Episode 61 with Tyrus

Episode 61 with Tyrus
In episode 61 of The Voices for Voices TV Show and Podcast, Justin Alan Hayes is joined by Guest, #Tyrus, Husband, Father, #nwawrestling World Heavyweight Champion, @FoxNews Contributor, Standing Guest and Host on #FoxNews The Gutfeld Show!,  @nytimes and WallStreet Journal Bestselling Author, Bestselling Comedian. Tyrus and Justin discuss a wide range of topics including the buzz around the upcoming Tech Billionaires Cage Match between X/ @tesla / @SpaceX Elon Musk and @meta Mark Zuckerberg, parenting, saying no, balancing a life in the public eye and much more. Tyrus is currently on tour. Find him coming to a city near you by visiting https://linktr.ee/tyrussmash. Follow Tyrus on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tyruslive/, TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@tyrusmurdoch?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc, Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tyrussmash/, https://twitter.com/PlanetTyrus. Purchase his debut New York Times & @wsj Bestselling book Just Tyrus: A Memoir everywhere books are sold and pre-order his book titled #nuffsaid on Amazon.com. 

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Transcript

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Welcome to the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast, sponsored by Redwood Living. Thank you for joining us today. I am Justin Alan Hayes, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, host and humanitarian. You can learn more about Voices for Voices on our Instagram, Facebook, YouTube at Voices for Voices. Also on our website, voicesforvoices.org. And just recently, we joined TikTok, so check us out there as well. Voices for Voices is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity organization, otherwise referred to as an NGO, a non-government organization. And we survive solely on donations.

So, if you are able to, or know about somebody that is, please consider heading over to voicesforvoices.org to help us continue our mission and the goal and dream of mine to help three billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond. Or you can also send a donation to the mailing address of Voices for Voices and that's at 2388 Beckett Circle, Stow, Ohio 44224. Or you can also check us out on the CashApp at Voices for Voices. Are you or somebody you know looking for a volunteer opportunity? If so, you can reach out to us today via our email, at president@voicesforvoices.org.

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Today's guest is a husband, a father, an author who happens to be a New York Times bestseller, a comedian, and some of you may recognize him from the pro wrestling world as the current NWA World Heavyweight Champion. He can also be found on Fox News on the Gutfeld! show. He's one of the most recognizable faces and characters and individuals of Fox News, and he also makes appearances on The Big Weekend Show. Also host sometimes, when Gutfeld! gives him the opportunity to host, which is always neat to see him there. You can find more about our guest on his Linktree, and our guest joining us via Zoom from his home in Louisiana is Tyrus.

Tyrus is going to talk about his experience as a human being. So, although he does have quite a following and is noticed from individuals from coast to coast. He's down to earth. And he is a no-nonsense individual, gives his opinion, and as you'll see, Fox News does not pigeonhole him, as some may think, into having a certain narrative of his feedback. That they allow him to give his, oftentimes, unfiltered feedback, which makes his appearances that much more memorable. So, we're going to join our conversation where we're in the midst of speaking about the current buzz of Mark Zuckerberg from Meta and Elon Musk from Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, X, talking about having a cage match. And with Tyrus being a professional wrestler, he starts with his opinions, so we'll join that conversation in progress.

Tyrus:

So all he's got to do is hit one shot. So he can eat his donuts and his whiskey and we train him for a one hitter quarter. He just got to raise his knee, because he is jiu-jitsu guy. So his first move's going to go for his leg and then one overhand right, that should be goodnight Irene in the awards and Gorilla Monsoon. So I'm Team Musk on this one, but I think they should put more on it. I think the winner takes all, I think it should be a fight where the winner either gets Facebook and Twitter or Twitter and Facebook. So once and for all, let's just get it on. So it's probably all hyperbole, but I'm pretty sure Elon Musk ring entrance will be phenomenal. Probably a rocket of some sort.

