There's nothing wrong with sneaking in the odd obscure fact here and there, but Striker tried to do it all the fucking time. And his Ace Of Spades crap was bollocks.
I thought that Striker and Todd Grisham were a good team on the ECW show....in the beginning. Eventually, Striker's little facts got a little tedious and it took away from the match at hand. And now look....Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. This used to be part of the current NWA, but it's broken off on it's own. I've seen it on MavTV, and it's everything you can imagine an indy fed to be. I hope he set himself up financially, and that he can get back to teaching, otherwise he's gonna starve.
Striker: "For example, a championship is not a belt. A belt holds up your pants. Someone that doesn’t watch wrestling might ask, ‘Why are they fighting over wardrobe accessories?’"
I seriously doubt fans are that dumb, but whatever.
Bill Simmons buried him. I assume that he was already taking some heat for his sub-standard work before Simmons wrote that article on ESPN.com but his career was noticeably affected by that one article.
I always enjoyed Striker's commentary. I recently rewatched Summerslam 2010. When Daniel Bryan came back and Striker marked out screaming "The American Dragon has returned!", it was great. Pretty sure he was asking for Cattle Mutilation at some point too. He did like to name drop all of the East Coast wrestlers such as Low Ki, Da Hit Squad, and the SAT as well, and I enjoyed that too, as I saw Striker wrestle with all of those guys in 2001.
I've also seen Matt Striker on the Long Island Railroad going to Rangers games and at local card and comic stores, too, so I guess that's why I've always liked him. I went to Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, but it was a few years before he taught there.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100330 That article had 2 WWE related repercussions. He got Shawn Michaels to come on his podcast after writing that and the article was AWKWARD. Shawn was either drunk, tired or reading something while being interviewed because that might have set the record for "uhhhh" and "ummmmm" in a short podcast.
Striker tried to fire back at Simmons on the air (Smackdown IIRC) but it didn't go well for him. He started getting his on-air responsibilities cut back soon after the Simmons piece came out and was demoted off Smackdown permanently for Booker within a few months. He was doing the C shows exclusively until he was cut a couple months ago.
By pretty much any measurable metric (twitter followers, podcast downloads, unique pageviews for his columns and the grantland site, etc) a massive amount of people care what he thinks.
Don't necessarily buy his burying being the nail in Stryker's coffin but Simmon's reach and influence is pretty undeniable, exponentially so if we are judging on the curve of mainstream personalities covering wrestling.
I respect everyone's opinion but my goodness did I find Striker annoying. Two reasons: one, he tried to come up with new names for moves and people that were unusual and had not been promoted by the wwe before, and two, we always was trying to brag up how much he knew, and often at awkward times.
He was already getting moved away from the main shows for awhile after that. Before mania he took an on air role doing NXT but after mania they started pushing him away from Smackdown and more towards the C shows. He wasn't replaced by Booker until months later but he was being marginalized way before then. You can't prove that his bad performance at mania (and a couple other PPVs in that stretch like the CENA'S FREE botch) were why he was demoted but it would certainly make sense.
Striker was just the kind of commentator for a bygone era. Him & Styles so should've had a podcast alternate commentary you could play during the shows.
Gotta agree with ETB757 there. Even non-fans are remotely familiar with boxing. Certainly to the extent that they'd recognize a championship/belt. They'd be able to make the connection.
I wasn't much of a fan of his myself but I have to say he came off very well on Colt Cabana's podcast recently
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with sneaking in the odd obscure fact here and there, but Striker tried to do it all the fucking time. And his Ace Of Spades crap was bollocks.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Striker and Todd Grisham were a good team on the ECW show....in the beginning. Eventually, Striker's little facts got a little tedious and it took away from the match at hand. And now look....Championship Wrestling from Hollywood. This used to be part of the current NWA, but it's broken off on it's own. I've seen it on MavTV, and it's everything you can imagine an indy fed to be. I hope he set himself up financially, and that he can get back to teaching, otherwise he's gonna starve.
ReplyDeleteStriker: "For example, a championship is not a belt. A belt holds up your pants. Someone that doesn’t watch wrestling might ask, ‘Why are they fighting over wardrobe accessories?’"
