May 30, 2024 • 16 mins
Matt joins Jeff and I to dive deep into what makes things work in the Indies, what has worked for him, and how things evolve with himself and the industry.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Burger King right, Oh my god, so I will.
But I had to make my own mold of it,
you know. So it costs me how to buy like
thousands because you can't just make like fifty is it
original mold, original cut? I thought these things would be
selelit hotcakes, bro I can't give them.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Really, Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready's about to hit
the fan? Welcome to Sanctioned Thursdays in Wrestling with Friday.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode of Unsanctioned Thursdays.
This show was asked for by y'all. We gave it
to y'all, so thank you for demanding it. I always
like him to talk more wrestling, and I like when
we get to have guests. We have our returning guest,
the Deathmatch King, mister Maccardona has joined us again and
we're going to talk independent wrestling and more the process
of it, and we'll get a little bit into to
(00:59):
my federation as well before we get into Matt's in
my history and the thing that I'm trying to build.
What have you found in the last four years in
your experience that helps make independent Federation successful? The mistakes
that you see, the wonderful choices you see, all the
shit in between, like you probably sometimes have gone and gone, yo,
(01:21):
I could run this better than these fucking guys. Like
what is it you're seeing that works? And what is
it you see that doesn't?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
It sounds so simple, but the addition of these streaming services,
you know, and the Internet and social media have made
these independent promotions. You know GCW in Atlantic City, New Jersey,
when I beaten a gauge, it's not just an indie
show in front of whatever a thousand fans. It's worldwide.
Of course, that particular I was an exception, but we
(01:48):
trended online over the Olympics, over a UFC paperview. Of
course that doesn't always happen, but the potential is there, right,
The potential is there, And I think the issue I
see is more so with the independent wrestlers and not
so much the promoters. But I think they could listen
to this too. It's like the Internet is free. It's
free advertisement, right, but at the same time it's free
(02:09):
for everybody. So how are you gonna stand out? How
are you going to break through? One post a day
or one post a week promoting your show is not
going to spread the word. You know what I'm saying.
You got to think of creative ways to get your
product out there, and then once it's out there, to
keep it in everybody. Is you know conversation?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
What things have you found you personally have done using
social media?
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Is it just kind of bringing the story to that
digital format so that people can decide whether they care
or not about it, and then following it to the match.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah. Absolutely, And I think you know this is something
that you know happens in we aew And I don't
want to say I'm the first person to incorporate social
media in my storylines, but I'm definitely one of the
first people. With my YouTube show Back of the Day,
me and Ziggler, we took this you know, quote unquote
mid card story and added so much to it because
of our back and forth tweets because he stole my
(03:05):
girlfriend on my YouTube show, or he attacked me in
my hotel room. This is stuff that wasn't wasn't done before,
but now you know, you can. It doesn't have to
be week to weak and that's it. You can. You know,
look what Drew McIntyre and see him. Punk have been
building on social media.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Drew's really smart with it, man, He's really smart with it.
They've made the story so much more intriguing than you
want to see the eventual match because of all the
trash shocking they're doing, not just on Monday nights, you know,
in seg two of the show, but all week long.
And I think that's an important part, especially for me.
I'm not in aw I'm not in WWE, so I'm
(03:39):
not posting about myself. Nobody's posting about me, you know
what I'm saying. So that's why.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
You know, if you check my social media feed, it
looks like I'm just on my phone all day, and
I am, because I'm shoving it down people's throat. I
want them. Maybe they're not watching my match, maybe they
don't know who I'm wrestling, but they're knowing that I'm
doing something. They're no that I can to this promotion.
They know I won this title, and I don't know
how the algorithm works. It's always changing, right, And I
(04:05):
don't want to say I'm throwing stuff at the wall
and seeing what sticks. That's kind of what I'm doing,
you know, That's what every artist does.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I mean from the first artist ever from Cave paintings
was literally throwing shit on a wall and seeing if
it's stuck, and if it did, oh, I can draw
a picture of this giant mammoth that my boys help
me take down today, like all artists are doing that.
It's it's I've said this before, but it's a with wrestling.
