Matt Shane: Back, and Better Than Ever

[ndpmattshane]

Matt Shane is seated comfortably in a special little “interview room” over at NDP HQ. Miles is sitting in a chair behind a desk, next to him.

[Miles:] Been a while, good to see you again, Matt!

[Matt:] Thanks, Miles, nice to be back in here. Been way too long. Way, way too long. *smirks*

[Miles:] So what’ve you been doing these last, well, couple of years? I mean, I know NDP’s been sort of on-again, off-again, and same thing with CEP. You don’t really look like you’ve let yourself go at all, so you must be up to something, right?

[Matt:] Haha, yeah, there’s definitely been a lot of down time. Me and Nick [CEP’s Phoenix] opened up a little training school-kinda thing, so we’ve been working a lot, grooming some new up-and-comers. I think a bunch of the guys we got have a ton of potential. I think there’s kind of a youth movement going on in pro wrestling, lately; WWE’s been trying to push some newer guys, they even made that new show NXT, TNA has… well, they have a lot of cool young stars waiting to break out, they just have to wait around twiddling their thumbs for the people in charge over there to get a clue. Even in CEP, it’s mostly been newer guys stepping up. So, I’m pretty excited to see how some of the guys I’ve been training end up working out.

[Miles:] Very cool. So, it sounds like you’ve been keeping up with the other promotions out there?

[Matt:] Oh, definitely. Gotta get my “pro wrasslin’” fix somehow, eh?

[Miles:] I take it you’ve heard about Shawn Michael’s retirement, then, huh? I know he was a big influence on you, and I’ve heard you’re a huge fan of his, is that right?

[Matt:] Oh yeah, absolutely. Shawn is definitely the one guy that, yanno, above anyone else, I’ve really patterned myself after. Hell, he’s the reason I use the Super Kick, and it’s no secret that I basically copy that neat little elbow drop he does off the top rope all the time. I just think he’s amazing at what he does, he’s a great entertainer, he can pretty much put on a classic match with anyone, and I’d even go as far to say that he’s the greatest wrestler I’ve ever seen. I’m a little disappointed, because I was really hoping that someday, somehow, our paths would cross, and him and I could get in the ring, haha… I think we coulda put on an amazing match, but yanno… I’m happy for him, though. He got to retire the way he wanted to, and he really deserved it.

[Miles:] I couldn’t agree more. Well, let’s shift gears a little, here. Ever since CEP came back last year, everyone’s been wondering, why no Matt Shane? Is Matt Shane “done” with CEP?

[Matt:] They definitely wanted me to be a part of the show again, but I… well, I declined for two reasons. For one, I just really needed to take some time off, and get myself together again, and I just haven’t felt like I’ve been at that level for a big comeback at the moment, and I don’t want to go back any less than 100%. Secondly, like I was saying, there’s been kind of a youth movement going on, and I really wanted to sort of stay away for a little while, because I don’t want to get in the way of that. I think there’s a lot of new guys stepping up the plate, Chris Marcus is becoming the face of the company, Spike Spade and Mark Magnum have gotten incredibly over… I think if I were there, I’d just be interfering in all that. You’ll definitely see Matt Shane in CEP again, but the time just isn’t right, at the moment.

[Miles:] What about NDP? Any word on when the next time we’ll see a new show?

[Matt:] Hahaha, Miles, man, you’re asking the wrong guy. Hell, I’m sure you’ll probably know about a new NDP show before I do. I’m just basically waiting for the call. I’m ready to go any time.

[Miles:] Well, we know your next big scheduled match is to be taking on Colleen and Wesley for the NDP Championship. Before we wrap up this interview, is there anything you’d like to say to your two opponents?

[Matt:] I don’t know that there’s anything I want to say to them, specifically, but I just wanna say that I feel really good going into this match. I gotta admit, I’ve gotten pretty burnt out on wrestling these last couple of years; we all get burnt out on our jobs, though, right? But my passion’s starting to come back. I’m a lot more focused now than I’ve been in the last couple of years. I’m feeling really good; I just turned 31 last year, and I think I still have tons of potential in this business. I almost feel… “reinvigorated”. I know I’ve always been kind of a jokester, and sometimes just a flat-out sarcastic dick, and I… well, okay, I’m still kind of a sarcastic dick, but I’m not interested in playing little mind games with either Colleen or Wesley anymore. So no, there’s nothing I want to say to them. But I want all my fans, and all the NDP and CEP fans, to know that I’m more focused than ever. My goal at the moment is to regain the NDP Championship. Not only to regain it, but the first guy to hold the title more than once. It really doesn’t matter to me if I have to beat Colleen, or Wesley, or whoever. I’ve already left my mark on CEP, I’ve established my legacy there. Now I want to do it in NDP, too. I want to be the face of NDP. I want my name to be synonymous with those initials.

