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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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?

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.'

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

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.