AEW’s Big Bill was a recent guest on Talk Is Jericho, and the ring veteran talked about a variety of topics including his time in WWE, teaming with Enzo Amore, Bryan Cage and Ricky Starks, and how he wound up with Chris Jericho under The Learning Tree. He also told the inspirational story of getting sober after a long battle with addiction.
“January 2020, I went to rehab for the final time,” he told Jericho (as transcribed by ITRWrestling.com). “Shannon Moore, works with WWE recovery, he is a Godsend. That guy has saved so many lives. He deserves all the credit in the world. He was huge and instrumental with me. He got me back into rehab a few times.”
He continued: “This time, I was watching the Super Bowl, the one where Pat Mahomes finally won his first, I was looking around like, ‘These people are all f*cking losers. I’m not like them. I’m leaving.’ I left and went back to my room. I told Shannon, ‘I’m leaving. This is not me.’ Little did I know, I’m just like these people. He said to me, ‘You owe me. I’ve done so much for you. You owe me one more week. One more week. If you want to leave next Sunday, you can leave, but you owe me at least one more week after all the sh*t I’ve gone through for you.’ I agreed, and that week, something clicked.”
Bill said that giving in and letting go ultimately led to his success in staying sober. “I completely surrendered, as they say,” he said. “Just gave up and gave in. I was told, ‘Just stop fighting people.’ Not mentally fighting people, but what you’re told to do, just do it. ‘Go clean up this trash.’ ‘Why? What is the purpose?’ Stop asking what purpose does it serve and just go do it.”
He revealed: “Something clicked that week and that’s when everything started getting better. I finally gave in to the program, which I thought was stupid prior to that and I hated going to meetings. I finally realized these people are just like me. Everyone’s stories are a little different, but the blueprint is exactly the same for everybody in here.”
“Finally, I started listening to people, got a sponsor, did everything I was told, and I guess that was the beginning of my next journey, which was coming back to wrestling. Getting sober was the hardest thing I’ve done in my life, but it was the best thing I’ve done. It’s like I have a new lease on life now. I’m not killing myself with alcohol, and I have a second chance.”
Listen to the full Talk Is Jericho episode with Big Bill here.
