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If you want a wrestling podcast that keeps it 100% real on all the topics you love, you’ve com to the right place. No Gimmicks is dedicated to bringing you commentary from the worlds of pro wrestling, entertainment and when the moment calls for it, social events. Be warned, don’t come with a closed mind. This isn’t a gimmick show.
Yo. Yo. Yo. What is up, people? Welcome back to the No Chemics podcast here on the DFCN.
Blak Makk:I am your host, bread like a king, made as Kelvin Kaley. We have a good interview lined up for you guys tonight. I know you hear me talk about, MPX or Metroplex Wrestling a lot. I go to a lot of these shows. You've had you've seen a lot of these guys on the show.
Blak Makk:The champion now, my guy, Demo Diamond. He he he's at Metroplex Wrestling. Kari Jai Wright, who we've had on the show, they were in the main event this past weekend. They put on a a great, great card this past weekend. Khaimi has been on the show.
Blak Makk:We've had a lot of people that have come through MPX. Pretty much if they've come on no gimmicks, they've I've met them at a next MPX show. So, I wanted to dive a little bit into the promotion. We have somebody who has hands on the promotion. 1 of the guys who was in the foundation of what Metroplex Wrestling is, and I wanted to bring him on the show just to talk all things.
Blak Makk:They have a show coming up this Saturday, Ascension, which is pretty much the fallout from last week. They are a weekly promotion. So if you're in the Bedford area of Bedford, Texas, do yourselves a favor. If you have Saturday night, go check out these shows. It is it is a family atmosphere.
Blak Makk:But enough about me rambling about it. Let's bring the guy in himself. He is the choice. Mister Matt Andrews, welcome to no gimmicks, sir. How are you doing?
Blak Makk:Uh-oh. Don't know what happened there.
Matt Andrews:Weird. I thought there was gonna be 2 of me there. Fantastic way to start the podcast. Obviously, the it can only go up from here.
Blak Makk:Absolutely. Absolutely. Thank you for your time, and thank you for coming on the show. Nice to have you. I did wanna I wanted to I wanted to start
Matt Andrews:Yeah.
Blak Makk:With the atmosphere over at Metro wrestling. Yes. Because it it definitely it gives me a family vibe when when I go to these shows. Speak to that and and how that crowd has become so loyal. How did you grow such a loyal fan base?
Matt Andrews:I think Metroplex Wrestling and they've been in that building for good long while now. Right? I think Metroplex Wrestling started at a time when there was not a whole lot of options for, for independent wrestling shows. I couldn't even I mean, this was 15 years ago when MPX started, and, we we took it from Steve and Kirby's backyard into, one of the Metroflex gyms that was in a non air conditioned garage setting in a in a gym that sucked, having to move gym equipment, back and forth so that we could fit in chairs, into into a place that right now I mean, it doesn't look like something much on the outside. It's not a massive event arena bar, and it doesn't have quite the most incredible sound system, although it's a lot better than some of the bigger venues that I've heard.
Matt Andrews:But I think the fact that it came from such a humble beginning from a bunch of guys, and us original 8 or 10 people who maybe didn't have a business being in the professional wrestling world. Right? I think our humble beginnings helped kind of, keep the fan base that we've had since we started the business, 15 years ago. And and now to see how many options people have that then people still come to see us on a Saturday night, it's truly encouraging. Like I said, I I really do feel like the fact that we are kind of or, you know, our the us at our core are really everyday guys.
Matt Andrews:We're not we are larger than life when we're on the stage, but we're we're also we're also people that have this dream, have the dream of doing this. Right? We have this dream of, like, with for long as we can get in the ring and perform in front of people, we'll be in great shape. We're we'll enjoy everything that we're doing. And, I think that I think that helps lend to kind of this family atmosphere where we kind of know all of our regulars.
Matt Andrews:We have regulars, and it's great. Running on a weekly basis helps a ton. I know I mentioned that there's a whole lot of options in Texas, in DFW, but to my knowledge, MPX is the only weekly running wrestling show. And I think being able to keep up with story lines as well kinda helps people come back. It's like tuning in every week to Monday night raw or to, dynamite or something.
Matt Andrews:You tune in every week because you're following the story lines. Well, you're gonna come to this show every week because you follow the story lines. You wanna know what's next.
Blak Makk:You you test on something that I was gonna go into, and that was the the storytelling. You guys do phenomenal storytelling. Phenomenal. Where who who who's doing that?
Matt Andrews:What Wrestlers
Blak Makk:or is it a collaborative effort?
Matt Andrews:I think it's a huge collaborative effort. You know, we were running under the and I don't I don't know how, inside baseball we wanna get. You know? But, you know, we were running under the, the booking of Richard Hill for, a a good long while, actually. I think since since we got into this building, we've been running under, Richard Hill.
Matt Andrews:And he's got a great mind for storytelling, great mind for putting together feuds and putting together people that he knows are gonna work well together and getting kind of the best drama out of those. He understands characters and where they can go, where they should go. He's recently passed on that booking to other people, and, again, I don't know how inside baseball we wanna get. If I if you you want me to tell you, I can tell you. But, yeah.
Matt Andrews:And I think this group of people that's booking the show now also has a keen idea, and I think that's because they've been with the company for such an incredibly long time. They have a good eye for not just not just characters and where the characters go and stories and where storylines can go. They've been huge wrestling fans, but, also, they know the crowd. And I think one of the big things and one of the things that I think is lost with Booker's nowadays is, is knowing your crowd. You know, I I attended a convention, sometime back at comic convention sometime back, and there was a wrestling show there.
Matt Andrews:And, you gotta understand if you're at a convention where there's a bunch of people passing by and you are not the first the main attraction be there, They're not necessarily gonna stick around for a bunch of storylines. They have no idea what's going on. They wanna see the flashy, the punchy. They wanna see people diving. They wanna see the loud, the brash, the the the flashiness.
