WrestleMania is a major event and that's an understatement obviously, but it's a major event from the standpoint that many other companies use WrestleMania as a source of creating new revenue.

I've always thought Wrestlemania is a special event that brings the best out of everybody, whether it's the wrestlers or the broadcasters or whomever, and I still believe that.

Vince was so great at the 'Mr. McMahon' character that some people think he wouldn't want to help people in real life, and that's just not true.

I'm still a wrestling fan: That's how I started out, that's how I will end the day.

I was lucky to have been able to work so closely with Vince McMahon as he was able to see up-close what I could contribute to WWE, which lead to some amazing years not only at ringside, but also in the boardroom.

I look back upon those days in the Crockett/Turner era of The Four Horsemen and often wonder how I made it out alive. Perhaps my contract had some fine print on it that said, 'Associating with The Four Horsemen can be hazardous to one's health.'

I don't have a bad thing to say about Vince McMahon.

I'm a fan of Lucha Underground and hope they are successful.

That may be the ultimate definition of toughness inside the squared circle - having the will to overcome a serious injury to return to elite status as a main eventer.

The fans of the U.K. are tremendously supportive of the efforts of the WWE Superstars, which is why every wrestler I know loves to be a part of the tours to the U.K.

Slobberknocker: My Life in Wrestling' is really not a wrestling book. It's a book about life, and there's a great love story in this book. There are great life lessons in this book about not allowing others to define you.

I'm a big fan of Lance Archer, Jeff Cobb, Luke Harper.

Bobby Heenan did what every announcer should strive to do and that is to make talent bigger stars than they are and to embellish every talent's TV persona.

Tough wrestlers have never been uncommon. Competing and performing through injuries, enduring crazy travel schedules and wrestling with no offseason just lends itself for one to have to be tough to make it long term and with success in sports-entertainment.

You can't be a team player today and not a team player tomorrow.

If there was a Mount Rushmore for pro wrestling cities, Chicago and New York would be on there.

Whether I stay on the air on a weekly basis or I don't, that's not my call. But I've had such a blessed career that if it ended tomorrow, I've got nothing to complain about.

You can't go to Amazon and order a book on how you handle grief. There's books on it, sure. But there's no tried and true manual. You just have to live that out. There's no formula to heal.

Aug. 2, 1992, was one of the most memorable moments in sports-entertainment. It was on that night in Baltimore, that Ron Simmons became the first African American recognized as World Heavyweight Champion in wrestling.

I'm a wrestling fan with a phenomenal journey.

Freebird Michael Hayes was my first broadcast partner who was a pure, 100% antagonist. Hayes and I joined forces during Cowboy Bill Watts' attempt at expanding the Mid-South brand by renaming Mid-South Wrestling the Universal Wrestling Federation.

I don't like losing at anything, but it's not the end of the world if you beat me.

When you get the rush of live performing, it's hard to give that up.

Vince McMahon has overachieved his entire life in a big way. I got to know him really well and still have great respect for him.

There have always been extraordinarily tough men in the business of sports-entertainment. My view is that one can't be in the sports-entertainment business successfully and long term without being tough.

It has been my experience that the greatest performers in the genre of sports-entertainment are usually natural extensions of their own, true personality.

The first thing that you need to be a draw, to be a star, is the intangible 'It' factor. You cannot manufacture 'It,' you cannot replicate 'It.'

Since I was a young wrestling fan, I've been fascinated by super heavyweights and was always amazed at Yokozuna's amazing grace and agility. How could a man who was so large still remain so athletic and retain perfect in-ring timing and spot-on psychology?

I'm not fixated on death but I know tomorrows are not guaranteed.

Most fans don't realize how challenging it is to broadcast live TV, especially in a hybrid genre such as WWE.

Two men that did treat me well from day one were Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon. Thanks to them being old pros and having the class of a pair of WWE Hall of Famers and true gentlemen, I was given a chance to prove myself to them as a human being.

One of my biggest fears, in both my personal and business life, is residing too long in my comfort zone.

I would never tie in creative with a talent's contract. To me, that is insanity. Creative needs change, talents evolve or not, and to be locked in to a talent having the ability to not run the plays that the team dictates is not smart business.

I always say the wrestlers provide the music and the announcers write the lyrics. You have to feel what you're seeing and experiencing to write the best lyrics.

People think you can wave a magic wand and create a star, that couldn't be further from the truth. People think that a promoter has all the cards and the talents are merely pawns and they have very little do with the bigger success, when they have most of their success because of what they do.

I've been a wrestling fan my whole life, and for so many years a lot of us have been, for lack of a better word, bullied. We've been teased, kidded, eyes rolled from our peers and family members. 'You watch wrestling?!?' I see my shows as a safe zone, a safe haven.

The black man's journey within the genre of grappling wasn't unlike the challenges their brethren faced in professional sports, entertainment and, most importantly, everyday life. To say it was challenging would be a massive understatement.

Sometimes our passion will motivate us to say things that can easily be misunderstood.

They always say you don't want to follow a legend. A few have been able to do that. I think Bill Cowher followed Chuck Noll pretty well with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But it's hard to do at a lot of places.

That's how I look at it, if you're a wrestling fan, either support everybody and their families to make a living or just hold all of your overt criticism to yourself.

There's always another adventure if you keep your head above water and I don't have any desire to slow down because it keeps you young.

There's no way in hell I'm supposed to be on television or be a broadcaster of any regard. But I have defied those odds because I believe in this: I am damn sure not going to let somebody else define who I am.

Sports-entertainment has provided me with many blessings, but nothing was ever more unpredictable and fun than hanging with Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, who, in my opinion, are the greatest incarnation of The Four Horsemen and the most important faction to ever step into the ring.

Unlike the on-air talents in the NFL where they have producers figuratively joined at their hip, providing them with info and tidbits of data, we WWE announcers are responsible for getting ourselves ready for every broadcast.

My folks, I don't think my mom or my dad ever missed a little league game or a football game.

Without question, Jerry 'The King' Lawler is my most recognizable partner and my favorite to work with over the years. We endured several things together that reach far beyond merely signing on and subsequently saying 'good night everybody' at the end of the show.

That's what friends do - support each other as best that they can no matter the circumstances.

Working with one's boss is a totally different dynamic than working with a peer, especially when doing live or live-to-tape commentary of a genre as unique as sports-entertainment.

The adrenaline of performing live in front of an audience is a feeling that's hard to replicate.

For anyone to say that The Rock made a bad decision in pursuing a film career, with the success that film career has garnered, is ill-advised.