Podbit · The Rest Is Entertainment
Tom Hanks chose Aston Villa in 1985 because the name sounded like a Mediterranean island. He's been a loyal fan for 40 years through disappointment and Europe — and he's still waiting for the Premier League title.
Where this was said
At 26:06 · chapter starts 26:05
A Villa fan named Brenda asks whether Hanks will support Scotland's John McGinn at the World Cup. What follows is one of the episode's most joyful digressions: Hanks's origin story as an Aston Villa supporter. It was 1985. His first UK press junket. A BBC football scoreboard. And a name — Aston Villa — that sounded to his American ears like an island off the Côte d'Azur, near Portofino. [1] — Tom Hanks "Hanks fell for Aston Villa in 1985: Tom Hanks became an Aston Villa fan during his first UK press junket in 1985 after seeing the name on a…" 26:46 He was in. Forty years of claret-and-blue faith followed — mostly hopeful, occasionally heartbroken, culminating in Villa's recent European adventures. He notes with a rueful laugh that he expects they'll finally win the Premier League after his death. The conversation then broadens into the World Cup, and Hanks delivers a beautiful observation about why Americans have fallen for football: the drama of a 2-1 match going into extra time, when your heart can break or swell on a single moment of the ball being in the right place.
Tom Hanks became an Aston Villa fan during his first UK press junket in 1985 after seeing the name on a BBC football scoreboard and thinking it sounded Mediterranean.
Aston Villa last won a major European trophy in 1982, just before Tom Hanks became a fan.
Thomas's wife deferred her CrossFit career — she's in the global top 1% of athletes — to put him through law school debt-free. He wants her to chase the dream now; she wants the emergency fund and house down payment first. On a $200K lawyer income with no debt, the opportunity cost is just a few months of slower saving.
Underground calisthenics battles are exactly like UFC meets a rap battle — 150 people crowded around a circle, fighters walking out with masks and chains, nicknames like 'Extra Money' vs 'Calisthenics the Prince,' and people throwing money and betting. The battle set: 100 burpees, 50 muscle-ups, 75 dips, 75 squats with a 65-pound dumbbell. This is the next big spectator sport.
Rico Verhoeven controlled the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion for approximately 10 rounds — and had his appeal upheld when officials admitted the fight was stopped after the bell. The result was never overturned. Rogan calls it either incompetence or corruption, and argues the money behind Usyk made an upset politically inconvenient.
Rogan lays out a blunt case: boxing's 3-judge system is structurally broken, and the judges know who the promoter wants to win. Glory's 5-judge format is the right model. Corruption doesn't have to be conscious — just knowing Usyk is the cash cow is enough to tilt the scales.
With the Usyk-Wilder fight stalling and Fury-Joshua coming too late, the real fight the world wants is the rematch. Rico is a free agent. Usyk vacated his belts. The story is unfinished and both Rogan and Rico know it. His Excellency Turki Alasheikh already called for it ringside — the question is money.
Rico texted Jason Statham during the Canelo-Crawford fight. Statham showed Rico's highlight videos to promoters. Two days later, Rico was on a call about fighting Anthony Joshua. When Joshua pulled out, Rico pitched Usyk himself — Undisputed vs. Undisputed. Usyk said yes in two weeks. The whole thing started with one text.
Every heavyweight who faced Usyk tried to move to the right — straight into his power hand. Rico and Peter Fury identified the obvious solution: move left, away from the left hand, and smother him with size. It sounds simple. Nobody had done it. That one adjustment was the foundation of 10 dominant rounds.
MMA fans boo when fights go to the ground. They love stand-up. Kickboxing is pure stand-up. Yet it barely exists in America while boxing and MMA are enormous. Rogan's diagnosis: no promotion machine. If the UFC got behind kickboxing the way they've built MMA, it would explode. The talent is there — the storytelling machine is not.
A nation of 17 million people gave the world Ramon Deckers, Peter Aerts, Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Rob Kamen, Ernesto Hoost, and Rico Verhoeven. Rico's theory: the country is so small that every gym shares knowledge freely. In the US, you need a flight. In Holland, you drive 40 minutes and spar the national champion.
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