Review Fix Exclusive: Matthew Ryan Shapiro Talks Capitol Wrestling’s Growth And More

September 20, 2017 Patrick Hickey Jr. Professional Wrestling 0

 

Review Fix chats with Capitol Wrestling co-founder Matthew Ryan Shapiro, who discusses the company’s growth and goals for the future.

Review Fix: You’ve been working and pushing the product hard for almost a year now, how has it gone?

Matthew Ryan Shapiro: There have been ups and downs like with any business at the start of it. We’ve had many lessons in the past nine months, and we’ve gotten better and smarter each go around. We have added to our great team and been able to partner and seek knowledge from the greatest in our business and we’re grateful.

Review Fix: What’s been the most important lesson thus far?

Ryan: Promote, promote, promote. Also, you cannot do it alone, we have added from an original staff of two, to about ten- twelve of some of the most diverse and dedicated souls in the business. Guys like Dan Bynum who has directed from World Class, to WCW,  to ROH and now is at Capitol. You need a team as obsessed and driven as you to go anywhere in life, wrestling, even in advanced yacht building.

Review Fix: What’s your next event looking like?

Ryan: It’s another diverse card with our stories continuing to evolve and shape, we have a double main event featuring Matt Macintosh and Anthony Gangone as well as the return of Logan Easton Laroux facing Sonny Kiss.

Review Fix: How will it be different from previous events?

Ryan: The crowning of our first champion will be the way we begin on October 14. It’ll be the most important moment in the history of the company when we see who those in power have given the ultimate honor to.

Review Fix: How does it feel to have the support of Eric Bischoff?

Ryan: Surreal. Absolutely surreal. Having someone like Eric not only give us a platform on the IRW Network, but to have me on to discuss it and get him to watch and champion our product is an insane thought to me, yet it’s here.

Review Fix: What performer has surprised you the most over the past few months?

Ryan: To be completely honest, Mike Law. I’ve been a fan of Mike Law for quite a while, and to see him transition from a pseudo comedy heel, into the first rate never say die protagonist.. it’s a delight.

Review Fix: Bottom line, why must someone watch Capitol Wrestling?

Ryan: If you want an experience, if you want stories, characters, moments, and matches that make you believe in pro wrestling, believe in our athletes, if you want to embrace and love our business. This is your home.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Ryan: Continuing to win the hearts and minds of every kind soul who is willing to give us a chance.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Ryan: Chase your passions, find what you love more than anything you could imagine professionally and make that your goal.

Capitol Wrestling Television is available on IRWNetwork.com for $2.99 a month

Streaming live at GFQLive.tv at 6:05pm

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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