As long as the fans were happy, I knew I'd had a good night, and it didn't really matter what anuone else thought.
I've been around a long time, and it seemed for the longest time like I was the young guy. Now, all of a sudden, I've got fans with beards telling me, "I used to watch you when I was a kid." So, I don't know what happened to all those years, but the little bit I do remember? It was definitely a fun ride.
The pressure was always there, but I feel like it was almost invisible to me. I had too much going on once I got rolling with Evolution and won my first title. They say the cream rises to the top, and I felt like the cream. I rose to the top real quick, and I was surrounded by Triple H, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, these guys who were very well respected in the profession, and they wanted to work with me.
I understand the psychology of the sport, especially inside the ring. From bell to bell, from when my entrance plays and I step through that curtain, people have to wonder what's going on inside that guy's head.
I think the best advice I got is that acting isn't acting - you just want to just be, you want to be just real, be in the moment and react.
Things in the ring are definitely bigger, so that you can see them. But the movie world is completely different, and you have to hone things down because when that camera is so tight on you and so intimate and right up in your face, it's going to catch every little thing that you give it, and it's very easy to overdo it.
Learning from the best, you will eventually become the best if you have the talent already, if you have that potential.
No one will match up to Ric Flair and how he lives.
The key is dictating what the fans do rather than letting them dictate what you do.
Before I was married, before I was with my wife, I was traveling with Ric Flair and women were everywhere. It was crazy. The lifestyle he leads, he's the wheelin', dealin', kiss-stealin' son of a gun. He's Ric Flair and there's no one like him, there won't ever be another like him in the wrestling world again.
Learning from my mistakes at the same time being criticized by Triple H and Ric Flair made me what I am today.
When I walk to the ring, I hear voices telling me what to do and sometimes it's not the right thing, but it's definitely damn entertaining.
I understand the psychology of the sport, especially inside the ring.
From bell to bell, from when my entrance plays and I step through that curtain, people have to wonder what's going on inside that guy's head.
I have to put my father over because he really taught me a lot, especially when it comes to out-of-the-ring psychology and how to react when you're approached by fans after a show or in the airport. It might sound silly, but a lot of those things come into play when you're playing a character.
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