Chris Van Vliet recalls taking chops from Tyler Breeze and Shawn Spears.
Chris Van Vliet is one of the most known media personalities in the world of wrestling but there was one time where he stepped into the squared circle at the training school owned by Tyler Breeze and Shawn Spears, Flatbacks.
Chris Van Vliet reflected on making the decision to step into the ring with Shawn Spears and Prince Pretty in a new interview with Sean Ross Sapp.
"So I did the first interview with Shawn Spears after he left WWE. I didn’t know that he was going to sign with AEW, so we did the interview. I was actually doing an interview for the latest Toy Story movie and I was staying at a Disney Resorts Hotel and I reached out to him through a mutual friend. He ended up coming to my hotel room. We did that interview. He goes, ‘You’re welcome at Flatbacks any time.’ I’m like, ‘I would love to come and do something with you guys. I’ll reach out to you.’
"Six months later I said, ‘Let’s do it. I’m gonna come down. I want to take a few bumps, I want to lock it up.’ He says, ‘Yeah, yeah. Sounds good, and how about I give you a chop.’ I’m like, ‘Okay. Sure. I’ll take a chop. One chop is fine. Why don’t we make it a little more interesting, though? Why don’t we have all of your students chop me?’ He goes, ‘Oh! Are you sure?’ Eight students, plus Breeze and plus Spears, so ten people. I’m like, ‘Yeah, I can take ten chops.’ He goes, ‘Oh, yeah, and by the way, we each get two chops each.’
He continued, "Then you see in the video, ‘Take off your shirt and get in the corner,’ and then it just began.’ I really enjoyed that despite what the look on my face was and despite the red-purpleness of my chest, I really enjoyed that. It was cool to be in there with those guys. It also makes you realize—both of them had a lot of very talented students there—but it also makes you realize the arbitrage between someone starting out and someone who’s been in the business for twenty years like those guys."
While there were no permanent scars from the Chris Van Vliet does admit that he had bruising for about a week after taking what he calls a gunshot-like chop by Tyler Breeze.
"No permanent scarring and the one that sounded the worst and felt the worst was the first one that Breeze gave me. It’s funny because Shawn Spears was like, ‘I’m maybe not known for it, but I’m a pretty good chopper,’ like he was really talking it up. I’m like, ‘Oh, damn. What have I gotten myself into?’ Breeze, right before his, goes, ‘I’m really not much of a chopper,’ and then he delivers a gunshot to my chest. But no permanent damage. But that night when I took that thumbnail photo was the peak of the injury if you will, or the peak of how bad it looked. Then it went from that purplish-red to kind of pink then it went to just bruising, like yellow and brown. I had the bruising for six-ish days and I was fine. I think my chest is still good except I still have this handprint in the middle of it at all times. It’s just very weird."
You can check out Chris Van Vliet's podcast, Insight on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts. You can also see SRS on Chris' show at this link!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWivXAmVPQc
