In 2001, a short-lived promotion called Matrats was founded in Calgary, Alberta. The promotion, which featured the likes of Randy Myers, Davey Boy Smith Jr, TJ Wilson, Natalya, and more may not have lasted long but was a great indication of the talent coming out of the Albertan professional wrestling scene at the time.

Myers recently joined me to discuss the Matrats promotion itself, Eric Bischoff’s involvement with the promotion, and why it ultimately failed.

A brief background on the short-lived Matrats promotion:

“Basically what Matrats was, was it was a promotion for people under the age of 25. The idea was it was going to be a kids’ wrestling promotion. Basically, more athletic, kind of more the style you’re seeing in PWG today or any of the independents, even DEFY in the States or across the world. Kind of like a higher-impact, faster style, more athleticism, (and a) heavy emphasis on creativity within the moveset. There was just these incredible talents, so there was like TJ Wilson, Teddy Hart, Jack Evans was there, Rene Dupree was there at the time. Even like there (were) two boys by the name of Nick Nogg and Pete Wilson who were incredible (at) inventing moves, like three or four moves a day that you see now popping up and people are like ‘oh my god, I can’t believe that happened,’ and I’ve seen them forever ago. I was there the day the 630 was invented. Here we were, just like a bunch of rag-tag kids that Teddy had put together.”

“There was a person named Graham Owens who had invested, because he had seen Teddy Hart at Stampede Wrestling, and was a cameraman I believe. He saw that the kids’ matches were just this different level and different style that could maybe really be harnessed and sold. So, he propositioned this show, and it was called Matrats. It was short-lived, but it was very almost like Wrestling Society X ended up being on MTV. It was like that youth, high-energy, MTV-kind-of-audience-style wrestling show.

It was really fun.”

Eric Bischoff’s involvement with Matrats:

“Eric Bischoff was involved. He was at the Palace show, which was my first live wrestling match, and he was also at another show that was actually the first time I ever took a bump on a show. So, yeah, Eric Bischoff was involved, and Jason Hervey, who was the brother Wayne on the Wonder Years, was there as well. At the Palace show, we had Don Callis (and) Mauro as the commentators, so it was phenomenal.

Joey Styles was there. It was crazy.”

Why the promotion fell through:

“I think the idea of selling a children’s wrestling program, especially when you think of wrestling, especially at that time in the early 2000s, it was kind of a dark spot within entertainment. There was a lot of deaths and there was a lot of negativity around it, so the idea of having children involved in that, I think, was kind of a harder sell than you would think.

Especially with injuries and stuff like that, the idea of seeing grown adults hitting each other and stuff like that, consenting adults hitting each other, that’s okay, but the idea of children, it’s kind of blurry. I’m not exactly sure, but that would be my guess as to why things fell through.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used. 

Since signing with Major League Wrestling in early 2019, Alexander Hammerstone has become one of the most talked-about professional wrestlers in the world. Not only is the MLW National Openweight Champion in the midst of a record-setting championship reign, but has turned heads for both his brutal offence and impressive athleticism inside the squared circle.

Recently, Hammerstone joined me to discuss his signing with MLW, as well as if he still believes he made the right decision just over a year after signing.

Why he chose to sign with Major League Wrestling:

“Realistically, there were some options on the table. (With) MLW, we kind of have the image where I don’t think anything’s tarnished the companies image. I think we’ve been on a steady climb, and people see us as that alternative that’s continuing to grow. So, from one aspect, we have a good look. There’s nothing bad tarnishing the company. There’s no this, that or the other.

There’s no black eyes. But, besides that, when they approached me it was much less ‘hey, here’s a number, I think maybe we want to sign you. You seem like a guy we might be able to do something with.’ It was a ‘hey, we want to sign you, we want to start you on this date, do you want to do it? Because we have some plans for you.’”

“That’s what I wanted to hear. I’m the type of guy who wants to dig my teeth into something. Especially (with) where I was at with pro wrestling, I’d been doing it for so long, and I’d kind of gotten to a point where I was feeling stuck and I was feeling like ‘oh my gosh, give me something. Give me a ball and let me run with it, and if I fall, then fine,’ but I’d rather do that than just pick up bread crumbs and be collecting a paycheck. I wanted to do something, and I think it’s paid off huge. The last year, the difference in name-value that I have is incredible, and it’s a huge part thanks to MLW.

”

If signing with MLW was the right decision:

“Oh yeah. One hundred percent. It really comes down to where I think we have a company where they’re looking for who’s going to step up (and) who’s going to kill it. If they could put you in a situation where you’re wrestling great matches with the talent on the roster, then they send you to Japan and you wrestle great matches in Japan, you wrestle great matches with luchadors. I’m not trying to toot my own horn and say I always have great matches, but I think I’ve stepped up to the plate in that regard.”

“Not only that but from a behind-the-scenes standpoint, people who are going to be on time for their pre-tapes, who are not going to miss flights, who are going to do media, who are going to do all the things that some of the fans don’t always see. It really is a company where I feel like you have the chance to grab the brass ring, and it’s very, very obvious that there’s no one holding you down, there’s no politics in the locker room. It’s really come and take it and you’re going to get it.

”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used. 

There’s no doubt that MLW National Openweight Champion Alexander Hammerstone is one of the most impactful professional wrestlers in the business today. Standing at over 6’4 and 240 pounds, Hammerstone is immediately noticeable in any pro wrestling setting. However, the big man isn’t simply your typical giant, but as someone who prides himself on pushing his limits, one of the most well-rounded pro wrestlers on the scene today.

Recently, Hammerstone joined me to discuss the creation of his devastating Nightmare Pendulum finisher, as well as the recent Iron Man challenge posed on social media.