Matt Andrews:Right? They're not there. They're not gonna stick around if you're gonna put somebody in a rest hole for 20 seconds and talk about how the last show you guys were at a month ago that, you know, you beat this person. Nobody in that crowd cares. They have no idea what's going on.
Matt Andrews:You wanna attract him. Meanwhile, at MPX or at any other show that runs on a fairly regular basis where people can whose attention spans can can zoom, zone in on that kind of stuff, they know what's going on. They they remember who who they cheered for the last time. They remember, oh, that guy stabbed that other guy in the back. I wonder what's gonna happen.
Matt Andrews:And I think that gets lost if you go too long between shows.
Blak Makk:Yeah. That that's that's a good point. Does the crowd kinda help you determine, like, which way your characters are gonna go?
Matt Andrews:Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that goes true for all of professional wrestling. Right? I mean, one of the big things that we're taught in the ring from training anyway is to listen to the crowd.
Matt Andrews:And I don't just mean, like, you know, whenever they say one more time, you go one more time. Right? But it's always a fun spot. You listen to the crowd and to hear what they're responding to. If they are really into you taking control of a match, then you listen to it, and you maybe you call an audible on the fly and say, hey.
Matt Andrews:They're really digging this. Let's keep going. Let's keep pushing this. Let's keep pushing this. Same thing.
Matt Andrews:And I think, I think Pauley Paparazzi is a prime example at MPX of listening to the crowd and giving the crowd what they want. You don't always have to, pull a surprise out of thin air or something like that. You know? You don't always have to shock people. You don't always have to go with the unpopular decision.
Matt Andrews:Sometimes, if you give the people what they want, the people will like it. But as far as, listening to the crowd, right, I think, Pauley Paparazzi, is a prime example of that in MPX. Yep. I don't know if you were there when he won the attics championship, in the crucible match. But as much as that crowd wanted to see Mr.
Matt Andrews:Leggs retain that championship, I think, when you saw the weeks weeks of bullying that Mikey B was doing to, Pauley. When Pauley finally turned and and kicked Mikey, the crowd completely erupted. And they were hanging on every single move that happened right after that turn. And the and the pop that he got when he won that championship is incredible.
Blak Makk:Yes. Yes.
Matt Andrews:It's absolutely incredible. So I think listening to the crowd and, again, giving them what they want, it's not it's not rocket science. You give the people what they want, and they'll like it.
Blak Makk:Yeah. You just said you just said a name, Pauley. 3 guys that that really I've watched since since I've gotten into MPX. Yeah. Three guys, and that's Pauley Pauley Paparazzi, Demodiamond, and Mr.
Blak Makk:Legs. All 3 of the the the rise of those 3 guys have has been incredible. It's been absolutely incredible.
Matt Andrews:Yeah. And I think it's all for different reasons too. Right? I mean, Mr. Legs Mr.
Matt Andrews:Legs is completely the, I guess, the one that serve for the kids. Right? Like, he he gets the kids going. He's the masked guy. It's a goofy freaking character.
Matt Andrews:Right? I think we can all acknowledge that. But
Blak Makk:love that, Gil. I love it. I love
Matt Andrews:It's also it's also super unique. Right?
Blak Makk:Yeah.
Matt Andrews:It's a guy that comes out with freaking mannequin legs. That that's weird as hell. And if you're gonna stumble into that, you're gonna go, what the heck? But, again, earlier to the point of being at a comic convention, right, and and with a bunch of people who are just passing by and not necessarily a vessel, what's going on? If you stop in the ring and you see a guy that's making an entrance with a jacket that has a whole lot of freaking, mannequin legs on it and he's waving legs in the air, you're gonna go, you know, I might stop and see what's going on with that.
Blak Makk:What is that? Because that's what I thought when I first saw him. I was like, what is that? And the more I paid attention to it, the more interesting it got to me. It was like I don't I can't explain it.
Blak Makk:There was something that hooked me immediately because he was doing that. And the
Matt Andrews:good thing and the great thing is, like, he can go. Right? Yes. It that's that's the other good thing. Right?
Matt Andrews:It that's no good to have a good gimmick if you can't actually go in the ring because then people start stop losing interest. That brings us to demo diamond, and this is another person that I think fans can really get behind. And I think they can mostly because, you know, here's a fresh young kid, the new face of, wrestling in Texas. Right? And he is, not just with Jamie Aller next to him.
Matt Andrews:And now with that, he's got a rocket strapped to his back. But, here's a guy that got the looks. He's got the charisma. He knows how to interact with the crowd. He's got the sides.
Matt Andrews:He's a believable presence in the ring. And and and also he can go. Right? We were just talking about legs being able to go. He can go in the ring, and I think people in the crowd can respect that.
Matt Andrews:And you can see demo like he's gotten on TV already with, I believe in the t TNA, and, he's down in, ROW now in Booker's place, and he's been on their program as well. Sky's the limit for him, and I'm I'm proud to see what he does because I know he hasn't been in the business for too too long, but he's also he's he's rising, and he's definitely somebody to watch out for.
Blak Makk:Most definitely. Most definitely. Yeah. You have a lady on your roster. Mhmm.
Blak Makk:By the I it's hard for me to not call her Angel Blue because that's how I know
Matt Andrews:her. Right. Right.
Blak Makk:But, Angela, talk to me about her rise. And first of all, the MPX women's championship is a fairly new talk about that and how that set the stage for for ladies like her.
Matt Andrews:Yeah. Absolutely. MPX has been around for ages. Right? 15 years, next year.
Matt Andrews:And, it's it hasn't had a women's championship. And that got introduced earlier this year. It was actually one of the shows I was attending as a fan before I got back into MPX as their ring announcer. And it was a great one night tournament. Angela Armstrong, or as she was known back then, Angel Blue, was in there.
