The studio's entrance beckons with a subtle grandeur, its wooden doors gently whispering tales of anticipation and intellectual exploration. As he crosses the threshold, the air becomes infused with an enigmatic energy, charged with the echoes of profound dialogues and exhilarating debates. He is surprised he has been invited in all honesty; he had just received an Email from Wisdom last night to say that Joe’s team had contacted the office and requested Price for a show.
The room unfolds before him like a meticulously crafted labyrinth of inspiration. A warm, earthy palette wraps the space in an embrace, adorning the walls with shades of deep russet and inviting amber. Soft, diffused lighting cascades from above, casting a gentle glow upon the carefully curated artifacts that adorn the shelves—symbols of knowledge and curiosity and just some plain weird, shit.
In the center of this intimate enclave rests Joe Rogan's iconic podcast desk—a sturdy testament to the countless hours of exploration it has witnessed. A dark mahogany masterpiece, its polished surface glimmers under the watchful eye of a discreet spotlight, beckoning guests to embark on intellectual journeys yet to be traversed. A carefully arranged array of microphones stands at the ready, their unassuming presence symbolizing the gateway to voices that shape narratives and transform perspectives.
Around the desk, a collection of plush armchairs invites guests to relax and immerse themselves in the engaging discourse that unfurls within these walls. Each seat, a testament to the storied souls that have graced them, bears the marks of impassioned conversations—traces of laughter, introspection, and the undeniable spark of revelation.
A backdrop of floor-to-ceiling windows grants the studio a glimpse into the outside world, reminding all who enter that they are but a fleeting part of a much larger tapestry of human existence. The vista reveals a serene vista of nature's splendor, a verdant panorama that serves as a quiet reminder of the profound interconnection between the human experience and the natural world.
As he settles into the studio, a sense of anticipation tingles in the air—an unspoken promise that within these walls, conversations will transcend boundaries, challenge conventions, and weave a rich tapestry of shared wisdom. Joe Rogan's studio becomes a sanctuary for thought-provoking dialogues, where diverse perspectives meld, expand, and forge a deeper understanding of the world we inhabit.
In this intimate space, the magic of the Joe Rogan podcast unfolds—an ethereal dance of ideas, unscripted and boundless, that captivates the souls of both guests and listeners alike. It is here, within this sanctuary of profound exploration, that minds unite, and the world becomes a little brighter, one conversation at a time. And now it was his turn.
“Stu-E Price! How’s it going man, feel like I haven’t seen you in ####ing, forever!” Joe gets up off his seat as he greets him and stretches out his arm for a handshake, Price reaches in and smiles.
“You know what, Joe, I’m doing really, really good.” comes the reply, just as Stu-E sits back in his seat.
“So tell me, how it feels to be back in the business? Why did you bother?” Price smiles at this, “Oh, I just needed money!” They both laughed at his response. “But I’d heard through the grapevine that this might be coming back from some old friends that went into network television and they’d mentioned that it was time for me to have one more run. Even before I got the phone call from Butch, I’d been training for a solid six months getting back in shape. Obviously, my daughters started asking why I was training so hard, and when I told them they were excited, so that was all the motivation I needed.”
Joe nods in agreement as he listens, ready to lead the conversation on further. “So is that how you got Laney involved? I have to say I wasn’t expecting you to come back to the business with a kid.”
“Kind of... my eldest daughter, Caitlin, had already experienced me travelling around the World and barely seeing her. Truth be told, we don’t have much of a bond and that’s something that was seriously, a big dark cloud over my head for years. It’s better now, of course, because I had a good few year being around.” Even now, that they have fixed their relationship, it still hurts that he missed so much in Caitlin’s life. “In the meantime, I had Laney to another woman, and I had the chance to be with her pretty much all the time. Admittedly, because of how things went with Caitlin I’ve made more of a point of being there and being accountable. But even when she was in the womb, she was a Daddy’s girl.”
