Titus O’Neil talks New Book “Wrestling with Fatherhood”, WWE Hall of Fame Warrior Award, Issues with Hulk Hogan, more
Guest: Titus O’Neil
Date: 11/18/2024
Your Host: James Walsh
Titus O’Neil is a former college and arena football great who became a champion in the wild world of professional wrestling as a former WWE Tag Team and WWE 24/7 Champion. In addition to those titles, he was named the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame Warrior Award recipient which is akin to the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. WWE has also named him their most philanthropic superstar of all time, a moniker Titus takes to heart. For the first time ever, Titus steps into the Wrestling Epicenter to discuss his career with a special focus on his new book.
A few years ago, Titus O’Neil put out a book called “There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Kid.” Recently, Titus put out his second book, “Wrestling with Fatherhood.” This time around, Titus looks at how he was a father to his kids throughout their lives with an introspective look at managing life both on the arena football grid iron and in the squared circle under the bright lights of the WWE which took hom away from home for long periods of time. But, he made it work! It is an inspirational look at an impressive athlete’s love of family. I truly encourage people to read it!
Titus’ book “Wrestling With Fatherhood” is out now via ECW Press. Find it at all your favorite book stores and on Amazon!
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TITUS O’NEIL:
On the idea to write this book:
“One of the things I touched on in my last book, “There’s No Such Thing as a Bad Kid”, a little but was my upbringing and how I grew up without having a father. My story is well documented about me being the product of my mother having been sexually molested and getting pregnant at 11 and having me when she was 12 years old. So, I really grew up without any real hero or father figure until my teen years. And then, the lost of my best friend’s father – who was actually a drug dealer, But, even though he was a drug dealer, he still did a lot of good for a lot of people including my best friend. TO him, he was his hero. And, I said then that I wanted to be a hero to my children. If I failed at everything else in life, at least I would be a successful father. And, I felt at this time, with the world so divided over so many different political issues, religious wars… Fatherhood is one of those things that you can’t politicize. It doesn’t matter if you’re a republican or democrat, Christian or Muslim, I think we all can agree that family is important. And, from a male perspective, the book isn’t to highlight that I was a great father. It is to highlight the fact that being a father is the greatest honor that a guy can ever have. I went from fatherless to fatherhood. I have three children. Two sons and a daughter, my daughter who I adopted several years back. They are all now three prospering adults at Division 1 colleges and are palying the sports of their choosing. My oldest son plays football at UCF, my youngest son plays football at the University of Florida, and my daughter plays basketball at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. So, obviously I have some pride points that I share with all three of them. So, I wanted to share that with the world. But, also I wanted to share some perspective for different fathers that might have different journeys.”
On different fathers featured in the book:
“I talked with Mark Henry. Will Packer, a movie producer and a good friend of mine. I also spoke to one of my business partners about his divorce and that relationship. I wish I had a better relationship with the mother of my kids but it was a strong enough relationship that our kids came out pretty well. When you look at Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia, his ex-wife, they are actually business partners now! (laughs) So, that worked out pretty well. I wanted to highlight that situation.”
On his first Father’s Day Superstar Dad Celebration:
“I actually did the first Father’s Day Superstar Dad Celebration. We had several thousand in attendance at the amphitheater in Tampa, Florida and it was all celebrating dads and mentors. Mother’s Day is often celebrated. Father’s Day is often tolerated. You can get a restaurant reservation easily on Father’s Day but you can’t get a Mother’s Day reservation anywhere from Thursday through Monday. It was to say that Father’s Day is important especially in the modern day of the independent woman who sometimes say, “I don’t need a man!” Well, that is just like a man saying, “I don’t need a woman!” We need both! We need both perspectives. We need the nurturing perspective, we need the emotional perspective. We need both. And, even the father’s navigating through their fears, their worries, and their excitement. I remember when I was first told I was going to be a father and how excited I was but, as excited as I was, there was also a lot of nervousness because I knew my life was literally about to change. And, it does change.”
On if it is difficult to write about such personal things in his books:
“It is not difficult for me because I’ve been living it since I was 13 years old. I’ve always had the innate ability to connect people. Most people who know me know I’m a pretty consistent individual. If I don’t like someone or something, I’ll stand on it! (laughs) You know what I mean? I’m not one to talk behind people’s backs and if someone says they have a problem with me, I’m more than happy to have a conversation with that person and it doesn’t have to be confrontational. You could post a beautiful picture of your family on Instagram and somebody somewhere will have a problem with it. I can’t worry about things like that because I try to live a transparent life. I’m a pretty consistent person and I have the ability to disagree with some people without it turning into a shouting match.”
On if he has heat with many wrestlers:
“I get asked a lot if there are any wrestlers that I have anything bad to say about and I always take the high road. But, if people ask me if Hulk Hogan is one of my closest friends, I’d tell them “Absolutely not.” I am able to separate the character of people from the character of people, you know?”
