Missouri Wrestling Revival is excited to have a photo from the MWR Vault featured in the brand new, hot off the presses 2013 Pro Wrestling Illustrated 500 magazine.
Be sure to pick up the PWI November 2013 edition with a great photo of John Cena on the cover by photographer Duane Long. In the issue be sure to check out the NEVER BEFORE SEEN photo of the entertaining Sugar Dunkerton as he delivers an explosive knee on PS Express member Scott Keyes at New Midwest Wrestling in Springfield, Illinois from MWR Owner Brian Kelley.
Also featured in the magazine is the complete list of the top 500 wrestlers as named by the hard working men and women at PWI. Yet, that is not all, be sure to check out the Independent Roundup by Mike Bessler, The International Report by Dan Murphy, the PWI Official Ratings and much much more!!
Congrats to each of the wrestlers that MWR and their fans have enjoyed in the past year in the ring here in the Midwest. A brief list of these stars include former MWR Wrestlers of the Year Brandon Espinosa, Jeremy Wyatt and the reigning MWR Wrestler of the Year Adam Pearce. The list also features stars such as Michael Elgin, , Davey Richards, Johnny Gargano, Sami Callihan, Kyle O’Reilly, Colt Cabana, Jimmy Jacobs, Wes Brisco, ACH, Ricochet, TJ Perkins, Chuck Taylor, Kahagas, Stevie Richards, Tadarius Thomas, Darin Corbin, Flash Flanagan, Ace Hawkins, Matt Riviera, Tony Koziuna, Oliver Cain, Greg Anthony, Michael Barry, Aaron Epic, Ruff Crossing, Dave Osborne, Raphael (Matt ) King are just a few of the excellent talents in this years’ PWI 500 now on sale at all quality newsstands or purchase the digital version for onl $4.99 by clicking here
We are thrilled to have one of the hottest stars in the wrestling world. Matt Riviera to join the first ever MWR Trading card set. You have seen him on your TV screen as a reality star including the new season of “The Millionaire Matchmaker” on Bravo network that will begin airing this Thursday. Riviera will be honored later this year from the Cauliflower Alley Club as the 2013 Men’s Active Wrestling Honoree.
Lets get the facts from his very own website.
Matt Riviera is someone who could easily be called a renaissance man. On one hand, he is a top notch professional wrestling star who is adored by fans all over the United States. On the other hand, he is a Reality TV Star having been featured on the VH1 show, Megan Wants a Millionaire. And on the other hand…I need more hands.
Movie Star, Celebrity TV Star, Professional Wrestler…where to start?
Matt Riviera started out as a wrestling fan. When he watched WCW on TV, he had aspirations of one day entering the squared circle as a wrestler himself. But that was to be years away. He could not train in the ring legally until he was 16 and he had the wrestling bug in him. So he did the next best thing. He asked local promoters what he could do until he was old enough to start training.
The first thing promoters told him was that shows don’t happen without sponsors. And if he could help find sponsors, that would go a long way to helping him get in the business. They also told him that he could help put posters up around town to promote the next show. In exchange for that, he would get free tickets to the show. The best part of that is that he started meeting a lot of the wrestlers that would one day be his contemporaries. From town to town in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, Matt would be driven around by a father who made sure his compassion for wrestling would not diminish. And the wrestlers and promoters remembered that kid who embraced the business at a young age.
When he reached age 16, he began training in Paris, Arkansas with two gentlemen who would loom large in his life in later years. Pine Bluff’s Tim Storm and Fort Smith’s Jeff Jett would help train Matt in the beginning. He decided the best way to find wrestling dates was to open his own promotion and Global Pro Wrestling was born.
Matt would bring stars in from around the country and promote shows that most folks today would be jealous of. From “Hacksaw” Butch Reed to “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Global Pro Wrestling set the standard for professional wrestling shows in Arkansas. And this even before Matt got his college degree. He took some time off from promoting to attend Harding University where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Journalism, a perfect lead-in to where he was to go next.
Although Hollywood was calling because of his dashing good looks and charm, Matt still had the wrestling bug in him. He had continued his training and done some spot appearances for other promoters throughout the Midwest while in college. The urge to promote, though, was stronger than ever. But time was a premium for Matt. How to train and run a promotion at the same time was tough. So he took on a partner/trainer and opened The Wrestling School in Russ Vegas, Arkansas. That partner would help him train up and coming wrestlers while Matt gained the valuable gym time on his own.