Matt Andrews:Shay Carmichael was in it, and, and Erica Torres as well. He baby d was in that tournament as well. I believe she kinda came out of retirement, trying to make history as being the, you know, the the person to come back and win that, championship. And, Erica Torres ended up winning it being the 1st women's champion, which, again, all the accolades and all the flowers to her. Again, here's this is Erica Torres is a woman that, you know, you see her social media post.
Matt Andrews:She knows how to how to talk a good game. She knows how to, you know, call her opponents out, and she knows how to have that charisma. But when she when that music comes on and she comes out, she's a silent killer. And it's really intimidating to stand across the ring from somebody even doing her entrance. Just watching her come into the ring, there's no fanfare.
Matt Andrews:There's no flash. There's one pose and that's it. But she comes, she walks to the ring, eyes focus on the ring even if there's no opponent, and it's kind of intimidating. So it's a good presence to put somebody, to put the title on somebody like her. And then Hilda had it for a spell, and then Eric and Torres got it back from her.
Matt Andrews:Again, great representatives and giving the putting the belt on Hilda. Again, listening to what the fans want to. Right? Hilda, crowd favorite, somebody who really knows how to interact with the with the MPX, addicts. And then putting it back on Erica just to continue that story line to make a fight between 2 top women, over the division's, top prize.
Matt Andrews:And then you have Angela Armstrong who, again, as you alluded to, you know her as Angel Blue, and that's what she was for pretty much her whole career. She started back in 2008. She was electro blue and then changed her name to angelblue and kinda stayed that way just up until this year. And I think all of that just stemmed from needing to branch out, needing to reinvent. Angela had just come back from, from major neck surgery.
Matt Andrews:She was out of the game for 4 years and came back as Angel Blue, was able to convince herself and everybody else that, hey. I can do this as Angel Blue. And then as that keeps going on, you start realizing, hey. I gotta change things up. And sometimes you don't wanna portray somebody that you don't feel connected to anymore.
Matt Andrews:And I think Angela lost the connection to Angel Blue, and I think a lot of the MPX addicts lost her connection to angle Angel Blue. I think they saw the same person they'd seen for so many years. And so by reinventing herself under her, under under the name of Angela Armstrong and becoming the Alaskan assassin, somebody who's a little bit more fun and a little more, excitable and and, man, how do I sound like high energy. Right? And, but but still able to connect with the fans and be herself.
Matt Andrews:And I think that's where the addicts are really connecting with her because Angela is able to be herself, and she can be one of the people. And I think that's what people really love about her, and I think it's a good choice to have her as a champion. Absolutely. See her defended a little bit more, but, obviously, she's a busy woman. She's she's booked in a lot of different places.
Matt Andrews:And so, you know, hopefully, we see a little bit more of her coming up in the next few weeks, but, I think Angela is a good strong face. She's a veteran of Texas women's wrestling. I'm gonna continue on just a little bit more about Angela. But like me, when I started, I know we had, you know, there was Claudia, there was Jesse James, there were there were a handful of other women wrestlers in Texas, and it wasn't like it is now where there's so many options. Morgan, Mercy, Nova, Phoenix, Shay, Carmichael, Hilda, Eric and Torres, Alejandro Lee.
Matt Andrews:I mean, there's so many people, so many women wrestlers in Dallas now. But when I broke in, 5th you know, 14 years ago, 15 years ago, it was Claudia, it was Jesse James, it was Athena, obviously, and it was Angel Blue. And for me watching Angel Blue in that ring, like, that's who I latched on to. And I identified with her, and I appreciated the way she could work the crowd. I appreciated the way she interacted with people.
Matt Andrews:Because that's something that I think is a lost art. I think people do the moves to get the crowd cheering. I think people, you know, tell their stories in the rain. They kind of get lost in the moment. Right?
Matt Andrews:They kind of get lost in the fact that in the cinema of it, but they also got to realize that there's a live audience and a live audience that's interactive. I'm a theater graduate, and I understand working in front of a live audience. But it's different from theater and the fact that, like, they're interactive, and they'll give you what you can do with with certain things. And if you can play if you can play around with them and then you can you can trigger their emotions by talking to them instead of just working with what you got in the ring, that brings your character up a whole another dimension, and that's what Angela has always been able to do. And so for the longest time, Angela Armstrong, Angel Blue was women's wrestling in Texas to me.
Blak Makk:I you know what? I have to agree with that because the first time I saw her like, when I go to wrestling shows, I go to cheer, boo. You know? I I'm a fan, but I try to be invisible. You know what I mean?
Blak Makk:Like, I don't I don't like you know, the interacting stuff's cool, but she's the first person that I've ever seen just, like, single me out. And I found that fascinating. Like, how did you look at me and notice and then play off me? And it's me trying to be, like, not seen.
Matt Andrews:Yeah.
Blak Makk:And I'm seen, so now I have to react. And it's like, come on. But she drew the emotion out of me, and that's what made me a fan of hers is that she actually got me to react to her. And I would I was mesmerized by that. And I I became a fan of hers because of that, and you're absolutely right.
Blak Makk:The one thing that that gets me like, that's my fandom too. She can work a room easily. Like, have people hate her from beginning to end. Have people like her from beginning to end. She knows she knows how to manipulate people, and it's it's awesome to see.
Blak Makk:It really is awesome. Because at at a certain point, it goes from you being a fan attending the show to being whatever she wants you to be.
Matt Andrews:Right.
Blak Makk:Absolutely. It's awesome.
Matt Andrews:I think you brought up a good point about yourself here. You know, you're you're the fan that's trying to be invisible. You're not trying to be seen. And I think it's it's low hanging fruit as a wrestler to play to the audience members that are there for themselves. Right?
Blak Makk:Right. Right.
Matt Andrews:You know the fans that are in there that are making the chance so that the rest of the audience can laugh
Blak Makk:at them. Yeah.
