Conan O’Brien congratulated Danhausen on his recent WWE debut, calling it proof that marrying hard work to passion can take you places, and reflected on their first conversation five years ago when Danhausen was still grinding on the independent scene driving 12 hours every weekend just to get in front of a crowd.
Speaking on the Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan podcast, O’Brien revisited his original 2021 interview with Danhausen, which was the very first fan episode the show ever produced. O’Brien said the anniversary made the moment feel full circle.
“Danhausen told me that he had been grinding away for the past eight years, driving 12 hours every weekend just to be able to get up in front of people and wrestle,” O’Brien said. “And this is a guy who just applied an incredible work ethic to his passion. And I was so impressed with this fellow.”
O’Brien said he is thrilled to report that five years later, Danhausen has made his WWE debut to rave reviews.
“This is proof again that if you can marry hard work to your passion, you can go places,” O’Brien said. “On behalf of myself and all of us here at Team Coco, massive congratulations and mad respect to Danhausen. I’m so proud of you. Happy for you.”
O’Brien joked that since Danhausen’s character is loosely based on him, he is entitled to a cut. “Because your character is based on me, I’m getting 20%,” O’Brien said.
In the original 2021 interview, Danhausen explained that his character is often described as what would happen if a demon possessed Conan O’Brien. He said he is heavily influenced by O’Brien rather than other wrestlers, and that he blends O’Brien’s comedic sensibility with Simpsons references and 1980s horror movies.
Danhausen told O’Brien at the time that nobody cared when he was just a good wrestler. “They cared once I switched and put on makeup and started acting goofy and doing Simpsons references in the middle of matches,” Danhausen said. “I stole the Mr. Burns hop in. I brought a tiny airplane to the ring, and I told my opponent to hop in, and I had 300, 400 people chanting ‘hop in’ at this guy.”
O’Brien was so taken with the character that he pitched an angle where he would appear in the ring to save Danhausen during a match. “The music changes, fog machines go on, and I appear. I come down on wires, and it’s me, and I’m there to save Danhausen,” O’Brien said. “I think the crowd would go nuts.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit the Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan podcast with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
