Big Vito Unfiltered

Big Vito doesn’t just tell wrestling stories, he tells them like a guy who lived every mile of the road and still protects the business. We sit down with Vito alongside WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long and dig into the moments fans still argue about: the infamous dress gimmick, the reality of “passing the test” in a locker room, and why kayfabe only works when you commit with your whole body and your whole voice. If you care about wrestling psychology, heel work, and how character turns into real crowd control, this one hits fast.

We also get into why Vito’s current JCW run has people calling it the best work of his career. He breaks down how he builds heat, how he thinks about promos and facials, and why a veteran’s real job is to elevate everyone around him, not just win segments. From there, the conversation opens up into family history, including the Lucky Luciano connection, plus what Johnny Rodz taught him about toughness, conditioning, and never showing weakness.

Then it’s pure locker room gold: ECW memories, working with Rob Van Dam, WCW highlights, a Terry Funk moment Vito says he’ll never forget, and even the “work or shoot” Vegas confrontation that had fans split. We wrap with updates on The Don’s Final Offer, new merch, an upcoming action figure, and a few final thoughts that only come from decades in the ring.

Subscribe for more conversations like this, share the episode with a wrestling fan who loves the old stories, and leave us a review with your favorite Big Vito moment.

Transcript

Welcome, Guest Setup, Live Chat

SPEAKER_04 1:49

And it's another Wednesday night. I'm your host, Mack Davis. That, of course, is WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long sitting inside the genie bottle. Once again, we see him in that bottle occasionally. I know where you are when I see that. I told you when you first came in. I know exactly where you are by the drapes that are behind you. So tell Miss Denise I said hello.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Denise. I know you're having a good time because I know we gotta say hello to the great Bianca. Bianca is here too, so we gotta let the people know she's in the building.

SPEAKER_04 2:23

Hello, Bianca. I hope you're doing well as well. I've heard stories about both of you. Uh and it's all good stuff, too, by the way. He never tells me anything bad, he's always nice.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

That's right.

SPEAKER_04 2:34

Teddy, we have a guest tonight uh that'll be coming up with us in just a little bit, and that is Big Vito. Uh, he's not in the green room right now, so I may have to uh send him a message and remind him uh to pop in the room. But I know just as a while ago, I thought hopefully he's not having an issue. Hey man, it is what it is. And by the way, if you guys want to be uh part of the show, it's really simple. All you got to do is just leave a comment in the comment section. That's it. Doesn't cost you a super chat, no stickers, anything like that. It's absolutely free. Just drop us a comment and we'll throw it up on the screen and you become a part of the show. And I know a lot of people have already been doing that in the last few weeks. In fact, so much so that we kind of start the show and we just keep rolling with all of your questions and comments that are in the room. We appreciate that very much. We'd also appreciate, though, if you go down below, hit that subscription button because that helps us out a great deal, as well as the like and the uh share button, as well as the uh notifications bell because that allows you to know every time that we have something uh coming up online and you may see us pop up live out of nowhere. So, anyhow, Teddy, uh, let's talk a little bit about uh what we're doing uh tonight. Uh, we will be talking with Big Vito. I know you've had some experience with veto in the past, correct?

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Uh yeah, everything's good. Uh nothing ever bad with veto. Uh Vito's always been a you know a great, nice guy, man. Always a good guy to be around. His attitude was always good, man. You know, and he was a guy too. I mean, if you rubbed in the wrong way, then you'd have a problem. So yeah. And I know you I know you found that out since you've had the opportunity to work with him now a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 4:08

I have. As a matter of fact, uh, you'll have to forgive me. I'm trying to find uh that link because uh he is having a hard time as a aol is down. Is that still a thing today? Aol is still a thing. I don't know. That that blows me away. Uh yeah, hang on, hold on, hang on there, guys. But I'm trying to get uh Vito this message and make sure that uh he can pop in the room with us. And let's see.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Here we go. Yeah, uh Vito had that uh the gimmick in uh New York and with the well, I think it was WWF Den. I believe it was right around 1998, I think when I first went there. And uh he was dressed up as a woman or a girl, or he wore a dress or something. I can't remember what that gimmick was. We'll ask him about that when uh he comes on the show here tonight.