It's a literal transfer of blood, sweat and tears on
(04:32):
an actual fucking canvas. It's like looking at a Jackson
Pollock painting at the end of the night sometimes, and
that's art. So you have to sell yourself. You have
to promote yourself. You've always done it in such a
positive way. Assholes like Pablo Picasso back in the day
would like do it by shitting all over his contemporaries,
buying their art, and when they died, he'd say how
(04:53):
great they were and then sell the whole fucking collection off.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
And you're like the.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
Opposite of that.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
You're super positive, even when you talk about things like
injuries or nobody else is promoting me, Like you're laughing
when you say it. Like even though it's it's it's
it's a harder path. You've embraced it. So much, you said,
you know, I think it was in Wednesday's episode. You
can't be half pregnant, right, and you've gone so all
(05:19):
in and it's such an example for other people to follow,
and I hope they do, Jeff, before we get into others.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Yeah, I was gonna say, I like the humility.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
The tough thing about wrestlers is you guys have this
persona and then you have yourself. So it's like it's
like like people go.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Oh, I know all about writer, or I know all about.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Because we we know the wrestler, we know the bad
guy or the or the the whatever. You have such
a humility about you like to be like, no, I'm
gonna go in the show business. They call it proof
of concept.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
You didn't just cry and go oh this is tough
and wrestling is hard. You went out and became the
indie god of like being like I'm gonna be the
wrestler of the people, like I'm gonna go to these shows,
like I'm not above these shows. I'm not above these
wrestling markets. I don't I'm not only like WW. I
think it's amazing and it's nice to use the internet
to see like that that you're an actual grinder and
(06:12):
a hard worker and humble, which is amazing. I would
love to hear people always ask comedians what you know,
what was your worst bomb?
Speaker 5 (06:20):
You know?
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Oh, they always want to hear that story. What's what's
the worst bomb? Where's the way? I would love to know,
since you've had such a you know, pluth throw of
things we have and have not seen, what is the
time that either you were like the lowest, like the
shit's got to change, or if it was just so embarrassing,
like on that moment.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Now we're talking about my my indie run.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Anything where you just were like what is this?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Well, I mean, look the indies, for sure, it's gotta
you gotta take the good with the bad. Right So
for instance, like GCW to me, it's the number one
independent and I I only called it an independent because
it truly is independently funded and run. But I believe
it's the number three behind GCW, I'm sorry, behind WW
and uh an AEW because it runs every weekend all
(07:08):
over the country, all over the world. Right, but in La,
where you guys live, you run this La show. I've
worked the Staples Center before whatever it's called now, right,
for W. Now in GCW, I'm working the Ukrainian Cultural
Center and the locker room is an alley backstage. There
is no locker room. It's an alley. There's no bathroom. Okay,
(07:29):
you're you're you're pissing behind the dumpster, you know. When
Ziggler was on the show, they added a porter potty.
But it's like, it's like, let's go, this is my life,
Like this is what I'm doing. So like it's moments
like that we're like, oh god, but the fans don't
see that, you know, the fans haven't. Actually, the fans
do see that because it's right by the parking lot.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
But that makes us like it more and like, to
be honest, that just makes you think. That makes us
think you're cooler.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So, I mean, that's just one that's like when I'm
every time I'm there, I'm like this last time, I'm
gonna be here. Next time this show comes.
Speaker 6 (08:01):
Around, I'm gonna be in awww, I tell you every time,
or you.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Know, when it comes to like merchandise, I'm a big,
big merch guy. I make all my own stuff, sell
my own stuff to me, you know, the meet and
greet before the show is more important than the match. Hey,
because I'm making money, but be because you're making a
connection with the audience, right for me, So like when
I get to these shows, believe me, Like it blows
(08:39):
my mind. Sometimes I'm the only one out there selling
eight by ten. They're selling you know whatever, And these
guys and girls are backstage going over their match. And
I get it. I'm not saying have a bad match, right,
but if you don't have a connection with the audience,
and who the fuck cares what moves you do, They're
not gonna care. They might they might go ooh ah,
but they're not gonna remember you. They're not gonna care
about you. You know. Do you tell that to the girls?
(09:03):
And I sometimes I get so mad. I post about
social media like I'm the only one out here selling
thank you for you know, for going over your matches.