Matt Andrews:And it's easy. It's easy to play to that person because you're already given them what they want. And so, you know, there's that. But it's a completely different thing to single somebody out who who's who's just there to watch the show. Right?
Matt Andrews:To enjoy the show, to just kinda enjoy the atmosphere, but then you bring them into it when they weren't necessarily wanting to be, and that draws them in in a completely different level.
Blak Makk:Absolutely. Absolutely. And that that's one of the it's one of the first times I felt that. Like, as a fan, I was just like, how did she do that? Like, afterwards, I was just like, how did how did she do that?
Blak Makk:Because I wasn't I wasn't really trying to interact with her. I was just like I was just there, and
Matt Andrews:it was
Blak Makk:just like
Matt Andrews:No. All of a sudden, when you're there?
Blak Makk:Yeah. Now all of a sudden, I'm like, a focal point of hers, and she's just, like, after me. And I'm like, stop.
Matt Andrews:Stop. But also don't.
Blak Makk:Yeah. Also don't. But
Matt Andrews:Right.
Blak Makk:You know? And this that's what made me a fan of hers really, really truly. And and she's a damn good wrestler. Damn good.
Matt Andrews:Very much so.
Blak Makk:But I I wanted I wanted to shift gears. Actually, let's go let's go about you. What what made you what made you try out wrestling? What what made you say wrestling? This is me.
Matt Andrews:Alright. So do we wanna go, like, back to being a wrestling fan or back to just starting with MPX?
Blak Makk:Actually, yeah. Let's go back to being a wrestling fan. What what was what was the moment you were like, I'm a fan? And then what was the moment you said, I wanna do this?
Matt Andrews:So, I was 9 years old and in my, in my parents' bedroom, channel surfing. It was a Saturday morning, and I came across on the USA Network, WWF Superstars. And the main event of that particular show that morning was the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels with Jose Lothario in tow versus the 123 kid. And this was the day before the WWF championship match against big daddy cool diesel at WWF in your house, good friends, better enemies.
Blak Makk:Yeah.
Matt Andrews:That match, for whatever reason, and I got to see it from beginning to end. So I got to see Shawn Michaels entrance. I got to see the 123 kids entrance. That as a 9 year old boy, I was like, that. That's cool.
Matt Andrews:I wanna do that. Not even I wanna do that. I wanna be invested in that. And, you know, as a as a as a kid, it's all still real to you. Right?
Matt Andrews:And so I remember my dad and my parents were not fans of me watching that. And my dad would try to put the argument forth. It's fake. It's fake. They're stopping when they hit.
Matt Andrews:And I remember I was 9 years, I was watching an own heart match and I broke down into tears. I was so mad at him because I was like, stop all your faith. He's really hitting him. He really is. He's really in pain.
Matt Andrews:I it's such a vivid memory to me that I was I was in tears arguing to my dad that they were really hurting each other, and I believed it for so long. And it's not like it's not ballet in there. We are actually hitting. We are actually hurting. But, you know, now that you know things and you can peel the curtain back a little bit nowadays with social media.
Matt Andrews:I mean, you you're a little smartened up into it. But for me, I if I can go to a show and go back to being 9 years old and completely get lost in the moment and and forget and understand that it's still real to me, that's what that's what hooks me every time. And that's what I look forward to it shows. As far as MPX goes, it was a Craigslist ad. It was a Craigslist ad, and here I am coming out of college, a bachelor of arts degree in theater arts looking for an acting job.
Matt Andrews:And, if you go into my 8th grade yearbook, you will see that what I wanna be when I grow up is a public address announcer for the Texas Rangers. So I wanted to be the guy that said, you know, playing second base, Ian Kinsler. I wanted to be Chuck Morgan so bad. So bad. And so I'm scanning Craigslist looking for the acting jobs, and I see this post looking for a ring announcer for an independent wrestling company.
Matt Andrews:It's like, you gotta be kidding me. So so I I I answered the email. I sent it in. There was a little questionnaire to fill out, and I put all that down. I said that, ideally, I'd like to be a ring announcer, but I can also be a manager, a referee.
Matt Andrews:I'd love to try to be an in ring talent. And then I said, but I definitely don't have the build to be in the ring. But I have a good mind for for story lines, for angles, all of that. I know insider terms. And Stephen Kirby wrote back to me and he said, Matt, the whole idea and the whole purpose of MPX is that none of us are necessarily the perfect fit for the wrestling world.
Matt Andrews:We're just a bunch of guys that wanted to do something that we loved. We love the art of professional wrestling. We wanna learn the art of professional wrestling, and we'd really like to do it. So if you're on board with that, then come on in. I was like, great.
Matt Andrews:That sounds wonderful. And so I got to Kirby's house. There was a ring in the backyard, and I was like, hey, I'm here to try out to be the ring announcer. And I just sat there and observed, and they got in, and they were doing bumps, they were running ropes. And I noticed that the way that they were falling, the way that they were bumping was a lot of when I took martial arts, back when I was a kid.
Matt Andrews:And, you know, you you learn to you learn to fall. That's what you do in martial arts. You learn to take falls and you learn to to to get thrown. I was like, I think I can do that. Can I try that?
Matt Andrews:And, of course, they were like, yeah. Sure. Come on in. See what you can do. And I I got it right off of the bat.
Matt Andrews:Like, I didn't didn't have any of that, like, hesitation, didn't have any of that, oh, you rolled instead, or oh, you you're using your arms now. I I hit that mat. I was like, oh. Oh, I'm in trouble, and and I did not wanna be a ring announcer anymore at that point. I was like, I I need
Blak Makk:I'm hooked.
Matt Andrews:I need to be in this ring. I need to do this.
Blak Makk:Yeah.
Matt Andrews:And that's that's the story. And I was hooked. Wow. Did it did it for 5 years, was able to be MPX champion, MPX tag team champion as well. And, and then I retired 5 years after I started because, I realized the wave of people was was kinda surpassing me.
