By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Ricardo Rodriguez
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
On being in Bret Hart’s final match: “Yeah, it’s insane. We were in Ontario that day, we were at the gym, Alberto [Del Rio] and I, and then we get a text from Road Dogg, he tells Alberto the rundown. He said Hey, tonight, it’s gonna be you and Ricardo against John Cena and Bret Hart. And we’re like, Ha! So we’re waiting for the LOL, and then it never came. So then I got the text. I was like, wait, what? All right, this is gonna happen. So obviously, Ricardo is not a wrestler. So I had my wrestling gear, but Ricardo is not a wrestler. So at that gym that we were at they were selling women’s tights and stuff, which I like them a little bit more because they’re more colorful, they have more designs than the men’s, obviously there’s not any men’s tights. So I bought a couple of the female workout tights and I took it to Road Dogg and then he’s like, Yeah, that one. So then we go over the match, and then it’s still not clicking in my head what’s about to happen, and then we get in the ring, and I’m like, Dude, this is cool. This is awesome. I’ve worked with John, but I was always grateful for the opportunity. But just the fact that, hey, we’re in Canada, Bret Hart’s about to put me in a Sharpshooter. This is cool. This is super cool.”
On Dolph Ziggler’s Money in the Bank cash-in: “To me that’s still the top one. That’s incredible. Just because I know originally there was a plan to do it the night of WrestleMania that was originally planned, and then they ended up switching it to the next day. In retrospect, I’m glad they did, just because I think it was a little unexpected. And what was great about it too was when they were going over the match they have that false finish where I think Dolph hit the Fameasser, and they go one, two, kick out, whatever. And then Alberto counters it. He does an enziguri and then I think he finally hits the arm bar. Then, because the Dolph has been screwed so many times you can just hear everybody bite on it, that was so beautiful. So when he finally hit the zigzag, and then the three happened, the eruption of that arena was so incredible. And it was something that I think everybody in unison was very happy for Dolph.”
On his Royal Rumble entry: “Alberto had gotten hurt, so obviously he was out for a little bit. We were still down at FCW. I remember after FCW, we had gone to the Cheesecake Factory and Pat Patterson had just happened to be there too. Pat was sitting at the bar. So out of respect I’d go up to him and just say hello, whatever. Then he asked me about Alberto, he’s doing fine, he’s healing up, whatever. We start chatting and then, just for shits and giggles, I was like, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if during the Rumble I come out? We play his music, I would come out.’ We laugh about it, and we just leave it. Shortly thereafter we did something in Dallas, and we got stuck in Dallas at the airport because of a storm. So I’m sitting next to [Dean] Malenko, and then we’re just talking. We’re talking about cruiserweights and whatever. He had mentioned back then that he had pitched the idea of a cruiserweight tournament back then. He asked about Alberto and then again, I just brought it up. I was like, hey, wouldn’t be funny if during the Rumble, whatever, we just laugh about it and just leave it.
“So the day of the Rumble in 2012. I get to the arena and I was usually one of the first folks over by the ring, because I want to get in and just roll around. Then Michael Hayes comes up to me and he’s like, ‘Hey, did you see your car?’ I thought that he was talking about my rental car, that somebody had done something to it. I was like, no, what? He’s like, ‘Your car! Did you not see in the back?’ No, what happened? So he’s like, come here. So we get to the back behind the stage and then he’s like, your car. Then it was the car, but it was covered. It had the cover. He lifts it, and I’m looking at it, and I’m looking at him, and it didn’t click in my head. He’s like, ‘Did nobody tell you? You’re in the Rumble!’ I was like, Huh? So then that’s kind of how I found out.
“So then I talked to Ellis, he was the stunt coordinator guy. So he showed me the car, and then I realized it was a stick shift. I’m from LA, we don’t have stick shifts. The last time that I drove one I was probably 17 or 18. So I was like, ‘Hey, is it possible if I can just take it to the parking lot and then just kind of get a refresher?’ He’s like, ‘No, you’ll be fine.’ I was like, ‘Dude, this is live PPV man, I’m doing the Rumble. I don’t want to step on the wrong thing and then either stall, or even worse, just haul ass into the people.’ He’s like, you’ll be fine. I tried convincing them to make them get stagehands to legit push it, so we can play audio where I stall and then you just see the stagehands push the car out. He’s like, No, you’ll be fine. So I went on YouTube, and I just looked up a video on how to drive stick and then just kind of went from there. But yeah, dude, the whole time I was just sweating buckets. The first person I attacked when I got in the ring was Cody Rhodes in the corner. So I started pummeling Cody. So I’m just saying, he’s the champ right now and I took down Cody.”
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