The Funky Panther
The Funky Panther podcast: Chad, Javier, and Tim deliver high-energy, hilarious banter with random commentary, raunchy humor, and featured guests. Join the fun for an hour-long show that takes you on a refreshing, informative journey through the colorful world of music, news, arts, and entertainment.
The Funky Panther
Mat War Pro Wrestling and Fort Worth Vibes with Jason Keenan
What happens when a local Fort Worth resident with an aversion to flip-flops joins us for a chat? Meet Jason Keenan, our guest for this episode, as we kick things off with spirited banter about local spots like Faded Art Barbershop and a hilarious mix-up over a restaurant's name. We share laughs over family anecdotes, whiskey preferences, and cultural quirks like the legendary chancla. The conversation takes an unexpected turn as we discuss the World Games and dream up potential new Olympic events.
Ever wondered how music and professional wrestling intersect? Our host recounts his fascinating journey from playing bass in emotionally charged hardcore bands to becoming enraptured by wrestling after a chance ECW commercial. He shares lessons learned in wrestling school and the mentorship that shaped his understanding of organizing wrestling shows. This discussion highlights the importance of blending music and wrestling, emphasizing authentic storytelling and creative production in a competitive market. The narrative underscores how these experiences helped him craft compelling wrestling promos and understand the nuances of live event production.
Finally, we shine a spotlight on the vibrant wrestling community in Fort Worth, Texas. Discover how local promotions are crafted to resonate with the city's unique culture and the role of mutual support among businesses. Exciting match previews and wrestler spotlights, featuring Damon McCullough and Brick Savage, set the stage for upcoming events at the Southside Preservation Hall. We wrap up by encouraging listeners to be part of the electric atmosphere at these local wrestling events, promising a unique experience filled with energy, passion, and community spirit.
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Yeah, have y'all been to Faded Art Barbershop yet how much did Alex pay you to?
Javier:say all this stuff.
JaeBoy:Nothing. It's in a restaurant right over there.
Tim:Beaners. What Isn't that what it's called?
Chad:No, no, excuse me, what did you say?
Javier:it's called Josephinas, josephinas. Yeah, josefas, josefas, josefinas.
Tim:We went there once yeah, it's pretty good, I'll enjoy this no, I mean it's no, rivas.
Javier:You know what I mean it's no Rivas, it's no Rivas and Terrence was doing whiskey.
Chad:it was a dickle and so she was doing that. They were doing my mom, my mom was doing that. She's like Dickle Mom. Come on, Grow the fuck up. What are we doing here? Okay, Okay, Tim.
Javier:You know what we should have had like a wrestling theme playing Shut the fuck up.
Chad:Oh, god damn it. The pre-production meeting. Oh, hello everyone, and welcome to the Funky Panther Coming to you from Fort Worth, texas. We have got a hell of a show for you here on episode 179. We have got Jason Keenan here with us. You want to say hey, sir, hello, hello. We're going to talk all about music and wrestling and what the fuck he even does. So sit back, relax and enjoy. I'm Chad.
Javier:I'm Javier, I'm Tim Wait, hold on, fuck you. Do it over. Do it over, let's get into it.
JaeBoy:Let's get into it. You want to.
Chad:You want to fourth one? Okay, yes, and let's get into it. I'm chad, I'm javier and I'm tim, I'm jason and we are all right.
Tim:This is this is the thing now that solidified.
Chad:Yeah, you are the third or fourth person in a row now. No one ever asked. We've done 179 episodes no one's asked, and then recently everyone's have been asking they're like why can I?
Javier:I just want, I want to do it that felt good, I was like part of the team.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, you are.
Chad:I was like yeah tonight, and tonight only tomorrow, you're on your own mother I'm like, but we were talking about, like lactation and tacos and I thought I had friends pickles and pickles and cider.
Tim:They won't know about this because they don't subscribe to youtube yeah.
Chad:So if you're listening to this on the podcast, do yourself a favor and go to the YouTube channel at the Funky Panther and subscribe. We talked about some weird stuff. Yes, yes, we got real deep though, too.
Tim:Talking about, like the housing crisis and fair talk. Yeah, let's not talk about that.
Jason Keenan:That was all sad. I was like I'm a sad artist and we can't afford to live anywhere.
Chad:It got weird, it got weird, it's all right, we're back. So let's start this thing off by getting to know you, Jason. Okay, so who the hell are you?
Jason Keenan:I am Jason Keenan. I am a resident of Fairmount in our beautiful city of Fort Worth, texas, in the near south side. I'm 50 years old, I am a husband and a father and a brother, and long walks on the beach, or yeah, you know I do a little bit of that. I mean as long as I got my feet covered because sand's hot you know I'm kind of a weird guy, you know. So some of that's like okay, like I don't wear flip-flops in public, okay it's like a kind of a thing gotcha.
Jason Keenan:But lately I have my wife's like what the fuck, are you okay? So she wants you to wear the flip flops. Well, she's, like you know, you're not like living in like 1985 Manhattan where, like you know, the world's about to end and I have to run for my life she's like you live in Fort Worth, you can wear flip flops like the watchman. I'm just like you never know when you're gonna have to kick some ass.
Tim:She's like when was the?
Jason Keenan:last time you kicked anybody's ass, I'm like fuck, I don't know.
Javier:But it could be anytime.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, but you know, fucking, let a motherfucker try, absolutely.
Chad:Well, if you've ever had a Mexican mother, I think that the sandal is really where the power comes from.
JaeBoy:It's not so much the kick, it's the chancla, that really Is the weapon of choice.
Jason Keenan:It's the fear of the chalk line, it's the fear.
Javier:Yeah, it's the fear, the fear is strong. I've seen there was like Olympics, where they had a chancla tossing contest.
Tim:It was an Olympic event. Yes, summer or winter?
Javier:Summer, summer so we'll be seeing this in the Paris You're going to see this in the World Games next year, a year after every, which we found out because of john holland. We were watching john holland over the weekend, which recorded on saturday, when there was big news on a sunday. Why don't you record on a sunday? Um, so there was a thing called the world games. This year it's done in, next year it's done in china, and um, they are tryouts for all the games that are trying to get into olympics, and so people like put in, put in what games you want to put in there, and they try them out.
Javier:They have drone racing, where the guys have the things and they're like you know, can we submit a game, right?
Chad:I didn't know that this was a thing. There's like a.
Jason Keenan:I'm ready to get blitzed at the World Games. I'm getting fucking blitzed at the. World.
Chad:Games and nobody can fucking stop me. That's just fucking where it's at.
JaeBoy:I love to hear it, cut it, print it.
Jason Keenan:That's the new promo. Yeah, that's it.
Javier:We're going in, but it's crazy, they have all these weird types. There's one he wants really bad, and I'm sure y'all have seen the video of those it's called Knife, knife Fight, knife, of those it's called knife, knife, uh, knife fight knife, duel and knife. But it's like, uh, what the contest where they get the sharp knife and they like cut rope or cut like wood.
Javier:Oh, I have seen that cut like a roll of 10 bottles of water in one slash and then the rope is like stupid. Yes, it's crazy, but it's like somebody you see with like aanny pack and, oh shit, long hair.