SPEAKER_04 4:53

Actually, I heard him give an explanation of that uh for the first time I've ever heard the explanation. He actually mentioned it in JCW, I think. And uh when he said it, it was off the cuff, but it was perfect for what I mean. He'll have to tell you what that is in a little bit, but yeah, uh a really good guy in the back, if I'm being completely honest. If you have not seen Big Vito in the last year working inside JCW and doing some of the best heel work in the business right now, and I'm not saying that because I'm with JCW, I'm telling you, he is doing some of the best heel work in professional wrestling right now. And as a part of JCW, he has helped grow that company because of that personality and the believability that he brings with it as well. Uh, let's get some of your stuff in here. Go ahead, Teddy.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Well, yeah, Vito knows uh game. Vito's been around a long time, so he knows the wrestling business. And I mean, I don't think you guys could have a better guy than Vito in that role you got him in. Uh, like I said, let's hope he stayed come comes on the show because there's a great story I'm gonna tell you about him, and he'll love it too. So uh we'll move right along with everything and then then we'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_04 5:58

Yeah, he's actually in the green room right now, so we'll bring him up in just a minute. But I do want to bring up some of the uh comments we've already got in the uh comment section right now. John Blaine is in the room, and John's saying, Hey guys, I'm looking forward to having Mac on my show tonight. That's right, John. Don't forget to send me that link so I don't, you know, I don't forget to come and uh join you at all. Uh Dave Crone is popping in the room saying, Good evening, gentlemen. Vito to fan fest five. Uh that's up to uh the promoters and everybody else. But veto would be a hit, I think, at uh the fan fest. I really do. Uh let's see. We also have Kodiak in here, Teddy, uh saying good evening.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Well, let's say hello to Kodiak. Is that a camera?

SPEAKER_04 6:39

Uh that's just I'm thinking the bear when I think I'm I'm guessing this must be a big guy, Kodiak. You know, I'm thinking uh he's saying also keep up the good work. Wolf pack you man, wolf pack main of the room. He's an another JCW die hard going whoop whoop. And it's funny because I know a lot of people right now that are watching this, if they're juggalo fans are going whoop whoop right back at the screen right now. Uh, Chad is in the room, Chad Driggers, and uh he is saying, My favorite guy sending love to both of you and my guy Vito. And Vito will be with us in just a moment here. I want to get through your stuff. Oh, wow. Here's somebody we haven't seen in a while, Teddy. Who's that? And he's saying uh I can't do that when I'm wiping out here thinking I'm having a stroke. Guess who Jack? Yeah, I guess so. Scary movie, the newest one. Funny as fuck. Look here. I Teddy, have you ever gotten into the uh the scary movies that they do, the comedies with the Wayne's brothers?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

No, I haven't got into none of that.

SPEAKER_04 7:42

I I'm one of these types. Now I understand they're hilarious, uh, but I'm one of these types where I don't like watching anything like gore and stuff like that. I really don't because it's like I'd rather see something happy, something that makes me feel good. Now I like an action movie or a disaster movie, but just straight out gore and scary and jumping out and scaring you. Nah, that was only good back when I was a teenager, and the girls would hop in your arms because they would act like they were scared. And you know what I mean, Teddy. That's just how it was. Madman Mick is in the room. By the way, Teddy, I don't know if you noticed that. I think I sent it to you. He got his hat. Uh, he's saying, Mac and Teddy, I hope you're having a good night. And uh, Mick, I'm glad that you got your hat. Uh, and I'm looking forward to grabbing a screenshot or something when you're wearing it on your next show, so we can uh share it with the uh folks right here. He does another show, which uh I will talk about uh a little bit later if we get time, because he does a fantastic show when it comes to reviews. Also, Rough Cup uh Rick Ruby saying uh what up, Mac and Teddy? Uh let's see, who is Vito's? Uh, okay, I'm not going to do that one yet because I want to save that for veto. So without uh waiting too much longer, let's bring in the guy that is our guest

Big Vito Joins The Conversation

SPEAKER_04 8:49

tonight. He is none other than the one and only Big Vito.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

And for all you shoe galos out there, you're gonna wipe that shit off your face.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

And of course, our guest tonight is none other than Big Vito. And Vito, when I saw the AOL comment you made that uh, you know, that you're having a hard time getting into your AOL account. I bet you also have a MySpace account too, right? Back in the day.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Hey, brother, it's good to have you in here. I just want to say it is a pleasure and honor to be here with you two gentlemen. Uh, just so people know, you know, I know I give Mac Davis a lot of hard time on the show, but Mac is an accomplished wrestler. Much respect to him. And then I have my friend Teddy Long, who's probably seen my whole career and been around my whole career. And he knows, like from start to finish, 100% legit. But I'm one of the guys who really believes wrestling is wrestling, K fabe is K Fabe, and the business is for the wrestlers, and the fans just be fans. Hello to everybody out there, Teddy, Mac. Thank you very much for having me. I greatly appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Hey, thank you so much uh for being on the show, man. And uh before you came on, me and Mac was talking, and uh, I was telling him about some of the old school, some of the old times we had back in the day, me and you and our great friend Nunzio.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

You know, and you know, everybody, I gotta say, being in the WWE at the time when I was there with Chetty Long, and Nunzio and I be were good friends. We were a very, very good chat team. We definitely should have got pushed out to tag the title on. Um, but Nunzio traveling with Cheddy and being with uh Nick and all the guys, it was something special, definitely bond. But the one thing I could say about our little thing, this thing of ours, none of the guys ever gave me any cover about me being under investigation wearing the dress. And Teddy was there full ride, full boat. And you know, Teddy, it when I look back at that time, the guys respected what I did, and nobody ever poked fun at me, they never made any jokes. The boys were always behind me and said that guy has a set of balls to go out there and do this. And God forbid I ever, ever, ever got into a fight or something when the boys were around. If I was gonna throw down, I know I have the whole locker room behind me.

