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Royal Rumble
"The Royal Rumble can be very grueling... a new man enters every two minutes... it can be enduring... it can be very brutal... You can be in there for an hour and not win... If you come in at #30, you have a hell of an advantage... I believe Rikishi is in that spot... I believe Rikishi is going to be the odds-on favorite... The Rumble, it raises everyone's game... Anyone in this business... and if you do not, at some point in your career, want to be in the main event of Wrestlemania, you need to get out of this business. "

Who will win the Rumble?
"It's hard to say. There are so many guys in there that could be on top... Maybe the Hardy Boyz or someone like that have a tremendous chance... because of their ability to endure a long time... The list goes on and on of top superstars... It's gotta be Rikishi going into #30."

Going after Tag Team gold
"It's not like I'm an old competitor here... I've got a lot of years here... The WWF Champion is the #1 goal... and that's where I intend to be... To be a Tag Team Champion, you have to have a tag team partner you can rely on... I don't have a whole lot of friends in this business... I've got a lot more enemies than friends... I'm focused completely on the WWF Championship."

Backstage influence?
"You know, a lot of people think I have a lot of influence backstage... Anyone in the WWF has influence backstage and can make suggestions... The WWF is owned by one man... Vince McMahon."

Facing Austin at Wrestlemania
"If Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the Rumble and I win the WWF Championship on Sunday, I would love nothing more than to defeat Stone Cold in his home state in front of all his fans... to show, once and for all, that I am the #1 guy in this business... I do what I do, and I do it, I believe, better than anyone else... To prove that to Stone Cold on the biggest show ever... would be the ultimate."

Working with Stephanie
"It's great... Stephanie is very much like her father. Very smart person... She's a genius that learns all the time. In a lot of ways, she's just like her dad... I learn something from him every single time I'm around him... I think she's in that same vein... As far as a performer goes, she's great in front of the camera. No one irritates the fans more than she does. (laughs)"

Being cheered
"It doesn't make me mad... You're on one side of the fence... make people cheer or make people hate you... It doesn't make me angry that fans do support me... I'm thankful for the support... I don't want that support to overwhelm the hatred people have for me... I want Rock or Austin to be as popular as possible. How I help to do that is by being as hated as possible... Thanks for being my fan... I just don't like it to get out of control where there's more people liking me than disliking me."

Staying in shape
"Being on the road as much as we are... We do 200 shows a year... It's really difficult to find the right places to eat... get enough sleep... find places to train... Every little bit you do helps... Supplements... or something like that is a huge bonus to us... I carry a lot of protein powders with me on the road... That's a big key to being in peak... not just how you look... it's peak performance... It's probably half the battle."

Tough Enough
"That's great [a fan losing weight because of Hunter]... Anyone can do that and have the willpower... I believe anyone can do anything with their body... It's a matter of willpower... If he wants to be a wrestler, my advice is... ToughEnough.com... There's a big contest on there on becoming a wrestler and sending your stuff to the WWF... Someone will get a contract out of the whole deal... Even if they don't, they'll be on TV for a couple of months... What better exposure?... I think the show is going to be great... It's hard to say how long it takes... You have a guy like Kurt Angle, literally within a year... he's WWF Champion... but that's one in a million or more... You can show guys a bunch of moves and how to do things in a short period of time... but learning the art of what we do... learning to work... it takes a long time to learn that. It's a lot of work... The superstars of the WWF make it look easy... We make it look like second nature, and it's not. That takes a lot of time. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears go into it... A lot of people who send their tapes in will have no idea what they're in for."

Facing Shawn Michaels
"Probably Shawn would love to do it. I'd love to do it. If Shawn's healthy, I think we're gonna do it."

What if Triple H gets stale?
"(Laughing) I don't think you'll see a resurgence of Terra Ryzing."

Favorite feud?
"As far as my favorite guy to feud with... Steve Austin... I really enjoyed working with Rock... and Mick Foley... But there's an intensity level between Austin and I that, to me... when it comes right down to me and Austin, there's a fire... There's just that chemistry... For a year we didn't do anything... then when we did something together, boom, there it was... I'm not really a gimmick, so to speak... I'm not like Papa Shango... I'm a guy that's a wrestler... that works damn hard at it... that happens to be a prick. I watch my matches and I'm never happy with them... I always want to improve... The day I stop wanting to get better is the day I should get out of this business."

"Carrying" the WWF
"People asked me last year if I felt the pressure... I hate it when people say I carry the company... We have a lot of talented guys... There are a whole list of guys that have busted their asses all year... People ask me if the pressure is different now. No... I was kind of given the ball... I never looked at it as 'oh boy, the pressure is on'... it was always for me to be the best that I could be, have the best possible match... It's just about being the best... My goal is steal every single show I'm on... If I'm in there with Taka, my goal is to steal the show with Taka."

The XFL
"The XFL, I'm looking forward to seeing it... I'm not necessarily a huge football fan... but I'm very interested to see how Vince creates the XFL... and how it changes football... He's going to create a whole (shift) in that industry."

Drew Carey at the Rumble
"I did the show [Drew Carey] and had a lot of fun doing it... He's a huge fan of what we do... I'm sure he'll have a great time."

Final thoughts on the Rumble
"I think it's going to be one of the more interesting PPVs... I think you're going to see a big shift in the business (with) the WWF Title... The Rumble is the gateway to Wrestlemania."

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