How he came up with the Nightmare Pendulum:

“There was a move called the Shouten from Japan, and it’s very similar. He ends up going down to his knees rather than sitting out with it, but I just remember seeing it and thinking ‘that’s the most impactful thing I ever could see.

’ The thing about me is my knees are pretty banged-up, so coming down and doing a knee bump hurts. So, I ended up trying sitting out with it, and I thought it looked a lot more vicious that way. First of all, it looks a lot more impactful. Second of all, there’s no confusion of whether or not he countered it into a DDT. I’ve seen people do a similar move where they come out and kind of Rock Bottom the guy, and it almost looks like the guy countered your vertical suplex and DDT’d you. So, I think the sit-out was the right way to go. For some reason, I just love sit-out moves. I think they look very impactful (and) very cool.

If you watch what I do, a lot of my high-impact moves, I actually sit out with them. It’s very comfortable, it saves my knees, so that’s the story there.”

“Funny enough, when I first started using that move, I wasn’t even using it as a finish. I was using something else. One match I did it, I think maybe we double-downed off it, and I got through the curtain and the promoter goes ‘dude. That move you hit in the middle of the match was the coolest thing anyone did all night, and you didn’t even pin the guy!’”

His recent Iron Man challenge:

“It was one of those things where we didn’t know how long this lockdown was going to last. When it first happened, I thought it was only going to be a week or two. Then, I hear ‘okay, end of April,’ and then I thought we were going to wrestle again. But now, it’s looking like even longer, so when I first put it out I didn’t even think MLW was going to run out of pre-taped shows, but now it’s looking like a possibility.”

“I kind of put it out half-knowing that the company wasn’t going to want to go through that. Just knowing Court, he’d rather compromise and play some reruns or repackage a highlight show rather than put any of his staff at risk.

But, at the same time, I’ve always wanted to do an Iron Man match just to test myself. Like you alluded to, (it’s) just a new thing, a new ‘hey, let’s try this out.’ If it ever did go through, I think what better way to keep as safe as possible but still do something interesting for the fans.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used. 

Few would argue that MLW faction the Dynasty is one of the premier factions in professional wrestling today. Since debuting for Major League Wrestling just over a year ago, the group’s main trio of Alexander Hammerstone, Richard Holliday and Maxwell Jacob Friedman has not only consistently been one of the most entertaining pieces of MLW’s programming over the past year, but one of it’s most dominant inside the squared circle. From July until November, the duo of MJF and Holliday held the MLW Tag Team Championships for a total of 119 days, while Hammerstone became the inaugural MLW National Openweight Champion, holding the title for 326 days and counting.

Recently, Hammerstone joined me to discuss working with the Dynasty, as well as how MJF’s departure from Major League Wrestling will impact the faction moving forward.

How the Dynasty has impacted his career:

“The thing with Max is Max is one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met in wrestling. I still get caught up sometimes in the things I think are cool in the moment, or I get married to an idea that I want to do this thing. Max is always, always, always able to step back and see the bigger picture. Sometimes, people might say ‘oh, what he did here was boring,’ because they look at this one thing. In reality, Max is one of the most over wrestlers in the world right now. So if you try to judge this one thing he did and say ‘oh, this match was lame,’ or ‘this segment was boring,’ or ‘that thing he said wasn’t this,’ because he’s not trying to do the coolest thing every single time. He’s working on the bigger picture.”

“He’s really taught me to step back and view things for the bigger picture sometimes. Some wrestlers are so concerned with getting this move in (during) a match, and it’s like, ‘why? Why are you doing that?’ Yeah, you’ll have a cool .gif you can put on Twitter, but that’s not going to get you the $100,000 contract. Max was always able to see that bigger picture.”

“Holliday, he’s such a good character. He’s such a good promo guy. The thing with him is when we first started the Dynasty, he wasn’t getting the fair shake. It was kind of like me and Max were going back-and-forth, and Holliday was just there if you watch the very early Dynasty stuff. The first couple episodes and promos that we did, they almost didn’t give Richard speaking lines. I just kept trying to get him to squeeze in and take his share.”

“Like I said earlier, once he started talking, they realized how good he was, and they gave him more and more and more. I’ve just learned to be more of a spontaneous character being around Holliday. As much as people might think we do multiple takes of promos or sit there and decide what’s going to be funny, some of our most iconic Dynasty lines are just off the cuff, because we’re just playing off of each other. Very, very seldom do we go ‘ooh, let’s re-shoot that.’ It’s usually ‘that was great! Let’s take that.’ He’s taught me how to be a character in the moment a lot better.

”

How MJF’s departure will affect the Dynasty:

“Obviously, to an extent, Max had a lot of eyes on him and a lot of people with the perception he is what he is just because he’s on a competitors show. So, there’s some people who were watching specifically for him and being like ‘ooh, he’s the star, and these guys are with him.’ I do think MLW and just the way we made sure we came across from the get-go was very much (that) we stood out in our own way.”

“When the Dynasty first started, I was concerned about it hindering me in that regard (of) ‘is this going to steal my thunder (and) steal my spotlight?’ I’ll be honest. I’m a selfish guy. I want the biggest piece of the pie.

I want to stand out, I want to be the top guy in the company. But as we got rolling, I didn’t feel that at all. I didn’t feel like it was chaining me down, I didn’t feel like it was holding me back. I know we were a group faction, but I feel like we all found our ways to stand out on our own.

”

“With Max gone, I think to some fans the perception might be me standing out more, but that’s all it is. I don’t think it’s anything other than fans are going to perceive things the way they perceive them. The way it is is I’ve been a singles champion having big-time singles matches and big-time main events for months now, so regardless of Max’s position, it is what it is.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used.