Global set up a separate promotion that could be run while he devoted his time to another calling, acting. Matt was featured in a movie shot in Arkansas, “Blood Forest – Legend of the Cave Tribe”. With this, he could film during the week and still wrestle on selected weekends. Matt moved from that film to another Arkansas-based film, “Happy Hour”. It was during the shooting of this movie that Matt’s third calling came.
A production company for VH1 had seen some of Matt’s work (and his wrestling work as well) and invited him to audition for a new Reality Show, “Megan Wants a Millionaire”, featuring Megan Hauserman. Although the series was cancelled prematurely due to legal issues with one of the bachelors, Matt was in all episodes that aired before the cancellation.
When Matt returned to Arkansas, he felt he needed to take the wrestling business one step farther. With the creation of Traditional Championship Wrestling, Matt finally had a promotion that was destined to succeed big time! The TCW crew was assembled and featured not only local wrestling stars, but also stars who had made their name in other national promotions. Television started slow and was seen only on the promotion’s web site. But in July of 2011, TCW premiered in the Fort Smith, Arkansas and Little Rock Arkansas markets on broadcast television. The half hour show was seen by over a million viewers each week. In January 2012, TCW was picked up by MeTV Arkansas which would triple the potential viewers each week. In June 2012, TCW Television is projected to move from 30 minutes to one hour per week.
So you decide… Movie Star, Celebreality TV Star, or Professional Wrestler. Where will you see Matt Riviera next?
We know now, it is with the MWR Trading card set as number 98 in a card that is worth its weight in gold.
For a complete list of Missouri Wrestling Revival trading cards as well as WWE , TNA and Japan sets check out the website Wrestling trading cards.com here.
To purchase MWR Trading cards:
1) Catch the star at a show to have them autograph the cards personally
2) Contact them via facebook or myspace
3) Send $1.50 in money order or check for each card at *
Brian Kelley
305 West 3rd Salisbury Missouri 65281
or Paypal at flairmwr@yahoo.com
*Checks will take longer to clear than money orders so expect time for that to happen. Make sure you list exactly what card you are wanting to have.
Please note that when purchasing MWR Trading cards from the wrestlers, that they decide the prices for their cards. We highly recommend that you get them from the stars themselves and let them know that you enjoy MWR.
These cards are limited and are not mass produced making them highly collectable.
Matt Riviera promo for Metro Pro Wrestling in Kansas City, KS. Matt Murphy is just a stepping stone for the Loverboy, and on March 3, Mr. $5.5 plans to take care of business!
When most people start a new job there is that first awkwardness. That uncomfortable silence of when you don’t know what kind of people you’re working with. Way be for you find your mutual likes and dislikes. I mean heaven forbid you be a cardinals fan and your boss is die hard cubs, right? I’ve honestly never had this feeling in a pro wrestling lockeroom.
Any lockeroom I walk into those 15-16 guys or 47 if your at a DK show, I know we all have atleast one thing in common. A common thread that can get the ball rolling on any coversation. Now nobody agrees 100% of the time but atleast we can agree we love wrestling. Some don’t love wrestling at present but they loved it more than anything at one time in their lives. Why else would they be here?
Since I’ve had the opportunity to tag with Bobby Eaton on a regular basis, I’ve found myself in new lockerooms. With some guys I’ve worked with before but others I’ve only heard about. In any other business situation this might cause some anxiety but in pro wrestling I really see it as another opportunity. To share like stories of how we broke it, people we enjoy working with or those we don’t.
In Mississippi I got to work with Tony Dabbs. Nice guy who really impressed me in ring. One of those guys that you can just grab and go. In Fort Smith, Arkansas we worked with Jeff Jett and Matt Riviera. Jeff was fun to work with and isn’t afraid to push the limits. Matt showed off some charisma and defiantly had his ducks in a row when came to running a promotion.
Midnight Gold has be shown alot of hospitality and want to take this time to say thank you to everyone involved. Wrestling can be a jealous business but its nice to see lockerooms looking out for each other and not themselves. I believe I can speak for Bobby and Brian when I say we have felt at home in some of these lockerooms. So Thank you