One Of Us: Gabriel Iglesias Recalls Getting Manicures With Stone Cold Steve Austin
Gabriel Iglesias is no stranger to the pro wrestling world. Over the years the comedian has bonded with those in the business, built on mutual respect.
One of his most prominent friends within the industry is Diamond Dallas Page. Iglesias recalled first meeting the WWE Hall of Famer during WrestleMania 28 weekend in Miami. The star and his friend recognized Page and even helped carry his bags to the car. The next time Iglesias would see him a true friendship evolved.
"It was when I was doing the Roddy Piper podcast. He was the guest before me. I saw him and told him the story about the bags. I told him I'd really like to try [the DDP Yoga] program. He gave me his number. Next thing I know he hooked me up and taught me how to do his program, gave me everything," Iglesias said. "He didn't just give it to me and let me go. He would constantly check up on me. 'Are you doing your exercises? Are you eating right? Are you taking care of yourself?' I swear he would know when I was in a drive-thru. He would always call me when I was in a drive-thru. He stayed on top of me for about a year. I lost a little over 100 pounds with his program."
He ended up sharing scenes with the Big Show (Paul Wight) for his show Mr. Iglesias. They also linked up again during a special Netflix sitcom mashup, which also included The Big Show Show. The special episodes were collectively Game On: A Comedy Crossover Event.
"He was a total professional. He was definitely cut out to do a television show. It was pretty much the same. You're on camera. You have to follow certain lines. There is blocking. Having him on my show, when he showed up everybody just stopped and was like wow. His presence," the star recalled.
"A really cool person. He was excited at the fact that the chairs I have fit him because I have big and tall style chairs, big guy chairs. He was excited and was like, 'Where did you get this?' I told him we ordered it and that they'll get you whatever you wanted. He goes, 'Really? We just taped our last episode. I missed out ordering all the cool stuff.' Awesome to hang out with."
Iglesias remembered reaching out to Wight the day before news broke he was leaving WWE for AEW.
"I had messaged him because I saw him at the gym working out. I said good for you. He hit me back [the next] morning saying he missed me. Then my buddy Juan goes, 'Hey, check this out.' A link that showed he had signed with AEW," Iglesias said. "I'm like how did you not tell me this? I put in the caption when I messaged him back, 'holy s–! Holy s–t!'"
"Fluffy" had the time of his life appearing on a recent episode of Straight up Steve Austin. He even came with some of his own ideas for "Stone Cold."
"I saw on his Instagram that he had bought a Camaro. And a few months earlier I had bought a TransAm, essentially the same car. I reached out to him. I had done stuff with him in the past. I said, 'Want to race?' I showed him my car. We talk about the cars a little bit," Iglesias said.
"I saw all the stuff he was doing with the other guests. Anything he wanted to do: racing cars, shoot guns, crossbows, whatever I'm all about it. And we got to eat too, so I had a recommendation. We got to drive race cars, shoot crossbows, eat Mexican food and finished off the entire event getting manicures and pedicures. It was so bad ass. Here we are doing all this macho stuff and then are like, 'Can you put a clear coat [on those nails]? Thank you.' We're getting mannie peddies while taking Tequila shots and reflecting on the day. He is an awesome hang."
Catch Gabriel Iglesias on Netflix's Mr. Iglesias and Nickelodeon's Unleashed. Visit fluffyguy.com for everything "Fluffy." Iglesias' full interview can be found via the embedded player below: