Friday, February 17, 2023

Matt Striker Keeps it Old School

Twitter: @badguywrassler

By Dick Bourne
Mid-Atlantic Gateway
EDITED FROM AN ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 2018 

What fun to come across this photo on Twitter of Matt Striker and "Good Ol' J.R." Jim Ross. It was taken at a World Class Revolution wrestling event at Southfork Ranch outside Dallas, Texas. 

Conrad Thompson noticed something about the t-shirt Matt is wearing, and pointed the photo out to me. It is an old Mid-Atlantic Gateway t-shirt which was sold here many years ago. That made me smile. 

A former WWE Superstar and broadcaster, Striker is most recently known in wrestling for being the lead announcer for "Lucha Underground", which aired for four seasons on the El Rey Network. During that time, it was one of my favorite hours of television every week. Although the program showcased modern-day styles in wrestling (along with a heavy dose of superhero/science-fiction story telling), Matt managed to weave many "old school" wrestling references into his commentary on the show, my favorite being a nod to Greg Valentine's famous t-shirt "I Broke Wahoo's Leg" from season one. I always get a kick out of those references. Even though he is a veteran of the pro wrestling business, Matt is at heart an old school wrestling fan like the rest of us. A very nice fellow, as well.

J.R. digs our little website, too, we're told. He even told Bruce Mitchell once on his podcast that the Gateway was "an icon on my iPad."

We have great respect for both of these gentlemen, so it goes without saying we're honored.


EDITED FROM AN ARTICLE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 2018

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See also: "For Matt Striker, the Past is Prologue" (A look at a couple of those early Mid-Atlantic references on Lucha Underground.)