Former referee Nick Patrick, renowned for his roles in both WCW and WWE, recently discussed the toll his busy schedules took on him, leading to eventual burnout.
On the latest edition of his “Monday Mailbag” podcast on AdFreeShows, Patrick opened up about his experiences, acknowledging the emotional strain of the relentless grind, personal challenges he faced within his family life, and how living out of a suitcase compounded the difficulties, especially following his extended 12-year tenure with WCW.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his WWE schedule causing him to burn out: “Most of my time in WWE, I felt burnt out, but I had to keep plugging. It’s hard emotionally to do that grind and I had things going on with my family, I had things going on with my marriage, I had a son that — I’d never even heard of autism, now I got a son that I found out has autism and I was trying to deal with it from the road. Living out of a suitcase is very hard and I just did a 12-year run with WCW and that’s a fiend in itself.”
On getting some time off upon WCW’s closure: “I got to be at home and spend a little bit of home time but then I got out on the road again.”
In other news, Ilja Dragunov tries not to worry about what others are doing, saying that he prefers to focus on himself. Dragunov was a recent guest on the “Out of Character with Ryan Satin” for a new interview and you can check out a couple of highlights below:
On the competitive nature of the industry: “This business is — I don’t know how to say it — it is competitive for no reason sometimes. And there’s a lot of pressure for no reason sometimes because … I don’t feel like I’m in a competition with what I’m doing because it’s not like you really can get ‘better’ than anyone. It’s really about dig deep and find something inside yourself.”
On keeping his focus on himself: “I put all my strengths into that, not thinking about what anybody else has to offer.. I think what I have, if I make it shine … is what will elevate me.”