SPEAKER_00 12:20

Well, you got to understand this too, and that's what the one thing I admire veto about too. Vito passed a test, and what that was, that was a test, and that's why I've seen them do it to not only him, to a lot of guys. But they were trying to crack him, but he didn't crack. You know what I mean? He took it like a man because he understands just like me, this ain't real. So that's all you got. That's all you gotta do, that's all you gotta figure it out. This ain't real, and that should answer everything you need to know. So Vito took that in stride, went out and made it work. So then they left him alone.

Kayfabe, The Dress, And Respect

SPEAKER_04 12:50

Vito, let's talk about JCW because uh, you know, I know your history and what you've done in the past in WCW and WWE, but the truth of the matter is, and I've told you this privately, and I'll say it publicly, that I think this is your best work of your career uh when it comes to what you're doing on camera. Yeah, first of all, I know you had to be surprised at our ages to be working in a company in a top spot like you are right now, uh, doing as well as you're doing. Is this kind of a way of you venting out all that frustration over the years?

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Um I guess you could say I was a student of the game and I always kept it like that. K Fabe has been embreded in me from the beginning. I never even told my family what the wrestling business was about. They all thought I flipped my lid when I moved to Florida and wore a dress. I mean, a funny story when I was a hardcore champion in WCW and I lost my title in the Lance Storm. Um my father called me the next day. He said, You okay? I said, Yeah, I'll be all right. I'll get my title back. He said, No, you won't. Hung up the phone and speak to me for three months. That's how mad he was at me.

SPEAKER_00 14:07

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

No, I'm being serious. ECW, um, when I fought Rob Van Damme and Bill Alfonso, he came up to me. I know you know how to fight. I seen you fight in the street. How can you let this bastard do this to you? Right? So he comes to the next ECW show at the Elk Swodge. Who's the first guy we roll into? Rob Van Damme. My son can kick you your ass anytime. So Rob is me and my boy, we're good buddies. He says, Yes, definitely, you know, yeah, absolutely. And if I find that that little bastard, like a manager yours, I kick it the shit out of here. I mean, legit old school stuff, you know. But uh, like Teddy said, you know, it's like you pass a test, people say it was this, it was that. They gave me an opportunity. I took it. People laughed at it, but then when you talk about winning streaks, Titonka Goldberg, big veto, because I don't know anybody else who had a running streak like I did, except maybe for Rick Flair at the end of his career when it was gonna be you win or you retire, and he had that match with Sean Michael. Teddy's been around a long time, you've seen it, you know. Mac, you've seen it. I mean, it's it's there.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Oh, yeah. And the the the good part about it is I'm I'm just glad that you're still doing it, you know what I mean? And you're doing a great job. So a lot of people don't know you don't have to be so much the guy, you can have that look. And look at Vito, he's he's like a gangster, he has that look. You know what I'm saying? So you know what I mean? And it's not it's not hard to to pull off the gimmick if you really if you got the look, that helps you a whole lot. And vito has that look. I tell you what, he reminds me a lot of the the guy that was on TV a long time ago, Telly Zavales, you know, with the you had the lollipop. He and you look at the back of his head, and he'll you he'll look just like that guy, and he was yeah, he I'll tell you, Teddy.

SPEAKER_04 16:06

Uh, we were uh getting ready to fly back home on the last tour, and we were waiting for he already knows where I'm going with this. We're waiting for an Uber, and finally the Uber driver shows up to carry us to the airport. Now, this is like what probably four o'clock in the morning, I believe, uh is somewhere around that time. And uh Vito is picking up a suitcase and he taps. I mean, taps going into the car over the gasket of the car with his wheel, and the guy kind of freaks out a little bit, going, Hey man, that's my car. You know, you're gonna be more. I thought veto legitimately, I thought vito was about to kill him right there in the parking lot. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, we're good, we're good because I I wanted to get to the damn airport. Then we get to the airport and Teddy, and he ends up sitting in a seat on the airplane. Now, vito being veto, of course, he just walks in there and he owns that damn seat until the uh the uh stewardess has to come up and remind him uh that he doesn't sit in that seat. And uh Vito, you want to tell what happened after that? What happened?

SPEAKER_01 17:10

So I you know, the lady came on and say, Hey, you know, you don't sit here. So I says, Yeah, it's on my ticket. So I turn around today, half the plane. Sorry, everybody, it's early. I've been reading what Gator, man, it was D21. I think I belong in the back. Everybody started laughing, everybody too. I just like, yeah, all right, my my bad. So everybody laughed. We got a good laugh about 4 a.m. in the morning.

