I recently had the distinct pleasure of speaking with MLW star Matt Cross ahead of his showdown with the debuting nZo (fka Enzo Amore) on this evening’s edition of Fusion:Alpha. Cross, who some fans may remember as Son of Havoc from the cult-favorite Lucha Underground, spoke with me about a number of topics, including what fans can expect during tonight’s bout, his thoughts on MLW’s decision to revive the LU brand with Azteca Underground, and the role MLW currently plays in the wrestling landscape. Highlights, including the full vide interview can be found below.
On what fans can expect during tonight’s match with nZo:
Yeah, sort of expect the unexpected, right? I mean, we have completely different experiences within the professional wrestling business…completely different. I mean, here’s a guy that, that the entirety of his knowledge and perspective on our business is within one, in my opinion, a small bubble. And then you have a world traveled guy that has seen wrestling from a global perspective, like no one else has ever seen it via 29 different countries, and see how they clash again, bringing completely different philosophical views, completely different skill sets, completely different ideas about what this business is. So again, what a rare opportunity to see those philosophical clashes, styles, clashes, everything else just come to a head.
On Alex Shelly, TJP, and the authenticity and professionalism of MLW:
Even now being a part of it. When I watch in the back and they’re running the monitors. There’s a disconnect between what I see in the monitor, and then what I see live in the ring, the presentation is so clean and so professional. I’ll be in the back. And I’m like, What is this that we’re watching? And it’s the events that I’m a part of, and then there’s a certain excitement, so I’m like, wait, I’m about to go out there and it’s gonna look this good? They’re just bringing a level of a professionalism and a polished presentation of what we do. And I mean, look at the roster to have guys like, I mean, Alex Shelley is like a wrestling genius, right? He is a star in every single possible way. And not only is he a star, we’re all indebted to him for what he’s done to the wrestling business. And the fact that he’s not a multi-gillionaire or the face of professional wrestling is insane. So to have a guy like Alex, Shelley, and myself and TJP all under one roof. I mean, you’re literally getting some of the best professional wrestlers in the business within one roster. I mean, that’s crazy. So it sort of speaks for itself. You know, there’s just a lot of excitement around that. There’s a lot of excitement around the business in general right now. And I think MLW is a part of that rise.
His thoughts on being apart of Lucha Underground, and how MLW is reviving its spirit with Azteca Underground:
I mean, this is my opinion, but I think we revolutionized wrestling. I think as the years go by, five years or 10 years from now, certainly 20 years from now, only then will people have the perspective to look back and be like, holy crap. I mean, this genuinely changed everything. I think we’re still close to it to even really know. I think people have a taste of that. You will never get a roster like that together again, ever. You had guys like Ricochet who had had a WWE tryout and had been told no. Same for myself. So you had guys with a chip on their shoulder. Who had been told no, who now we’re given a platform and we’re like, oh, okay, here we go. And we were trusted to do what we do. Our instructions were go have a wrestling match. The people filming it, we’re told film it, the guys writing it. We’re told write it. No one was micromanaged. Everyone was trusted to be the professional that they are. And lo and behold, we came up with a groundbreaking program. So it’s so exciting. Every time I see anyone from that show. We talk about how much we miss it. It was so much fun. So to kind of capture that spirit of what we did in the temple, and kind of carry it forward is certainly exciting, exciting, just to see a lot of those familiar faces, who I haven’t seen for a minute. And again, we all we all sort of were a part of something. So too, I liked what you said like the spiritual successor. I mean, that’s great. So to to just kind of try to recapture that spirit. Every weekend, someone will tell me that we’ve brought them back to professional wrestling, which is the ultimate compliment. We were able to create fans through like a 45 minute action packed program. I mean, we made fans, we brought people to this thing that we love. So again, to kind of be able to hopefully do that again. Now through Aztec underground. And through MLW is great. What an opportunity.