And then Facebook, Zuckerberg will have some kind of really long video show and light show before he comes out. So it should be... But once the bell rings it'll be all downhill from there. But all Musk got to do is catch him one time. He doesn't even need a two piece. But it's fun, we're talking about it, so that's cool.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah. How do you manage your schedule with having so many hats to wear, so many different things to do, to be pulled in many different directions? How do you keep a level head with everything that you do and just be yourself as you are just genuine and transparent?

Tyrus:

That's a good question. I think the biggest thing is to always remember your failures and always remember when there was nobody calling you to do anything. So when you are experiencing a good run, I've been on the last few years, I've never at this point in my life that I have wisdom now. I don't take it for granted. I don't assume it's an everyday thing and I don't expect it to last forever. So I police myself pretty good in terms of... Because when you are doing well, there is sometimes a tendency to want to stick your chest out too far. But I've had enough failures and I've counted a lot of chickens before the eggs are even laid. So I think that just kind of keeps me grounded and just... I'm trying to enjoy it. My kids are old enough to understand what I'm doing, so I'm just trying to enjoy it and not take it for granted because it doesn't last forever. All things in.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah. Do you ever get nervous in front of the camera...

Tyrus:

Every time.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Every time.

Tyrus:

So, here's a little secret. So if you don't have butterflies before you go out there, you shouldn't do it anymore. There should be a nervous energy and intensity before you step out there to be in front of people and entertain. I have this rule where I talk to Tim Storm a lot in NWA and Trevor Murdoch and Kratos and Aaron, which y'all know is Sandow and Rob. And we'll always do the same thing the day I can't lace because the hardest thing to do is lace your boots up. That's a four-hour process and we have a slow race to see who's the last one and the day I can't lace my boots up and I don't get nervous while I'm doing it. It's done, it's a wrap. So you got to have that. If you don't, it's not really your passion and you probably shouldn't try to find something that does give you butterflies when you're...

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Growing up, did you always find yourself to be comfortable in maybe the entertainment space of talking, being in front of people that it's kind of helped you in the last few years with all the limelight, all the cameras, all the interview requests coming or was that something that you just learned to go with the flow and as the wrestling success was expanding and the other successes were coming as well that you learned a little bit along the way or always just a natural...

Tyrus:

You always learn but I was always kind of the class clown and a little bit of a... But a lot of that was you make jokes and stuff, no one's really focusing on you. So it was kind of defense mechanism with some of the issues I was going through growing up to where if I could make jokes about it was a lot easier in the stomach. So never really had a problem. But you grow because there's one thing to be in front of a crowd, there's another thing to... Then you're comfortable and then you own them in terms of like, "I can pull your emotional strings, I can go one way, go the other way." And the only way you learned that is by being out there. One of the things that Dusty Rhodes once told me is when I was getting ready to do the Brodus Clay thing and The Funkasaurus part of Brodus Clay, because Brodus Clay is kind of a monster before that.

But I remember [inaudible 00:10:20], "What if I don't?" And he just looked and he says, "You know what to do. You smell the popcorn, you'll hear the cheers and when you step out you'll know exactly what to do. There's nothing I can teach you about that. You are me, so go do it." And he was right. It's just one of those things where you got to feel it, but at the same time, it has to be... The best way I could describe it is going out in front of a giant crowd. Stephanie McMahon once said, it's like you're in front of a village. And she was... Couldn't be right the first time I was in Atlanta with Alberto Del Rio and I walked out at WrestleMania and could feel that energy. I was like, I just remember saying, "Man, she was right. She is right." But there's a certain... You get to the point where you get comfortable with it and that's when you really kind of get it.

Mr. [inaudible 00:11:13], I think he said, "You don't know nothing in this business until you've had at least a hundred matches." And that means being in front of a hundred different crowds and learning crowds and you can make him boo, you can make him cry, you can make him cheer. That's when you're [inaudible 00:11:27] and entertainment's the same thing. You go out there and you deliver it. If you can do it at a high level, it never gets easier. You just get more comfortable with the pressure. I guess that's the best way to look at.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Okay. And I would assume there's a lot of preparation that goes into any type of performance that you're doing that as you mentioned. Might get a little bit easier dealing with some of the different variables. But as far as preparing for, whether it's the Gutfeld! show or your comedy show or being out on a book tour, that there is a level of preparation that goes in that somebody that is thinking that success is going to come overnight that there is preparation.