SPEAKER_04 17:34

So it was cool. Hey, trying to come somebody else's sleep. That's what he was doing, Dedic.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

What you're saying, the best work of my career. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't experience every single thing in my career to be able to do this at this point. Now, being living that lifestyle and being involved in certain things and having your family involved has a lot to do with it, but I'm just being me. Yeah, if I'm you're being you, you're it's half the battle on wrestling.

SPEAKER_04 18:09

Yeah, let me

JCW Heel Work And Elevating Others

SPEAKER_04 18:10

ask you about something. You mentioned family, and I want to bring this up. Uh, and I don't Teddy, this may knock you out for just a minute, but I'll show this graphic here. All right, but this graphic is something that uh I want you to explain to everybody who's watching uh who it is that we're looking at there, Vito. It's my uncle Lucky Luciano. Now explain who he is to those who may not know.

SPEAKER_00 18:30

He's a mobster. You know, he's still around. Right. Well, I'm just I can look at the I can look at this guy. He ain't gotta tell me. He kind of looks like it, doesn't he?

SPEAKER_01 18:44

When you look at photos of me and him standing next to each other, uh and my and uh when I had hair and him with hair and us younger days, we look almost exactly alike. My uncle was a very notorious gangster, probably the most famous, but he helped the United States of America do some great things, and the United States helped him avoid some of the issues, so it goes a lot deeper than that. And when you talk about what did he do some good things? Yes, did he do some bad things? Maybe, but in the end, his legacy still lives on, and I'm probably one of the few, if there's any family members, because everybody says they're related, right? But when I did the family tree and I did everything, my and this is how we're related. My mom decided a family is Luke is Luciano, right? But when they came over, it was Lucania, how they spelled it in America. So I didn't understand Lucania. I said Luciano, and then when my grandmother who was married to, and then my mother disassembled herself from that side of the family. So I'm 12 years old, and I'm going to, and she says, We need to go to a funeral. I said, Mom, I says, What funeral are we going to? She says, We're going to my father's funeral. I said, Mom, yeah, your father lives around the corner. That's my stepfather. We have to go to my real father's funeral. And I met this side of the family that I didn't know. And my mother said, Marjorie, you came. I can't believe it. And there was my mom's father there. Right. And then when my other grandfather passed, he was also a member of the family. The one thing in this family, though, is my Uncle Joe, Lucania, and my grandfather never came to the same table. I'm a kid. I loved Uncle Joe. He had the club, he used to go there. My grandfather Eddie, Eddie Buff, he used to run 20th Avenue in Brooklyn. Every time he saw me in Brooklyn, or you know, everything 20 bucks in my pocket. Everybody knew who I was related to. Everybody knew who I was, knew my mom, everything. But when it came time for family reunions, those two never sat at the same table. I could never figure it out until as an adult. And as an adult, I could tell everybody out there. I know everybody I told some stories and stuff. But when I tell you I lived the lifestyle and I worked with some families, I thank God I didn't know who I was and who I was related to. I wouldn't be sitting here because I was a crazy son of a bitch. I still are at times, but back then even more so. But I mean, I was that wild and I would fight five guys. I didn't care. I would, you know, work in clubs and the thing of the clubs back then if you lose a fight, you lose your job. I never lost a fight. You know what I mean? Throwing people out.

SPEAKER_04 21:54

And of course, you were trained by somebody too who uh was also a really tough customer, and that being Johnny Rosen. Rodz.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

And Johnny Rodz did me a great service in that respect. It was his his the way he trained me, trained me to be a shooter and take care of yourself. Don't ever let nobody blow you up. You're never tired. Always do your regiment, always do your roles, always do this. And I kept that, you know, and I became him. The only thing was I didn't learn the politic game like Taz and Dreamer and Bill DeMott and a few other guys, and D Von, who's my boy, you know what I mean? Can't forget him. And when it came time to talking and doing stuff, I wanted to be the best wrestler. I will I could out wrestle anybody in the building. Teddy was there. I used to challenge Kurt. I'm going to Kurt, you want to wrestle today? No, Vito, you have that look. I don't want to.

SPEAKER_04 22:55

Teddy, you had a story uh I want to get to in just a minute, but real quick, Chad Dringer's

Family Roots And Johnny Rodz Training

SPEAKER_04 23:00

asking a question, Vito. Uh, what was your favorite and least favorite person to work in ECW?

