On support from his fans: “I’ve got my hardcore fans, and I thank them so much for being there for me and not giving up on me.â€
On his drug problems: “I really believe that people learn from examples and through problems themselves. OK, my brother [Matt] and myself, for example, we never drank. We never did drugs. Nothing. I was 21, 22, when I started drinking beer, in wrestling, and then it escalated. It’s easy to do. It’s easy to get addicted, but if you never start, you’ll never have to stop. That’s the best advice I can give anybody. I’m back to a place now where I was before, where I don’t need a pill to go paint a canvas. That’s my new fix is doing it again. It took a while to get there, but I’m here, and I’m a father now as well. That’s another huge inspiration in my life. You look back and you go, ‘Why was I doing what I was doing?’ It takes a while, but after when you do sober up and months go by, you kind of look back. I was lost. I was like, ‘What the he## was I doing?’ It’s crazy. Early remission was a great gift for me, and then it’s just been steady climbing. So the best advice to kids is do what you love. Also, never start [alcohol, drugs], and you’ll never have to stop.â€
On working in TNA: “Everybody here in TNA, there’s so much talent here, and I’m so excited where these guys are going to go in the next 20 years. I’m thrilled to be able to help them now while I’m still good at my game. The future’s exciting, and it’s been great.â€
On his entrance theme: “One cool thing is my theme music, it’s my third theme music that I’ve done on my own, and it really tells a good story about getting one more shot and being resurrected as far as my personal life and being in such a good place right now, after all I’ve been through.â€
On his music: “If I had one wish, I’d love to be able to sing. I love music. I love writing songs, but I’m not a good singer. So that’s why I throw in the rap type rock mix. I have so much fun with that. There’s nothing more fun to me than my guitar player sending me an instrumental track and then translating what you hear into a musical language. Somebody else might write a song differently, but what I hear, what the music tells me, words come so naturally to me. It’s just really fun for me, and then to hear the finished product, it’s just the best pay-off ever.â€
On writing songs: “I keep a notebook with me at all times, even years go, when I started writing poetry. The chorus of a sing is pretty important, but to me that first line means so much. It grabs you. So whenever that pops into my head, even if it’s when I wake up in the middle of the night, I have to jot it down, because you will forget it over time. ‘Oh my God. I can’t remember.’ So I make sure to write it down right away.â€
On his art: “Math was so hard for me, and I liked U.S. history, but art was always my exceeding point. I was always straight A’s in art, and I almost went to graphic design school, but I gave wrestling a chance. A little over a year after graduating high school, we signed a developmental deal. So it worked out, but art has always been a part of my life. Originality is so important to me, and the idea with canvases and paintings is it’s your own little world you’re creating. You know what that painting means. You bring something to life. It’s abstract. A lot of my art is abstract. I love the idea of doing something nobody else has done. I love art of all forms, and it’s really a huge influence in my life.â€
On his YouTube channel: “I have these ideas, whether it’s funny or strange or an enigmatic thing I want to film. I film it, and I put it on YouTube. I bring that vision to reality, and I enjoy that. To see my wife put that together for me and to see that finished product is great. Being an enigma is a great thing, and I want to add to that in my arsenal. Just some strange stuff that doesn’t necessarily makes sense, but it’s cool. I like doing things, attempting things that haven’t been done, and I’m building a pretty good collection.â€
On Matt’s problems: “Through everything that has happened recently, to see Matt now, I think he’s doing really well. “Even with my daughter now, I kind of know how my dad feels.â€
On his dad: “My dad’s older. He’s 78. We lost our mom when we were real young. The visions that I have, I think they keep me as modest as I am, and I remain down to earth. Our connection is really special to me — him [Gilbert] being my hero, and after my mom died, taking care of us. Myself, Matt and my dad, there’s a bond there that should be stronger than anything, and to me it is. Hopefully Matt can think more along the lines of how special our dad is and just cherish every moment he is here with us, because he will be gone one day. Every daughter should, every son should care about their loved ones.â€