I'm making all your money.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
You know, and even separating the money part of it,
like that is what wrestling's supposed to be. You're you're
connecting with the audience. That's the whole point. When you're
there's a reason there's a goddamn hardcam. You're supposed to
be connecting with the audience. And so it's like, it's
so crazy to forget about how many wrestling fans there
(09:35):
are out there.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I think it's amazing that not to bring up the bombs, right,
So I think I'm very on the pulse when it
comes to merch because you know, Jeff, like, I'm a
collector like you, right, and I've been a collector of
my whole life. So I feel like I know what
the fans want, right because I put myself in their shoes.
If I was a Matt Cardona fan, what piece of
merchandise would I buy? So, whether it be an action
(09:56):
figure or a nice exclusive trading card. But here's my
my one bomb, right, I'm the Death Match King. I
have a very nice crown. Can you see. You can't
see me, but I wear it out to the ring.
Very expensive crown. I couldn't make replicas of it, like
I tried, and I sold for a couple hundred bucks.
But I sold maybe like twenty years. So it's very expensive.
So how can I make this affordable? So I thought
(10:18):
the Burger King crown, right, Oh my god, So I will.
But I had to make my own mold of it,
you know, So it cost me. I had to buy
like thousands, because you can't just make like fifty because
an original mold, original cut. I thought these things would
be selling like hotcakes. Bro, I can't give them, really,
I cannot give it. Seems like such a genius idea,
(10:38):
that's what I thought. But that is my bomb, the
paper death mash King crown that I could, like you
ever hear the story of the et Atari game Horse.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
I saw the documentary there.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
One day they're gonna be buried, these death king paper
burger king style crowds, and I'll send something nowhere one
like I First of all, I'll sell like thirty bucks,
all right, they're not moving, Okay, I'll sell for twenty
bucks now, they're not moving. Now, I selve with ten bucks.
Now literally it's like okay with purchase, you get it
(11:12):
out because I just want I literally I literally have
to give them.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Away to get I had pins made of my face,
you know, like little enameled pins, and I thought people
would like that or whatever. People like girls would come
up like after the show at the table they're like
who's this and I was like, that's me, and they're
like ah, They're like this looks terrible. And I was
like listen, do you want to buy one or not?
I don't like I can't even even if I give
them away. People just insult how terrible they look.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
It's terrible. Right.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Did you mention that connection with the audience and I
had never had that. We're both in show business, but
different forms, right, And I don't have to connect to
a live audience like the way a stand up comic
or professional wrestler does. I wait nine months for you
to feel a certain way, and I don't get to
meet you. Until conventions became a big thing and I
went to one and the first one I went to,
everyone was lovely, and I was like, oh, I could
(12:00):
definitely like do another one of these. Sometimes when you
have that connection, I've gotten the weirdest interactions with people
where they'll feel like they can criticize a film that
I've done, and I'm sitting there laughing. I'm laughing because
I can't change it, you know what I mean. I
can't go back and make it better for them. If
they didn't like it, they didn't like it. But I've
(12:20):
had people come up and be like, oh man, that line,
and I note you did last summer when love was like,
what are you waiting for Were you guys laughing when
she did that? And I was like, what, bro, No,
why are you saying such awful things about someone who
never did anything? And there were other wrestlers there and
I was sharing the story and one of them was
(12:41):
Samoa Joe and he was like, bro, I had a
guy faint And I was like, wait, what there's levels
to this game, like what just happened. What's the greatest
whether it was funny or just charming or whatever, the
greatest interaction you've ever had with a fan at one of.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
These Man, there's this fan that in Japan. Every time
I go, he dresses up like full cosplay as me.
It's on like he's done Zach Ryder when I was
a WWE. He's done the indie guy and it's just
and whether it be you know, he he gets like
a fake beard and he has the boots, the drugs.
I don't know about how much money he's spending on these,
(13:17):
but I just love that when they're because I remember
being a diehard fan. I remember being on the other
side of the table, so to speak, you know, going
up and meeting these guys. So I really appreciate, you know,
and I try to give everyone, you know, all my
attention and all my love because it means a lot,
whether they're buying a five dollars sticker or a sixty
dollars premium ittem Indie God have you know what I'm saying, Like,
I just love that connection because you never know who's
(13:38):
gonna be like a lifelong fan or someone it might
change their life and they may you know, get into
the business. You know.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Also, yeah, like you, I was gonna say that, Like
I say to my manager my agent all the time,
because I sell merch after every show. It isn't about
the merch. Most of these people don't even want my merch.