On if he was surprised that Hulk Hogan got boo’d when he hosted WrestleMania with him:
“I was and I wasn’t. It was surprising to me because he is who he is and he’s been who he’s been as far as a wrestling icon. But, we live in a different world now. So, when certain things were exposed, it became kind of a chink in his armor. And, in my opinion, there was really no accountability or remorse for what was done. I think people get a bad taste in their mouth regardless who you are or what color you are. If I had made some racist comments and they got out, people would not be happy with me either. Even though I put 30 kids through college, even though I’ve raised millions of dollars for different organizations… You can do certain things and then you have to be accountable for it. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the wrestling industry and the people in it. But, I also look at people for who they are. Being in the wrestling business, I have the opportunity to see some people from both sides of the curtain more than just a traditional wrestling fan. This is not about wrestling for me. It is about being a good human being. We all have our flaws and our issues – me included. But, you will never hear any stories about me other than me being a good person. I can’t say that is the same conversation for other people.”
On if he ever thought pro wrestling would be his biggest claim to fame:
“Absolutely not. People ask me all the time if I wanted to do this as a kid and I’ll tell you, I have been and continue to be a huge WWE fan. And, I never could have scripted life in the ring, traveling the world, working with the people I worked with. I could never have scripted that. Wrestling was never in the cards. Honestly, coaching was. I was picking up my shoes, getting them re-soled and I got a taste for some Jerk Chicken. There is a place in Tampa called the Jerk Hut and of the two locations, one was near the place I was picking up my shoes from. That Jerk Hut was across the street from the WWE building. I called Dave Batista, my long time friend, and said, “Dave, is this the place you want me to check out?” he said, “Yeah.” So, i said, “I think I’m going to poke my head in the backdoor and see what it is all about.” He said, “Yeah, ask for Steve Keirn or Dusty Rhodes.” I was like, “The Bionic Elbow Dusty Rhodes?” (laughs) He said, “Yeah, he helps work with guys to develop their characters and stuff.” So, I poked my head in the door and the first faces I saw were the Usos, Kaval, and Norman Smiley. He said, “Can I help you?” I told him that Dave Batista said I should ask to speak to Steve Keirn or Dusty Rhodes. I ended up picking up my kids and coming back that night – they had a TV taping. John Laurinaitis called me, he said they were going to give me a tryout match. I said, “I’ve never wrestled before.” He asked if I was in shape, I said “I’ve never wrestled before but I work out everyday…” Well, they called me back to work that Friday, it was supposed to be that Friday, Monday, and Tuesday. But, he called me that afternoon and said, “I think we’re going to sign you. The process usually takes about 6 to 8 months.” I said, “Well, I don’t have 6 months.” I was getting ready to start coaching football. He said, “Give me an hour.” He called back, he said I had to take a physical, they flew me up to Pittsburgh for the physical on a Tuesday, that Wednesday I got a contract, and I was learning to be a wrestler by the following week. The whole process took less than a week.”
On if becoming a WWE star made it harder to be the father he wanted to be:
“It was difficult in the beginning because of the schedule. Especially when you’re only home 2, 2 and a half days a week. But, we’d also be gone a couple of weeks when we’d do European tours. Early on, it was very tough, but with technology, face time, and phone calls…. It wasn’t hard to stay connected. My kids were 2 and 4 when I started wrestling. Now they’re 18 and 20! (laughs) But, I also was able to bring them on the road with me sometimes too. That was great because you’d see Mark Henry with his daughter, Randy Orton with his kids, Kofi Kingston with his kids. The list goes on and on. So, it was great to have that environment where family being at work was accepted. ”
On if he’s embarrassed that his Greatest Royal Rumble side is the first YouTube clip that comes up under his name:
“No, I’m not at all embarrassed by it. I tell people all the time, you can wake up and stub your toe and nobody is going to know about it. I get asked a lot, “Was it real or fake?” It was very real! I feel very fortunate that there weren’t crossbars where I slid or we would not be having this conversation. Or, the LED wall they have as the ring apron now, we might not be having this discussion. I think it says a lot about my character. This was one of many times I fell down but I got back up. Throughout my life, I’ve had to often make the best out of nothing. If you think of the card that night… You had Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Triple H, and on and on… And that was the most talked about thing to happen that night! That was our first time in Saudi Arabia! (laughs) And, it was talked about for months and months… And it is still talked about! Every moment in wrestling is story telling. Depending on who the narrator is, you can tell a great story about life and dealing with life. It is about taking the bad and making it good. That is what sports entertainment is. And, it is about creating moments that can make people smile for years. I feel fortunate that I was a part of that.”
On what being given the WWE Hall of Fame Warrior Award meant to him:
“It actually meant more to me than being the World Champion. Because, if you get given an award for your character and who you are as a human being, that supersedes everything. I tell people all the time, I could do a lot of things for a lot of different people but if my kids didn’t think as highly of me, I would consider that being a failure. Getting the Warrior Award in 2020, at WrestleMania, not only highlighted what I’ve been able to accomplish outside of the ring but it also highlighted all the work that the superstars do and to not be afraid…. I remember Sami Zayn calling me several years ago asking about starting his cause and if I thought it could get heat on him from the company for starting his own thing. I said, “If anything, the company should look at this as something that humanizes you.” We’re not robots. We try to tell people that all the time even to the point where we tell people “Don’t Try This at Home” yet people still try it! (laughs) Any time you take the time to enhance the life of others, you’re making the world a better place!”