[Miles:] Wow. Pretty powerful stuff, there. I gotta say that I’m looking forward to seeing that match, and I wish you the best of luck, not only with that match but becoming, as you put it, the “face of NDP”. On that note, it’s been really fun getting to talk to you again, Matt, and I hope to see you around here in the studio more often! Thanks to our NDP fans for watching! See ya next time!

We fade out to the NDP logo.

[ndpmattshane]

Matt Shane is sitting with a laptop on the table by him, and he seems to be using a standard little video camera to be recording this.

[Matt:] Hey there, Matt Shane fans. I’m uh, actually at home, right now. Hanging out, kinda bored considering I’m not exactly working anywhere right now. So, I decided to take some time and respond to some fan mail I get from my website. Let’s see, who do we have first… “AwesomeGuy6546” writes “Hey Matt, just wondering, what are your thoughts on Daniel Bryan, aka Bryan Danielson, going back to the WWE? Is it true you were hoping to get a match with him?”.
Eh, I’m happy for Bryan, really. He’s pretty much done everything he can do on the indies, and I think he deserves to be in the WWE. He got fired for something really stupid, and there was a big shit storm for that, so it’s good to see that he got taken back. As far as a match between him and me, I’m not sure where that rumor came from, really. Not that I’d mind getting in the ring with him, and him and I are both pretty good, as far as work rate goes, but I think there are other guys he could tell a better story with or work a better program with. Him and me would make a good match, no doubt, but I don’t know that there’d be enough “electricity” there to make something really special.

Next question comes from “Fella32”. Sheamus fan, I take it? Anyway, he writes “In your opinion, what’s the best match you’ve ever been involved in?”. Hm. Wow. Hard to really name one. A few years back, somehow CEP managed to negotiate with TNA and Kurt Angle, and I got to take him on, and I’d definitely say that’s probably one of the better matches I’ve ever been involved in. Of course, there’s also that famous ladder match between me and Phoenix from what seems like ages ago. Awesome, awesome match. In NDP, I really liked working with Flip Staley, especially building up to that big match where I won the NDP title. Yanno, I wonder what Flip’s been up to lately? He was pretty cool.

Let’s see… “MrELuvr” writes… Whoa whoa, wait… “Mr. E lover”? Haha, oh wow, Mr. E has fangirls? That’s awesome. So “MrELuvr” writes “How do you feel about CEP right now, and will you ever come back?”. Not surprisingly, this is a really popular question I get asked, uh… a lot. Well, I guess not everybody that’s going to be seeing this is aware of CEP’s current state, so maybe I should do a little recap for some of you guys out there.

Late last year, Matt… Er, you know, the other Matt, the guy that created CEP, brought the company back with some financial help from Michael Avery, one of the biggest, but also most selfish and egotistical competitors from CEP’s earliest days. Me and Avery clashed a lot, and he’s… well, he’s a dick. He likes to brag that I’ve never beaten him one-on-one. Whatever. Anyway, so Avery is now 50% owner of CEP. Him and Matt set up a tournament to crown the CEP Champion. One of the finalists is Chris Marcus, who’s quickly becoming the new “face of CEP”. The other is some big, husky, hairy monster named Zack Ellis, who Avery helped get into CEP.

So, weeks before the big title match goes down, Matt is “mysteriously” attacked backstage, pretty badly. Pretty bad condition. Avery assumes 100% ownership in his absence, though he claims he’s investigating into the attack. Chris doesn’t feel Avery’s doing enough, so bad blood develops there. They squabble a lot, and Avery gets under Chris’s skin by reminding Chris that it was Avery who retired Chris’s father, Tony Flash, in the earliest days of CEP. Chris is about ready to snap, and Avery can’t take it anymore. Avery makes the stipulation that if Chris doesn’t win the CEP title, he’s gone from CEP, for good.

Big title match finally comes. Chris pretty much has the match won, only for Avery to mess with him a bit and screw him up. This is when things got pretty crazy, and I can’t remember exactly what prompted it, but the entire locker room was basically pouring out, trying to help one or the other to win the title. It was nuts, guys were fighting each other and brawling all over the arena. I think at one point, Joey Cretin even ran in, climbed on the top rope and did a 450 Splash to a group of guys fighting on the outside. That was pretty badass, actually.

Anyway, the match ends with Chris getting royally screwed over; Zack wins the title, Avery fires Chris on the spot and has him thrown out of the building. The rest of “Team Avery”, or whatever the hell they’re going to call themselves, gets in the ring to celebrate, and Avery is all proud, and shit.