Chad:At least like you. Yeah, me, and a beard and glasses. Oh shit, it is you.
Javier:But they're walking and he's like huh huh, you know it's crazy, just one swipe, he cuts it with a.
Jason Keenan:Frisbee like the Frisbee.
Javier:I know what you're talking about I think, and there's one part where they throw tennis balls or baseballs like up in the air and he has to chop them.
Chad:It's crazy Fucking Fruit Ninja. Yeah yeah, it's like real life.
Javier:Fruit.
Tim:Ninja.
Javier:Oh, sorry, sorry, okay, sorry. It's kind of like whenever they were going to allow wrestlers in the Olympics to be a part of wrestling, like they had that conversation like eight years ago.
Tim:A floor is lava would be a good one too, I mean fucking.
Jason Keenan:Donald Trump was president. Why the fuck not?
Javier:That motherfucker's in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Chad:I feel, like.
Jason Keenan:That's how he became president. He learned how to fucking work. Let's go. He learned how to fucking work. All right, we have to take this moment.
Chad:You learned from the master. If we're going to talk about these almost wannabe Olympics what is your number one almost Olympic sport that you would love to see played in the Olympics.
Tim:Do you remember American Gladiator?
Chad:Yeah.
Tim:Where they got shot at with the tennis balls.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, that, okay I want that to be an Olympic sport. What about the foam RPG? That was my shot.
Tim:That was a good one.
Chad:Oh, hell, yeah. Yeah, the foam RPG, that was always one of the it's basically American Gladiator, all those games, course type thing.
Tim:All the American Gladiators put it into the Olympics. Okay, yeah, all right, that's a good one. What about?
Chad:you Javier.
Javier:I'm going to have to go with Tim.
Chad:Nah, you got to pick something, you got to do something.
Javier:Don't be a little Javier. Something uh degenerate would love. Like you know, have you seen those uh marble races that they had? It was really popular during covid, and so they had like all these marbles, and you place a bet on which color you think is going to win. That's what I think should be, and it's just a long track.
Tim:Yeah, have you seen the? Where they've got the? What is the thing? You run on the treadmill and people what does that thing? People do that moving sidewalk.
Jason Keenan:Well, they put people, they put like uh you know bugs in your house, like a small little moving sidewalk in your house.
Tim:It just never stops but they put like a different like, um, like pool balls or whatever, and then, whichever one, stays on the treadmill, the longest one.
Jason Keenan:Yeah I I could watch some of that dude.
Tim:I could sit there, man, as a degenerate or like the gold goldberg.
Chad:Is that what they're called the Rune Goldberg?
Tim:or whatever Rune Goldberg, yes, yeah, that'd be fun. How would you make that Olympic sport though?
Chad:You could make a race with it you have multiple lanes kind of combine these things together.
Jason Keenan:Interesting, You'd have to mix it with like is it cake meets Rune Goldberg machine meets.
Chad:Right, I just look at like.
Tim:All the viral shit Curling made it into the Olympics. Oh, I love some curling.
Jason Keenan:And I love watching curling. It is great.
Tim:It's a game for dads really.
Chad:You look like probably both of us look like we should be on our curling team.
Javier:We should.
Chad:While Javier's over there cutting rope with a fucking knife.
Javier:Oh, yeah, baby All right, jason.
Chad:What is your almost Olympic sport that needs to be in the games?
Jason Keenan:Oh fuck, I think it would be something like Squid Games meets the fucking Sphere in Vegas meets Fortnite. It would be like here's a bunch of people who don't do shit with their lives and you don't mind to watch them die because it's on TV. So you want a Hunger Games like a real life, but maybe like more digital and then like halfway through they like turn off all the lights and it's just like green screen and everybody's like were you really gonna kill him?
Jason Keenan:and they're like they have an emotional moment. They're like maybe I will do it.
Javier:I forgot one of the games which I showed on. The thing was fin swimming. So it's swimming, but they put like a mermaid fin on you and you have to fuck all that cosplay shit.
Tim:Now we're getting weird.
Chad:I can't go there now we, now we're getting weird, I can't go there Now we know what we're going to talk about on the next episode.
Jason Keenan:I can't go there.
Chad:The world is so fucking crazy right now. We're going to talk about this on the next episode.
Tim:We got to have. Do you want a deep dive since the Olympics? Hell yeah.
Javier:Oh, it started on Friday. By the way, the Olympics start on Friday when you, because the mayor, they haven't started them yet, so the river in.
Tim:Paris the mayor already she already swam in it, the Seine River, or whatever.
Javier:River Seine, river Seine yeah.
Tim:Yeah, so there's an issue where when it rains, it backs up the sewer system in Paris and dumps into the river Right and so it's got like the highest concentration of like E coli and human waste and all that stuff. So they spent all this money to clean it up and the people of Paris were so pissed off about this that they were like shit in the river. Everybody in Paris just take a shit in the river on this day, that way when the mayor gets in there.
Chad:Nuh-uh, that's ridiculous.
Tim:But the mayor swam in it and I'm like, because they're going to do part of the triathlon in the river.
Jason Keenan:Aren't they going to open it up? Up, too, for the marathon? They're going to open it up for people to run the actual course. Yeah, that's cool. Get with it.
Tim:It's the poop river. It's like swimming in the Trinity.
Chad:I've done that before, glad you're alive, me too. I almost want to say the slapping thing, because that's become a real big deal. The whole slap war thing, slap fights is a cake slap fights is a cake before the is a cake if the hand just crumbles, it's like that was cake. Who would have known?
JaeBoy:yeah, but I've seen.
Chad:I've seen a couple of videos on I think it was TikTok or something of these like fights where two people are seated in a car. Have you seen this? Oh, the car jitsu, is that what it's?
Jason Keenan:called let's fucking go.
Chad:There's someone in the driver's seat and someone in the passenger seat. I think are they seat belt, they seat belt, and then they blow the whistle and then they like unseat belt. They start like going at it, like just fighting in this tiny front seat of this car see, I'm here for all that weird shit, like I'm here for that.
Tim:I'm here for, like, the 2v1 situations.
Jason Keenan:I mean all of that all of it, but I think it needs to happen in river oaks so we can watch it for real? Yes like that's my, that's my thing about all this like niche shit. It's like uh, okay, can we just like get some?
Tim:I want it to look like domestic violence jesus, this is all espn diocho shit right here.
Jason Keenan:That's what that is. It is. That's what fucking Peach.
Chad:Bush will do to you, make you beat the shit out of people Just ah, all right, jason, sorry for the segue, but back to you, back to you.
Jason Keenan:Okay, just us, back to us, back to us, back to us.
Chad:So learn a little about you, yes.
Jason Keenan:So you like that you've been to, you've been in a lot of bands.
Chad:I've been in a lot of bands started going to shows when I was 16 um start playing my first band when I was 18 banjo.
Jason Keenan:Is that correct? When I went, well, washboard, okay, right, oh, I'm sorry, solely, solely washboard. My first three bonnaroos. I played banjo, but no I never played okay yeah, I wouldn't play bonnaroo, probably. Well, maybe I would play Bonnaroo, it depends.
