Jim Ross used to refer to his former broadcast colleague Matt Striker as “the Eddie Haskell of wrestling.” The former Head Of Talent Relations is also adamant about wrestlers having a backup plan for when their careers or done. Or even worse, in case their dreams aren’t even realized. Oddly enough, Matt Striker had adhered to that policy years ago, he just did it backward.

Matt Striker had a decent but brief run in the ring as part of ECW and Smackdown before transitioning to the commentary table with his own brand of being a verbose heel. He has been able to make a great career for himself, commentating for WWE, New Japan, and now for Impact. But his road to the wrestling industry is an interesting tale.

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The Early Life Of Matt Striker

Matt Striker In ECW

Well no, not really. But somewhere on Long Island in Queens, New York, Matthew Kaye was growing up like any kid from Bayside. With big lofty dreams to be a professional wrestler, he would eventually head to Brooklyn to train under the tutelage of Johnny Rodz. The Hall Of Famer had also taught Tommy Dreamer, the Dudley Boys, and Tazz. He began his career as Matt Striker, a fixture on the independent scene, working for NYWC, and getting to tour Japan. To supplement his income, he also got his college degree and went to work as a substitute teacher and then was hired full time as a social studies teacher at Cardozo High School in Bayside.

Teaching To Work, Wrestling To Live

Matt Striker Vs CM Punk Cropped

The prodigious high school has boasted several big-name graduates over the years, including actor Reginald “Carl Winslow” Vel Johnson, George Tenet; former head of the CIA, In the sports world, basketball, baseball, and Olympic heroes would call ‘Dozo home. The school also employs Ron Naclerio - the winningest coach of the Public School Athletic League.

Related: 10 Wrestlers Who Re-Invented Themselves, Ranked Worst To BestBut the school never employed a professional wrestler before, much less a member of the community, as Striker was born and raised. During his short time as a social studies teacher, he would use his sick days to wrestle. He did tours of Japan and an appearance on Smackdown taking on Kurt Angle. It wasn’t long before the New York Department Of Education caught wind of Striker playing hookey and suspended him. Rather than get fired, he resigned to save face.

Matt Striker's Story Made Headlines & Got Him Noticed In Wrestling

Matt Striker And DLo Brown Impact Commentary Cropped

Thanks to Striker’s actions, the story was picked up by several major news outlets including The New York Times. Rather than let the story die down, WWE picked up on it as well and added to the publicity by offering Striker a contract. Amazingly enough, it was Striker’s willingness to risk his job for his dreams that would get him hired when the story went viral. Once a part of the main roster, Matt Striker joined the ECW roster and had vignettes attempting to educate the masses and partnered up with the New Breed. Think of them as ECW 2.0. Only at WrestleMania 23, they weren’t successful against the ECW Originals. He would wrestle on and off for the next few years, but for the most part was behind the commentary desk until leaving the company in 2013. He’d return to the Indy circuit and wrestle occasionally, but becoming a commentator was the career path he’d take for his journey in the business. He has since been a commentator for WWE, Lucha Underground, AAA, and as of this writing, Impact.

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It’s not every day that someone fails up and find themselves living out their dream, but that’s exactly what Matt Striker did. True, it was a billion to one shot to ever make it in the industry, but he was able to get in by the happenstance. But it wasn’t just in luck alone. Stryker did have a reputation on the indies before getting signed and once signed showed incredible mic skills. Those attributes are able to keep Striker as the current voice of Impact.