Paul Lazenby talks about Gene LeBell telling him to hit the mat, getting into Pancrase, playing Atom-Man in Superman & Lois

The Wrestling Perspective podcast features hosts Dennis Farrell and Ace Steel. Their guest this week is former MMA fighter, actor, stuntman, and writer Paul Lazenby., They discuss his career involvement, including professional wrestling, MMA, Pancrase, and voice/motion capture acting. Lazenby discusses his transition to stunt work and his experiences fighting in Japan. He also talked about his experience in the entertainment industry. This interview will be available on Youtube.com/Fightful, Fightful.com, and your favorite podcast platforms on Monday, June 12th, at 9 AM EST.

Lazenby discusses his experiences fighting in Japan in the early days of mixed martial arts, including his surprise at being matched against a highly ranked opponent and the blur between MMA and pro wrestling in Japan. Lazenby also talks about his second fight in Japan against the reigning world champion, Masaki, and how he had a chance to win but ultimately lost due to mental mistakes.

Lazenby is asked if he ever has a geek-out experience of meeting famous athletes and trying to act cool around them. He said it's hard not to, but he's a professional and keeps that hidden away. He did share a story about meeting Gene LeBell and having an experience with him.

He said he met LeBell at LeBell's gym in California. Lazenby noticed that LeBell was about to start training his class. Lazenby told LeBell that he would get going, but LeBell made Lazenby join them. Lazenby said he wore jeans, but that did not mean anything to LeBell. Lazenby would quote what LeBell said, "I don't f***ing care what you brought. Get on the mat." Lazenby told Dennis and Ace, "You know, if LeBell tells you to get on the mat, you get on the mat."

Lazenby talked about his role as Atom-Man, a neo nazi supervillain in the television show "Superman and Lois." Lazenby teased a big part in the final episode of the season. He also mentions working on the third volume of his book "When We Were Bouncers" and potential plans to develop it into an on-screen series. He shares that the book is a collection of short stories and anecdotes from famous bouncers. Lazenby said Stone Cold Steve Austin did him a favor and got to interview Ric Flair for the book.

Lazenby talked a bit about his acting credits; Lazenby has been Steve Austin's stunt double for multiple films. He was almost Batista's stunt double for a movie but he never stated which one.

Lazenby says he never met Batista. Lazenby has done motion capture work for multiple video games, such as Gears of War and Def Jam Vendetta. Lazenby said he believes Batista would be a great choice to play Marcus Fenix if a Gears of War film is ever made.

Lazenby talked about training with the Hart Brothers in Calgary. He also shared a story about Edge. He was at a show with Edge on a night when Bulldog Bob Brown piefaced a kid. The crowd was not happy because of the fans. He said Edge needed to check on their vehicles that evening to see if they were still plugged into outlets. They had to plug them in because of the frigid temperatures. The low temperature could cause the engine to block. He said they would not have made it out that night if Edge had not done that. Lazenby also shared a story about one of the only times he's seen Lance Storm angry, and that was because some fans tried to rip his towel off as he was coming out of the shower.