I've been actively trying to extend my reach beyond WWE. I wanted to do some non-action related projects, stuff that will resonate with different audiences who might not know who I am.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Now, at this point, I can wrestle, I can go out there and cut an entertaining promo, I can also do the backstage stuff... and if you can contribute more to the show, you have more staying power.
I've worked my entire career to try to broaden the perception of the WWE. A lot of folks think because we're so entertaining and oftentimes have such wild and well-defined characters that it's all we are. It has kind of been my life's work to tell the public that's not true.
Believe it or not, I kind of went into professional wrestling so I could get an avenue into acting.
I really, really, really love my job, so it's not like I'm trying to quit wrestling to do movies. They just all seemed like cool things to do. I mean, I'd love to be the bad guy in an action movie because then people would get to see another side of me they don't get to see.
I'm going to be wrestling for as long as I can. It's something I'm very passionate about and something that I love.
I don't like to have gimmicks. I don't like to have gadgets and stuff. I just like to go out there and entertain the fans by wrestling.
At my age, I'm not trying to score cool points. I'm just excited when I can speak to younger members of our audience in the WWE. I just get to be a superhero to kids, but I'm not trying to be on the cutting edge of style or anything like that. Once you reach that point of deprivation, you don't mind it.
I'm pretty interested in documentary film, and I'd watch almost anything. At some point, I stumbled upon 'shoot interviews' and found out that wrestlers were now talking openly about things that were going on in wrestling that we as viewers were not privy to. This fascinated me.
Because of my wrestling background, nothing a director can throw at me on a set can faze me.
The Wonderful pistachios campaign is a great example - I don't involve myself with a project I don't feel passionate about. I could talk your ear off about internal statistics for WWE and what we have planned for the future. Why do I know that stuff? Because I like to do all that stuff.