Q: You just mentioned Triple H. To me, the title program that you had with him in 2002 was sort of a turning point in your WWE career. He said in his promos that you werent in his league and the way the program was designed seemed to indicate that as well. What was working with Triple H like for you? Was it contentious at all in the back when you were going over your matches?
A: It was ingenuine. Just like when he pretends that he cares when he says, Hey, hows it going today? OK, good, good. And he just has that smugness about him where you know when hes walking away from you that hes rolling his eyes or something. Theres something about that kind of guy that vibrates at such a different speed than me, that I dont enjoy being around someone like that. Im genuine. I dont say anything about anybody that I wont say to their face, and somebody thats the opposite and puts up a big front basically, thats how they do it there. That is how you get to the top there. Traditionally, that seems to be the way to go to stab people in the back, to hold them down after you cant go up any higher yourself. I was never going to go that way, so I was always happy just making it as far as I could and just looking at it professionally. Going over a match thats professionalism, too. When youre out there in the ring with somebody, you bring what you bring to the table and so do they, and its all business beforehand. Now, once youre out there in the ring, then anything can go, and thats when it helps to know that you can handle yourself and defend yourself.
To be honest, theres a lot of matches where youre so on the edge, youre just hoping that they catch you really stiff so you can receipt them and nail them one back. I had a lot of matches with Chris Jericho like that. They were great matches, but those were some of the matches when I was adjusting coming in in 2001. Jericho, his politics frustrated me so much that when Id be in the ring with him, I was pretty sure I was going be busting him open and it was going be a receipt. He was going to give it to me and I was going give it back to him. Thats one way to do business.