Tim:I would maybe a Furnace Festival. I'd play Furnace.
Jason Keenan:Fest, of course, crazy Fest, any of those what's the biggest show you've played? Or one that stands out in your mind when I was a kid, probably opening up for Cannibal Corpse and Brutal Truth. That was like the first time I ever played in like a hardcore band that also played in front of a giant metal audience that's pretty cool, that was like kind of like, oh, fuck, um, yeah, yeah, so that was, that was probably it.
Jason Keenan:And uh, you know, I like the festival type thing. Yeah, I've always played in kind of like real, kind of like, um, how would you say, emotionally charged, kind of hardcore stuff, like intimate emotional expression, more than I've always been a fan of the art of the music scene and the art of the hardcore scene and the art of that's what attracted me. I've been a wrestling fan since I was five, but then I kind of fell out of it. Then I kind of fell back into it playing music, um. So I think that you know, like I've always been a fan of like the real, kind of like more, uh, intimate kind of art pieces, gotcha. Yeah, I just there's a, there's something to the mechanical nature of the performance that just kind of like has always been kind of like add to me, I mean, I enjoy it and I enjoy when things kind of it's kind of like religion, you know, when it's like 20 of your closest people kind of like talking spirituality and like how we can be good to each other, it's awesome.
Jason Keenan:But then when it's like 4,000 people and you're all like, oh yeah, and we don't like these, hallelujah. And then everybody's like, yeah, right.
Chad:Take the turn a little bit.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, get into the kind of like the herd mentality type stuff, right, um, so yeah, so music has been that way with me and kind of like storytelling and everything like that. So I've always liked the little stuff like more intimate stuff, anything that you know, like the etsy of music before etsy became like just a fucking algorithm so what did you play?
Tim:I play bass, play bass, okay, yeah yeah, that was like you had to know, like the, default instrument.
Jason Keenan:You know, you're like, hey, I'd like to play in a band, and they're like, well, you can play the bass yeah yeah, but I want to play the guitar that's why I started off on bass yeah and then I just became, I just loved it.
Chad:Yeah, I'm just. You're a better Tim in a few years years older, yeah yeah, y'all said it happens at the same time it happens you have my dog, you have my cat, it's just a weird paradox.
Tim:We're in right now so moving like into like the, you said you grew up loving wrestling. At five kind of fell out of it, got music all that stuff, but like where did that crossover meet again?
Jason Keenan:I was on tour in 1997 and ECW was had been blowing up for a few years on the east coast and it was kind of like at that time, culturally, musically, it was like another kind of. It was like another bump that they had in like the 80s because, that's when, you know, we had oil money and mtv and and we were coming out of the 70s and it was kind of like this whole new era, and then we were just kind of being administered culture through the television. Right right.
Jason Keenan:Yeah. And so then in the 90s kind of similar we had the whole you know like, oh, no, cock rock, now we're going grunge. And everybody was like, yeah, grunge. And then it was like this whole big ice machine.
JaeBoy:Yeah, it's ice.
Jason Keenan:The ice machine is cooking up some ice and so then while that was happening I was kind of like putting my foot in. I grew up on the magazine, so anytime I'd go to the store I'd pick up the magazine and kind of look through it and be like in the early 90s. It was kind of cheesy, wrestling was kind of hokey.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, it got to that point where yeah, just kind of like all the tough guy fighting in the eighties and all the real nitty gritty bloodletting from the seventies, it kind of died. And then it was like I am a trash man and I was like, okay, you're a trash man and you're crazy, yeah, so it was like yeah, and then and also, I had watched all these people. It's, it was kind of like, um, you'd watched all these people who you thought were real people not realizing that they were a character at the time yeah, Um kind of, then transition into well, I got to pay the bills.
Jason Keenan:So okay, I'm a trash man. Now facade off, because it was so real in my mind at that time, um.
Jason Keenan:so then ecw was like kind of a breath of fresh air. It was like it was the underground scene, is the music that kind of caught my eye that I was enamored by um, and I was living in phoenix at that time. I moved there when I was um right before high school started with my family and, um, that was kind of like a new kind of new landscape, a new world, and so I was kind of like a lon kind of new landscape, a new world, and so I was kind of like a loner. I was always kind of that way anyway. And then about 16, I started going to these house shows and seeing all these touring bands and I was into metal first. So that was like the you know, I saw Metallica, um, and some of those things. And then it was like, oh, like you can do this and like we're doing this, it doesn't have to be something more than what you make it. And I was like, oh, that kind of DIY spirit was very intoxicating.
Jason Keenan:Because that's more of, I think, how a majority of the world feels the world should be Like a little bit more less refined and a little bit more just do it yourself, right, um. So that kind of like started the whole process of um finding those things. So we were on tour. I saw a commercial for ecw when we were in long island and I was like, holy shit, um, I need to go see this and they're like tomorrow night in philadelphia and I was like we're going to philadelphia tomorrow, we're going to South Jersey or whatever.
Jason Keenan:And so went through, went and watched a show, was like holy shit, came home from tour Kind of things. You know we're young kids and we're on the road for 45 days. I was like you know what? I'm out of this band. Thank you, it was a good time. I love you all, but I'm done. And then I sold all my shit and was like I'm going to wrestling school, I'm going to be a wrestler I'm going to do it now, and that was the beginning of that.
Tim:So there is a wrestling school. There's a million wrestling schools.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, there's a million wrestling schools, just like you can imagine Really.
Javier:Yeah, like all the big retired wrestlers like they have their own schools where you can like train and learn the business.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, their own schools where you can like train and learn the business. Yeah, if you're lucky enough to get somebody who had had, you know, a stable. I mean it's like the arts, it's all subjective. Everybody's experience is different, everybody's work ethic is different, um, so, yeah, but there's, there's a lot of places to learn your craft. I think it's just like anything. It's like when you're a kid you I'm gonna take guitar lessons because mom set them up for me, and then that person teaches you kind of rudimentary basics and teaches you your chords, teaches you structure, teach you how to hold it and then from there it becomes yours. Um same thing, gotcha, um same thing.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, I met king kong bundy at a wrestling show in in uh yeah, and so king kong bundy was like you need to go see Larry Sharp, he's. He's like. I was like okay, yeah, so that's how that whole story started, yeah so how long were?
Jason Keenan:you in school. Um, I did that for about two and a half months before. I was just like these are not my people and this person is not my person and I, um, kind of was like I wasn't learning anything, but I was kind of learning stuff and I was learning how to bump and I was. He was like putting me wasn't learning anything, but I was kind of learning stuff and I was learning how to bump and he was putting me through the rigors because I probably had a chip on my shoulder, because when I was younger I was kind of a dick Well, you know, not really but kind of.
Chad:Well, no, Tim was too, so I get it.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, I kind of had this self-protection thing happening. I've pretty much outgrown happening. You know I've pretty much outgrown that. You know you get older you realize the world isn't against you.
JaeBoy:The world doesn't give a fuck about you. You are fucking nothing.
Jason Keenan:You are nothing except for the people that you provide value to, and then those people provide value to you, and then that's fucking community.
JaeBoy:There it is.