Matt Andrews:I did it for other reasons too. There were family reasons. There were you know, you you wanna start a family. You realize you probably shouldn't be doing something where you'd be breaking legs, breaking arms potentially. Not saying I would, but, you know, you wanna be safe.
Matt Andrews:And if you're gonna start a family, you gotta be in 1 piece, that kind of thing. And then I also realized that here's a whole bunch of people that are coming into this that their goal is to be on TV. Their goal and they're way better than I am. Way better. I'll point to, Izzy James, right off the bat.
Matt Andrews:And knowing that I was knowing that I was taking, taking ring time, not necessarily away from Izzy because he get it booked on the show anyway. But I thought of people like Izzy and people that wanted to get booked at MPX because they realized that MPX was something big. And I was like, I shouldn't be doing this anymore. My goal isn't to be on TV. My goal is to just roll around in here and enjoy this and do this as a hobby.
Matt Andrews:And there's other people here that are taking this way more seriously than I am, and they need the ring time more than I do. So that's when I stepped away from, the business.
Blak Makk:That's a really honest that's a really honest answer, and and look at yourself to be to be real enough with yourself to say that. That's that's admirable, actually.
Matt Andrews:Yeah. It is hard. It was it was really hard. Still hard. I would like to get back in there.
Matt Andrews:I think I think my goals have changed now. But, of course, as a ring announcer, I mean, the the opportunities on the national stage are way few and far between, but I'd like to still do that. But one of the goals I do have, probably not gonna happen this year, but one of my goals for 2025 is to get back in the ring, to actually do something. Not necessarily full time. I'd like to have one meaningful storyline, something that actually matters.
Matt Andrews:I don't want just wanna go in there as a nostalgic act or whatever, one off, and I wanna have something that people can sink their teeth into and give them something to follow and make something super memorable.
Blak Makk:Excellent. Excellent. What what actually brought you back?
Matt Andrews:My son. Who's it? My son. So, I know I switched locations from when we started the show and whatnot, but there were paintings up there. And my son is huge into, art.
Matt Andrews:He's very big into reading. He's big into drawing, and he's big into into comic book characters, which is a love that he and I have. He likes Spider Man, same as I do. Oh. And I wanted to share another passion with him.
Matt Andrews:I had brought him to an AEW show when it came through the, the call Caldwell Center, which it's coming back to here in a little bit. And I had also brought him to the WWE money in the bank event where John Cena returned, for, Roman Reigns. That huge pop. Right? I he got to see that.
Matt Andrews:But then I brought him to MPX, And I brought him and I showed him the, when we got there, it was the attics championship. And it was the one that Dexter, Hardaway had smashed with a hammer, and it was broken, but it was displayed up at the front.
Blak Makk:Yeah.
Matt Andrews:And I brought him to the 1st MPX show, and I pointed that belt, and I said, that's the belt I held. That was me. I was the champion. And after that night, all he wanted to do is, I wanna go to MPX. Can we go to wrestling?
Matt Andrews:When can we go to wrestling again? When can we go to wrestling again? That's when I made the decision to start training to get back into the ring. That's also the, the moment that I realized, like, I I have this thing to bond with my son over, and I can't get that. I get him on every weekend, pretty much, just about every weekend.
Matt Andrews:Mhmm. And that's our thing. That's our thing now. And, when we got the opportunity to go to Destiny, I we we got to help set up the epic. We got there early enough in the day.
Matt Andrews:There were chairs, and I told my son, and he was, like, asking about wanting to to get in there and do it. I was like, look. If you're going to, you gotta start paying your dues. And sure enough, there's pictures of him grab grabbing chairs, setting them up where they needed to go. Right?
Matt Andrews:But it was at Destiny that, we were setting up, and I kinda turned to Matt Palmer. And I was like, hey, Matt. What else do you need from me tonight? What else do you need? How else can I help you out?
Matt Andrews:How else can I make the show a success? And he just goes, I don't know, man. Do you do you wanna ring announce tonight? I was like, yeah. Yeah.
Matt Andrews:I will. Absolutely ring announce. He's like, do you have a suit? And I said, I do not have a suit on me right now, but I will go run and get one. And so I went and I spent $250 at Target, got a suit coat and pants and shoes and a belt and a shirt, and drove myself right back to that place and, got in, did the ring announcing, and then I just kinda kept showing up every Saturday with a suit and said I'm I'm here, I'll do it.
Matt Andrews:And now I am.
Blak Makk:That's awesome, dude. That's that's awesome.
Matt Andrews:It's it's it's a ridiculously cool story to tell. Honestly, now I think about it and stuff and
Blak Makk:I was at that Destiny show. And Yeah. Think on the epic, how do you guys get that? Because that's a unique spot. It is.
Blak Makk:But it works so well.
Matt Andrews:Yeah. It does. As
Blak Makk:a as a venue.
Matt Andrews:It's great. And, the people at the epic were fantastic. I'm not privy to the behind the scenes talk of how to book the, place for events and whatnot, but I have been on an event sales team. I used to work at a hotel and was very privy to how you sell certain spaces and whatnot. And I'm guessing they kinda figured that, the Epic is a multi use recreational facility with a lot of athletes, and so something like MPX is going to be very, you know, it's a good investment.
Matt Andrews:It's a good place to showcase that kind of stuff. So, yeah, great. I love the epic. I love going to it.
Blak Makk:I love it too. I I've been since since they've been doing shows there, I've been going there.
Matt Andrews:Yeah.
Blak Makk:And another thing that you guys help out with is Pro Wrestling Revolver. And how how does that help your relationship with those types of companies? Because I know when AEW comes into town, I know MPX has, like, certain talent that when they did this Arlington residency, I saw a lot of MPX talent in ROH and on, Dynamite. So how does that how does that help your relationship with with those companies?
