D’Lo Brown Reveals the Origin of His Iconic Headshake, Why He Wore the ‘Loaded’ Chest Protector

Former WWE Superstar and Intercontinental Champion D’Lo Brown recently joined The Velvet Ropes with SoCal Val to discuss his career, being a part of WWE’s Attitude Era, and more. He also spoke about the origins of his iconic headshake and whose idea it was for him to wear the illegal, “loaded” chest protector.

Additionally, D’Lo Brown spoke highly of the late Owen hart, calling him the best wrestler he ever got into the ring with. Below are some highlights from WrestlingNews.co:

D’Lo Brown on the Origin of His Iconic Headshake

“There is a great movie that I love very much called Friday… there’s a scene where Deebo… gets knocked down, and Chris Tucker flies over top of him, goes, ‘You just got knocked out,’ and he’s shaking his head… The next night, on Raw, Rocky is wrestling Ken Shamrock… I see the camera go up on Ken Shamrock. And I go, ‘Yes, I know the camera’s gonna be on him,’ and I just slid up to him, one ‘You just got knocked out!’ And that was the first time I did the head shake… Vince McMahon saw it. He took notice of it, told me to keep doing it, because if it peaked his curiosity, then it peaked a lot of people’s curiosity.”

On Why He Started Wearing the Chest Protector

“JR sitting there… he goes, ‘You’re a really talented worker… But what is separating you from the other 50 great wrestlers we have on the roster?’… He goes, ‘What if we… injure your chest, and now you’re wearing this illegal protection device’… My first thought was, ‘This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, they’re gonna laugh at me.’… I went home and I was complaining… and one of the few pieces of good advice my ex-wife ever gave me, she looked at me, and she goes, ‘If you try it and it’s a bad idea and it fails, it’s their fault. If you never try it at all, it’s your fault for not trying.’… I went back to TV the next week, and I go, ‘JR, let’s run with the chest protector.'”

His Favorite Owen Hart Story

“I was wrestling him somewhere… All of a sudden, he snatches me up, puts me in a chin lock. He whispers… ‘Look at your boot.’ And I looked… my boots unlaced… I stick the boot in there. He’s like, ‘Okay, we’re wrestling again.’ All of a sudden, he snaps me over again, chin lock. ‘Look at your other boot.’ What the hell, my other boot is unlaced… Snapmares me over. Chin lock… He goes, ‘Look at the ref.’ I look at the ref. His shoes untied, and I start cracking up, dude… And then Owen goes. He whispers. He goes, ‘You relaxed now?’ And I go, ‘Yeah,’ he goes, ‘now, let’s go have a match.’… He’s the best worker I’ve ever been in the ring with.”