Jason Keenan:Oh my god, novel concepts, you know. I think that's why the phone is so destructive. People have this like false sense of community oh yeah it's like it's and and you're striving for a false community. And when you strive for something that's not real, then your intentions aren't any longer real. Um, that's a whole other sidebar.
JaeBoy:Yeah.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, so, yeah, so went to wrestling school. Then I met a promoter who became my mentor in the business, a man named Dennis Corluzzo. Rest in peace, dennis. His family was beautiful. He kind of realized I was like hey, I want to promote shows and I want to, I want to get behind the organization of how this all comes to be and cause I've been doing that with music and I've been traveling and playing music. But setting up shows, cause when you're younger, that's how you make money Um you know, and that's how you network.
Jason Keenan:Um. So then I, as I started doing that, um, dennis, kind of like, I said, hey, I'm going to, you know, I'm not going to work with this guy anymore. I don't really know if this is my thing. It's a little too touchy, feely. I always say to my friends from the business now, I wish somebody had told me like, hey, you don't have to be able to do everything. It's kind of like being a musician, like you know, just because you play guitar doesn't mean you have to be able to solo. It doesn't have. But anyway, that's why I'm good for what I do now.
Jason Keenan:Um, meeting people where they are, that's kind of like the creative process. And wrestling, that's a bigger piece. So, um, I started working with Dennis and start putting on shows and start seeing how that whole thing worked and start seeing how he dealt with the talent, start seeing how everything was kind of put together, and then it just kind of spiraled from there. And then I moved and I played music again and I kind of got one foot in and I kind of like always, kind of I just, you know, kind of one foot in, one foot out. It's like feast or famine money, similar to to music.
Jason Keenan:So I really understood that road and being an artist and being a creator like um, my wife Jessica and I were like we're perfect match because we're so opposite but we're so the same. We're always making, we're always doing something, we're always creating something. So for us, that kind of like earthworm input, output, make stuff tactile, do things is always going to be a part. So, um, I think I kind of realized that I could add more to the business if I just kind of utilize what I kind of knew about from the outside and would kind of help and I. But I also realized that as a storyteller and as a curator and as an event producer, I want it to be my way. You can go and you know, and especially as you get to a certain age, as an artist or a curator like you, can do things for other people. But if it's your dream and your version of a concept, you want to have a hold of it.
Javier:Right yeah.
Jason Keenan:I just didn't want to be holding a camera for somebody who I thought was less of a storyteller, less of a producer, telling me what to tell these people and just see somebody else. I mean, for the output it just wasn't really there. So we've had a lot of ability to. I've got to work with a lot of great talents and help tell their story and help refine how the world sees them through the lens, which is a huge part of it. I mean, it's all in the details for me, storytelling, um, all those things. So I kind of got my way back in with wrestling doing that.
Jason Keenan:Then, about 15 years ago, I started doing some shows for some friends, um, when we moved back to texas, um, to kind of help out their theater, the original theater, um, they were kind of in a. You know, they were falling to the, the grips of Live Nation, eating up what we consume, how we consume it, where we consume it, how we're supposed to consume it, and that I mean people have been talking about that in the music industry for two decades, I mean at this point.
Tim:So much so now that the Congress has said that stepped in and started looking into.
Jason Keenan:Oh, I mean from owning the ticketing to the venues to doing the artist management, to putting it. I mean it's crazy.
Tim:Yeah, live nations got their fingers in everything.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, it's um, it's a make or break, and especially at a time where, like everything is, I mean we we've, we lost, we lost the ability to create stars, I think in a lot of fields, because things are just so open, it's so wild west with everything, right, um, which is good and bad, because I think, like a lot of the manufactured talent actors, I mean we've always known Hollywood was kind of like a, you mean like industry plants and stuff like that. Well, I'm just saying, like you know, like Like Drake, you know, I mean Fucking Drake.
Javier:Kind of just threw him in there to acting in the music.
Jason Keenan:Well, I mean, is Drake smart because he realized it's about perception, or is Drake bad because he's just kind of mids?
Chad:I don't know yes, you guessed everything like yeah, I mean yeah everything is marketing.
JaeBoy:Now, I think that's what?
Jason Keenan:I think that's what ruins the soul of art. I think that's what ruins like, even even like something as beautiful as this. Like you know, I I reached out to you guys. I was like, hey, I'd like to be on your show because you guys look like you're having fun and you're oh yeah, from the neighborhood yeah essentially, you're from fort worth and it's like we all have this idea of like little big town and so, um, that stuff is beautiful and if we focus on our immediate community, the people we can tangibly touch and smell and be weird with like that's so much more enterprising than take over the world, collect your stacks.
Jason Keenan:This whole mindset is like it's counterproductive, I think, towards real community building.
Tim:I think it goes back to that DIY aspect, right. For sure we're over here. We don't have huge backers or anything like that. We're just over here trying to do.
Javier:I mean we don't pimp ourselves out to anybody or you know, we don't try to yourself, bitch. I mean we're trying to do our own thing and occasionally he's trying to make some money yeah.
Chad:This episode brought to you by get blissed. I'm just joking.
Jason Keenan:Yes, Um, well, I mean, there's something. There's something to that. I think that, um, we all need to get paid. I think that there's a lot of money out there. I think that there's a lot of, but it's like, how people choose to distribute their credits is all based on the mind control of this like idea that I'm going to be viral. No, I'm going to go viral and it's going to be amazing.
Jason Keenan:I have some, um, you know, I have some athletes that work with us at the mat war project, um, the mat war pro wrestling project, that have had multiple three million, two million. Um, we did a, we did an angle a year and a half ago at panther city vinyl where we had one of our managers who I broke into the wrestling business with, alex rivera hello, alex, I love you. Um, he and I met through the hardcore scene. He was playing in a hardcore band called Burnside in New Jersey, which was a big, huge hate breed opened up for them when they still had a cassette that kind of length of time ago. So when I moved out there to go to wrestling school a segue story, but it'll come back together hopefully I moved out there.
Jason Keenan:I was trying to find work. I met this guy who had played in a band with him. He recognized my band shirt. It was kind of like underground at the time so I was like, oh, you get the vibe. He's like, yeah, you should talk to my friend Alex. He loves wrestling. I'm like I would like to. I have no friends.
Chad:I don't know anybody here. Yes, please, I would like that Very much 25 years later we're still thick as thieves.
Jason Keenan:He's moved out here with his family. He's a tattoo artist at a shop in Waco oh, that's cool. But so Alex came up. So he's been in the wrestling business that whole on and off for the last 25 years. So he and I have had this close bond. With another friend of ours we broke in with alex came and we did a spot at a record store where he has his character, tiger bruno um, who plays music, which he does in real life, and he has a band and he has beautiful songs and so it's like one part life imitating, art, imitating, wrestling, imitating it's like all these things.
Jason Keenan:Um, we had a big fight in the middle of the thing. One guy gets busted open. You know, that night the phone's like vibrating, it's like a million plus views. Everybody's like, oh my gosh, yeah, but what does that mean? I know that there were 30 people on magnolia avenue that were very interested and very shocked and very excited and people were watching and there was a lot of communication. But online it was holy shit, he just got hit with. That can Hold on. And I mean, what does it mean? I just, I'm just. I mean, I see where like it brings um.