Matt Andrews:Yeah. You know, you if you if you think about pro wrestling in the indie world, this kinda minor league ball, and major league ball. Right? You've you've got AEW, TNA, ROH, WWE. That's your major leagues.
Matt Andrews:Right? Right. Then you've got places like Pro Wrestling Revolver, ROW. I'm what else? GCW, places like that that that people would know all across the nation.
Matt Andrews:That's your triple a ball. That's almost like the next step up. Right? And then you've got, you got you got MPX, and I think that's your double a ball. And so when the double a team gets to play a little with the triple a team, the major leagues start to notice a little bit.
Matt Andrews:And, I think one of the great things about, partnerships with Revolver is, our guys, the MPX guys, actually get to be in the ring and do that. You know, you you you see them on TNA or WWE, and they're just extras. Right? There's they're the security guards or Barrett Brown's been posting clips of when he just got tossed around by Braun Strowman, and that's what it is. You know?
Matt Andrews:That's that's what they are. Right? Yep. But places like Revolver, when they swing through town, they allow the MPX guys to actually get in the ring and showcase their talent and what they can do. So I think it works as a great little, like it's a showcase, for for them to to kinda get noticed by bigger up and coming places.
Blak Makk:Yeah. Absolutely. And even even in Texas as well, with, reality of wrestling and Mhmm. How how Booker's his his presence alone just makes that it's a good look when when you see guys go to places like that or even with, with the Dustin Rhodes Academy. It it just works.
Blak Makk:Question. Answer. Are we going to see or is there a possibility of a Dojo Wars featuring MPX?
Matt Andrews:So I think that's I think that's an interesting concept. Right? Because Yep. You take a person, you take a wrestler, and you follow them around to different organizations and different places. Right?
Matt Andrews:And it's like each of these promotions, it's like Doctor Strange in the multiverse of madness. Every single one of these promotions is their own separate entity. You take Angela. Right? She is cheered and beloved.
Matt Andrews:She's, she's a woman for the kids. The kids love her at MPX. Right? They cheer her. They were celebrating.
Matt Andrews:You take her out of that, and you put her at SCP over in Lubbock. And, well, actually, no. They still love her over there, but you put her in, in hot hot pro hot pro wrestling down in, down in Waco. Yeah. They hater.
Matt Andrews:They get the chance if Waco doesn't like you. But it all exists in its own bubble. I think it would be it'd be very difficult to be able to pull off. And I only say that from a storyline perspective. Right?
Blak Makk:Yeah.
Matt Andrews:If you just if you just advertise it as a talent versus talent, and you say these people are representing their certain places, then it's cool. ROW is doing that this weekend too. Either this weekend or next weekend or something where they've put on their flyer like Exodus Prime representing MPX versus Bryan Davidson. That's cool. That's the kind of stuff that you wanna see as somebody who attends MPX, as somebody who wrestles for MPX.
Matt Andrews:You wanna see that the MPX guys are getting to a place where WWE is now putting their branding on it. You know, Booker's place is WWE ID, and now it's featuring MPX. Kyimi, what a shot for that kid. Kaimi is a truly special person who I think has the look and the makeup and the skill and and the presentation for TV. I think he absolutely gets the idea of playing to the smallest person, and and I think he's he's going places too.
Matt Andrews:Yep. He's got such a personality, and he's gonna be involved in that, ROW and the the breakout thing too. So really happy for him.
Blak Makk:Me too. Me he's a he's a good guy. I I love him. I love him. Last question before we get into some fun stuff.
Blak Makk:Okay. This weekend, you have Ascension.
Matt Andrews:Yep.
Blak Makk:Speak on speak on the matches, man. What what we got coming down the pipeline?
Matt Andrews:Man, there are some crazy advertised matches here. There's a lot of grudge matches coming up, which, I I think this is a great one for people that have been following storylines at MPX. Right? Right off of the bat, I think one of the, the first matches that was, announced was, Michael Schafer, the big kahuna, going up against Pauley Paparazzi for the attics championship. And you have Michael Schaeffer who was out of action for a year.
Matt Andrews:Pauley Paparazzi's best friend at the time. Right? And then Schaeffer went out. He went to Hollywood. That didn't quite work out.
Matt Andrews:So now he's come back, but then he turned his back on Pauley Paparazzi and is now joined up with House Sagan. And Pauley's pissed. And so here's this culmination of the bad blood between these guys you've also got Tatum Manning and Adam Green taking on, Tony Snow's new monsters, Haster and, and and hostage Hirsch. And I think that's, you know, Tony Snow finally can say that he's had some tag team success after leading KOA to the, to the tag team championships. And now he's got 2 people that are, like, bigger and badder in that regard.
Matt Andrews:And, you know, that's gonna be a tough mountain to over overcome, but, you know, you've got, I'm sorry. Not Tatum. It's Adam. That was at the last show. It's Adam Green and sorry.
Matt Andrews:Hassard has had his problems with, with Adam Green. And so, with Tony Snow taking out Adam Green, Green needs to find a partner, and, of course, you got the brilliant one to win Cavins there. So, that's gonna be a really dynamic and epic tag team match. Good clash of styles there too.
Blak Makk:Absolutely.
Matt Andrews:And honestly, I think the match that I'm looking forward to the most is Langley versus Dalton Gray. So grimy Dalton Gray who recently joined the scorn, actually trained with Langley in the kids camps. Right? He he came up. You know, you see Langley's mom posting these pictures of Dalton and Langley growing up.
Matt Andrews:And, of course, growing up for them is, like, a couple of years ago. But, you know, you you see that, months ago, and this may have been lost in the storyline. A couple of months ago, in a pre show match, Dalton Gray was getting beaten down by Riley Gryn in a pre show, and Langley was the one that came out to save him, which is great. That's a good story. Right?
