect, whether it's that you're writing the music and you're having all these musical

554

00:39:42,956 --> 00:39:48,675

opportunities, or if you're going to be in the ring or perform, you got to take all of the

things that come with it.

555

00:39:49,017 --> 00:39:51,980

I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not like it's a drag.

556

00:39:51,980 --> 00:39:53,182

I do enjoy the days.

557

00:39:53,182 --> 00:40:00,846

Obviously, the wrestling is the most fun part, but it is like, it's a long day out and my

social activity then is done, right?

558

00:40:00,846 --> 00:40:08,850

And then I've got, if you've got a weekend and stuff, that's half of your weekend gone and

then the day after, it's just sort of like recovering.

559

00:40:08,850 --> 00:40:15,728

I was like, I've just got too many music projects to justify, to be able to not be working

on it.

560

00:40:15,728 --> 00:40:16,569

a whole day.

561

00:40:16,569 --> 00:40:19,852

And then obviously there's the elements of training and things like that.

562

00:40:19,852 --> 00:40:25,557

So it was kind of a case of, my thing was, right, there's a lot of music stuff going on.

563

00:40:25,557 --> 00:40:28,259

I'll just take, I'll let the rest of take a backseat.

564

00:40:28,259 --> 00:40:30,721

And then when it quietens down, I'll get back into training.

565

00:40:30,721 --> 00:40:32,669

But it's just, it's not quiet enough.

566

00:40:32,669 --> 00:40:35,133

the championship back, you'll be back is what you're saying.

567

00:40:35,133 --> 00:40:39,990

Yeah, I think it's just like the music's just been popping crazy.

568

00:40:39,990 --> 00:40:42,634

So like, I've not had the chance to get back.

569

00:40:42,634 --> 00:40:46,340

But yeah, I didn't, I never lost my title officially either.

570

00:40:46,340 --> 00:40:49,057

Yeah, I'll come back for that title that I never really know.

571

00:40:49,057 --> 00:40:49,838

I love that.

572

00:40:49,838 --> 00:40:54,284

Now, before I let you go, there are two questions that I ask all the guests that come on

here.

573

00:40:54,284 --> 00:41:05,628

And the first question is, if you had to book a three-match wrestling card with musicians

that were going to battle it out in the squared circle in a wrestling match, what matches

574

00:41:05,628 --> 00:41:08,461

would they be and what stipulations would you choose?

575

00:41:08,928 --> 00:41:11,301

you really gonna drop that on me like that?

576

00:41:11,301 --> 00:41:22,937

There's so many factors because I think in the main event, I think I'm definitely gonna

have 50 cent doing something because I like the way he's crazy guy, right?

577

00:41:22,937 --> 00:41:26,482

So I'm thinking, okay, so three matches, right.

578

00:41:26,482 --> 00:41:29,110

I think we should do something like, is it dead or alive?

579

00:41:29,110 --> 00:41:30,287

could do dead or alive.

580

00:41:30,287 --> 00:41:44,751

So I'm thinking for an opener you want to do like a four or five man kind of scramble with

actually let's do some of my favorite bands and their lead singers.

581

00:41:44,751 --> 00:41:49,538

Three Days Grace, you'd have Adam Gontier, you'd have Chris Cornell from Soundgarden.

582

00:41:49,538 --> 00:41:51,914

Cold, Suit Awards.

583

00:41:51,914 --> 00:42:00,862

I think he's a very gentle person so I don't know how he would fare and then I probably

have the guy from like three doors down and as well as Cesar so that would be that would

584

00:42:00,862 --> 00:42:11,501

be match one you've got some quite big angry people and you've got some very gentle souls

in there I actually wouldn't mind watching this is gonna sound really terrible but 50 cent

585

00:42:11,501 --> 00:42:19,526

versus Jarl versus P Diddy in the triple fret match steel cage match that would be just so

could see what would happen

586

00:42:19,526 --> 00:42:33,086

And then I'll probably see, we would do, what would we do for like a, I guess we'd have to

do some sort of like, maybe we'd do a tag theme.

587

00:42:33,326 --> 00:42:35,426

And we'd do Snoop Dogg and Dr.

588

00:42:35,426 --> 00:42:35,786

Dre.

589

00:42:35,786 --> 00:42:38,866

I think that'd be a really, really good theme.

590

00:42:38,906 --> 00:42:42,866

Against maybe like Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney.