Tim:It brings some exposure right. So maybe maybe, maybe you introduced this to somebody that might not have normally sure come across it right, sure?
Chad:but the same reason. We all started watching wrestling in, you know, the late 90s or whatever it's because it was on tv it wasn't on tv. I don't know if I would have ever gotten into it and also the thing, too, with that like they would always talk about like man, did you watch raw last?
Javier:did you watch smackdown? Like, do you watch nitro? Like it was always like you had to there's no um.
Jason Keenan:There's no water cooler genuine conduit that's like for everybody anymore yeah which is I get that cool. Yeah, you know it's cool, but it also makes even the most simpler people let's say that some people are some people are just operating at a higher level of intensity mentally than some other people not smarter. Just some people like to talk some people love ideas.
Jason Keenan:Ah, you know some people. Um, I think that that kind of spreads us apart too, because there was some sort of, there was something kind of calming to know that there might be something that everybody had access to, to kind of have a. Now it's like walk tall girl oh you're fucking on that train. Yeah, yeah, you know. You got the t-shirt and then within a week it's done. And then you're like, oh it's like that short form content right.
Javier:Is that what? That is well, yeah, yeah, it's the instant gratification of watching something and you're like, oh fuck, I gotta forward that and like you see that video.
Tim:Like you know, it's kind of like that's been uh, I mean it's it's been detrimental towards, like um, youtubers and stuff like that, because you've got that, uh, short form media. You don't want to watch that long, you know maybe 30 minutes, maybe an hour or whatever you want. Tell me what it is, let me see it so I can move on yeah, so kind of we we've kind of trained our brains to be in that mentality I'm kind of caught between two.
Jason Keenan:Okay, this is a good, this is a good, this is a good one. I'm kind of caught between two worlds on that, because I see a lot of motherfuckers who would lay their big ass on the couch for fucking 75 hours watching Netflix, to the point where it's like, are you still watching?
Javier:Yeah, of course I am.
Jason Keenan:And you're back on like. So this is like, this is like, I don't know, like a never ending slurpee machine, just like yeah you know. And then I get home and I'm like, okay, no more slurpee. And now I'm going to watch something long form, but we've swapped the delivery devices, so this is way more tangible and easy.
Javier:It's a quicker drug, this one yeah.
Jason Keenan:This one is just like this one grew on the phone.
Chad:I give a fix on the podcast.
Jason Keenan:Instant fix, you know, especially, yeah, I mean, I don't know. But so for people that prefer podcasting or like like listening, like I'm auditory, so I like to listen to people talk, more so than I would like to watch, like I don't know if I'd watch myself on this, but I would listen to everybody yeah right, I enjoy that because I can multitask.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, it's like kind of friendly, you know, I think that's. I think that's like the um, the beautiful thing of the podcast scene and people who actually do talk and connect and stand out, stand out. But I do think like a lot of the stuff online is just for the sake of the algorithm and fuck that. So how do you take? I don't give a fuck about the algorithm, I don't give a fuck. Can the algorithm hear me?
Tim:How do you take this?
Jason Keenan:How do you take Matt War?
Tim:How do you take Matt War? How do?
Jason Keenan:you take.
Tim:Matt War, though, and get it to the masses Like how do you grow this right?
Jason Keenan:Well, so, depending on who you speak to and what you do we were talking about schools earlier. A lot of people in this business of you know Black Bucks Theater or whatever you want to call it I mean, I'm a defender of pro wrestling till the end. I believe in the art, I believe in the storytelling, I believe in its moralistic aspects. I believe, like what we're trying to do is we're trying to do an old show very simple, old in concept, heavy storytelling, promote the stars, make people matter, and then give it some modern tastes and flash, because I, at the end of the day, that's um, as with everything, like there's a lot of wrestling on tv right now.
Jason Keenan:There's more wrestling on tv than there ever has been. There are more trained, amazing athletes than have ever been on the earth at one time doing the same thing than there ever has been Eighties, boom, the late nineties. There's more people now that are really good and can go, but with that there's only so much platform and there's only so much story you can tell in that same fashion. So that's that's kind of like where we're at right now. Like um AEW has. Like where we're at right now, like um AEW has a residency in Arlington right now they're about to do a pay-per-view opposite my show on Friday, which we didn't know at the time when we're booking, because we book things out six months at a time right right you know, keep everything moving.
Jason Keenan:But, um, you know they, they have so much top talent and I have friends that work up there. There's a lot going on, but it's so much to it's so much to take in. It's hard to feel connected to any of it. And I think that's where a lot of people sit, like I think there's like too much choice in the world. There's definitely a lot of choice in wrestling. That's why, for me, I'm not looking the world. There's definitely a lot of choice in wrestling. That's why, for me, I'm not looking. Going back to what you were saying, tim, like I'm not looking to take this over globally, but, if I can tell a story that matters to fort worth, we're fucking the ninth, 11th largest city in the united states it doesn't have a professional sports franchise that is still, you know, enamored by local flavor and slow living.
Jason Keenan:You know, if we were, if we're going to hold on to that, maddie parker, do you hear me? Are we doing that? Um, yeah, so, like the, uh, I see you, you see me, the, um, the, so I I think that, like, for me, it's more important that you know, like, our dream is that we have 15,000 people at the Air Hog Stadium that are from here, that are like, oh my God, these people are from here, this is our wrestling and we can pepper in and we can create the world that caters to them. And there's also true to us and it's true to the art, and not looking out, as everybody is right now at, like, what's the next big thing globally? Because, I mean, honestly, most people's idea of having an open mind and global are still very myopic. I mean, can compared to how the world, like your friend just came back from egypt. Their day-to-day in egypt was completely different than oh for sure, yeah, completely different yeah.
Jason Keenan:So, um, and that's just a small little glimpse into another world that I think a lot of people, especially here in the, in western society, where we're, like we've been trained to consume, we're, you know, like we're trained to consume entertainment and media to take us away from our lives because you know it's like wow, like it better be good.
Javier:Yeah but, like you said, that there's a lot, there's so much wrestling out there there you I think back in the day we didn't really have too much access to that I think, like now we have, you have your triple a mexican, you have your new new japan, you have here, you have aew and you have wwe and you got what's the other one tna wrestling you have game changer wrestling you have, I mean, and every city has their own home promotion and some of them really knock it out of the park.
Jason Keenan:Um, I think, for me it's like we know how to do a good wrestling show, we know how to tell the stories. I'm very, you know, with us being cinematographers and dealing with that aspect of the business the promos, the storytelling, the production of an angle um, that's what sets us apart for what we do and that's why we were just like man, could we do a local show? That mattered? I mean, what do you, what do you think, outside of trying to just, you know, get work for people that pay me to learn how to do it?
Javier:yeah, a different, it's a different motivation do you think like the story and the promos that are cut are like 90 of what makes it successful and the wrestling itself is just like you know. The wrestling is gonna. The wrestling is gonna be there if you get the talent. But you think everything's mainly story-based and like your promos.
Jason Keenan:If you cut a good promo, then I think you're a lot more forgiving of someone who maybe isn't as athletically gifted if they're able to compel you to believe in what they do.