Matt Andrews:Two friends and all that. Now you've got Dalton Gray throwing his head in with the scorn who I have. I I'm upset at them because they were my kids' favorite wrestlers, the scorn. And then for them to turn their backs on, his teacher, Sky, and and put him through that, That's a that's a really touchy subject for me too because, not a big fan of the scorn, not a big fan of how they talk to my son when he's at the shows and how they talk down to him. And, they gotta be careful to not cross that line because I don't know if I still got it, but I still have the fury of a dad.
Matt Andrews:Right? Absolutely. So I got got off track there. But, yeah, he's we've got Dalton Gray who's joined up with the scorn and, and Langley going to be going at it in a grudge match. And you saw last week where, Langley cracked the Kendo stick over Dalton Gray's back, broke the Kendo stick.
Matt Andrews:What a great moment too, and that got a huge reaction as well. Yeah. So, it's gonna be a really good weekend. I I I'm excited for MPX. You oh, also, Trent Mercer is, is going to be back.
Matt Andrews:And Trent Mercer, I like him a lot. Good kid. Good talent. Really love seeing him in there. He respects the business, respects everything about him, and he's gonna be taking on Matthew Palmer.
Matt Andrews:I haven't seen
Blak Makk:Palmer Saturday? Yeah. Oh, wow.
Matt Andrews:Gonna be in the ring. I haven't seen Palmer in the ring since revolver, but, like, up close and personal in an MPX ring, I haven't seen him since I was a wrestler. So it that's a that's a truly special, match for people to see. To see Matthew Palmer in an MPX ring again is is gonna be a fantastic thing.
Blak Makk:Absolutely. Absolutely. Shout out to Matt.
Matt Andrews:Yeah. Absolutely. Awesome guy.
Blak Makk:Awesome guy. But yeah, man. So Ascension, this Saturday.
Matt Andrews:Yep.
Blak Makk:Doors open. Are you guys doing the, the early thing again?
Matt Andrews:Yep. Yep. Early access. And, oh, man. That that's a beautiful thing.
Matt Andrews:I love that. For a while there, we were doing preshow matches, which I think is great, and I think it's a good way to, get people to see what, the training camp is about because we do offer training classes. And so to see the up and comers people that are undertaking these, this learning to get into a professional wrestling ring, to see how they've progressed and to see what they're working on, I think this is a great opportunity for them to do so. Plus, it gets you in front of a live crowd. It might only be 15 to 20 people to start out with, but you gotta start somewhere.
Blak Makk:Right. Yeah. It's I thought that was a that's a pretty cool concept. Get in early, and you get to see, some up and comers, starting their journey. And
Matt Andrews:Almost a little pull pulling back the curtain a little behind the scenes.
Blak Makk:Yeah. Yeah.
Matt Andrews:I think that makes it special.
Blak Makk:Yeah. That that's a really cool concept. It really is. So, yeah, doors open at 7:15. Right?
Matt Andrews:If you buy the early access, pass, then, yes, doors open at 7:15. Doors open to the general public at 7:30. Show starts at 8.
Blak Makk:Yep. So make sure go to, metroplex wrestling.com?
Matt Andrews:Mpx wrestling.com.
Blak Makk:Mpx wrestling. Sorry. Mpx wrestling.com, and then and get your tickets there, man.
Matt Andrews:So Yes, please.
Blak Makk:Yep. So let's get into some fun stuff.
Matt Andrews:Okay. I'm scared.
Blak Makk:Don't be scared. So when when when I have when I have guests on, there's a game I play called either or. And, normally, I listen during the interview, and I picked up on one thing. And I wanna know how versed you are in congress. Okay.
Blak Makk:Okay. So I'm gonna say some characters. You say either or for whatever reason, but I'm gonna start with the general. Marvel or DC?
Matt Andrews:Marvel. Okay. Without hesitation.
Blak Makk:Okay.
Matt Andrews:Cool. I, I I like that Marvel characters are ordinary people that get put into extraordinary situations. Absolutely. The DC characters are extraordinary for reasons that you don't necessarily know of immediately. Yep.
Matt Andrews:Their origin stories aren't as fun because they're like Superman. I know that's a, you know, that's a, almost an orphan story. Right? Coming from a planet, but he's already a super powered person. Bruce Wayne was already rich.
Matt Andrews:And, yes, that's an unimaginable tragedy losing your parents, but you're already rich.
Blak Makk:You're already rich, bro.
Matt Andrews:So that that's why I like it.
Blak Makk:Alright. Cool. Good answer. Good answer. I like it.
Blak Makk:It's a Marvel or DC. Alright. Now let's get into the fun stuff. Mhmm. Thor or Black Panther?
Matt Andrews:Man, that's tough because that's that's almost honestly, that's very DC like. Here's these 2 here's these 2 characters that already have their, their their flowers, so to speak. Right? Thor's, Thor's a demigod, and Black Panther was already born into royalty. I like the culture and the heritage behind Black Panther a bit more.
Matt Andrews:I I just I follow along the story of Black Panther a lot better, than I do, Thor. Although, I do enjoy, the the idea behind mythology, and I read it a lot growing up as a kid. But I just think, the atmosphere around Black Panther and kind of the vibe around Black Panther is just a lot more modern hip and cool, and it's a lot more fun to fall. Yeah.
Blak Makk:I get that. I get that a little bit. A little bit. Me, I probably I probably would've said Thor.
Matt Andrews:Yeah. I figured you would've. Just based on the how you react to my answer.
Blak Makk:I probably would've said Thor. Really. Really. Alright. Jean Grey.
Blak Makk:Mhmm. Or professor x?
Matt Andrews:Oh, jeez. Both telepads. Both leadership qualities. I go with Jean Grey. Jean Grey who I don't know.