591

00:42:43,082 --> 00:42:46,861

I did not see that coming, but I would totally be here for that.

592

00:42:47,056 --> 00:42:50,913

The Gangsta Rappers race is yours, can you imagine?

593

00:42:50,913 --> 00:43:02,153

Well, see, the question that I would have for you with that one is, as they are from your

neck of the woods, but the others are also probably artists you are pretty fond of and are

594

00:43:02,153 --> 00:43:05,093

a fan of, who do you have going over in that match?

595

00:43:05,211 --> 00:43:06,582

50 Cent?

596

00:43:06,582 --> 00:43:19,042

I think, that's just basically the job of Matt as the main event but the key is to the

Cloudome happy and I think 50 Cent putting a whooping on Jarral and PDD would be, send

597

00:43:19,042 --> 00:43:19,913

everyone happy.

598

00:43:19,913 --> 00:43:26,953

I think Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr do the upset against Dreamtink.

599

00:43:26,953 --> 00:43:30,453

I think it's a schoolboy or some sort of distraction.

600

00:43:30,453 --> 00:43:33,113

Maybe Bono gets involved, who knows.

601

00:43:33,285 --> 00:43:37,340

And then I think he would win the scramble.

602

00:43:37,340 --> 00:43:42,105

I'm thinking to see the front man because he's quite a big, strong guy.

603

00:43:42,105 --> 00:43:45,949

I reckon he would win and he would pin every single person.

604

00:43:45,949 --> 00:43:48,743

it would be like four to nothing for him.

605

00:43:48,743 --> 00:43:50,424

That would be like, who was it?

606

00:43:50,424 --> 00:43:55,119

It was the Shayna Baszler Squatch match, when she had the elimination chamber.

607

00:43:55,119 --> 00:43:57,211

It would basically be just that.

608

00:43:57,211 --> 00:44:01,355

Everyone else is here for me to just throw over and to beat.

609

00:44:01,355 --> 00:44:02,436

That's it.

610

00:44:02,437 --> 00:44:03,427

That's it.

611

00:44:03,511 --> 00:44:05,591

a wasted opportunity Sonya was as well.

612

00:44:05,591 --> 00:44:06,471

was...

613

00:44:06,471 --> 00:44:09,311

That was such a cool...

614

00:44:09,311 --> 00:44:11,451

I loved her NXT character.

615

00:44:11,451 --> 00:44:13,682

I loved when they did things like that.

616

00:44:13,682 --> 00:44:15,462

She seems to be like treading water now.

617

00:44:15,462 --> 00:44:17,033

But she just seemed very legit.

618

00:44:17,033 --> 00:44:20,553

And she really got pro wrestling.

619

00:44:20,993 --> 00:44:23,533

The rest of the force women, know.

620

00:44:23,533 --> 00:44:27,324

Some of them have been around for a long time and not gotten any better.

621

00:44:27,324 --> 00:44:38,164

but like she was great and I think it's a real shame what they didn't do with her because

they had plenty of opportunities and she was definitely a legit star and just think about

622

00:44:38,164 --> 00:44:51,484

if she was like a big deal how much it would be for someone like you know Sky to beat

Shayna or Becky Lynch or somebody like that like they need to cement some female stars but

623

00:44:51,484 --> 00:44:56,774

I mean I must admit I feel like the women's wrestling divisions are probably a lot

624

00:44:56,774 --> 00:45:04,946

I think they're a lot stronger now than they were in the golden era because you've got so

many stars, so many stars right now.

625

00:45:04,946 --> 00:45:09,107

Rhea is at the level of, you know, she's superstar.

626

00:45:09,107 --> 00:45:13,370

Jay Carville is, you know, not the greatest in the ring, I always watch.

627

00:45:13,370 --> 00:45:15,420

He reminds me of Brock Lesnar in the UFC.

628

00:45:15,420 --> 00:45:19,625

I know she's not really skilled, but I do enjoy watching her.

629

00:45:19,625 --> 00:45:25,934

You've got EO Sky, you've got Kyrie Sane, you've got Stephanie Varder, you've got Julia.

630

00:45:25,934 --> 00:45:29,885

We've got so many people and they're all great.

631

00:45:29,885 --> 00:45:32,486

Yeah, yeah, that women's division is something else right now.

632

00:45:32,486 --> 00:45:41,058

And, you know, I think that with Shayna Baszler, they kind of did her dirty in the match

that she finally lost against Becky Lynch.