Tyrus:

Even if it does come overnight, you might not necessarily be ready to handle it right away. And I've had my struggles with that. But my preparation started with football and it was a lot of film study being prepared physically, mentally, and I never really broke from that. And the thing about football is to be a good football player, you have to either... You're either training or watching at least 300 days a year. So wrestling was a very similar in terms of preparation. You really don't take days off to be a wrestler, especially to being a WWE, which is the greatest stars in the world, number one. So you're competing against a professional every night. Number two, the wear and tear of it. So you really can't take breaks off. And my film studies served me really well, especially with wrestling. But the thing about wrestling is you never know what's going to happen when you go out there.

You might... With simulated combat, but in this sport things happen all the time. And especially when you're learning the pulse of the crowd, something that you didn't think was a big deal is a big deal. Do you believe it because the plan was to go another way or well, we have something here, so let's stay here? And that comes with time. But as you get the thing about wrestling prepares you for anything. When I'm on Fox News and a breaking news story happens or someone has be an answer that was similar to mine, the wrestler in me kicks in. Reads the room in a split second and then comes up with something different and new. But it's not choppy. And it seems like it was my original idea all day. That's a season wrestler. And that's why wrestlers typically have an advantage over actors because improv is our bloodline.

We got to be able to do it. And improv is not having a little script with some words on it and going up there and just playing with literally something could happen. Ring breaks. I remember one night, the top rope broke during a match I was having with Jinder. And Jinder hits the ropes on a couple things and we were just like... We didn't think about it. We didn't use the ropes. And then we used it for the broken rope as the finish on the heat of the battle, you fire it up and you go to hit the ropes because you don't... And whoops, there you go, you forgot. So that, and wrestling has prepared me... The hardest adjustment was in acting was all the retakes because in wrestling's like, "Oh, follow that." And they're like, "Okay, well let's try it from a different angle." How many angles you got? 12.

And then you have to recreate that same thing. So that's a little bit of a challenge. But wrestling and promos. Being very good at promos has served me well in the entertainment world. Especially being on a show like Gutfeld! and a lot of the Fox stuff, because I don't have a writer. Everything I say comes from me. Fox has never said, "Hey, can you say this? Can you push this?" No. And then I'm a loose cannon because no one knows whatever I'm going to say. So sometimes I'll say something and be like, "Did I just say that?" And then...

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah. And it looks like you have a lot of fun too. A lot of band background... I mean Gutfeld! just as an example. It looks very natural. Well, obviously goes to you and Kat and different guests at different times the actual conversation, you're playing off each other.

Tyrus:

And I am having fun at this point in my career, even being in the NWA. It's like I'm seeing all my buddies. The way life worked out. Everybody that I was with at WWE just about with a few exceptions is in the NWA. So it's like... And you're just having fun and you go out there and you compete and being able to manage pressure and understand the game a lot better as you get older and figure things out. The only problem is eventually your body's like, "Hey, we're getting to that point." But it's one of those things that you really just... As you grow, it's just a lot of fun. I'm having fun right now in my career. My kids are old enough to see what I'm doing. The success is great. But at the same time, I think the reason why I'm able to do so many things is because I'm doing it with a smile on my face. I've worked in entertainment when my life was pretty dark and I didn't have much to smile about.

And a lot of those issues were that I brought on myself. But it's a lot harder then. It's hard work then it's really hard work. But going out there and doing what you love when you're having a good time is a lot easier.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And you spoke a little bit about family, but just at a high level, a lot of craziness going on in the world and as you know or asked about on a daily basis. How important is family to you as a person with all the other that different directions you get pulled?

