Heidenreich recalls odd WWE segment with Michael Cole from 2004

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If you weren’t watching WWE television in 2004, well, you may be better off for it. While there was good to be found as always, there was a lot of… not good. And there was also things we can only assume were barely restrained creations of Vince McMahon’s id, like the angle we got on SmackDown in September of that year that saw the hulking Heidenreich kidnapped Michael Cole and menaced him with poetry in a PG-13 version of Pulp Fiction’s scene with Zed (who would soon be dead) and Marcellus Wallace. Chris Van Vliet tracked down the man behind the Heidenreich, Jon Heidenreich, after a photo of him working at Walmart went viral earlier this year. Life comes at you fast. Former WWE Tag Team Champion John Heidenreich now working at Walmart — and still putting coworkers in headlocks. pic.twitter.com/6VwRrqU55X — Book Pro Wrestlers (@BookProWrestler) February 11, 2026 More on that in a just a second. First, here’s what Heidenreich told CVV about that angle and scene with Cole: “It’ll always be disturbing, there’s no doubt about it. I mean, it was brought to me, I don’t remember particulars, but I do remember thinking, man, this is really off the wall. When you’re training to do vignettes and practicing in Louisville, you don’t practice for a vignette like that. They said I was gonna abduct him, and bring him to the back, and then put him in a room. Then I think it was like you’re gonna act like you were watching him, and you’re going one place with it… but I look back and all the things that have been said about all these years, it’s kind of made me infamous, more than famous. But it’s disturbing still, and it’s weird.” He says he understood the innuendo, but… “I mean, when they bring it to you, I’m not gonna say no. Like when they said you’re gonna be with Legion of Doom, I’m like, all right. Whatever they bring to you, that’s where I was. If they told me to do a backstage thing or do this, and not like killing somebody or something, where you have to go to jail. I would do it, I’m gonna do it the best I can.” And he’s proud of his work at WWE from 2003-2006, and he still likes his gimmick, even with the disturbing weirdness… “No [I don’t have regrets about the scene]. I think I did the best performance, I guess. I liked it the way it ended. He was about to leave, I said, “You’re going to thank me? It was a poem by Heidenreich. I thought it was cool. I ended up calling them disaster pieces after a while, because I figured they’re so bad instead of masterpieces, but yeah, I mean, I like the character Heidenreich.” Now about Walmart. Heidenreich bounced around Puerto Rico and the independents after leaving WWE, but has largely been out of the wrestling business since the aughts. The above photo of the 56-year-old was shared by a co-worker who was wow-ed that Heidenreich once held WWE gold. He’s not embarrassed about it, though. Despite wishing he’d saved more, and the kind of health issues that most former pro wrestlers (and football players, which Heidenreich was through college, semi-pro ball, and a few failed NFL tryouts) deal with, he tells Van Vliet he’s happy with his life — and that New Orleans retail job: “I’m there from 10 to 7. Most of the time, I’m putting out freight, you know? It’s cool, man. I mean, it’s a good job. Walmart’s going to be around, you know? It’s not going anywhere. And I’m investing, I’m putting money into the 401(k), which I’m saving money — or trying to, right? Because I should have done that my whole life. That’s just my bad. My dad told me, ‘You need to spend less and save.’ My mom liked spending money. So I inherited my mother’s spending things, but I couldn’t ask for a better life. I’ve been blessed.” Heidenreich’s content, and there’s nothing disturbing or weird about that.