It isn’t every day you get a “Stunner Exclusive” from an Emmy and Golden Globe winner while he’s still sweating and nursing a bruised jaw, but Paul Walter Hauser isn’t your average Hollywood star. Moments after a brutal defense of his Progress Proteus Championship against Mad Dog Connoly at Superpower Slam, Hauser sat down with me to pull back the curtain on his future in both the ring and on the screen.
Paul Walter Hauser Confirms Mick Foley Limited Series
While there has been rumbling for months about Hauser portraying the “Hardcore Legend,” the details have remained murky. During a previous appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Hauser mentioned he had been in talks and was “circling” the project, but stopped short of saying the deal was done.
At Superpower Slam, the status changed from “rumor” to “confirmed.” Hauser officially broke the news to The Stunner that he is attached to play Mick Foley, and notably, the project is being developed as a limited series rather than a standard feature film.
“Yeah. No, we can we can kind of break that news. I haven’t said it yet, but I’m attached to play Mick,” Hauser told me. “A limited series. We haven’t we haven’t gone out to market with it yet, but… it’s happening.”
For WWE fans, the casting is a dream scenario. Hauser clearly understands the weight of playing a man who famously took 11 unprotected chair shots in a single match while his family watched in horror.
“I think you know he also had a great sense of humor and he was super smart, had a great mind for the business and I hopefully I can bring some of my personality to that aspect as well because when you tell the story you got to humanize the guy. We’re not just telling a Mankind story. It’s like no this is the Mick Foley story.”
Bringing Pro Wrestling to the Red Carpet
Hauser is currently the only person who can claim to hold both a Progress Wrestling title and a Golden Globe. He has used his recent awards season sweep for Black Bird to shine a massive spotlight on the industry, famously giving a shout-out to Matt Cardona and the Dudley Boys during his acceptance speeches.
“Well, there were there were two references. One to Matt Cardona and one of the Dudley Boys were at the end,” Hauser recalled. “At the end of all my speeches, I said, ‘Get the tables.'”
His mission to elevate the sport extends to the morning talk show circuit. He recently surprised the audience of Live with Kelly and Mark by pitching some of the best names on the independent circuit.
“Oh, dude, I was on Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos the morning show. I was talking about Colby Corino and talking about like, you know, Krule. Like I love I love trying to shout out these guys who are brilliant and need and deserve a bigger spotlight.”
Hollywood’s Secret Wrestling Fans
You might be surprised to learn which A-listers are spending their late nights watching old WCW tapes. According to Hauser, the “Mad Men” himself is one of the most active fans in his circle.
“Jon Hamm will randomly send me a Randy Savage promo on YouTube at like 1:30 in the morning and he knows it’ll pop me,” Hauser laughed. “There’s a lot of guys that have a respect for wrestling and they think it’s fun. They don’t go out of their way to watch it like they would F1 or NFL, but there is a lot of like chummy interest from a lot of male actors.”
It isn’t just Hamm. Hauser is actively converting his co-stars into WWE fans and indie supporters.
“My buddy David Oyelowo who played MLK in that movie Selma, he texted me and was like, ‘Are you having a midlife crisis? Do we need to do an intervention on you?’ And but I got other buddies. I just shot this movie in Canada with my buddy Christopher Mintz-Plasse from Superbad and Role Models. And he came to one of my matches and he loved it. Like some of these buddies of mine are they’re getting bit by the bug.”
From Sting to the Bucket List
Hauser’s love for the business dates back to watching Ted Turner’s Southern wrestling as a child. While many kids were “Hulkamaniacs,” Hauser was looking for the “Stinger.”
“My mom’s brother, this guy Robert Ze, he lived in Northport, Florida for a long time and he would watch Clash of the Champions when I was like six years old or four years old. He’d show me, you know, Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman… my number one guy was Sting. I always I liked Hulk Hogan, but I never liked Hogan more than Sting. Sting’s been my number one on my Rushmore and now I can call him a friend.”
As for what is next in the ring, Hauser has a specific “bucket list” of opponents he wants to lock up with, ranging from WWE legends to current indie standouts.
“I’m dying to work with Eric Young, Dustin Rhodes, The Miz, Sami Zayn, and then there’s just like there’s so many great talents on the indies. I really want to work this guy CT Keys out of Georgia. I would love to wrestle Steve Macklin again.”
Doing the Work for the Love of the Craft
While some celebrities look for a quick “rub” from the wrestling world to boost their brand, Hauser is doing the grueling work on the road. He tracks talent on Cagematch.net and watches tapes on IWTV and Triller, often taking matches that cost him more in travel and gear than they pay in appearance fees.
“I’ve had wrestling matches where they pay me five figures and I’ve had wrestling matches where they pay me nothing. And I lose money with gas and or sports tape and stuff. So, it’s not fully about the money. It’s not about trying to look cool. It’s about doing the work. It’s about getting better and making some friends along the way.”
He concluded our talk with a sentiment that any die-hard fan can relate to.
“I love getting to know all these guys and gals who make up this brilliant violent circus world. They are creative. They’re passionate. A lot of them are just deceptively smart and they take what they’ve learned in life, the school of life, and they put it into wrestling and they tell these brilliant stories. So, I do not look at this as a lesser art form. I put it up there with everything else.”
Watch the full interview above, and his match from Superpower Slam below.