Tyrus:

That was a lesson that I had to learn the hard way. There was a lesson that... Dusty never really talked to me about wrestling unless I bugged him about telling me about him beating up superstar Billy Graham in Madison Square Garden. Because if you watch those matches, they're really one-sided. I mean it's just an... And I remember saying, "Yeah, yeah. You shined him up and you cut him off, you put some heat on him, then you blew a comeback and then you put him away. Did he owe you money? Was it..." And he be like, "Nah." I was like, "Hey, we got to go." Billy was telling him, "Slow down." He is like, "Oh not tonight." And he was lightening his ass up like a Christmas tree.

But he was always trying to tell me what are the two most important words? And I assumed it was get over. But it was not. And it wasn't until I watched the documentary, it was looking at his notebooks. And when I saw the two words it just because he would not give me that answer. He would just be like, "If that's what you think it is." And it was family first. And it just hit me because he was always worried about me out of the ring. He was never worried about me in the ring. And he said I reminded him too much of himself. So in a lot of aspects he was right. But the one thing that the lesson I learned from him is that there's always time for redemption. And his relationship with Dustin and Cody obviously was different, but at the end they all ended up at the same place. And that only comes from redemption and improving working yourself. So family for me was something that I had to kind of learn as I went.

But as with anything, you put effort in it, you learn to appreciate and matter. It's the most important thing in the world. One of the reasons why I kept wrestling was so all my kids could see me wrestle. And they all have and they've all been to my shows. And it's a different feeling when you're going out on stage for your family than it is for yourself. I can definitely tell you that it's a big difference knowing that the most important people in the world are not the crowd with all due respect, but just smiles that you put on your kids' face. And my kids are old enough now to where they have opinions about my performances and stuff and I'm like, "Okay." But I enjoy that. But no, family is something that I really had to learn and kind of put things together. My wife doesn't have a very deep family, neither do I. My son's grandfather [inaudible 00:20:15] has kind of become all my kids' pseudo grandfather, him and the Mrs... Yeah. And they've kind of become the pseudo grandparents of all my kids.

[inaudible 00:20:30], which is, well, my old partner. He's in New Japan now, but we were tagging an FCW together. He's like the pseudo uncle of everybody. So you just put... Not all families are blood related, you just kind of put it together and love makes it work. So in that aspect of things, and plus there's a family, there's a brotherhood in wrestling football that just never kind of goes away. And the one thing about the NWA, we are close. We were so close that I even tricked my network that I needed to get a Wiseman podcast, which is basically us sitting talking on the phone for an hour on Thursday. It's just everybody checking in. We don't have an agenda. I probably shouldn't be saying this out loud like, "Hey, what do you got this week?" We'll just... I'll figure..." Stand out, got into something so we'll figure it out. But there's a family there and it might not be the traditional one but it has been... I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Kids in school, there's so many issues. The one that I'll go to is bullying and for whatever reason, whether it's body, whether it's... Whatever that may be-

Tyrus:

There's always going to be bullies. Because our approach needs to go back to what it was. We've convinced ourselves that snitches get stitches. Telling is bad and that's how you stop bullying. And so my kids have been taught not to take from anybody. And if you see somebody bullying you tell. You be the one that every time he goes into the school yard and pushes somebody, you're going to teach teacher and be like, "I just saw him pushed her." You tell. You are the law enforcement. And my son has excelled at that. And I used to be like... Some kids talking in line and my son's like, "Excuse me, teacher, he's talking, I'm as offended as you are, but he's not following directions." And I used to be like, "Oh man. Why does that have to be my kid?" And then now I'm like, "Yeah. You all tell." Because bullies will realize this is a tough out.

And when everybody's telling, everyone's like, "It's easy for the teacher to figure out real quick, this guy's the issue." And most bullies they operate with the nervous intimidation and kids because we see that in mainstream media and we see that in movies where there's always the excuse you can't tell. You just keep talking. I tell my kids, you just keep talking and they do. And I got to hear at the house, if any time it's a disagreement, they'll come running to me. But I'd rather have that. The idea of tattle tale and all that kind of stuff. No, criminals don't tell. Good people tell. You get involved, you see someone getting bullied, you better speak up because that could be you. And if that was you in that situation, I know you'd want your classmates to speak up for you. So I had a complete about face about it.