Javier:No, because did you watch the iron claw, yes, so like there's a part where he's like trying to cut a promo and he's like messing up and some people just don't have that, like they're great, great wrestling, great wrestlers, and but you know, they just sometimes can't let it all out, like emmett smith was a great running back but you can't put him on tv because he he's not really good at talking or announcing or, you know, calling plays yeah, there's.
Jason Keenan:I mean that's that's kind of like the um, there's a spot for you, but there's very limited spots if you can't do everything, you know. I think that that's the. I think that's the bigger issue and that's the part that how do I say it? That's the part that when you have to be, everybody needs a good producer right.
Jason Keenan:Right, you guys started this episode 15. One of you said man, you got to speak up a little bit more Right, right, you guys, you guys started this episode 15. One of you said man, you got to speak up a little bit more Right. Or we got to have a little bit more banter. Somebody's always. And when you have that trust and you have a track record of doing right and doing things, I think that everybody needs to be produced. Um, for whatever reason. The um, uh, it's, it's. Such a wrestling is different than other things, like acting in a sense, um, where you are believing part of it and part of it is you, because that's what I mean, it's hard.
Jason Keenan:It's painful, it's hard, it's painful, it's an exchange. It's like um painful, it's hard, it's painful, it's an exchange. It's like um, you know it's a, it's safety, you're trusting everybody. There's um there, so it's a. It's a different level, but I think if you're willing to be produced, some people can get over that. I mean, I know some amazing pro wrestlers that can cut an amazing promo, that have a stutter in real life right so on the group chat real quick.
Javier:Uh, dante smiley says it takes the artists to not oversaturate themselves to bring value to where they do work by getting all around. Oversaturation in an area is a reason many athletes don't get as big as they could 100.
Jason Keenan:Dante smiley is somebody who I'm super proud to promote. Um, he's someone here locally who tons of mutual respect and for me, I'm kind of you know this show and what we do here in Fort Worth. I'm kind of like the staunchly independent kind of outlier like, ooh, you know, because it's a bigger process to be able to create a world and create talent and actually put them first. Um, since this is subjective, there's a lot of people who would like to make themselves the star of the show at other people's expense. But that's not what people are paying for. Um, people are paying to be entertained. They're paying for a story. They're paying for um action.
Jason Keenan:Dante travels the world doing this and he chooses his shots. Um, we, dante travels the world doing this and he chooses his shots. We've talked about this privately. You know some you know and once again now, everything in the digital age is a paywall. Hi, I've been doing this for three years and I'm a professional and if you'd like to get on my you know weekend Skype call for $100, I'll teach you to the secrets on that. I hear it every day. I hear it every day on the radio when it's like sleeper picks tonight for tonight's nfl game.
Javier:And you do it and you it's.
Jason Keenan:It's exactly what you're saying yeah, it's like, no, like part of part of the exploration in life and part of the exploration in your art or your business or the storytelling, whatever it is. Um, that's where I can get real deep on wrestling. So don't let me get all like that. You have to choose wisely. There's a stage, when you're first doing it, that you're you know. It's like when you first turn 21 and you're single and you're going out, you're just when can I get it? Yeah, where can?
Javier:I, how can I, how can I show the world who I am? You know, like everybody's open. I just got waxed. I gotta. Everybody needs to see me, yeah everybody, everybody needs to.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, I want to taste it all, I want to try it all, I want to experience everything. Um, and then at a certain point, when you start to get it, you then have to okay, well, now I need to be working with other people who are working as hard as I am. That's when it changes, for you're like okay, well, now I need to be working with people who take this as seriously as I do, because it's dangerous, it's a money commitment, it's a time commitment.
Tim:So we have a question also in the chat what role does music play in wrestling and is it important? 100% yeah, I feel like your walkout song, like whatever your theme song, that makes it.
Jason Keenan:It sets the tone for who you are, your persona and it's funny because at our show um our formatting and the way that we've conceived the mat war product is um completely anti that really okay and I'm a music person, as we were just talking about.
Jason Keenan:Like, no, that part plays a part, but I'm also playing with mood, I'm playing with the temperature of the room, I'm playing with the, the complete package. It's a holistic experience, cause I think that that's what's missing from a lot of we're talking about the live nation of everything. Um, very few rooms anymore have a soul. You know you were saying oh, the Halton theater. We went there and it was a great time. It's older and it's brought back the vibes.
Tim:Yeah, it's got that DIY feel still, but a little bit more refined, but not.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, there's um, so some of the ambience that we're missing. You know, it's kind of like for a kid today they don't know what it's like to go to a concert without being going through wands and going through a detector and wearing a clear bag over their shoulder? They didn't ever, I mean. I can remember being a kid and going to the first lollapalooza and it was just like you're just there, you just there.
Jason Keenan:You know what I mean. You were, you were just there and the trash cans are on fire by about nine 30 at night and people are dancing around it and this person's got like. You know, anyway, it was just a different kind of experience. So I believe the experience is a big part of it. I believe that the music does play a part, but what we're trying to do is there's a lot of uh pavlovian response, with the repetition of wrestling being a constant, like if you watch monday night raw when you were in 1998 and you were like, fuck, I'm shaving my head, I'm stone cold this weekend I'm walking like the yeah, I'm fucking, fucking.
Jason Keenan:Nobody could tell me shit at fucking kfc motherfucker you're not my boss, you know like you did all that well. If you just flicked on the tv 15 years later, that show and the presentation and every arena looks the same. Yeah, the staging is the same, the lights are the same, the colors are the same, so let's talk about that then.
Chad:So yeah you, how often do y'all have a mat war fight?
Jason Keenan:we're doing fights every 60 days. I feel like that. That's what the market, with all the other, with other promotions coming and everybody loves them. Some texas right now yeah, everybody from.
Jason Keenan:So that's what, like you know, with aw in their residency wwe, if there wasn't a market for wrestling, they wouldn't come here three times a year, four times a year, they wouldn't do wrestlemania five years apart or four years apart. Yeah, jerry world like so um, yeah, we, we do it every 60 days. I feel like that that's a good. It's almost like too long, but it's almost too short yeah, and how many?
Chad:how many wrestlers do you have like regularly?
Jason Keenan:um, there's probably I mean, between all the talent contracted.
Jason Keenan:I have between 20 and 25 that I work with pretty solidly, but I'm very um, I don't want to say I'm discriminating, but I um, I definitely feel like our show is a place for the people who are the top of the top of their game in the state of texas and for whatever reason. Um, you know, sure, if you, if you're playing in the xfl, you might want to also play in the nfl, but I kind of look at wrestling more like hockey, where the, the b league is less regulated, um, the american hockey league, but all those players are the first that they call in the middle of the playoffs. When you need somebody, okay, well, I'm gonna bring this person up and they're gonna play in the big league and we're gonna see how they work um, so I kind of like, I kind of am pretty selective. Like you can have, um, you don't have to be a super vet and you don't have to be um, have all the pieces, but you have to have something that makes you special, right for?
Jason Keenan:me to want to work with you, that's I mean. That's kind of how I view it.
