A lot of my intensity in wrestling was due to my mental preparation before the matches. I got myself into a different world.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Preparation is a mentality... With wrestling being my background, I've always learned to overwork, overwork. Work, work, work, work. It's not always the talented that wins, but it's the one who puts in the most preparation and thought into things.
In wrestling, there is no retreat. No way to slow things down. In wrestling, you advance and advance, and being tired is just a lie to make the other guy think he can relax. It's so hard - harder than anything I've ever done.
Wrestling was like stand-up comedy for me. Every night I had a live audience of 25,000 people to win over. My goal was never to be the loudest or the craziest. It was to be the most entertaining.
I'm good at professional wrestling, and I always will be good, but what's always been different about me is that I can't completely focus on professional wrestling.
I trained and trained and went up against Kurt, then being a world champion in '94, and after that I did Tommy's tour and then my tour and all this stuff and just trying to deal with it all. And now, I've just kind of backed off a little.
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.
I honestly can't describe what goes on in my head when I'm out there. People who don't wrestle can't possibly understand it. When I'm in the ring, I don't feel any pain. I'm in another world out there.
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.
I wasn't great at a lot of stuff, but I was good at not worrying about being a wrestler.
After watching wrestling for 20 years, I thought I had enough confidence to do it. There were no wrestling schools at the time.