But being a parent, those things kind of happen and they should happen. Not everything from your childhood needs to be passed on or some of your beliefs that you thought the way things were, they could be wrong. So you got to be able to expand and grow. But I think communication is the biggest thing. And if you got a clear line with your kids and some conversations are tough and ugly and uncomfortable, but I'm not friends with my kids, I'm their dad. So I can have on uncomfortable tough questions and have to go through stuff, search phones, et cetera. But that's the job.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And it is just so important with how schools and teachers and law enforcement-

Tyrus:

[Inaudible 00:24:17].

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah. You got to just tell and it's not a bad thing. And it's probably helping that kid in the long run because they're going to figure out-

Tyrus:

[inaudible 00:24:31] front. If all the kids are telling you can't bully. It's really hard to bully if you go home and you get on your... One thing, especially for girls, bullying for boys is usually physical. So it's like in the school yard or at lunch or something and then they go home and when they get off the bus or their mom picks them up and they get in their house, they're done. There's no more bullying for the day. Girls, it never ends because then it goes home and it's on their social media. Where other girls will rate their outfits or say they look fat or say whatever mean things that kids can do because kids can be mean because they have parents that are not supervising and they have that freedom to think that they can bring people down instead of bringing themselves up.

So sometimes for girls it literally never stops. And that is, as a parent where you need to be policing the social media, you need to see if someone's saying... And again, it's the same premise. If someone is making fun of your daughter, their contact information's on there and you call their parents and you be that parent why? And you take that snapshot to the principal, you do that work because that person's going to be like, "You know what? This is not worth it. Because every time I make fun of Tyrus' daughter, he's calling my parents and he's going to the school." So that's a tough out and it takes a little bit of effort and you as the parent, you can't go settle it yourself, figure it out. You can't do that. And there's a lot of parents who... Some horrible things have happened as a result of bullying on the internet that... And again, it's no one ever thinks it's their kid.

No one ever wants their kid to be the bully. No one ever wants their kid to be bullied and in our own feelings get into it. Well if that was me, I just would've kicked their... But they're not you. They're a part of you, but they're their own person. So parenting is a job and it is a hard job and we don't have time. One of the things is like, I'm like, "If you got two kids and you're taking pictures of your dinner on Facebook, your priorities are messed up." Because you really need to be... That time needs to be focused on... We blame the kids for technology, but who's buying it for them and who's putting them on it? The parents are. And all my kids' technology is in my office. They only get to see it when it's supervised and they hate it. They hate it. But those are the rules.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

That's great. And I'm glad you touched on the girls. I have a four and a half year old daughter and just the thoughts of how it's going [inaudible 00:27:07]. You got three.

Tyrus:

Vicious. Boys got nothing on girls with insults, nothing. My poor son hits the eject button every time we're playing Fortnite and argument breaks out over a kill and I play with my kids and my nine-year old tends to steal kills a little bit and my son would be like, "Hey, that was my kill." And then it will start and I'll just hear him go, "Well, dad, I love you, goodnight." And he'll just click, boom, hit the eject. "Thanks. Your brother left now. So he's left now are you happy?" And the girls will be like, "Well, he needs to toughen up." And it's like, "No, you need to be nicer." But they're way more vicious than boys are. It's not even close. Their burns and their insults are deep. Boys is superficial like, "Oh you're dumb, you're weak." Girls are [inaudible 00:27:56] talking about, "Well, that's why your mom doesn't love you because you don't look like your dad." They're vicious. Girls are vicious, so.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Wow. We talked a little bit about how you organize your life with all the different angles that you're pulled in. Do you know a week in advance of what your schedule's going to be or how on the fly can things be? You find something out now and then you got to hop on a plane in an hour or two and-

Tyrus:

Do a lot of that, unfortunately. But we're fortunately... I'm in demand at the moment. But the biggest thing I always start, I plan around my family first. So I plan around soccer games, baseball games, that kind of stuff first, what do we have going on? And then my schedule at Fox, which is pretty consistent. I'm typically there three or four days a week in New York. So then I try to schedule my stuff to where they kind of go in order or I'll have just two really busy weeks and then I'll have one week which is kind of chill and then I'll have... I'll put a bunch of... That's why I do so many shows on Fox. I'm just loading shows in the bank. So when I got to take a few days off to do some stuff for my kids, I'm able to do that. And that's one of the beautiful things about being at Fox is they do support family first and I'm raising six kids being present and it's never going to see a picture of me at a club.