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Probably the best matches I had was uh with Rob Van Dam. There were a lot of guys who were you want to know who who was the best, one of my best travel partners was Balls Mahoney. Now you see me in this white beard, beautiful look, nice jewelry, nice clothes, and balls was the total opposite. So when we used to travel on the road, he said, Vita, how could you travel with balls? I said, What's wrong with him? He's quiet, he reads a book, he showers when we get to the hotel, he goes to sleep, couldn't do anything stupid. So, what's wrong with it? Yeah, but you guys are like Oscar and Peelers, it just doesn't mix. And when they say the least favorite person to work in ECW, it really wasn't because everybody was a team, and we all we all work together, you know what I mean? Everybody says new jack was off the wall, probably one of the only guys whoever used to call him Jerome on a regular basis, right? And we like we loved each other like brothers, and you know, all the whole thing was everybody was trying to get to that top spot. You know, you had Taz, you had the Dudley's, you had myself, you had Lance Storm, you had Mike Austin, you had a whole bunch of guys who went on to the WCW, they went on to WWE, became great stars. RVD, Jerry Lynn. That was a great stacked roster. Shane Douglas, you know, um just incredible, even had uh after after success in uh in the WWE for a little bit after the ACW, it was a lot of guys. Look at the mastermind, Paul Heyman, great mind for the business can motivate you to be involved in whatever you do. Great, great stuff.

SPEAKER_04 24:55

Yeah, you've had a lot of great people that you've worked with over your time. I'm curious though, during your time in wrestling, uh was there a sweet spot for you that you enjoyed the most? Uh, or are you enjoying what you're doing in JCW now because you're given more freedom to be expressive and then show your talents?

SPEAKER_01 25:15

If I tell you guys about like being a heel is the greatest thing in the world, there's nothing better. When I did the dress, I was able to show my personality. I smiled, I was happy, I walked around, I was free, I entertained people, people loved me. I met so many people who told me so many things about their life because they looked at me. I was ahead of my time with the dress, right? Because at that time it was like, oh no, you can't do this. But here I am, this tough macho guy, and I'm wearing a dress, and these people used to come out. I wish I could be you for a day. It opened the door for people to be themselves, and that's what people miss today. Doing what I'm doing now in JCW is a cornulation of everything I've accomplished in the wrestling day, knowing how to do a promo, knowing what to do, teaching the guys and getting them to be with me. All the guys I've worked with, I've brought them up to my level to where they are stars with me. It's not that I'm a star and I work with them, they're all stars when they work with me. And Mac can say without anything. Those guys have stepped up and they became stars, and now they're major players that are recognized. And the people who are there they see and work with the people, you know. Teddy knows if you don't work with talent and you don't get them to be on your level, you do not elevate nobody. Teddy, you've been around a long time and you've managed a lot of great talent, tad teams, and individuals who needed the help of guys like yourself. Teddy, tell me the most difficult person you had a time with to get over. You know, who was the most guy you had to like really take him by the shirt and lift him up?

SPEAKER_00 27:14

Uh God rest his soul, but he was jumping Joey Mags. You remember him, Vito? I do. We had a match one time on TBS. They where they put him put him with me just as a rib anyway. They didn't plan on doing anything with him anyway. So, what they did one night, they put him with with me. And so we went out and I talked all this stuff for him at the beginning of the match. So at the end of the match, they beat him. So he's all frustrated. I told him, I said, stop, stop, just wait, wait. I said, watch this, watch what I do for you. So all I did was made him wait, let the people quiet down just a little bit. I turn around, start talking to him like, hey, it's okay, you gotta lose some time, but it's gonna be your day. Don't worry, don't worry what happened. They see me talking to him, then I take his hand and I raise it. The people cheered him right there. That's it.

SPEAKER_04 28:08

All right, look here. If you want to be a part of the show, we had just uh a little bit longer to go, maybe about five, ten minutes at the most before we get cut off in here. So if you want to drop a comment in the comment section for veto or for myself, or take it out.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

Let me let me ask let me well before we go on. Let me ask Vito a couple of things too. Vito, here's uh one thing I wanted to know about the in Vegas with the with the the fan there. Was that a work or is that a shoot? Uh okay, I thought it was. What happened with this guy? What caused you and him to get into it?

SPEAKER_01 28:36

She he was always threatening people and threatened me, talk to my wife online. Oh, get busted my balls. So it comes to the thing, you know, and I see him coming around the corner. I see him make a beeline towards me. So I just got up because I knew something was gonna happen. And you know, one soon as he bumped me, I was like, okay, it's on. Now, a lot of people criticize me because I didn't crack him, I didn't, I would have got locked up, people. So you control the situation. And when it's a tussle and you're trying to get hit, control the head and move him. When I moved him, I got him down on the table. Teddy knows me. Matt has gotten to know me. My reputation speaks for itself. But when I jabbed you with a few rights and I open palm hit you, it was no playing. You know, I'm tired of nonsense, I'm tired of people doing things, saying things, you know, taking advantage of my wife online. I don't like it. You want to come at me and go right ahead.

SPEAKER_00 29:36

So, this this stuff, some stuff he already started with you online and stuff before he got a chance to see you in person.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

I got you.

SPEAKER_04 29:44

And then I was gonna say, Teddy, I want you to uh ask him about this. Uh remind him about something that's uh you wanted to.