They just want to go, hey, thanks for what you
made me feel up there, and they just want to
shake your hand or get a pick. Like the merch
is just the excuse for me to get to talk
(14:06):
to them and get to and and get That's that's
all it is.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
And then also merch is cool.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
So if you make good merch, then that that's that's
that's that's double prizes.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
We don't have time to get into federation stuff, but
just know that Matt and I talk a lot. Maybe
we'll go to Japan, but for not six months, for
a much shorter amount of time. Since we both love Japan. Dude,
I want to thank you for your time. Thank you
for coming on the show again.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Man.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
You you know how much I love you. You know
how much I respect you, So thank you for doing this.
You don't have to and we appreciate it. Jeff, you
want to say any goodbyes.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
Right, just that you got to keep doing. I'm I
have a prediction.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
I'm very good with me and Freddie have predicted a
lot of things on this podcast. I predict, you know,
maybe not as large, but you know, when there was
the whole nWo W they they've believed that it was
coming over from from WWE to infiltrate kind of the
w C. My prediction is we're gonna see a Matt
Cordona version of that with wrestling infiltration storyline, Indie guys
(15:04):
coming over here, this mother.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
And then uh, I.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Think everything that's happening right now is no it's it's
it's no accident. This is you did exactly what the
wrestling gods wanted you to do, and I think it's
gonna pay off huge.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Last prediction, you guys could be You guys could be
my personal right. I can't pay much. You guys could
be bro.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
You know how many promos I've written for free for
wrestlers over the years. Dog, I got your fucking bag
all right, man. Thank you all for listening. Tune in
every week. Don't forget to subscribe. That's a hard word
for me to say. Tell your friends, take it easy,
to see you next week. This is on sectioned Thursday's Peace.
This has been a production of Iheart's Michael Toura podcast Network.
(15:49):
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
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The Burger King right, Oh my god, so I will.
But I had to make my own mold of it,
you know. So it costs me how to buy like
thousands because you can't just make like fifty is it
original mold, original cut? I thought these things would be
selelit hotcakes, bro I can't give them.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Really, Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready's about to hit
the fan? Welcome to Sanctioned Thursdays in Wrestling with Friday.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode of Unsanctioned Thursdays.
This show was asked for by y'all. We gave it
to y'all, so thank you for demanding it. I always
like him to talk more wrestling, and I like when
we get to have guests. We have our returning guest,
the Deathmatch King, mister Maccardona has joined us again and
we're going to talk independent wrestling and more the process
of it, and we'll get a little bit into to
(00:59):
my federation as well before we get into Matt's in
my history and the thing that I'm trying to build.
What have you found in the last four years in
your experience that helps make independent Federation successful? The mistakes
that you see, the wonderful choices you see, all the
shit in between, like you probably sometimes have gone and gone, yo,
(01:21):
I could run this better than these fucking guys. Like
what is it you're seeing that works? And what is
it you see that doesn't?
Speaker 1 (01:27):
It sounds so simple, but the addition of these streaming services,
you know, and the Internet and social media have made
these independent promotions. You know GCW in Atlantic City, New Jersey,
when I beaten a gauge, it's not just an indie
show in front of whatever a thousand fans. It's worldwide.
Of course, that particular I was an exception, but we
(01:48):
trended online over the Olympics, over a UFC paperview. Of
course that doesn't always happen, but the potential is there, right,
The potential is there, And I think the issue I
see is more so with the independent wrestlers and not
so much the promoters. But I think they could listen
to this too. It's like the Internet is free. It's
free advertisement, right, but at the same time it's free
(02:09):
for everybody. So how are you gonna stand out? How
are you going to break through? One post a day
or one post a week promoting your show is not
going to spread the word. You know what I'm saying.
You got to think of creative ways to get your
product out there, and then once it's out there, to
keep it in everybody. Is you know conversation?
Speaker 3 (02:28):
What things have you found you personally have done using
social media?