You won't see me out at the dance club or any of that stuff. But you will see me sitting with my hat forward and my cart tent glasses on watching baseball and soccer games or taking them to their trampoline or their classes and stuff like that, I've got my dad hat on. So I try to work things around that the best I can. And sometimes it's really difficult. Also, I've learned the ability to say no. And that's something for is hard for guys, especially in my line of businesses because you say no and somebody takes your spot and hits a home run, you might lose your spot. So at some point, but at some point you have to have enough confidence in yourself and realize that every time I skip a game or every time I skip a function for my kids because I got to go, "Hey, we want to have you host a show." Or whatever, eventually, my kids are going to care if I'm there or not.

And being there is more important than 40 minutes on the show. And I do the work and just being able to say... Or a lot of times like, "Hey we want to book you in this cool city and go out there, you'll be out there for three days." And I'll be like, "Man, I can't." And they're like, "Why?" Well, "My daughter's got a soccer tournament." So being able to say no where... There was a time where it was like, "You understand I have to work." And yes to everything and yes to everything. And so now it's a little more selective but that also is the first world problem. Eventually you get to a point where... Because then it's all peaks and valleys. You can be... I've been lucky, I've literally been on TV consistently I think from 2010 to now, but a lot of different places.

But I'm pretty much... And I still kind of go how I've been able to maintain this and it's unique. I tell people all the time, my story is unique and in terms of... Sometimes it doesn't make sense how I've been able to be this successful on TV to me sometimes. But you won't know unless you try. But for every successful show I'm on, there's at least 10 that I was not on or I wasn't... Or auditions I didn't get or being let go by the WWE two times didn't like my direction for me to impact asking for my release. So being on a great series like Preacher and this season's coming where I'm going to have my big fight and my big scene and we get cut and not because ratings, but because of that, the network had an issue with one of the episodes we did.

So you're going to have failures, you're going go to through failures, loss and those are... Honestly, failures, loss and pain are probably the three best teachers for success and they'll register with you. But the balancing act is tough, but you can't also lie to yourself. It can't be 90, 10 work in family or the opposite where you're not... You're just so focused on being home that you're not going to be able to provide for your family. So you have to find that balance. And so far it's working out but some months are tougher than others.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Kids growing up just in general looking for their passion of what they don't like or any insights of as kids are growing up, whether they decide to go to school or go to the trades, how you're able to find your calling and you went after it? Are there any maybe suggestions of, "Okay, here are things you're going to notice." When you feel good, when you're able to provide, when family's important then you that that's something that is probably for you?

Tyrus:

Well, to the first part of your question, with my kids. And my kids are young, they're 9, 11, 11 and 12. So they have wanted to be wrestlers like their dad. They wanted to be comedians, they wanted to be veterinarians, firefighters. Right now my daughter is going to enlist in the army. That's her current plan. The nine-year old's going to the army with her dog and they're going to have special assignments together. And so, also wants to be a soccer player. My son wants to wrestle, he also wants to play baseball. So they have some lofty dreams. And I always think you need to have two thoughts on one subject. So I'll be like, "Okay, but let's say if something happened and you couldn't do TV or sports, what else would you like to do?" And my son's like, "I think I want to be a scientist." I'm like, "Okay, well that's good".

