Matt Striker

Matthew Kaye (born June 26, 1974) is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling commentator, actor and former high school teacher, currently signed to Major League Wrestling, using the ring name Matt Striker. During his career he has worked for WWE, Impact Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA World Wide, Lucha Underground and Major League Wrestling. Professional wrestling career Early career (2000–2005) After training with Johnny Rodz, Kaye began working on the American independent circuit. While working full-time as a teacher in 2004, he continued to wrestle during his vacation time and weekends, while also using sick days. Striker trained and worked the northeast independent circuit with notable stablemates Ricky Vega and Tim Arson. On December 16, 2004, Striker began a tour of Japan with Pro Wrestling Zero1 and was later invited back for an extended tour in early 2005. After resigning from his teaching position, he continued to wrestle around New York, and on April 30, 2005, won the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC)'s Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mike Mondo. A few weeks later, on May 21, while still the Heavyweight Champion, he defeated Joey Braggiol to win the NYWC Interstate Championship, but only held the championship for two weeks, before losing it back to Braggiol on June 4. He made a few appearances for Ring of Honor in mid-2005, before returning to NYWC to lose the Heavyweight Championship to Jerry Lynn on July 30, after holding it for four months. He continued to wrestle for independent promotions throughout mid-2005, until he signed a contract with WWE.