Matt Andrews:They both endured some pretty, awful trauma, with, with family members and stuff. But I I go with Jean Grey just because of the Phoenix character and that entire storyline and how that follows out. I'm I I like that storyline a lot better. I know professor x has the, the onslaught deal and, you know, losing losing his mobility in the savage lands, which is also a terrible thing. But I think the idea of the Phoenix character, plus Madeleine Pryor, plus, table being thrown in there as, as kind of traumatic events, along with mister Sinister.
Matt Andrews:Like, I just it's it that's that's just a lot of beat down for Jean Grey, and I'm always a fan of somebody that can overcome and persevere through all of that.
Blak Makk:Okay. I like it. I like it. Alright. Next one, Elektra or Gamora?
Matt Andrews:Elektra. And I Oh. I say yeah. I know. I know it's controversial.
Matt Andrews:So I say Elektra, and this is this is probably a more controversial take than the fact that I just chose Elektra. I I I liked, Ben Affleck Daredevil.
Blak Makk:Really?
Matt Andrews:I know. And and yeah. I know. I think it's because it was cheesy for all the wrong reasons, and it's just one of those things where you're like, man, this is so bad, but it's also kinda kinda cool. I like the way they presented Daredevil.
Matt Andrews:I don't necessarily like the way they presented Matt Murdock, but I like I like the way they presented Daredevil in that. And and the electric character in that was was fun and led to led to better parts for Elektra. Maybe that movie wasn't it, but, you know, you see what happened to Deadpool and Wolverine and how she became a cult clad like a cult favorite just by appearing in the movie. I'm like, oh, man. Elektra's back.
Matt Andrews:That's cool. And it's like you only remember the good things about the character and not how awful everything was. You looked at her up there and you're like, oh, man. That was a good character. And then if you go back and you watch that movie, you're like, okay.
Matt Andrews:Maybe maybe not, but cool to see her anyways.
Blak Makk:True. True. Alright. Last one. Last one.
Matt Andrews:Okay.
Blak Makk:Wolverine.
Matt Andrews:Yeah.
Blak Makk:Or Spider Man.
Matt Andrews:Oh, Spider Man. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Matt Andrews:Yeah. Yeah. 100% it's Spider Man. I related and relate to Spider Man in entirely too close of a way. Just, the Peter Parker thing and being bullied and being kind of the outcast, and always wanting to be something more and always wanting to stick up for the, the guy that wasn't that didn't have anybody to stick up for him.
Matt Andrews:Because I was always that guy that never had anybody stick up for him. So I always wanted to be the one to protect. And, Spider Man's situation, Peter Parker's situation of, like, man, I really didn't want these powers, but now that I have them, I have the ability to do something, and I should probably do it. And that's kinda how I view things in my life as well. Like, I I know I have a good voice.
Matt Andrews:I won't say that I'm, like, the best voice ever with a voice for a voice over career, but, like, I know I've got a gift here, and I know I should
Blak Makk:do something
Matt Andrews:with it. And if I've got something like that and something that my son latches on to, okay, I should bring him to that. So it's it's just a sense of obligation and duty and knowing that the things that I'm good at, I should probably share. I heard on TikTok today something that was really profound to me, and it's always weird how, like, the most random TikToks end up being really profound. Right?
Matt Andrews:Yeah. You never see you never see an apple tree, eat an apple. You don't see a pear tree, eat a pear. You don't see a plum tree, eat a plum. But that's because the fruit is not for the tree.
Matt Andrews:It's for other people. Right? And so here I am, I've got these gifts and, like, maybe I don't necessarily believe in them, but, like, they help other people have a good time. They help other people enjoy their life, escape reality. I'm the ring announcer at MPX, and maybe I'm not the best one that has ever existed.
Matt Andrews:We'll give that to Cody Cox, obviously. But, like, I'm having fun. The other people are having fun, and I'm a part of them having fun with that. And I think that's a great thing, and I'm happy to continue to keep doing it.
Blak Makk:That was deep. Sometimes deep. I like it. I like it. I like it.
Blak Makk:Alright, man. Let the people know. Plug away. Some some gratuitous plugging away. Go ahead.
Blak Makk:Let him Oh,
Matt Andrews:man. Know what Alright. A whole lot of gratuitous plugging away. So I'm a man of many many talents. I also write about baseball for, WFAA.
Matt Andrews:You can find me on, x or Twitter at Fisher Writes MLB. That's my shoot name. Don't tell anybody. But Fisher Writes MLB, that's where you can find me on Twitter. You can find me on Instagram because I used to be a beer blogger at easily bruised.
Matt Andrews:That's easily, e a s I l y, bruised, b r e w s e d. Because that's punny and funny. You can find me on Facebook at Matt Andrews, and, you can find me on TikTok at the choice Matt Andrews. I'll do I'll usually do show, preshow things, like a little 45 second snippet before a show just to clue people in on what's going on, and then I'll do an MPX minute, either a Monday or Tuesday after the show to let people know what happened.
Blak Makk:Awesome, man. Awesome. Anything else you wanna leave with the people?
Matt Andrews:Support the independent wrestlers, guys. And, also, if you have if if those independent wrestling companies have sponsors, support the sponsors. Because if you're supporting the sponsors, you're supporting the independent wrestling companies. Absolutely. Wanna see them keep going, then you need to show the support however you can.
Blak Makk:Absolutely. By the way, thank you guys for allowing us to sponsor you. That was
Matt Andrews:Oh, no. No. Thank you. Truly, really appreciate having the No Givens podcast sponsor, MPX, and, this would be week 3 for you guys, in a row, which super appreciative of it. So, yeah, hope to see everybody out there.
Matt Andrews:All the MPX addicts, go to mpx wrestling.com. Then come catch Ascension presented by the No Gimmicks podcast.
Blak Makk:Absolutely. And that'll do it for us here at No Gimmicks. Thank you guys for tuning in. Until next time. You guys be safe, enjoy each other, and peace.