Mike Santana, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, hangs with John Kiernan before his title defense at TNA Rebellion against Eddie Edwards for the TNA World Championship! We talk about why Eddie Edwards is in for the fight of his life, how his entrance theme Realest of The Real embodies the story of his life, what some of his favorite TNA Wrestling entrance themes are, and the importance of a solid entrance theme for any wrestler.

Enjoy!

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Do you like wrestling? Do you like music and stories from the road? Join John Kiernan, wrestling entrance theme song composer, and professional musician of over 10 years for stories and interviews with your favorite wrestlers, rock stars, and personalities!

About the Host:

John Kiernan is a wrestling entrance theme song composer with over 150 themes written for wrestlers in various promotions such as NJPW, WWE, ROH, MLW, and many more. As a professional musician, a veteran in the podcasting space, an avid pro wrestling fan and wrestling personality by way of creating the soundtracks for your favorite wrestlers, John Kiernan forges his latest podcasting venture into diving into stories of music, stories from the road, and wrestling from all walks of life from your (and his) favorites of all time.

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Ladies and gentlemen, in the studio today, that's gonna go ahead and put a hurtin' on

Eddie Edwards at Rebellion on April 11th.

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My guest at this time, the one and only Mike Santana, thank you for joining us today.

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I appreciate you having me,

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Absolutely and look at that title just first and foremost title looks beautiful, but it

looks even better on your shoulders.

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Eddie's in for, for probably one of the toughest fights of his career.

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We both are going into rebellion with something to prove.

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you know, if you know anything about both of our careers, they're very similar, going from

tag teams to singles and things like that.

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So it's definitely me going against another foundational.

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pillar of TNA.

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I think it's going to be a hard hitting fight and I'm looking forward to it.

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Absolutely There's a reason you're holding the TNA world heavyweight championship But one

of the things I love about you the most outside of your in-ring work is your entrance

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theme and that's what we're gonna talk a little bit about today just just talk about your

theme

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What is the importance of that entrance theme for you?

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So Blas89 is someone that I've known for a while now.

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He's definitely a close friend of mine.

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we have a bit of a history.

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So this entrance song, had sent to me before, so while I was out with my injury in 2023 or

so.

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He had sent me this track he knew a lot about my struggles and things that I was going

through and have been through.

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So he sent me this theme song while I was out and I was like, this beat is pretty cool.

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And then I started listening to the words and he's literally talking about my life story

in the lyrics.

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And when I started like catching on, was like, wait a minute, like this is me, this is my

life story, this is what I'm about to do, you know?

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And I couldn't have had a better guy to do it and just like, that's why I tell guys like,

listen to the words, it's everything that I'm doing today, you know?

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And everything that I've endured and I've gone through.

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and me just being a hip hop head,

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and being from New York, being from the Bronx where the birthplace of hip hop.

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So it was definitely something that I wanted to incorporate when I got back into

wrestling.

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So yeah, man, it's definitely a special one.

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It hits hard.

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um The beat is really hard.

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And um yeah, I feel like once he hits that, yo Santana was good.

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You already know it's strapped on boots tight, because I'm coming.

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I love the fact that you've got these lyrics that really like you're saying embody who you

are and your story and all this Yeah, you know I've often said that lyrics in an entrance

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theme aren't always necessary But when they are they've got a really hit hard and I love

some of these lyrics here to put depression out of its misery It lives in yeah fight cause

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the light at the end of the tunnel deliver peace It's like, know, these aren't just lyrics

of a wrestler like okay, cool.

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We're gonna go to the ring and do our thing, right?

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It's actually a story about

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are, the things that you've done and the things that you're going to do and the things

that you know kind of got you to the game where you are now.

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I love that.

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you also have this entrance where you're walking through the crowd.

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You are a man of the people.

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You're always coming in.

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You're somebody that I think the crowd gets behind for so many reasons.

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But eh when you're coming to the ring through the crowd and everybody else is coming

through the back, what feeling does that give you being part of the crowd for when you're

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coming to the ring?

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so when I came back to TNA, I always said like, that's what I want my entrance to be.

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One, because it was a throwback to the old LAX days.

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When I had my first run at TNA, we used to come out through the crowd, we had our own

entrance way.

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And then also, you know, because everything I do is very deliberate.

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Everything has a purpose.

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So.

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ah

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I always said with this run that I'm on just in my career in general and what I represent

and what I'm putting out there, the whole thing is I'm bringing the fans on this journey

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and on this ride with me, right?

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And I've always said that.

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And I think that's why people have connected with me so much aside from my story and aside

from how open I've been with a lot of my struggles.

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But the fact that

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I literally walk through the crowd and as I'm walking through the crowd, it's almost like

I'm grabbing everyone and putting them on my back and taking them with me to the ring.

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And that was the thought process of coming up with my entrance.

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And also there's nothing like getting the energy from the audience.

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That energy that they give is why we do what we do.

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So I always say, you give me your energy.

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I'm gonna give it right back and we're gonna put it together and...

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Boy, boy, whoever's standing across the ring from me, they're gonna get a hell of a ride.

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So uh yeah, those are pretty much all the processes and the thought processes of why I do

what I do.