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Is it just kind of bringing the story to that
digital format so that people can decide whether they care
or not about it, and then following it to the match.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Yeah. Absolutely, And I think you know this is something
that you know happens in we aew And I don't
want to say I'm the first person to incorporate social
media in my storylines, but I'm definitely one of the
first people. With my YouTube show Back of the Day,
me and Ziggler, we took this you know, quote unquote
mid card story and added so much to it because
of our back and forth tweets because he stole my
(03:05):
girlfriend on my YouTube show, or he attacked me in
my hotel room. This is stuff that wasn't wasn't done before,
but now you know, you can. It doesn't have to
be week to weak and that's it. You can. You know,
look what Drew McIntyre and see him. Punk have been
building on social media.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Drew's really smart with it, man, He's really smart with it.
They've made the story so much more intriguing than you
want to see the eventual match because of all the
trash shocking they're doing, not just on Monday nights, you know,
in seg two of the show, but all week long.
And I think that's an important part, especially for me.
I'm not in aw I'm not in WWE, so I'm
(03:39):
not posting about myself. Nobody's posting about me, you know
what I'm saying. So that's why.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
You know, if you check my social media feed, it
looks like I'm just on my phone all day, and
I am, because I'm shoving it down people's throat. I
want them. Maybe they're not watching my match, maybe they
don't know who I'm wrestling, but they're knowing that I'm
doing something. They're no that I can to this promotion.
They know I won this title, and I don't know
how the algorithm works. It's always changing, right, And I
(04:05):
don't want to say I'm throwing stuff at the wall
and seeing what sticks. That's kind of what I'm doing,
you know, That's what every artist does.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I mean from the first artist ever from Cave paintings
was literally throwing shit on a wall and seeing if
it's stuck, and if it did, oh, I can draw
a picture of this giant mammoth that my boys help
me take down today, like all artists are doing that.
It's it's I've said this before, but it's a with wrestling.
It's a literal transfer of blood, sweat and tears on
(04:32):
an actual fucking canvas. It's like looking at a Jackson
Pollock painting at the end of the night sometimes, and
that's art. So you have to sell yourself. You have
to promote yourself. You've always done it in such a
positive way. Assholes like Pablo Picasso back in the day
would like do it by shitting all over his contemporaries,
buying their art, and when they died, he'd say how
(04:53):
great they were and then sell the whole fucking collection off.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
And you're like the.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
Opposite of that.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
You're super positive, even when you talk about things like
injuries or nobody else is promoting me, Like you're laughing
when you say it. Like even though it's it's it's
it's a harder path. You've embraced it. So much, you said,
you know, I think it was in Wednesday's episode. You
can't be half pregnant, right, and you've gone so all
(05:19):
in and it's such an example for other people to follow,
and I hope they do, Jeff, before we get into others.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Yeah, I was gonna say, I like the humility.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
The tough thing about wrestlers is you guys have this
persona and then you have yourself. So it's like it's
like like people go.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Oh, I know all about writer, or I know all about.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Because we we know the wrestler, we know the bad
guy or the or the the whatever. You have such
a humility about you like to be like, no, I'm
gonna go in the show business. They call it proof
of concept.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
You didn't just cry and go oh this is tough
and wrestling is hard. You went out and became the
indie god of like being like I'm gonna be the
wrestler of the people, like I'm gonna go to these shows,
like I'm not above these shows. I'm not above these
wrestling markets. I don't I'm not only like WW. I
think it's amazing and it's nice to use the internet
to see like that that you're an actual grinder and
(06:12):
a hard worker and humble, which is amazing. I would
love to hear people always ask comedians what you know,
what was your worst bomb?
Speaker 5 (06:20):
You know?
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Oh, they always want to hear that story. What's what's
the worst bomb? Where's the way? I would love to know,
since you've had such a you know, pluth throw of
things we have and have not seen, what is the
time that either you were like the lowest, like the
shit's got to change, or if it was just so embarrassing,
like on that moment.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Now we're talking about my my indie run.
Speaker 5 (06:43):
Anything where you just were like what is this?
