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To me, wrestling is therapy. No matter how bad my personal situation is, when I step into the ring, all my troubles disappear. My baggage stays in the back where it belongs.

As badly as everybody feels like I'm a sellout for one thing or another, I guess, ultimately, when it came to wrestling, I just wanted to wrestle where I want to wrestle. And something had to be bigger and more important than the money, and for me, it was the time inside that ring.

When you, as a fan, go to see a wrestling show, you don't know what the predetermined outcome is. You take a seat and enjoy the ride - and it's a hell of a ride.

My character is just an extension of me. The in-ring work, the things that will always be said about me: Big, overbearing, powerful, in-your-face, couldn't wrestle - I never needed to wrestle. Why did I need to learn how to wrestle? Did Hulk Hogan need to learn how to wrestle? Nope. Is Hulk Hogan a good athlete? Nope.

When my job isn't performing in a WWE ring, my job is to get back performing in that ring. When I'm hurt, all I have to do all day is get strong and get better. I'm a very dedicated physical therapy patient, and that helps a lot.

I think my body went through a lot, went through the wringer. In terms of being inside the ring, getting hit, but also outside the ring, living a crazy life.

The wrestling world is unique. There are things that happened, and there are things that didn't happen, but in wrestling, you just say they all happened. Some of it's fun to let stay out there - it adds to the mystique and wrestling lore.

I worry about myself in the ring; I worry about what I can do and how I can dictate a fight.

Since the day I was born, wrestling has sustained me and my family. It's the way my father fed me; it's the way I feed my kids. More importantly, wrestling is my greatest release. It's been such a blessing for me. I can step into the ring and let it all go - all my anger, all my frustration, all my pain.

It took me a few years to explain to my colleagues and my mentors and the people that I looked up to and I wrestled that I'm not in wrestling anymore. I'm in sports entertainment. Pro' wrestling doesn't mean that we're saying we're a step up above amateur wrestling, because there's nothing above Olympic wrestling.