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love that and going back to your entrance theme specifically for a second the first time

that you come back from injury and you make that first entrance with your new entrance

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theme you've got this time you're recovering you hear this the first time you hit the ring

with your new entrance theme what's that feeling like for you when you first hear it and

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you get to the ring

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man, it was hard to explain I used it before I came back to TNA

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I haven't been seen on TV in 14 months.

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Right.

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The crowd hasn't seen me.

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They haven't heard from me.

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Nothing.

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I went black on social media like I didn't post.

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I didn't do anything.

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Right.

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I totally like left everything.

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And when that beat hit and I walked out and that crowd first I felt like they were like

who the hell is that because I looked totally different.

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Right.

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And then also just like, oh my God, he's back, and what is this song and what is this, it

was a great moment in it.

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And it was just a rush unlike anything other.

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so we're talking about entrances, we're talking about your theme.

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I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you, who else on the TNA roster do you think's got a banger

theme right now?

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Oof.

85

I like Leon Slater's theme for sure.

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He got a good one.

87

Mustafa Ali's theme is very traditional, but very, it hits hard, you know what I mean?

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It reminds me of this super villain that's about to come out.

89

The Hardys, I mean the Hardys, come on.

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As soon as you hear that Hardys theme, the whole building erupts, right?

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That's another banger.

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It's so recognizable too, so.

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those are the ones that come to mind.

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love those.

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You mentioned the Hardee's just iconic with Loaded.

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Shout out to Zaheer also for doing Ali's.

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That one's a banger too.

98

Yours is a banger.

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There's so many banger pieces of music in the DNA right now.

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so for you, what is the most important thing that an entrance theme needs to be effective?

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I feel like it needs a very recognizable intro.

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It needs uh a moment.

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Like once it comes on, people know and it gets a reaction, right?

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It took a while for mine, I think, at least for me.

105

But once you hear that, it's like a violin type of thing, I guess.

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Once you hear that, now people are like, oh, he's coming, right?

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But I feel like,

108

it needs a banger intro, like something that is recognizable or something that when the

crowd hears it, they automatically think of you.

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Like for instance, I'm sure we're gonna get to that, ah like Bret Hart, you hear that

guitar strum and it's a rap, like the building erupts, right?

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So ah yeah, I think just the intro.

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And you brought up Bret Hart.

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There have been so many over time.

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of Mike Santana's favorite entrance themes of all time?

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One is Bret Hart, definitely.

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ah I think The Gangrel's The Brood, that's a really good one.

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feel like, I know this is super random, but I love the original Goldust theme.

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That's a great one.

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Yeah.

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So good, it's so good.

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DX of course.

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um And the Sting theme when he went to Crow Sting in WCW.

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Yeah, I love that theme.

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It's funny because you brought up a bunch across the board, some of them have lyrics, some

don't, some that they all just give you that dime drop moment or that glass shatter

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moment, They're iconic at the beginning, they're iconic through it, and they just get the

crowd amped up, which is, again, when I think about you coming to the ring and I think

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about your theme, you see the crowd getting with you with that.

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And I feel like the crowd getting with you once you're there, once you have them, how do

you keep them?

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And I feel like you've been able to do that for, you your...

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in your entrance theme.

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before we're all concluded here and wrapped up, I know you're a busy man.

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You got some things to do and some butts to whip, right?

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But I do want to ask you, what is on the playlist of Mike Santana these days?

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So, man, my musical selection is so eclectic and so all over the place.

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um So it varies day to day, depending on my mood, of course, right?

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But man, it's crazy.

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music could literally, it's funny, because when my daughter is sitting in the car with me

and we're driving somewhere and I have just a random playlist on, she's like, are you

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okay?

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Because it like goes.

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from one thing to the next to the next.

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So, you know, my music could go from Shaday to Metallica in the drug, like from one track

to the next, right?

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um Shaday, Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Pearl Jam, uh Mobb Deep, Wu-Tang Clan,

Nas.

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um Yeah, like for me, like those are like, I'm into old music, so.

142

um

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That's what hits for me.

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love that.

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You said you're into old music, but if it's great music, it's going to hit no matter what.

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it a week or 30 years away?

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Yeah, 100%.

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I love music from the 70s and the 80s.

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It's awesome stuff.

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I gotta ask, is your workout playlist the same as your just general playlist?

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it all depends on how I'm feeling that day.

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Like I can literally be in the gym listening to salsa music.

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I could be in the gym listening to, uh, slow R and B.

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I could be in the gym listening to hardcore, you know, metal.

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It all depends.

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Yeah

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Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent.

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mean, it's funny because there's been times where, where I've forgotten my headphones the

last, uh, last couple of times.

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And, um, I've realized that I focus more on my workout.

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which is weird, yeah.

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But I'm more focused on my workout instead of, all right, what am I listening to now?

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Or let me switch this, or let me, you I find like I'm on my phone less.

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Mike Santana, going to be putting a hurting on Eddie Edwards at Rebellion, April 11th, TNA

Wrestling.

164

Thank you so much for your time, my friend.

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And I look forward to you keeping that title, retaining that title, and defending it to

years to come and coming out to that awesome entrance theme.

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I appreciate it man, thank you for having me.