633

00:45:41,058 --> 00:45:43,700

But again, too, I don't even think that was intentionally dirty.

634

00:45:43,700 --> 00:45:47,502

was just that was unfortunately during, you know, a crazy time in the world.

635

00:45:47,502 --> 00:45:49,733

And it was just kind of like, well, what do we do?

636

00:45:49,733 --> 00:45:52,644

And I think everybody's brain was kind of fried and scrambled on that.

637

00:45:52,644 --> 00:45:53,925

And they were just like, I agree.

638

00:45:53,925 --> 00:45:56,986

think Shayna Baszler, I hope she lands on her feet.

639

00:45:56,986 --> 00:45:58,447

She was always one of my favorites.

640

00:45:58,447 --> 00:46:07,050

And I think that the re come up with her beating Rousey should have been a little bit more

of like an explosion of, okay, this is who we got in front of us.

641

00:46:07,050 --> 00:46:12,683

And this is that new, not, don't to say that new generation, but like you beat Rousey.

642

00:46:12,783 --> 00:46:13,603

That's it.

643

00:46:13,603 --> 00:46:16,765

Like you are the new Brock Lesnar end game kind of thing.

644

00:46:16,765 --> 00:46:21,787

But I got one more question before I got one more question for you before we're done here.

645

00:46:21,787 --> 00:46:24,558

And I asked this again to everybody that comes on the show.

646

00:46:24,558 --> 00:46:33,565

If you had to create a Spotify playlist that had three songs that represent you, Zaheer,

as a person, what would those three songs be?

647

00:46:33,565 --> 00:46:36,066

These are such difficult questions to be asked on the spot.

648

00:46:36,066 --> 00:46:43,082

It really would depend on how I'm feeling because I have a real eclectic taste of music.

649

00:46:43,082 --> 00:46:52,126

I'm probably I would say let me think of like the stars first and then it probably has to

be like a real arrogant, abrasive, gangster rap song as one.

650

00:46:52,126 --> 00:46:59,269

Probably some sort of like a song by Three Days Grace or Three Days Down or Ceaser or

Saliva that's a bit more angry.

651

00:46:59,269 --> 00:47:00,549

And then probably some

652

00:47:00,549 --> 00:47:01,579

that were in your match.

653

00:47:01,579 --> 00:47:02,289

Yeah, exactly.

654

00:47:02,289 --> 00:47:03,550

Yeah.

655

00:47:03,590 --> 00:47:09,553

Basically, it's like things, you know, like when bookers book all their favorite, favorite

rappers, right?

656

00:47:09,553 --> 00:47:12,696

Like you gave me an opportunity to book, so obviously I'm going to book the bands that I

like.

657

00:47:12,696 --> 00:47:16,198

Hopefully get to see them and go, hey, I some remixes.

658

00:47:16,198 --> 00:47:20,331

And then it's probably going to be some sort of like real stripped down, basic acoustic

song.

659

00:47:20,331 --> 00:47:26,715

So I'd probably go with a guy called Luke Pickett, who's a total independent artist, one

of my favorite artists.

660

00:47:26,715 --> 00:47:27,615

I'd probably do a Dr.

661

00:47:27,615 --> 00:47:28,371

Dre song.

662

00:47:28,371 --> 00:47:31,863

one of the band songs but they would be in the danger.

663

00:47:32,104 --> 00:47:40,940

Yeah I've always loved all different kinds of music, on what, not even like depending on

what mood I'm in because like I can feel really really happy and listen to like some of

664

00:47:40,940 --> 00:47:50,867

the saddest most miserable songs and really enjoy them so yeah I've always had an eclectic

taste and I feel like it really does show in in kind of like my music as obviously I do

665

00:47:50,867 --> 00:47:55,300

make like hip-hop and rap beats but when you listen to like the structures they're very

much like rock songs almost.

666

00:47:55,300 --> 00:48:00,620

they have like the intros and the bridges and the choruses so it's not just like a full

bar loop.

667

00:48:00,820 --> 00:48:11,539

So I think being inspired by all these different genres and styles like Afro Beach is

really really big at the moment here in the UK and then you've got more like drill and

668

00:48:11,539 --> 00:48:16,460

again these these sounds really do help encapsulate characters.

669

00:48:16,700 --> 00:48:23,484

So I've done some stuff for like Leo Rush which is a bit more like drill inspired but kind

of got that UK vibe so.

670

00:48:23,876 --> 00:48:26,656

I love, like I said, for me it's so simple.