Stu-E smiles at the memory filling his head, “Her Mam would sleep and I would put my hand on her stomach and she’d kick me, so I’d move to another part, and she’d turn around and kick me there. We would play that game for hours, her Mam completely oblivious. Then when she was born, it was me and her all the time. She’s completely like my sidekick, so it just made sense to take her on this ride with me since she’s done everything with me since the day she was born.”
Rogan smiles but is always thinking of his next line of questioning, “That’s great, man. I think more often than not, it’s always looked at more as the mother and child relationship gets the most press, we’ve not really had many father-daughter dynamics besides maybe in the KickAss movie, which was a ####ing good movie.” Stu-E smiles a little with the comparison between him and Laney and Hit Girl and Big Daddy but chooses not to say anything at this time and just nods in agreement as Joe continues. “How is Caitlin with you taking Laney on this adventure?”
There’s no pause or hesitation, Stu-E replies immediately, which signifies just how much they now know each other. “Oh, she’s cool, doing her own thing now anyway. Just turned 18, working and learning and really, just doing that thing we all do at 18; trying to figure out what this thing called adulthood is. She didn’t exactly have the best run up to it.”
Rogan arches his brow, and remembers what happened May 22nd 2017, the bombing of the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. “I know you haven’t spoken publicly about the bombing, but that must have been ####ing terrible as a Father, getting that phone call.” Before replying, Price sighs and pauses, it was ####ing terrible and it’s something he will never forget.
“Worst phone call I ever got in my life and the worst phone call I’ll ever get in the future, hands down. The worst part was I was on the phone to her as she was telling me about the bomb, and I could hear the noise, the phone cut off.”
Both of them just pause, Joe looks shocked while Stu-E shrugs his shoulders. “It was the Police taking the phone lines down just in case there was another bomb, but there was a good 30 minutes of nothing. I must have rung 1,000 times but it wouldn’t connect the call. I cannot put into words the relief I felt when I got a call from her to say they found some random fire exit and made it out.”
“That must have been such a release, just seeing her name as that phone rang?” “Oh, you wouldn’t believe it, Joe. If she wasn’t still dancing when her Mam wanted to leave to beat the crowds out, she would have been in the blast and I would not be having this conversation.”
Rogan sits back in his chair just thinking about what Stu-E and his daughter went through. “What happened afterwards? It was a global news event, but I did not see you do any interviews about it, I just knew your kid was there because you told me.” Price sighs and thinks back, it was after the bombing that his life changed even further, “She was getting hounded by the press. Reporters from all over the World filling up her social media inboxes with requests for interviews, not giving a #### that this teenager was trying to process that she just made it out of a terrorist attack. Up until that point, I’d always respected the media but from that, I was like ‘#### them.’ Anytime someone stopped me in the street, my old judo came out and I was throwing people every ####ing where!”
They both laugh about the image of Stu-E throwing reporters around in the middle of the street. “I’m not even joking, Joe. I would grab them by their shoulders and sweep the leg and just slam the poor bastards on to the ground. That way you’re not hitting them, you are simply removing them from your personal space and allowing gravity to do the work. I already knew, because I’d had my fair share of bar fights, if you can prove to the Police that it was reasonable force, you can pretty much do anything you want depending on the situation. If you word your statement properly you can even get away hitting them first by using the preemptive strike argument.”
Joe is smiling and nodding in agreement about what you can and can’t do, as Price follows on.
“But then once all the press finally cottoned on that all they were getting was bruises from me, and they couldn’t press charges about them; they left me alone. Then I had to watch Caitlin go through PTSD and other mental health issues, and also go through puberty at the same time. I’m so proud of how she has managed to come through it all, she’s definitely an inspiration to me.”
Stu-E pauses and clears his throat, it’s the first time he has brought all of this up in such a public forum. “Think it’s time for a drink, Joe?” quips, Price, nicely attempting to change the subject, which draws out a smile and nod of the head from Rogan. Stu-E reaches into his back and pulls out two 330ml bottles of beer.
