“Shooter’s a great kid. It’s the family business for him obviously, and that gives him a leg up on the competition, but that puts more pressure on him too because his dad being a famous referee and being born into the business isn’t always a good thing. There’s extra pressure on you because people think you’re being handed a spot and aren’t working as hard as they are. That isn’t the case with Shooter. He’s in the Dojo every day, doing all the work. One thing that really impressed me during the tour was the Young Lions. They work out before every event, and it makes me cringe watching them taking falls, taking suplexes, hitting the ropes, beating each other up, doing squats, bridges, crunches, running the stadium steps every night, even if they have a match that night. They’re in the Dojo busting their asses. The militaristic discipline was really impressive and Umino is right in there working his ass off. I expect that hard work to pay off, and I think he’ll be a big star one day. He’ll be a champion in New Japan, and when I’m old and broken down and he’s a big star maybe he can throw some Yen in the mail! If I can be any part of someone’s journey on their way, that’s great. I was given a lot of opportunities in this business, so if I can sprinkle a little dust on anybody, that’s all good.”
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