671

00:48:26,656 --> 00:48:33,227

I love music, I've loved music since I was eight, I've loved pro wrestling since I was

eight and now I get to kind of make music for people.

672

00:48:33,227 --> 00:48:35,947

I get to work with some really cool people as well.

673

00:48:35,947 --> 00:48:45,187

Hope for yourself very, soon but can you touch down a couple of people but like I have a

song with like Monty Z, Blizz, Desire Williams and Meg around which I'm gonna drop next

674

00:48:45,187 --> 00:48:51,548

month so I mean that's a heavyweight line up and I've got on to work with little old me.

675

00:48:51,548 --> 00:48:57,392

I'm so excited about that song, that means a lot to me because you've got people who've

had music from AWW, pretty much everywhere.

676

00:48:57,392 --> 00:49:02,421

Everyone who's had some sort of significant, like you couldn't dream of a line up better

than that.

677

00:49:02,421 --> 00:49:12,321

Actually I did dream it and it's happened so yeah, especially for your audiences, simple

little heads up that that song is ready and it's good to go.

678

00:49:12,321 --> 00:49:22,108

And I love that too, that when I'm speaking to people like yourself, and even people that

I work with, Montesey and all that, it's like you're starting to see that all of us are

679

00:49:22,108 --> 00:49:24,609

working with each other on different projects, right?

680

00:49:24,609 --> 00:49:31,255

It's all of a sudden like, this person, you're gonna be rocking with some big names, and

they're rocking with you, because you're a big name.

681

00:49:31,255 --> 00:49:35,219

And you have all these different people who are just working in the same space.

682

00:49:35,219 --> 00:49:37,299

just starting to do collabs and things like that.

683

00:49:37,299 --> 00:49:39,939

Like for me, I never thought I'd work with a band like It Lives It Breathe.

684

00:49:39,939 --> 00:49:41,679

I never thought I'd write a song with Downstate.

685

00:49:41,679 --> 00:49:44,279

And then all of a sudden we're on all these tracks together.

686

00:49:44,279 --> 00:49:50,579

And it's just like, it's cool to be able to not use it as a flex, but like that's the

community, man.

687

00:49:50,579 --> 00:49:51,759

Like that's the wrestling community.

688

00:49:51,759 --> 00:49:53,219

That's the wrestling entrance community.

689

00:49:53,219 --> 00:49:55,379

And it's like, we're all in it together.

690

00:49:55,379 --> 00:49:57,839

And it's just cool when all of a sudden something comes out.

691

00:49:57,839 --> 00:50:00,719

Cause you're like, oh, this is how you worked with me.

692

00:50:00,719 --> 00:50:02,179

Now this is how you're working with them.

693

00:50:02,179 --> 00:50:05,115

And then when they work with it, it's just, it's so cool.

694

00:50:05,115 --> 00:50:06,628

So I love hearing that.

695

00:50:06,628 --> 00:50:07,182

love seeing that.

696

00:50:07,182 --> 00:50:08,443

community.

697

00:50:08,443 --> 00:50:12,476

There's no real, I've never come across anything either arrogance or anything like that.

698

00:50:12,476 --> 00:50:13,317

it comes down to it.

699

00:50:13,317 --> 00:50:16,499

We're all wrestling fans and we're all big fans and we all love music.

700

00:50:16,499 --> 00:50:19,131

So it's just natural that we're all going to gravitate towards each other.

701

00:50:19,131 --> 00:50:28,189

Like I watched like Downstate, I've done like unofficial remakes of couple of their songs,

but like I got to watch that WrestleMania 40 with Zack.

702

00:50:28,189 --> 00:50:32,273

Zack is the lead singer of Downstate and they've been so supportive and advocates of my

work as well.

703

00:50:32,273 --> 00:50:33,870

Which is again, it's crazy because

704

00:50:33,870 --> 00:50:41,690

one of the biggest things in the scene was, I would say all the time, it's such a

significant song.

705

00:50:42,070 --> 00:50:47,870

And they did help me kind of navigate some of the business side of music and pro wrestling

as well.

706

00:50:48,150 --> 00:50:51,810

So yeah, just like, for me it was, it's a no brainer.

707

00:50:51,810 --> 00:50:55,830

I was like, all these guys do the music that I like.

708

00:50:55,830 --> 00:50:57,290

They're working in the same field.

709

00:50:57,290 --> 00:50:58,610

I let them work together, right?