JaeBoy:Gotcha.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, that's why our shows are fairly well attended. That's why our shows are I mean, we have a great audience from 18 years old to 75 years old. Like I've attracted some fans that saw Buddy Rogers in 1959 come to Fort Worth and he was there for his bar mitzvah and he's like, and rogers was the world's champion at that time and I mean that's a beautiful time for wrestling, um, and so he's seen every single amazing iteration of the art come through here in the last 65 years. Yeah, and he comes to my show and I was like you're the only show that seems like wrestling like to me. That's like, oh my gosh, yeah, everything's you think everything now is just overly produced.
Jason Keenan:It's like just I think that there's like, once again, I don't, you know, I don't have students, I don't have a, I don't have any other thing except for this show, the world we're creating, and what I can offer, the talent and what the talent can offer me. I believe, believe, you know. I tell everybody. We have a. There's four different scenarios. Like, you can use me and I can use you, but I'm never going to use you. I'm never going to use you more than what you use me for. So we can use each other and it can be a symbiotic relationship and that's fine. Um, but you won't take advantage of me cause I'm never going to take advantage of you. So those two things are off the table. Um. A. I've been doing it too long. B. I know too much. B. Our crew and the people I have surrounded us with this project are too valuable to the ecosystem, and that's I mean honestly. That's why I am.
Jason Keenan:I'm never a person who wants to be on camera. I'm never, and I'm a big personality, and if you talk to me, you'd probably be like Jason, shut the fuck up, please stop fucking talking. I'm like I'm talking right now. I'll just go. However, being in a place and especially having the humility of, like, my job is to promote people. So how would I want to take away from the people I'm promoting, right, like, and I think that that's where this, this whole thing, is kind of like. It's subjective and you know, I think it's too hard to work on the show. It would be too hard to, and, anyway, I'm not a person who likes to brag about himself.
Jason Keenan:I've been doing a lot of stuff, as I said, forever. It's like a DIY type of thing, but the world needs to know about the system around this and I've been and it's funny because I've been telling video clients this since 2010. Um, some of you know I've done a lot of work with my partner, derek Abramson. He's been kind of like the he and I are like the brainchild of the Matt war project and we started off in wrestling together and then we moved on to doing videography work together Cause we were like well, we can make a lot of money doing educational and internal facing videos for corporations rather than our passion play. So wrestling has always been kind of like in the passion bucket, like, oh, let's do this for this person.
Jason Keenan:You find somebody, um, find somebody who's worthy of it and worthy of the time and like let's, let's spin your perception a little bit differently, let's tweak how the world sees you and consumes you to tell your story better. And I've been telling businesses that forever. Like, hey, you know, nobody cares. Like we have a I've done a lot of work for a bearing company nobody really cares what a ceramic ball bearing is, but they certainly care when it's in a 10,000-year clock built into the side of a mountain that's supposed to be here past the apocalypse and the bearings are the size of this fucking table. Well, people care about that shit. You know they care about that. So let's tell that story and as a byproduct of that story, you are the innards Right, you make that thing.
Jason Keenan:So for us, the kind of like the package of who's producing it and why we're producing it and how we're doing it and what we're doing with the talent and how we're raising them and elevating them, how we're telling stories, we're a year and a half into an angle that still hasn't completely been told. We're a year and a half into an angle that still hasn't completely been told. That in the wrestling business in general is, once again, you have 895 talents underneath you and everybody's got to have TV time and people get hurt. Now it's just matches for matches. Well, if it's not a shoot, then matches for matches are kind of they could be interesting, I mean. But to me they are kind of they could be interesting, I mean.
Tim:But to me they're kind of like yeah, but I mean I enjoyed the uh whenever, whenever I was a child watching. You know, sunday morning you get up in the morning and watch uh wwf wrestling, whatever it was aired. I guess it was the night but I can't remember how they aired it, but that's whatever I got to watch it yeah, they would show whatever happened, like in raw and so I'm watching this and I'm getting the stories and we're talking late 80s, early 90s and I'm enthralled.
Tim:I'm like, oh my gosh, so-and-so did this. I can't believe that happened. That whole story, concept, story is everything. But now I see, whenever I flip on wrestling and I'm sure everything's a little bit different, but I don't know any of the stories now and it seems like everybody's got their hand in everything and there's something going on constantly and it's hard to keep up with.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, cohesiveness, yeah, it's kind of like, you know. It's kind of like when your favorite restaurant expands and then they franchise and then the original cook moves to another location and then all of a sudden everything is just different and it never comes back. It's kind of the same but it never comes back.
Javier:It's just kind of different now so so what can you tell us about the event on friday like?
Jason Keenan:what can you? Friday is our second uh, ultraviolet dreamers hyperthermania. Um, it's going to be an amazing show. We have a, a, we have a, a Texas title that we've um created. Um, that we had um come up for grabs last year at Martin house brewing. Shout out to Martin house, one of our OG sponsors. They've been with us since the beginning. Um, they did a beer for us last year called body slammer. Um, yeah, they, um yeah. They've been huge in the project and huge in believing in what we have to do.
Jason Keenan:And I think it's another situation like this, like good people being excited about things that other good people are excited about. Like for me, this is a community building project. I say that the Matwar. I bring the entertainment and I take that very seriously so that all of our businesses can actually have a mutual exchange, so that all of our businesses can actually have a mutual exchange. I'm not trying to take the last $300 that my brother-in-law's plumbing company can offer for the idea that he might get somebody to come out when we're producing 5,000 people at a show. Then we can offer it up to the local businesses like that. But right now it's like other thriving businesses who believe in the community who believe in what Fort Worth can do have really gotten behind us. So I mean those aspects of it make you know all the hard work matter.
Tim:It looks like it's going to be in a cool place too Southside Preservation Hall. Have you ever been to the Southside Preservation Hall? Yes, oh, yeah, yeah, okay, southside.
Jason Keenan:Hall is like we're talking about having those buildings that have ghosts having those buildings that have and I mean um Matt Hillier, um 1100 Springs, now in his own. You know he comes out to our shows and you know the first thing he said. You know he was like oh my God, I've been to a funeral here. I've been to a funeral here, I've been to a wedding here. Now I've seen wrestling here and I've fucking played here. And you're like you've done everything here now. Now we've done it all.
Tim:That's cool, I didn't know. I didn't know Matt comes to the shows.
Jason Keenan:Man, yeah, he um, our um, one of our, the top wrestlers that we've been promoting over the last texas and uh, he's the big old texan and he's got a lot of great crowd appeal and he's been working his ass off. He's a accomplished world power lifter, um, holding records, the? Um. He's in a big feud right now with brick savage, who's another person who transitioned from power lifting. He's actually a second generation wrestler himself.
Jason Keenan:His father was a wrestler but um yeah, the um world breaker, brick savage, or rob hall as he was known in powerlifting. Um yeah, so our big cowboy, damon mccullough. He's been coming out shows. He comes out to 1100 springs, so that was like yeah, just kind of like the world's crossed yeah, that's really cool. Those are times where the internet in its location in its locale work out perfectly. It's not someone in ogden utah going.
Tim:I wish I could go see that so I'm looking, I'm gonna like this photo door opens at seven bell rings eight matches on matches on eight o'clock sharp.