SPEAKER_00 29:53

Oh, yeah, vito, you got you're gonna love this too. Okay. Uh Vito is not a marijuana guy. Vito, he hated marijuana for some reason. He hated to smell it, okay? So one night we was in St. Louis, so we had this car that we needed to take get back to the airport. So we was trying to find somebody to take it back. So we end up and we saw Vito, so we asked Vito about that. Vito remember this, and so we asked him to take this car back to us. It's me, Booker T and Nunzio. So Vito said, okay, Nunzio, he comes to me. Teddy, let's get veto. I said, How are we gonna get him? What are you gonna do? We'll smoke out the car and we'll leave the windows up and he'll get in, and then it'll be all smoked. Let's get veto. So that's what we did. We got in this car, me and Nunzio, and we smoked, we smoked about three blunts, and we smoked it out, and then we got out and left it all smoked up. Vito, and and we never told him. So, Vito, can you please tell me what your what your ration was when you opened that car?

SPEAKER_01 31:00

It sticks in there. Oh, my clothes are gonna stick. No, I hate this shit. I I could Nick Patrick is in the friggin' nunzio book it to you, and I'm just going, I'm just irate because I can't stand the smell. Yeah, like a snivelling little we got him, we got him. Did you ever get nunzio back? I got nunzio. Yeah, me and Nunzio actually got into a fight one day in front of Spectrum. I'm driving my truck and we're in front of the spectrum, and he just, you know, Tam Team Partner's fight. Not everybody knows it, but we have fight. He says, You know,

ECW Stories And Locker Room Lessons

SPEAKER_01 31:40

Vito, I'm tired of your shit. I'm gonna kick your ass. I'm in the middle of the frigging device. I put the shit in park. March, Vito, what are you doing? Vito, why are you opening that door? Vito, you're choking me. We're gonna lose our jobs. Right, right in front of Broadway. I didn't give a shit. I am choking up.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

I'm telling you.

SPEAKER_04 32:09

For those of you who don't know who nunzio is, it when you look at the comparison between nunzio and big veto, there's a major difference. Vito outweighs the man, it's it's like a man and a child. Oh my god. And then, like, we get in the car, we're driving back. You know, I love you like a brother, but you're fucking crazy. I believe there is a little crazy streak in you. I think it still remains no matter what.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

If you know the nun was a guy that when you go in the hotel, as soon as he asked how much of the room was, the next thing he says, Ah, is that with tax? He wanted to know about the tax. He wanted to know that he was serious, and he would he'd pay for that room, but he wouldn't do nothing but go up and put his bag in the room, come back out, go to the bar and stay in the bar all night long, leave the bar at five o'clock in the morning, go back to his room, shower up, and go straight to the gym.

SPEAKER_04 33:02

This John Smith is in the room. Uh, big veto is the greatest. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Ellen is also uh let me mention this real quick. Ellen is also said that veto hasn't aged a bit. And look here, I have seen veto and with that when he had a match uh not too long ago that he was in. Uh, you may be able to remind remind me what match that was where you came out in the cutoff sleeve vest kind of thing. Uh uh, and and look here. Vito is in great shape. Uh, I'm telling you, he can he can still go just like he could 20 years ago. It blows me away. Yeah, he was great, man.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

Yeah, what are you about to say, Vito? I'm sorry. No, I wanted to talk about something like you know, something we had talked about offline, and I know Teddy would appreciate this. Mac, you were there. I want you to talk about the slap of the album. Teddy, you'll appreciate this.

SPEAKER_04 33:56

Oh, Teddy. Uh, there was a uh a moment uh on last week's episode where Vito uh was getting in the face. Now, Vito, again, he's the big mobster guy, and he's got a guy chained to a radiator type of heater. That wouldn't that wasn't the actual room where this was, but he walks in the room up to the guy who is the face and slaps the ever-living shit out of him. I mean, wham! And it's like, holy shit. I think everybody in that room thought he killed him, but he was perfectly fine. But man, it looked like he took his freaking head off.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

Because he knows what he knows how to work, he knows what he's doing. It's just that simple. All you gotta do, and the only thing they really got out of that that made him really believe that was his facials.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

You know, something, guys. You know, like I hate I don't like playing around because I do have heavy hands, right? And it's just just something of me. If guys are ever playing around and they're punching me, I just I always go like this because I don't want to, I don't ever want to hit nobody, right? Yeah, so before we're doing this segment, I said, guys, as you know, now if you know it'll be okay. So there's a bunch of people in the room, and you talk about the business, what it's supposed to be, your character. When I hit him, he saw stars and I gave him a 50%. And the people in the room just fucking stopped. When I threw the handcuffs on him, nice and calm, just lock them up. Teddy, if you ever go back and watch, you talk about K Fabe, the business, why people look at me as the Don, as a serious son of a bitch. That one moment said it all. Matt talks about it. A lot of people talked about it, and everybody in there is just like, man, glad it wasn't me. Nick, yeah, man. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_04 35:46

Let's see. Uh Mick, uh, med man Mick, uh in the room. He's a he's a big fan of the show, and uh, you may know him as well, Vito. He's a big fan of JCW. Uh, he says, Hi, Vito. Hope you're having a good night, man. Awesome, glad you're here. We also have uh quick, um Snow Cloud Quicksilver saying, Awesome, Vito. Thank you. Thank you. Also saying, love this show. Also, the Don's Final Offer, and uh, that is your podcast that you just started recently. You want to talk about that real fast?