710

00:50:58,610 --> 00:51:01,238

It's just, it's not really...

711

00:51:01,238 --> 00:51:06,051

about flexing, not really about like leveraging people's audiences, it's just about us

just doing what we love.

712

00:51:06,051 --> 00:51:17,258

Like if I approach a guy who likes wrestling and like punchlines and rapping and going,

hey dude, here's a beat, give me your best 16 bars of wrestling punchlines, like do your

713

00:51:17,258 --> 00:51:17,589

thing.

714

00:51:17,589 --> 00:51:19,130

They're gonna get involved in it.

715

00:51:19,130 --> 00:51:24,933

It's just, you know what, like it all started with me doing a song called Superstars,

which is out now on Spotify as it's being plug for you.

716

00:51:24,933 --> 00:51:28,576

And that's with two of my close friends, it's like a British version of it.

717

00:51:28,576 --> 00:51:36,544

And it was just like a nostalgia trip and all these like punchlines and I was like, let me

do like a US remix And then I was like, who would I want on this song?

718

00:51:36,544 --> 00:51:43,790

So It's a shame you don't rap John because I wouldn't mind hearing a 16 bar rap verse Of

yours on the song.

719

00:51:43,790 --> 00:51:50,098

I don't know if it's too late, but maybe we should take this offline John you reckon you

got some fire fire raps in you?

720

00:51:50,551 --> 00:51:51,273

I can try.

721

00:51:51,273 --> 00:51:52,837

There are some songs that have me on it.

722

00:51:52,837 --> 00:51:54,682

You'll probably be like, you know what, stick to guitar.

723

00:51:54,682 --> 00:51:56,537

But now I'm always down to try.

724

00:51:56,537 --> 00:51:57,017

it.

725

00:51:57,017 --> 00:52:06,837

If you ever want to write like things but yeah I mean I would I think we said this a lot I

would love to do some work with you so I'll work with everyone else though why not you

726

00:52:06,837 --> 00:52:08,097

right?

727

00:52:08,106 --> 00:52:08,816

I would love it, man.

728

00:52:08,816 --> 00:52:09,846

It'd be cool.

729

00:52:09,846 --> 00:52:14,726

I think that we're in that time where it'll happen.

730

00:52:14,726 --> 00:52:18,852

I think for me, I'm just like, man, it's so cool to collaborate with other people.

731

00:52:18,852 --> 00:52:20,883

And your work speaks for itself.

732

00:52:20,883 --> 00:52:21,493

I'd love to.

733

00:52:21,493 --> 00:52:22,534

Let's make it happen.

734

00:52:22,534 --> 00:52:23,518

Absolutely.

735

00:52:23,518 --> 00:52:27,100

And I think it's like, again, everyone brings their own perspective to the song, right?

736

00:52:27,100 --> 00:52:34,168

So I have certain strengths, but I'm not the best on like guitars and crazy riffs, but you

would be so.

737

00:52:34,168 --> 00:52:40,541

And you know, you probably don't have as many experience doing like trap drums and stuff

where I can do them in my mind.

738

00:52:40,541 --> 00:52:42,241

So I've been doing them my whole life, right?

739

00:52:42,241 --> 00:52:48,064

So like trying to fuse the two things together is the no brainer.

740

00:52:48,064 --> 00:52:50,386

And again, it's a lot of fun, right?

741

00:52:50,386 --> 00:52:54,299

what we are doing more than anything is enjoying ourselves and having fun.

742

00:52:54,299 --> 00:52:55,080

I love that.

743

00:52:55,080 --> 00:52:56,891

Zaheer, thank you so much for coming on the show.

744

00:52:56,891 --> 00:52:59,773

I'm excited to keep collabing with you to keep doing some awesome things.

745

00:52:59,773 --> 00:53:03,772

And I'm excited to keep seeing what you do, because again, you're crushing it.

746

00:53:03,772 --> 00:53:04,469

Keep crushing it.

747

00:53:04,469 --> 00:53:05,010

you so much.

748

00:53:05,010 --> 00:53:07,803

It's been a pleasure speaking to you man.

749

00:53:07,924 --> 00:53:12,731

Yeah, hopefully we'll collab in the near future and we'll keep each other updated on

music.

750

00:53:12,731 --> 00:53:16,858

Yeah, watch out for this US remix of Superstars because it's going to go down.

751

00:53:16,858 --> 00:53:17,140

Yeah.