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Well, I mean, look the indies, for sure, it's gotta
you gotta take the good with the bad. Right So
for instance, like GCW to me, it's the number one
independent and I I only called it an independent because
it truly is independently funded and run. But I believe
it's the number three behind GCW, I'm sorry, behind WW
and uh an AEW because it runs every weekend all
(07:08):
over the country, all over the world. Right, but in La,
where you guys live, you run this La show. I've
worked the Staples Center before whatever it's called now, right,
for W. Now in GCW, I'm working the Ukrainian Cultural
Center and the locker room is an alley backstage. There
is no locker room. It's an alley. There's no bathroom. Okay,
(07:29):
you're you're you're pissing behind the dumpster, you know. When
Ziggler was on the show, they added a porter potty.
But it's like, it's like, let's go, this is my life,
Like this is what I'm doing. So like it's moments
like that we're like, oh god, but the fans don't
see that, you know, the fans haven't. Actually, the fans
do see that because it's right by the parking lot.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
But that makes us like it more and like, to
be honest, that just makes you think. That makes us
think you're cooler.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So, I mean, that's just one that's like when I'm
every time I'm there, I'm like this last time, I'm
gonna be here. Next time this show comes.
Speaker 6 (08:01):
Around, I'm gonna be in awww, I tell you every time,
or you.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Know, when it comes to like merchandise, I'm a big,
big merch guy. I make all my own stuff, sell
my own stuff to me, you know, the meet and
greet before the show is more important than the match. Hey,
because I'm making money, but be because you're making a
connection with the audience, right for me, So like when
I get to these shows, believe me, Like it blows
(08:39):
my mind. Sometimes I'm the only one out there selling
eight by ten. They're selling you know whatever, And these
guys and girls are backstage going over their match. And
I get it. I'm not saying have a bad match, right,
but if you don't have a connection with the audience,
and who the fuck cares what moves you do, They're
not gonna care. They might they might go ooh ah,
but they're not gonna remember you. They're not gonna care
about you. You know. Do you tell that to the girls?
(09:03):
And I sometimes I get so mad. I post about
social media like I'm the only one out here selling
thank you for you know, for going over your matches.
I'm making all your money.
Speaker 4 (09:13):
You know, and even separating the money part of it,
like that is what wrestling's supposed to be. You're you're
connecting with the audience. That's the whole point. When you're
there's a reason there's a goddamn hardcam. You're supposed to
be connecting with the audience. And so it's like, it's
so crazy to forget about how many wrestling fans there
(09:35):
are out there.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
I think it's amazing that not to bring up the bombs, right,
So I think I'm very on the pulse when it
comes to merch because you know, Jeff, like, I'm a
collector like you, right, and I've been a collector of
my whole life. So I feel like I know what
the fans want, right because I put myself in their shoes.
If I was a Matt Cardona fan, what piece of
merchandise would I buy? So, whether it be an action
(09:56):
figure or a nice exclusive trading card. But here's my
my one bomb, right, I'm the Death Match King. I
have a very nice crown. Can you see. You can't
see me, but I wear it out to the ring.
Very expensive crown. I couldn't make replicas of it, like
I tried, and I sold for a couple hundred bucks.
But I sold maybe like twenty years. So it's very expensive.
So how can I make this affordable? So I thought
(10:18):
the Burger King crown, right, Oh my god, So I will.
But I had to make my own mold of it,
you know, So it cost me. I had to buy
like thousands, because you can't just make like fifty because
an original mold, original cut. I thought these things would
be selling like hotcakes. Bro, I can't give them, really,
I cannot give it. Seems like such a genius idea,
(10:38):
that's what I thought. But that is my bomb, the
paper death mash King crown that I could, like you
ever hear the story of the et Atari game Horse.
Speaker 3 (10:49):
I saw the documentary there.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
One day they're gonna be buried, these death king paper
burger king style crowds, and I'll send something nowhere one
like I First of all, I'll sell like thirty bucks,
all right, they're not moving, Okay, I'll sell for twenty
bucks now, they're not moving. Now, I selve with ten bucks.
Now literally it's like okay with purchase, you get it
(11:12):
out because I just want I literally I literally have
to give them.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Away to get I had pins made of my face,
you know, like little enameled pins, and I thought people
would like that or whatever. People like girls would come
up like after the show at the table they're like
who's this and I was like, that's me, and they're
like ah, They're like this looks terrible. And I was
like listen, do you want to buy one or not?
