Quotes About Adaptation

It's said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. In that case, the WWE 'creative' team must be as crazy as a rainbow trout in a car wash.

I once said that I never wanted to be a good guy or the 'baby face,' as we call it in the wrestling business. But you know, it is what it is, and I'll be whatever they want me to be. At the end of the day, we work for the WWE fans.

NXT is its own kind of animal, and you're never quite sure how much of that transfers over into WWE and into Monday Night Raw.

One of the only things that bothered me with WWE and being on every week was blowing off so many great storylines so fast, just out of necessity.

I love Nakamura, but it's a transition for anybody who comes to WWE.

The Giant Swing is a throwback. I used it prior to WWE quite a bit. One of the days, I thought about bringing it back. It connected with the crowd. I've been doing it ever since.

The 'King of Small Style' moniker was actually an idea that a real good friend of mine back home in Oshkosh, Wisconsin came up with the day I was released by WWE. Nakamura was the 'King of Strong Style' and that nickname was hot at the time so I jumped on the bandwagon and made a name of my own. It's stuck with me ever since.

I know the way WWE works. Things change last minute.

It's the WWE; it's Vince McMahon's show. He lays out what he wants from you. It's not always going to be what I want.

When I got to WWE developmental, that pedigree did not help you at all. It was against you. You were an enemy of the state when you walked in, when you had an independent background.

Doing fight scenes in movies is a lot different than in WWE, but it was still relatively easy.

WWE prepares you for so much other stuff in entertainment.

Really, I didn't even want to go to WWE in 2001. I knew that it wasn't my favorite style, my favorite showcasing of my abilities, but it was definitely the best business move. At the time, there was nowhere else to go anyway - ECW was gone, WCW was gone. So, when I first came in, I was seriously frustrated trying to adapt.

When I signed with WWE and moved to Orlando, my wife and my two kids came with me.

When I signed with WWE, a lot of people, even close friends, told me that this place was going to chew me up and spit me out, just because of the way my personality is. It's been an adjustment for me as a human being.

Anyone who's been in the WWE for an extended period of time has to be able to do different things. Eventually, a character gimmick is going to get old and stale. And, when it does, if that's all you can do, you're done.

I started out thinking I was going to play in the NBA; now I travel the world as a WWE Superstar. Life changes.

I was really confident when I left WWE. I was confident that I would have a good time, and I was confident that I could wrestle differently than perhaps people saw me in the last few years with WWE, but I definitely wasn't prepared for this level of everything.

A lot of people who've been athletes have come here and not been able to just pick it up right away. I hate using this example, and I love her to death, but Eva Marie. She was an amazing soccer player and athlete, but coming to WWE and getting in the ring was a whole different ball game for her.

When guys leave - whether they decide to leave or they're forced out - there's usually this period of time we see them around the world, and they can ride that WWE wave and use it, and then it goes away. It loses its luster after a few months.

There are wrestlers in Japan. I think they think they can move to WWE, but it's not so easy.

People who've never played a sport in their life come to WWE and can kick butt. On the other hand, people who've played football or some other professional sport can come here and get in the ring and not do what we do. It's a different tango.

I never was in a wrestling ring before I stepped foot into a WWE ring, so I am a product of NXT.

In WWE, they're real big on letting you sink or swim, and they let you go out there, and they're going to give you the stick and a live mic in front of a packed house and millions watching at home, and if you're not prepared for that moment, you're going to go down in flames.