A little more than two months into his wrestling career, Matt Xstatic is already turning heads throughout the Pacific Northwest and he hopes to continue his momentum when All Star Wrestling (ASW) comes to 麻豆社国产on Sept. 30.
The New Westminster native became enthralled with the sport from a young age.
"I was two years old and my father sat me down on his lap every Monday night," he said. "I watched constantly and then when I could read and write, I began studying wrestling."
Xstatic enrolled in wrestling school at the tender age of 17 but said he became comfortable in between the ropes almost instantly.
"The first few weeks were quite hard but I was one of those people that learn faster than others," he said. "But I still took my time and learned the basics first before I moved on to more advanced stuff.
"Once I set foot in the ring the first time, I was completely comfortable," he added. "I knew this was what I wanted to do. I set my goals, sacrificed a lot and put all my time into becoming a wrestler."
Xstatic made his official debut in July and admitted he had some nerves the first time he stepped into the ring in front of an audience.
"You stand behind the curtain and you get really nervous, but once your music hits and the fans scream, you just get an adrenaline rush," he said.
He won his debut match and has traveled throughout Western Canada in recent months to compete for other organizations. He wrestled in Kelowna for Thrash Wrestling in August and just returned from a tour that ventured across Alberta and Saskatchewan. That tour featured former WWE star DH Smith, the son of "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith.
"I was honoured to step foot in the ring with DH Smith," he said. "And I wrestled twice against the Black Dragon, a guy who really is a legend."
Squamish's own Cody "TKO" Smith, who will compete in the main event of the Sept. 30 show, said Xstatic's development has been fun to witness.
"It's been a pleasure watching him evolve from a young student into a full-fledged wrestler," he said. "I'm looking forward to what the future holds for him."
When ASW comes to Squamish, Xstatic will get his first opportunity to take home some gold. Xstatic will be taking on The Great Kasaki for the ASW cruiserweight title and he said it would be a huge thrill to win the title.
"That'd be the biggest thing in the world for me," he said. "I'm a smaller guy and sometimes it's hard for me to compete with the bigger guys, but if I took home the title it would be the biggest moment of my life. A lot of the greats I've looked up to have held a title like that."
Xstatic added that he hopes to continue building his career and making a name for himself.
"My long-term goal is to make the people who trained me, my family and my friends, proud of me," he said. "But my dream is to get to (wrestling organizations) WWE, TNA or ROH. Hopefully I can work my way up to that. If I keep positive and keep training, it could be a possibility."
Catch Xstatic and the rest of the stars of ASW when they come to the Totem Hall on Sept. 30. For more information on the event, visit www.aswcanada.com.
