Kids are soft these days, period, end of the story in every respect. People coddle them too much. I'm sick of that; it's irresponsible parenting. Taking care of them is one thing, but turning little boys into little girls because you're coddling them so much, kids need to have experiences on their own.

My character was a homogenization of various things, whether it be the attitude of a Bruiser Brody, or the look of Nikita Koloff or the way that Nikita looked at the people. I took a little bit of what I liked and what I had seen throughout the years from everybody that I was entertained by and made it my own.

I grew up in the Midwest, and I was a short, fat, little Jewish kid... but it was just different. People didn't understand, so I had to deal with it. One day, I physically dealt with it, and it never happened again. I'm not saying that's the way to do it, but you have to stand up for yourself, period, end of story.

I had creative control over my character, which means if they wanted me to do something that I didn't agree with, then I wouldn't do it. If it was good for the show, then I had no problem. If it was demeaning to the character and wasn't adding a positive light to the show, then I can guarantee that I wouldn't do it.

My character is just an extension of me. The in-ring work, the things that will always be said about me: Big, overbearing, powerful, in-your-face, couldn't wrestle - I never needed to wrestle. Why did I need to learn how to wrestle? Did Hulk Hogan need to learn how to wrestle? Nope. Is Hulk Hogan a good athlete? Nope.

Pardon me, not to sound elitist, but I wanted to put something together that I would enjoy. I thought at that time, what satiated me, what interested me, what intrigued me, I thought other people would like also. And you blend that with some forward thinking of predicting the UFC and MMA were going to be ultimately as big as it became.

If I wasn't prepared knowing every year there is a huge chance of a fire that will require me to evacuate my property, then I'm an ignoramus. If people at this point don't see that terrorism is a reality, and don't take steps to prepare themselves a little more than they were the day before, then they are also an irresponsible ignoramus.

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