“You can pick whichever you want, this one.” He hands Joe a bottle, who starts admiring the gaelic designed artwork on the bottle. “This is made from heather and is called Fraoch. Rather sweet, 5% ABV.” When Stu-E mentioned heather, it caused Joe to raise an eyebrow, “So this is made heather, the plant?” he asks, “Yeah, they specially grow it now, just for that beer.”
Stu-E hands him the second bottle, which has more of a green label rather than blue, “This one is made from pine needles and is called Alba but it’s a bit stronger at 7.5%….” Stu-E gets cut off by Joe, “Wait, this is made from Christmas trees? I’m ####ing, having this shit! Pine needles?” Rogan can’t believe what Price is telling him. “I’m telling you Joe, they’ll brew beer out of anything up in Scotland!”
Joe opens both and takes a big swig of the Alba while Stu-E grabs his Fraoch and has a drink, there’s a moment of appreciation for these weirdly concocted beers as they both savour the taste. “All those people throwing away their Christmas trees, they should be collecting the needles and making beer out of them!” both laugh at this, Price is a bit more relaxed now he seems to have stopped a potential line of questioning about the terrorist attack.
“You always manage to bring these random beers to parties that I’ve never heard of and never tasted, Bert Kreischer ####ing loves it when you’ve been over because he’s always going to find something he’s never had, and that guy is a ####ing professional drinker! How do you even find these beers?” Bringing out the beers worked out great, Stu-E doesn’t have to remember being 300 miles away from his daughter feeling helpless and not knowing if she was dead or alive.
“Well, Joe, that’s what I did when I went back to England after HWA shut down, I quit the wrestling business and being a ‘celebrity’ and just went back into what I knew, which was working in pubs. I would find failing pubs that breweries were desperate to get rid of, so they offer a leasehold up at stupid prices. All you do is employ really good people and get the venue ticking over in to profit and then you sell the leasehold to people who only see a pub making money, not its history. And then you go on to the next pub.”
Joe’s intrigued at this, “So what time scale was that?” Stu-E pauses and thinks, trying to think of an average timescale; each pub was always different, some needed more care and attention than others. “Oh, round about 7 months from going in, to selling. It helped me completely get the wrestling business out my system, I was just working that much.”
“How do you feel now about the business?”
“When you’re in it for as long as I was it gets a hold of you, and it doesn’t want to let go. You love the travel and the fun on the road, you chase after your losses just trying to get the win back, you want to bust your ass so you can get in to a title picture and if you’re lucky enough to become a Champion, no matter what level belt, then you want to actually be remembered as a decent Champ so that consumes you.
Now I’ve been out of it, it doesn’t have the same pull to me now. I travel now with Laney, in much better comfort, so it’s more about educating her and showing her new cities and architecture and letting her experience new culture.
At my age I can accept there’s going to be wins and losses, so it doesn’t drive me mad if I lose one. I don’t like it, of course, but I can just see where I went wrong, and hopefully next time I can avoid it. I always felt that the most dangerous people are the ones who are in this higher state of consciousness where things don’t affect them. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just I’m at the mental level now I’m older that no matter what happens, it just is what it is.”
Joe is nodding and thinking of examples.
“Yeah, I’ve seen that in MMA with some guys who just don’t give a #### what their opponent says or does, they just get on with it. They don’t care about losing or having a bone broken so it frees them so much. I’ve seen a lot of fights where you can tell from the body language, they’re uptight, they are rigid in their movements because this might only be their one shot while their opponent is in that ‘whatever happens, happens’ mindset. All combat sports now have moved on to the point where there is not much difference between the athletes, but mental strength now makes a tremendous difference.”
“Exactly, Joe, how do you compete with someone who can’t be ####ed with? That’s why I’m doing so well just now in HWA. I don’t have a problem with anyone because it’s not my ####ing business. I have opinions of people and situations but those are mine, I have no real reason to interject myself in anybody's affairs and I certainly have no right to get involved simply because people are doing things differently to how I would do them.