WrestlingInc.com
On his drug problems: “I really believe that people learn from examples and through problems themselves. OK, my brother [Matt] and myself, for example, we never drank. We never did drugs. Nothing. I was 21, 22, when I started drinking beer, in wrestling, and then it escalated. It’s easy to do. It’s easy to get addicted, but if you never start, you’ll never have to stop. That’s the best advice I can give anybody. I’m back to a place now where I was before, where I don’t need a pill to go paint a canvas. That’s my new fix is doing it again. It took a while to get there, but I’m here, and I’m a father now as well. That’s another huge inspiration in my life. You look back and you go, ‘Why was I doing what I was doing?’ It takes a while, but after when you do sober up and months go by, you kind of look back. I was lost. I was like, ‘What the he## was I doing?’ It’s crazy. Early remission was a great gift for me, and then it’s just been steady climbing. So the best advice to kids is do what you love. Also, never start [alcohol, drugs], and you’ll never have to stop.â€
On working in TNA: “Everybody here in TNA, there’s so much talent here, and I’m so excited where these guys are going to go in the next 20 years. I’m thrilled to be able to help them now while I’m still good at my game. The future’s exciting, and it’s been great.â€
On his entrance theme: “One cool thing is my theme music, it’s my third theme music that I’ve done on my own, and it really tells a good story about getting one more shot and being resurrected as far as my personal life and being in such a good place right now, after all I’ve been through.â€
On his music: “If I had one wish, I’d love to be able to sing. I love music. I love writing songs, but I’m not a good singer. So that’s why I throw in the rap type rock mix. I have so much fun with that. There’s nothing more fun to me than my guitar player sending me an instrumental track and then translating what you hear into a musical language. Somebody else might write a song differently, but what I hear, what the music tells me, words come so naturally to me. It’s just really fun for me, and then to hear the finished product, it’s just the best pay-off ever.â€
On writing songs: “I keep a notebook with me at all times, even years go, when I started writing poetry. The chorus of a sing is pretty important, but to me that first line means so much. It grabs you. So whenever that pops into my head, even if it’s when I wake up in the middle of the night, I have to jot it down, because you will forget it over time. ‘Oh my God. I can’t remember.’ So I make sure to write it down right away.â€
On his art: “Math was so hard for me, and I liked U.S. history, but art was always my exceeding point. I was always straight A’s in art, and I almost went to graphic design school, but I gave wrestling a chance. A little over a year after graduating high school, we signed a developmental deal. So it worked out, but art has always been a part of my life. Originality is so important to me, and the idea with canvases and paintings is it’s your own little world you’re creating. You know what that painting means. You bring something to life. It’s abstract. A lot of my art is abstract. I love the idea of doing something nobody else has done. I love art of all forms, and it’s really a huge influence in my life.â€
On his YouTube channel: “I have these ideas, whether it’s funny or strange or an enigmatic thing I want to film. I film it, and I put it on YouTube. I bring that vision to reality, and I enjoy that. To see my wife put that together for me and to see that finished product is great. Being an enigma is a great thing, and I want to add to that in my arsenal. Just some strange stuff that doesn’t necessarily makes sense, but it’s cool. I like doing things, attempting things that haven’t been done, and I’m building a pretty good collection.â€
On Matt’s problems: “Through everything that has happened recently, to see Matt now, I think he’s doing really well. “Even with my daughter now, I kind of know how my dad feels.â€
On his dad: “My dad’s older. He’s 78. We lost our mom when we were real young. The visions that I have, I think they keep me as modest as I am, and I remain down to earth. Our connection is really special to me — him [Gilbert] being my hero, and after my mom died, taking care of us. Myself, Matt and my dad, there’s a bond there that should be stronger than anything, and to me it is. Hopefully Matt can think more along the lines of how special our dad is and just cherish every moment he is here with us, because he will be gone one day. Every daughter should, every son should care about their loved ones.â€
WrestlingInc.com