SPEAKER_01 36:17

The Don's Final Offer is a show where we criticize or critique in Don fashion food, falls, fails. It's not a wrestling show, it's a fun show where I get to be the Don of wrestling, just like Teddy Long just to be Teddy Long, Mac Davis is Mac Davis, and Vito is just friggin' veto because I'm a I'm a riot anywhere I go. Vito, you're really not acting. This is you. Yeah, it's just me, but nobody ever takes the time to get to know.

SPEAKER_04 36:46

Yeah, it's very true, too. Let's see. Uh Mick is also saying, I agree 100%. Vito and Luciano Enterprises are the most interesting thing happening in wrestling right now. Great stuff every week. And uh, I know that you know, uh, even uh your tag team uh partners that you have in your group now, the part of the family. Uh these are two guys that uh, you know, not only are you trying to bring yourself up and bring everybody else up, but these are two new guys, basically to JCW, uh, that you're lending your help to as well to help elevate them as uh as well, right?

SPEAKER_01 37:22

These are two guys who were selected to join the family, um, looking for an opportunity. So there I am working with them, working on our entrance, working on our fundamentals, working on Italian speaking, repeating the same things to make them successful. If you look at the recipe and keep on with what you're doing, you're gonna look good. They're learning, they're doing very well, and we got a lot of great things happening for us.

SPEAKER_04 37:49

All right, let's see. Uh Mike Harold is saying, Vito, what did you think of the WCW logo change back in 1999?

SPEAKER_01 37:58

Hey, WCW will always be something special. I don't care what logo it was, I wrestled in WCW. My first pay-per-view was the Great American Bash, one of the most famous and iconic uh pay-per-views of all time. I got to wrestle Rick Flair, Hogan, and a whole bunch of other great wrestlers in that. I did one-on-one with Kevin Ash, a suplex Kevin Nash on Nitro. I wrestled Goldberg, I wrestled Steiner in these guys' primes and had matches with them. I didn't get blown away, and I had great, great times with these guys. Very professional, and I'm probably one of the few guys around still who talk about, hey, Ric Flair. But I got to play get a taste of Ric Flair, you know, coming out of his prime, but he still was Ric Flair. And that means the world to me. But most of all, I have a guy in the name, Terry Funk, who did me the greatest honor and passed the torch to me in a lot of good ways. I won the nitro, I won uh the hardcore title from him legit on nitro. And he never did this for anybody else, but he shook my hand and handed me the belt on nitro in front of millions of people. And when you do that for some young guy, you never forget it. And

Vegas Incident And Road Pranks

SPEAKER_01 39:10

the things I'm doing now with these young guys is just a replica of what he taught me that night. Pass it on, do what you gotta do, make everybody come up to your level. Terry Funk was probably one of the toughest son of the bitch. Teddy, you know him way longer than I do.

SPEAKER_03 39:24

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:26

And when you talk about tough guys, that guy was legit, and I never ever remember him shaking a guy's hand at the end of a match or giving somebody a belt. Never in my life. I never even seen it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

Well, I was, you know, God rest his soul. I was real good friends with him, and he helped me out a whole lot because he told me things that he didn't have to tell me. So that's what I pay attention to. I tell Mac that all the time. What people do for you that they don't have to do, then that's what you pay attention to because then it's no reasoning. You know what I mean? So they had they had to mean it.

SPEAKER_04 39:59

Vito John Smith is asking, what was your favorite feud?

SPEAKER_01 40:04

Uh I mean, the William Regal feud was probably one of the best feuds I had, you know, because Reagan Regal was an outstanding worker. He worked with us and we did such great things. There were a lot of good guys I had a lot of good feud with, but if you talk about the most prominent one, the lengthy one, I also had a feud with Kevin Ash in WCW. So you talk about some great stuff. Um, you know, everybody I work with is always good, and there's nobody who's above everybody. You treat everybody as a superstar in the ring, it's all good.

SPEAKER_04 40:35

There's a lot of you uh that have uh mafia family. I see that in the chat room popping up all over the place. That's a little bit frightening as I watch the show right now.

SPEAKER_00 40:43

Uh hey, we have we love you. We got nothing to worry about. We're friends with Vito. That's right. These guys are a friend of mine.

SPEAKER_04 40:52

They're with us. We're good. Let's see. James is asking, hey Vito, did you ever work with Hulk Hogan?