When I said earlier, I trained for 6 months solid before getting the call from the Parkers about coming back, I didn’t even know if I was going to get the call, or if the rumours were true. I was just getting back in shape as a precaution and because I’d been having a lot of fun not exercising and working out. Hell, this is how out of shape I was, watch this.”
Stu-E takes his phone out and scrolls through his gallery, trying to find the video clip to show Joe. It was recorded in an old garage, at an old friend’s wrestling school back in Darlington, England. Once he finds it, he spins the camera round to Joe to watch the clip.
“That’s you in the black?! It doesn’t even look like you!” Joe can’t believe the difference between the video to the present day. “I know, Joe, trust me I made the most out of not having to be a physical specimen, just eating and drinking what I wanted, whenever I wanted; I bloody loved it!”
They both laugh at the remark, “Looking at the roster, I bet you were glad you had a gut feeling you needed to be in shape!” Stu-E smiles and nods, “Oh hell yeah, Joe; otherwise, I would struggle just walking to the ring with some of the bloody aisles the arenas have!”
“What’s happening with the roster? I watched the last Havoc and I’ve been looking at the news and it feels, at least to me like this is back to the old days. I was surprised we didn’t have people busting out crotch chops and bringing out topless fans in the crowd.”
Stu-E raises an eyebrow, and sighs. “It’s been difficult, Joe, with simply different personalities clashing and forgetting that this is a new era for HWA. Admittedly when I’m not in the ring I’m busy being Dad so I don’t watch a lot of it on the monitors and try to catch it in the hotel room later. But it will all settle down before you know it, I trust Butch and Wisdom will reign everybody in when they need to. And I think the wrestlers will remember, this just might be their last chance to be on the main stage.
Like I mentioned, I don’t have a problem with anyone there, and I can see where everybody is coming from, to a degree. This business is seldom just black and white, and people need to remember that. All I can do is keep showing up to wrestle, do my thing and try to offset the stuff that sponsors and censors might not be happy with at the minute, by trying to be something positive.”
“But are you not worried that something might happen, and somebody crosses the line with Laney, even by accident?” Joe does not hesitate and pops the question that a few people might have had on their minds for a while. Stu-E leans back, he had seen people’s comments online and heard the whispers.
“This was not something done on a whim, there had been countless hours of conversations between members of my family, and her Mother’s family before we even explored the possibility of her coming on the road with me. It’s been an organic evolution to her coming out with me every show, which I didn’t originally plan on but the fans have really bought in to it, and she loves it.
I’d like to think of the people we have on the roster; she is going to be fine out there for regular matches and shows, obviously if I’m in a gimmick match then she simply will not be at ringside for those types of events. So, everything has been calculated to help eliminate chances for accidents to happen and the last thing I will say on the matter is not everybody raises their daughter to be a princess who needs to be saved from a dragon, some daughters know to look for a sword, rather than a knight to save them.”
Joe smiles, as Stu-E had hopefully put people’s fears at rest with his reply. Price looks at his watch, knowing he has some more important meetings passed on to him from the Parkers, as he glanced at his watch, Rogan knew it was time to start wrapping up.
“I realize this is a flying visit, and you’ve got to get back to Laney, so I’ll wrap this up by asking what’s next in line for you, who have you got next?”
“Jeremy Branson is next up, I hope he is healed up and feeling a bit better because as someone who does have a well-hidden competitive nature, it’s much more satisfying to fight when both people are in top condition. I’ve always been a bit old fashioned in that, how much can you learn about yourself if you haven’t just been in a hell of a fight? So I’m looking forward to it, it might even be the first time I’ve stepped in the ring with him so it is great to have fresh opponents, especially at my age!”
Stu-E shrugs his shoulders as Joe smiles. “Well, thanks a lot for the ####ed up Scottish beer and popping to the studio. Hopefully next time we can do a full show, good luck on Havoc and in HWA.” Both gentlemen get to their feet, shake hands and hug. “Anytime, Joe, tell Bert I’ll line him up something special for the next party.” Joe smiles at that, knowing Bert’s going to be pissed he missed today’s beers as Stu-E exits the studio.
Message Thread
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