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt fans are that dumb, but whatever.
Bill Simmons buried him. I assume that he was already taking some heat for his sub-standard work before Simmons wrote that article on ESPN.com but his career was noticeably affected by that one article.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he's bitter about that.
I always enjoyed Striker's commentary. I recently rewatched Summerslam 2010. When Daniel Bryan came back and Striker marked out screaming "The American Dragon has returned!", it was great. Pretty sure he was asking for Cattle Mutilation at some point too. He did like to name drop all of the East Coast wrestlers such as Low Ki, Da Hit Squad, and the SAT as well, and I enjoyed that too, as I saw Striker wrestle with all of those guys in 2001.
ReplyDeleteI've also seen Matt Striker on the Long Island Railroad going to Rangers games and at local card and comic stores, too, so I guess that's why I've always liked him. I went to Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens, but it was a few years before he taught there.
Any other great/cringeworthy Matt Striker quotes?
"Someone that doesn't watch wrestling..." is right there in the quote.
ReplyDeletehuh?
ReplyDeleteYeah, nobody really gives a fuck what that putz thinks.
ReplyDeletehttp://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100330
ReplyDeleteThat article had 2 WWE related repercussions. He got Shawn Michaels to come on his podcast after writing that and the article was AWKWARD. Shawn was either drunk, tired or reading something while being interviewed because that might have set the record for "uhhhh" and "ummmmm" in a short podcast.
Striker tried to fire back at Simmons on the air (Smackdown IIRC) but it didn't go well for him. He started getting his on-air responsibilities cut back soon after the Simmons piece came out and was demoted off Smackdown permanently for Booker within a few months. He was doing the C shows exclusively until he was cut a couple months ago.
CENA IS FREE!
ReplyDeleteIt was ten months. Booker came back at the Rumble
ReplyDeleteStep 1: Mark out at any given opportunity.
ReplyDeleteStep 2: Say the word "bro" a lot.
By pretty much any measurable metric (twitter followers, podcast downloads, unique pageviews for his columns and the grantland site, etc) a massive amount of people care what he thinks.
ReplyDeleteDon't necessarily buy his burying being the nail in Stryker's coffin but Simmon's reach and influence is pretty undeniable, exponentially so if we are judging on the curve of mainstream personalities covering wrestling.
He's a buffoon.
ReplyDeleteIt was so damaging that they took him off Smackdown almost a full year later?
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of very powerful buffoons out there, Doug.
ReplyDeleteBill Simmons is no Glenn Beck.
ReplyDeleteI respect everyone's opinion but my goodness did I find Striker annoying. Two reasons: one, he tried to come up with new names for moves and people that were unusual and had not been promoted by the wwe before, and two, we always was trying to brag up how much he knew, and often at awkward times.
ReplyDeleteI'm marking out BRO
ReplyDeleteKnowing the names of some indie stuff was about all he offered. Striker was insufferable.
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't come off well on Cabana's podcast? It's the most comfortable, in-their-element interview a wrestler could give.
ReplyDeleteHe was already getting moved away from the main shows for awhile after that. Before mania he took an on air role doing NXT but after mania they started pushing him away from Smackdown and more towards the C shows. He wasn't replaced by Booker until months later but he was being marginalized way before then. You can't prove that his bad performance at mania (and a couple other PPVs in that stretch like the CENA'S FREE botch) were why he was demoted but it would certainly make sense.
ReplyDeleteAustin said on his podcast that they're doing each other's shows. Can't. Fucking. Wait.
ReplyDeleteStriker was just the kind of commentator for a bygone era. Him & Styles so should've had a podcast alternate commentary you could play during the shows.
ReplyDeleteGotta agree with ETB757 there. Even non-fans are remotely familiar with boxing. Certainly to the extent that they'd recognize a championship/belt. They'd be able to make the connection.
ReplyDelete...Cena's fired...
ReplyDeleteI think the huge Survivor Series botch later that year was the final nail in the coffin.
ReplyDeleteSTRIKER, Matt Striker. Matt Stryker is a different guy.
ReplyDeleteHe used to call Yoshi Tatsu on ECW "The Poison Fist of the Pacific." I have no earthly idea on what that would even mean.
ReplyDelete