Matthew Ryan, Sunset Park's indie wrestling impresario.

Matthew Ryan fires up the crowd. Photo: Matt Wolf

To celebrate Capitol Wrestling's debut on BKOD, we put its co-creator in a headlock and asked him about his growing independent promotion.

How (and Why) did a guy from Sunset Park decide to start an independent wrestling promotion?
Pro wrestling has been a part of my life since I can remember, literally. Watching wrestling on Channel 9 is one of my earliest memories and is probably a key reason I am so passionate about this industry.

I've been in broadcasting in all possible roles for ten years, me and my partner wanted to create and develop a brand that fit the pro wrestling we loved with a slick and well-produced product fit for modern distribution.

What was the hardest part of getting Capitol Wrestling up and running?
Finding a building. Finding a home that represented out vision without breaking our budget, we were half right with our first home in Jersey city, but our partnership with HOPES, and Hoboken GRACE have been phenomenal so far. 

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Has the fan community welcomed Capitol Wrestling?
Wrestling fans can be fickle, and so-far I've yet to see complaints from people who've attended our events. People will always have critiques, and opinions, which we welcome, because Capitol Wrestling is built by our community and we want them to know their voices are heard.

How did you put together the team (both on-camera and crew?)
We have great friends. Honestly, we have a collection of people who trusted our vision, our ambitions, and our goals. When it came to our roster, it was all speaking to those we wanted to work with, we built a list, we hacked at it, and we built our roster, into what it is today... one of the best in wrestling.

Our production team is built on the backs of some of the most talented people we know from all walks of life. Our composer was my partner's college roommate, our lighting and visual team come from the world of wrestling, club promotion, traditional television, our production team who shoot our shows, produce and edit our content are some of the youngest and hungriest people I have ever worked with. A mix of industry professionals and college kids who believe in our ideals and want to make our programming and events the best looking in the business.

You also create original music for the show.
We produce our own music because, we are a television show, and we want to have the rights to air, distribute and sell our soundtrack. We feel it's important that we create something that exemplifies our roster instead of something that we randomly find on Spotify that "sounds cool."

You can find Capitol Wrestling's soundtrack, curated and created by Greg Massi, our composer, on Amazon Music, Spotify, and on CD!

What’s your goal for Capitol?
I want there to be a day where you can't go anywhere without there being Capitol content. Our goal is to make this a national brand, a place for people to grow, explore, develop, and find their best selves. Whether as a wrestler, manager, announcer, producer, director, any role that they can be their best self.

Will we see CW come to Brooklyn anytime soon?
If the New York State Athletic commission allows, we'd be there with bells on. We have a building we want to run, we have a community interested, and we have a crew, but the NYSAC makes it impossible for us to bring what we love to the place I love.

Capitol Wrestling on BKOD
Capitol Wrestling Official Website