My daughter's, "I think I want to be a veterinarian." My other daughter wants to be... She wants to be a school teacher. So I always try to put... Because I had big dreams, I wanted to wrestle from the time I was... Knew what wrestling was. And I wanted to play football and I wanted to be on TV. I wanted to be Thulsa Doom on Conan the Barbarian. So I had those dreams. But at the same time I also said I got to be able to have money in the banks. And so when you get your education and stuff... If your whole focus is I'm going to be an actor or I'm going to be in the NFL, you're not going to be anything at sometimes it's circumstances right place, right time. But you have to be able to have something to fall back on. Mine is my teaching degree. So when you are able to have something to fall back on also, I guess I can go back to body guarding if I had to.

But it makes chasing the dreams... Chasing the dreams should almost be a side hustle. You know what I'm saying? You want to do these things. And again, I didn't have the luxury of having a mom or dad pay the bills for me while I figured it out. I had to work at Arby's, I had to work at Walmart stocking shelves in the summer. Because my scholarship would only cover so much. So you have to do those things. And having to do hard work and work in construction gives you... You can still have the pipe dream, but you still... You got to remember where you're at and what your circumstances is at the same time. And it might not come when you think it will. My stuff came later, but there was a whole bouncing clubs, substitute teaching, working in group homes like this stuff that you would... But "Oh no, but I'm going to be this." Well, you still got to take care of what's in front of you before... If you spend all your time looking ahead, you're going to fall behind.

And again, you're not a loser if you don't make it in the NFL, you're not a loser if you don't make it in the WWE. You can be an extremely talented person and for whatever reason it didn't happen. It doesn't mean it's over. It just means your path is somewhere else. And a lot of guys that were great wrestlers and didn't necessarily get the recognition that they deserve, they end up going into other fields of entertainment and killing it. But their plan was always to be the wrestler and it snowballs and you never know. If you just keep... If your head's down and you're working hard, doors will open. It just might not always be the door you find, might be a different address. But you get through that door, you take it. Hey, never in any aspect of my life that I ever say I'm going to work for Fox News, never happened, let alone being one of the most recognized people on Fox News. So that was not planned. But when that door opened, I was prepared.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And I think that's the big takeaway is to have kind of like you said, those two tracks. You kind of have the dreams if everything goes as planned and then if not, and being able to have money in the bank, they'd be able to live and support the family regardless of which direction you go. I see some people that they focus all their time, like you said, on chasing the dream and then the bottom falls out.

Tyrus:

And then they want to blame everybody. No, you got to... The problem is everybody, it's that Ant and the Grasshopper story. We all got a little grasshopper in it, but you need to have some ants. You got to have a little ant for you. You got to make it so you can get through the winter, which is life. But it is tough. And again, it's not guaranteed and it's not something that... And it could be over. It could be over in three years. You made it and then you're done. Then what? What are you going to do with it? And that's the one thing that in my generation of wrestlers, I think you see more guys that are able to take that wrestling platform and build it into other things. And that's what you want. You don't want a guy... With all due respect to the old school guys. You don't want a guy who's 55, 59 and still wrestling to pay his bills. Because our fans are a loving fan.

They'll want to have nostalgia and see the guy... But once the bell rings, you lost them. As soon as you look like an old man out there and just like everybody else, they were happy to see you walk the aisle and they were happy to see you cut that promo. But as soon as that bell rings they're like, "Oh man, I feel bad for him." I wish he was... He didn't save his money. And that's just... You don't want to be in that situation. You also don't want to be the thing where you're sitting at the signing table and it's a ghost town and everyone's forgot you because unfortunately for very few of us, most of us will be forgotten. We'll be, "Oh yeah. I remember that guy." But if you use it to better your life, it doesn't really matter if they remember you or not. So that's the riddle that you got to kind of figure out. You got to know when it's over.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

[inaudible 00:39:47]. Yeah. What do you like to do in your free time? And probably don't have a lot of free time, but some hobbies that maybe somebody would be either surprised about or just like, "Hey, I like to just hang out with family and...".