My take? This whole thing just shows why you never go into business with Michael Avery. The guy is total scum, and completely power hungry. Will I return to CEP? I said a few months ago that I don’t feel that I’m completely done with CEP, and I still feel that’s true, but I just can’t see myself working for Michael Avery. Why would I want to “sell my soul to the devil”, like that? He’s got his own little agenda, and I really don’t want to be a part of that. As for Chris, it really sucks that he’s gone. I didn’t know him very well on a personal level, but he was a damn good fighter, and I think he really would have become the next “face of CEP”. I’m sure he’ll have plenty of other opportunities, though; for all I know, he might even be negotiating with NDP. I honestly don’t know.

Last question I’ll be addressing comes from… “Smith123”. Totally original and unique username right there. “Smith” writes “When is the NDP Championship triple threat going to be happening?”. Hm. How can I put this nicely…? The answer is, I have no friggin’ clue, dude. Actually, you’d probably get a better response if you try to get into contact with NDP directly. I’m way out of the loop, as far as what’s going on over there.

Thanks for the e-mails, guys, keep ‘em coming. Also, a little aside to a certain Mr. motosada, if you want me to stop whoring out CEP and other non-NDP related happenings, I’d suggest you give me something NDP-related to cut a promo about, heh heh. ‘s all for now, guys, see ya soon.

Matt reaches towards the camera and turns it off.

[ndpmattshane]

Miles is standing by with Matt, in front of the NDP banner.

[Miles:] Matt, as you know, it looks like Ascension is just around the corner, and pretty soon, you’re going to be competing in that ring for the most prized possession in NDP. Thus far, we haven’t heard from either of your competitors, Jason Wesley or Colleen Dramesi. What are your thoughts?

[Matt:] Yanno, I really hate to just repeat what I told you a few months ago, but honestly, I’m not that concerned with either of them.

[Miles:] Er, but… with all due respect, they’re your opponents; aren’t you even the least bit concerned about what kind of tricks they might have up their sleeves, or anything like that?

[Matt:] My focus is completely directed at the NDP Championship, right now. I’m not thinking about Colleen, or Wesley, or the little mind tricks they might play, or the little shenanigans they might try, or any of that. It’s all irrelevant to me. They can say what they want, they can do what they want, I’m not really interested in getting involved with any of that. My sights are set on the title.

[Miles:] Wow. Um. I just can’t really help to be a bit surprised by you. You usually always have something witty to say about your opponents, or some kind of commentary on something or other… I’m not sure I’ve ever really seen you so… focused.

[Matt:] Miles, you and I both know I’ve had a lot of downtime in the last, oh… two or three years. Both promotions I was most active in go into indefinite hiatuses, and that’s gonna leave a lot of free time on my hands. In that time, I did a lot of thinking, and a lot of soul searching, and I came to a realization. Back when I won the NDP Championship the first time, it never really… it never really hit me of what that represented. I didn’t appreciate it.

[Matt:] Even after I lost it to Colleen, I just kinda shrugged it off, and kept telling myself I’d keep trying to win it back, and I just kept coming up short. Back then, NDP was still putting on pretty regular shows, and I think I took that for granted. I always thought I’d have “one more chance”. But life is short. We don’t get that many moments to “shine”, to do something great, so we have to take advantage of them while we can. Who knows when there’s gonna be another NDP show after Ascension? Who knows when, or even if, I’ll get another shot at the NDP Championship? I can’t keep relying on “one more chance”.

[Miles:] So this is like a new “era” for you? No more offbeat, laid back, witty Matt Shane?

[Matt:] Whoa whoa whoa, I mean, let’s not go crazy, now, heh. That “Matt Shane” is never gonna die. But there’ll be plenty of time for goofy jokes and sarcastic comments AFTER I win the NDP Championship. I’m gonna give you the same “bottom line” I did months ago, Miles. I want to be NDP Champion. More importantly, I want to be the face of this company. This match is gonna be the only shot I have at making that happen for, well, probably a really long time. I have to win this match. I refuse to let this opportunity just slip right through my fingers.

[Matt:] And yanno, the more I think about it, “Ascension” is such a perfect name for this event. I’ve really drifted off, in the last few years, my career kinda fell into a downward spiral, and I wasn’t sure what was next for Matt Shane. But now I know what it is I want, and I’m going to “ascend” right out of my downward spiral and take it.

[Miles:] There you have it, ladies and gentlemen; Matt Shane’s final thoughts heading into his huge blockbuster matchup at Ascension! Thanks for watching, and stay tuned for future updates on the event!