Professional wrestling, the WWE, and being in the Hall of Fame represent such a large part of Hulk's life, as does his connection to the audience.
When I first came into the WWE I enjoyed working with Candice Michelle, a girl who was a model and seemed to live a carefree life and worked really hard to become a WWE Diva.
Without the fans, there is no Roman Reigns.
In the case of Sadie Gibbs, fans were going, 'Have you seen Sadie Gibbs?' I'm like, 'Who the hell is Sadie Gibbs?' I looked into her work, and went, 'Wow, this is why these people are so into her.' She's very talented.
A different demographic of people watch NXT compared to Raw and Smackdown; NXT is followed by the real knowledgeable, hardcore internet audience, whereas the main shows have a more family feel.
I think NXT has opened up the doors for a lot of guys to come in and create different opportunities.
The WWE also embraced more of a reality-based approach to wrestling a year or two after I established it. I knew, deep down inside, were it came from. The WWE did it better than I did, and they're still here, and I'm not, but nonetheless - I knew where it came from.
I think the reason that I've been able to succeed is that I was a fan of sports entertainment when I was a kid - that's what I wanted to do.
There is nothing more than the world to me than performing in front of the WWE Universe. So I would like to do it as long as I can. As long as they will have me.
When I was 17, I got a call from Konnan. He told me that he was about to start up a new promotion called AAA. A lot of the popular wrestlers were going to come to work for him, and he wanted me to be one of them.
To me, you don't want to go against the WWE Universe. You never want to do that. To me, what works is to go with the flow.
I learned everything from WWE. Ken Anderson trained me in Green Bay. The were looking for a midget for Fit Finlay, and Ken said that I have the guy. He can take bumps. He can work. He will do great, it was literally off to the races from then on.
John Cena is one of the great WWE talents that I respect most. If I were to end up there, working with someone of his caliber would certainly be a goal and jive with my mission of changing wrestling.
I can't even tell you how many 8, 9, 10 year old kids have come up to me and said, 'You are my favorite wrestler, and I've seen you on 'the network' or on YouTube.'
House Hardy - myself and Brother Nero - are pioneers. My style of booking during early independent bookings was very similar to what 'Ring of Honor' later became, which is what WWE later became.
WWE can say they don't watch Impact and TNA but I know that's a lie.
The whole Aleister Black character is a creation of my influences, Triple H and NXT, and everyone combined.
My first time around in WWE, there wasn't the WWE Network. We weren't as big. It was much harder to crack through and get to the audience.
'Smallville' gig was another one of those things I got through WWE. At that point, I had absolutely no aspirations to pursue acting.
There's such a wide demographic who watches the WWE. And everybody's into something different.
Back in 2004 I trained at an independent wrestling school and performed in front of crowds of around 200, then I got signed to a contract with the WWE to continue my development.
I wasn't trying to be the next Hulk Hogan. I was trying to be the next Vince McMahon.
I've tried repeatedly, but I just cannot sink my teeth into the WWE product.
In my opinion, NXT has a niche audience.
I remember when I had just left WWE and I was wrestling in England and Germany, I could just tell that this influx of this new wave of wrestling was coming much like it felt when I began wrestling back in '99.