I don't like I can't even even if I give
them away. People just insult how terrible they look.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
It's terrible. Right.
Speaker 3 (11:38):
Did you mention that connection with the audience and I
had never had that. We're both in show business, but
different forms, right, And I don't have to connect to
a live audience like the way a stand up comic
or professional wrestler does. I wait nine months for you
to feel a certain way, and I don't get to
meet you. Until conventions became a big thing and I
went to one and the first one I went to,
everyone was lovely, and I was like, oh, I could
(12:00):
definitely like do another one of these. Sometimes when you
have that connection, I've gotten the weirdest interactions with people
where they'll feel like they can criticize a film that
I've done, and I'm sitting there laughing. I'm laughing because
I can't change it, you know what I mean. I
can't go back and make it better for them. If
they didn't like it, they didn't like it. But I've
(12:20):
had people come up and be like, oh man, that line,
and I note you did last summer when love was like,
what are you waiting for Were you guys laughing when
she did that? And I was like, what, bro, No,
why are you saying such awful things about someone who
never did anything? And there were other wrestlers there and
I was sharing the story and one of them was
(12:41):
Samoa Joe and he was like, bro, I had a
guy faint And I was like, wait, what there's levels
to this game, like what just happened. What's the greatest
whether it was funny or just charming or whatever, the
greatest interaction you've ever had with a fan at one of.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
These Man, there's this fan that in Japan. Every time
I go, he dresses up like full cosplay as me.
It's on like he's done Zach Ryder when I was
a WWE. He's done the indie guy and it's just
and whether it be you know, he he gets like
a fake beard and he has the boots, the drugs.
I don't know about how much money he's spending on these,
(13:17):
but I just love that when they're because I remember
being a diehard fan. I remember being on the other
side of the table, so to speak, you know, going
up and meeting these guys. So I really appreciate, you know,
and I try to give everyone, you know, all my
attention and all my love because it means a lot,
whether they're buying a five dollars sticker or a sixty
dollars premium ittem Indie God have you know what I'm saying, Like,
I just love that connection because you never know who's
(13:38):
gonna be like a lifelong fan or someone it might
change their life and they may you know, get into
the business. You know.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Also, yeah, like you, I was gonna say that, Like
I say to my manager my agent all the time,
because I sell merch after every show. It isn't about
the merch. Most of these people don't even want my merch.
They just want to go, hey, thanks for what you
made me feel up there, and they just want to
shake your hand or get a pick. Like the merch
is just the excuse for me to get to talk
(14:06):
to them and get to and and get That's that's
all it is.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
And then also merch is cool.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
So if you make good merch, then that that's that's
that's that's double prizes.
Speaker 1 (14:13):
You know.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
We don't have time to get into federation stuff, but
just know that Matt and I talk a lot. Maybe
we'll go to Japan, but for not six months, for
a much shorter amount of time. Since we both love Japan. Dude,
I want to thank you for your time. Thank you
for coming on the show again.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
Man.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
You you know how much I love you. You know
how much I respect you, So thank you for doing this.
You don't have to and we appreciate it. Jeff, you
want to say any goodbyes.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
Right, just that you got to keep doing. I'm I
have a prediction.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
I'm very good with me and Freddie have predicted a
lot of things on this podcast. I predict, you know,
maybe not as large, but you know, when there was
the whole nWo W they they've believed that it was
coming over from from WWE to infiltrate kind of the
w C. My prediction is we're gonna see a Matt
Cordona version of that with wrestling infiltration storyline, Indie guys
(15:04):
coming over here, this mother.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
And then uh, I.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Think everything that's happening right now is no it's it's
it's no accident. This is you did exactly what the
wrestling gods wanted you to do, and I think it's
gonna pay off huge.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
Last prediction, you guys could be You guys could be
my personal right. I can't pay much. You guys could
be bro.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
You know how many promos I've written for free for
wrestlers over the years. Dog, I got your fucking bag
all right, man. Thank you all for listening. Tune in
every week. Don't forget to subscribe. That's a hard word
for me to say. Tell your friends, take it easy,
to see you next week. This is on sectioned Thursday's Peace.
This has been a production of Iheart's Michael Toura podcast Network.
(15:49):
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