SPEAKER_01 40:58

Yes. Guys, this is the best story. My wife didn't believe me until I showed her the video. We have this battle royal in WCW. If you remember Teddy, it was everybody was in the ring from Sting to Luga to Flair to Macho to DDP to everybody. So I'm standing there in the dress room and I'm being my cocky self. I said, you know what, guys? They said, what, Via? I'm gonna come in the ring and I'm gonna punch every one of you in the face. I'm gonna take that tape, send it to Vince, and I'm going to New York. They all laughed at me, right? I no sold everybody who wasn't above or wasn't a superstar in that match. Me walking through, I hit Hogan. Brother, what the hell? I told you I'm going to New York. I hit Luther. I hit Floyd.

unknown 41:43

I hit all the fucking.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

And they're all laughing and going, You son of a bitch, you really did it.

SPEAKER_04 41:52

Vito, uh, we can keep going because I mean, look here, I've got just tons of people in the room right now. And we I wish we could keep going, but we are going to run out of time. Uh, anything you'd like to share before we get out of here uh when it comes to maybe merch or anything else that's happening, uh, as well as your podcast, and that's where people can find that every Tuesday night.

SPEAKER_01 42:12

Well, you have the Don's Final Off on Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. on YouTube. You have the big veto brand on X, you have it on Instagram, on Facebook. Pro Wrestling Tease has a bunch of my merch coming out. Go to the Big Vito brand. Um, guys, I have a I have an action figure coming out in a couple months. It's already in production. It's gonna be a two-pack the first round and a two-pack on the second round because I've done four significant characters in my career that have gotten over. And I just want to say it's a pleasure and honor to be doing this at this state, at this stage in my career. I'm glad Teddy Vaughn is here because there's somebody who I respect, and somebody, like I said in the beginning, you know, has looked at my career from Skull on Crush in 1991, doing enhancement work. You know, I met Mac Davis, and I didn't know Mac was a wrestler, you know, until after I looked up his career. I see Mac has been around, they all sit on the same coffee cup as I do, and the wrestling business is the wrestling business, and everybody should protect it. The one thing I want to ask Teddy, and I always wanted to ask this. Um, the night Ron Simmons won his title, what was it like in that arena? And what was it like that night?

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Well, it was uh it was pretty exciting. Uh uh, first time you, you know, that for anything like that to happen, and uh to put it on none other than a you know a greater guy than Ron Simmons, man. You it they I mean that was one of the best things that they've ever done.

SPEAKER_01 43:49

I mean, he was such an athlete. And when you talk about athletes, you know, people they talk about different, but I think one of the best athletes in the game, and it's not for his wrestling, is Brock Lesnar. And I always was I always was impressed

WCW Highlights, Merch, And Farewell

SPEAKER_01 44:05

with his career because when he went to football, he went from zero to almost making the pros. And if it was maybe a little politic into somebody just pick him up and say, we'll give you a shot, he could have been a pro football player. When you look at Ron Simmons and a great athletic career he had as being a great athlete, body, speed, and you compare those two in their prime, Teddy. That's a match that probably nobody ever talks about. And I wanted to get your view. Who would get the best of who in that one? Not saying anything friendly, I'm just talking about from a professional aspect.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Ron and who? Brock Lesnar. Well, I mean, golly, man, that's uh that's really uh one too close to call, you know what I mean? But uh I I'd I'd have to I'd have to go with Ron.

SPEAKER_01 45:00

I think Ron had that little bit more of oof, but athletically body-wise, wrestling look, um, intensity. I could and nobody would ever think that I would come up with this, but those two athletes going, who would you pick? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_04 45:23

Yeah, that's pretty damn difficult. I want to bring something up too, uh, real quick before we get out of here. Some of the artwork for your shows, I have noticed, uh, it's just it's different, it's interesting. And I believe, if I'm not mistaken, this is being done in-house by your wife. Am I correct about that?

SPEAKER_01 45:41

Miss Noel has done an excellent job. My wife, Teddy. I hope you and Mac can one day meet my wife. It would be wonderful. Um, she sits here and she does all this, she's the brands behind all this. She's helped me with you know, re-resurgence of my career. If people don't know, when we got married, she got hurt, and I had to stop wrestling. So I had to stop wrestling to take care of her. So for the first few years, I had to deactivate from wrestling. I had to learn how to be a husband, learn how to take care of a handicapped person all in the same boat my first year. It was a lot. And then not wrestling, not going to the gym, and not doing things. But now that she's better, she still has, you know, certain things she can't do. But the one thing, her mind is back from the stroke. She's able to do all these great things online. And I give her credit all the time. She talks to Mac, she's on with the guys. She, I didn't find out she was a juggalo until I joined this group. So there's grounds for divorce right there.

SPEAKER_04 46:46

Thank you again so much. Uh tell her uh Noelle uh that we said hello.

SPEAKER_00 46:51

Yeah, man. And I hope to meet her one day. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 46:53

Well, guys, thank you very much. Catch Mac, catch Teddy. It's a great show. Thank you very much for having me. I know I'm gonna get some money because we got the super chats, but they didn't they didn't show on. Oh, yeah. About that money, I meant to tell you it's uh