Tyrus:

Well, I do a lot of that. We have a love burger ceremony my wife makes. We chant love burgers and we just basically sit around and wait for her to bring them. She's a trainer who thinks cheeseburgers are the last thing you should be eating, but she won't eat. But she'll make them for us. So that's why we call them love burgers. But that and I breed fish. I have a monster sickly collection and I have all kinds of hybrids and stuff that a lot of people haven't seen before. A lot of fish from Thailand. I have a huge reptile collection. I probably have over 50 snakes and over probably 45 different species of lizards and turtles and stuff. So I prefer to... I'm a homebody. I prefer not to go anywhere.

But they want to go on vacations and beaches and hotels. I'm like, I live in a hotel. So to me vacation is being at home, which sometimes they're like, "We're home all the time, we want to go somewhere." And I just want to sit in the backyard with a little sun on my face. But I've seen a lot. I've traveled the world. So it's the little things that end up meaning are more important than going to a big nightclub or a red carpet event. I could care less about that stuff.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah. To help wind us down, what do you like to share as a takeaway from your life, your experience that if somebody has never heard of you or has heard of you and knows you for a particular thing, maybe it's wrestling or maybe it's being on Fox News, just in general in life thing. Something that you've learned and it's kept you on keel or you've maybe learned over time as with [inaudible 00:42:04].

Tyrus:

I've never accepted no. I've gone into buildings or I want to be a comedian. "Nah, you're too big. No one's going to laugh at a 6'8" guy with traps like yours. Nah, we don't want you to do this in wrestling. We want you to do that. Oh, we don't think you could play old fellow, but you can be the guard." And I never accepted those nos. And something about being told I can't do something really inspires me. And I really enjoy when people doubt me because the lights are fired. But if anything, they would say that I'm definitely one person who has no problem with perseverance and one door closed and I just found another door open. So I think that's the best way I would describe me. And my door is, and it's still evolving and changing. Who knows what I'll be doing in two years, so hopefully less and just enjoying some more of it.

As my kids get older, I want to be home more because their lives are starting to expand and they're getting a little independence and stuff. And going to fly with Dad to see him perform is getting old fast. So I'll hopefully look to do a little less in the next couple years, but still maintain what I have to maintain obviously to continue the lifestyle that I have.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Right. Well, Tyrus, thank you so much for your time. You're an awesome person. Everything that you're doing is fun. It's fun to watch, it's fun to see the takes and to just watch you have fun. Just being yourself that I think being authentic.

Tyrus:

That's all you can be. Just be yourself. You don't have to remember anything.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah, yeah.

Tyrus:

There's no lines.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

No lines.

Tyrus:

You're just being yourself. How do you come up with that? Myself. I don't have someone texting me going, "Tell them this." So that would be my advice. Just be yourself. So much easier.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And that's probably how it's so easy for you to go from one thing to another because you're just literally showing up and being there and-

Tyrus:

Yeah. Showing up and see what I can do.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah. Like, "What do you think about this? Well, I'm going to give you my thoughts." And I don't have ability talking points or PR person that's like, we want to put this narrative out there.

Tyrus:

Nope. Too much to work. It's like a guy tells me 20 things he wants to do in the ring. I'm like, "Bruh, I'm going to [inaudible 00:44:51] too." But we'll see out there. We'll see what happens.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah. Great. Well, thank you so much Tyrus. We appreciate your time and nothing but the best of luck and we ask our viewers, our listeners, to check out your social media, Tyrussmash. Check out Tyrus' Linktree has all his dates of his comedy shows coming up. If he's coming to a city near you, it'd be great to support him, so.

Tyrus:

Thank you. I appreciate you. All right.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

A big thank you to Tyrus for joining us on this episode. It was awesome to be able to speak with him, to see him and just have a conversation with another human being and share his experience. Talking about dreaming, talking about having that dream career. So him dreaming of wanting to be a wrestler, be on TV while also having that fallback in case that dream starts to take a little bit longer to unfold with his teaching background and also being a past bodyguard of some of Snoop Dogg. So we talked a little bit about that. So thank you Tyrus for joining us and thank you for joining us in this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. So until next time, I am Justin Alan Hayes, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices. And I hope you have a great day and be a voice for you or somebody in need.