Jason Keenan:um, we have trinity river heritage championship. That that's what I was saying earlier. We um debuted that title at martin House at our triple on the Trinity events that we do every year, and so we have got a big, huge title match on the top of the card. Izzy James he's been working he's probably in his 14th or 15th year Still a young guy though Been working Texas. He's phenomenal talent. He's taken on Dante Leon. Dante's had a ton of great reception in Japan over the last two years. Coming back from here. He's a Texas boy.
Tim:And Dante's the current champion right now. Right, Dante's our current champion right now.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, and so he successfully defended that title quite a few times Canada, a few times, in Texas, Chicago come out on top all those, so he has a big match for himself coming up this Friday. Yeah, I mean, the rest of the card is great. I mean, once again, Angel Camacho, 486 pounds.
JaeBoy:Oh, wow.
Jason Keenan:Puerto Rican juggernaut. He's amazing. The things that he does is pretty amazing. He's taking on Dmitry Alexandrov Rushes. He's a Russian. What's he on? Dmitry Alexandrov Russia's he's a Russian. What's he say? Vladimir Putin's most hated wrestler? I don't know. Yeah, he's like fuck Putin. Yeah, but Dmitry's amazing too. He's a beast. Yeah. So Brick Savage, hilda Lamunica I mean there's a lot. If you're on our I mean our instagram and our youtuber probably are two uh, strongest suits on there, but you can see we have, um, a lot of different pieces of the story that we've been documenting and the way that we go about it is kind of multi-layered. It's uh, it's just different. It's um, it might not look kind of like traditional wrestling from the first glance, but upon entry and you know, for me it's about the live experience, right, we? You know I don't even show a lot of the wrestling online because there is so much of it. Yeah, I give little bits, but I really want people to come out and experience it because it's one of those things that's best done live.
Javier:Yeah, here's a taste, but if you want the real goods, yeah.
Tim:Yeah, things that's best done live. Yeah, here's a, here's a taste. But if you want the real goods, yeah, yeah, especially until we get to, until until we get to the point where you know that's, you know no longer. I think uh chad and I were talking about uh stopping in and and checking that out, possibly.
Chad:So can we still get tickets or is it sold out?
Jason Keenan:um, you can still get tickets. Yeah, the um. Yeah, as far as um. Well, we'll know here.
Chad:Yeah, that's good to know.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, yeah, the um the hall is awesome. It's, um you know, even at capacity. I mean, we're still only looking at 300 people in there yeah so the room is like it's perfect. Um, it's a perfect setting. The um, the shows there are awesome. Um. We've had we've had a lot of great experience, especially in that area, with the dickie skate park there right now yeah um, there's a lot of things in the in the hall needs a lot of love.
Jason Keenan:It needs needs people to use it. Um, now that it's now that it's functioning again and it's open for rental, um the people there been amazing. I totally enjoy, enjoy helping them with their pursuits of showing an environment that people should be renting and utilizing and it's a community space and it's important. It's important for the city. And if we don't use them, they die.
Tim:It has multiple small venues within it. I mean, you've got the smaller place where you saw Joe Patnev.
Chad:The chapel.
Tim:I went to a hardcore show there put on by fort worth. Hardcore, um and uh, it was in the big. You know the the big auditorium space and I mean it's just, it's such a shout out to ty. What's up ty yeah?
Jason Keenan:I helped ty with that show because once again, that was um, that's my youth. The hardcore scene is where I cut my teeth and everything and I'm still at 50 years old, I'm still aware and listening and consuming just my personality type. So that was important to me, that there's a little bit of a not to put myself over in that statement, I'm just saying that's important because that scene needs bigger venues to be able to do that.
Tim:It was great. You had plenty of room for activities and running and you know, side to side and just tearing into people. It was a good time.
Tim:Yeah, I mean, it's the yeah, all those parts of any thriving community and scene are you know, and that's my little, which if those don't know, let me before we, because we're wrapping up here but I just want to get in and just say, like, if you don't know that fort worth has a hardcore scene. We have a hardcore scene and it's got some of the best people you'll ever come across.
Jason Keenan:Um, that will fuck you up in a pit, but it's out of love like, and everybody is so supportive in that community and I feel like in the wrestling side of things, it seems like your community you've built here is that same type of like that's, that's the, that's the vibe that I'm trying to build with anybody who comes on, and we've attracted a lot of people from outside the business, um, who are interested, not even necessarily on the wrestling, but interested in the community aspects, interested in how this operation is pulled off, how it all comes together, having something other than music.
Tim:Yeah, like the production aspect's got to be. You know it's different than music and it's got to be interesting.
Jason Keenan:Yeah, and having something that kind of vibes but at the same time is a different form of entertainment for the weekend.
Tim:All right, so where can we find you? Where can we find all this stuff? You hit it on Instagram.
Jason Keenan:We matt war pro wrestling on all the handles except for x, where we are matt war pro okay it's m-a-t-m-a-t-w-a-r-p-r-o-w-w-r-e-s-t-l-i-n-g okay, cool yes, yes, yes, yes so follow us on instagram.
Jason Keenan:Tell us why you'd like to come out. If anybody's watching and they've never been to a wrestling show before, hit us up in the DMs and let us know hey, I've never been before. I'd like to come and we'll roll up the carpet for you and then how much are tickets for this Friday show? Tickets for this Friday are $25 for general admission and $30 for our Panther City pride, which are front row, and that's just a little bit to.
JaeBoy:That's a great price right there.
Jason Keenan:Give a shout out to all the people. Yeah, and Martin House Brewing. They provide free beer while supplies last. For everybody who's 21 and over at the event, we have Starry Ice Cream. Starry Ice Cream, handmade ice cream, here in Fort Worth, it's delicious. Kelly's Onion Burgers will be out there grilling up onion burgers.
Tim:The line usually starts before the show starts. It's going to happen. I'm going to get on there. Buy tickets tonight. It's going to be awesome. Jesse has no idea that we're going to go see wrestling.
Chad:People can spend their entire weekend over at the Southside Preservation Hall.
Jason Keenan:Then you're near Southside, there's stuff going on on Saturday.
Chad:Saturday's Ernie Day. So he's going to be at the same spot on Saturday, on the 27th, and then, of course, matt War Pro on Friday, the 26th. So make it out Anything else you want to plug before we close out, I'd like to, I don't know.
Jason Keenan:Shout out to my wife Jessica Supports me forever. I'm a handful. Her coffee company, ascension coffee. Um, they're amazing. So shout out to them. Shout out to all the wrestlers who come out and show out for me um, damon mccullough, brick savage. Uh, angel camacho, I mean there's uh, I mean I could go through, I could sit here for another 20 minutes, while the music's going. But yeah, everybody in the city and everybody, all the people at Cowtown Coliseum who show us so much love, you know we're very fortunate, so y'all.
Chad:Oh, thank you. Well, we appreciate you coming on man. Yeah we appreciate you having me, and if you don't want to do so, please make sure you follow the Funky Panther and all things social media as well. You can find anything at thefunkypanthercom. Leave us a call. Text 817-677-0408. Stay good, everybody. I'm Chad.
JaeBoy:I'm.
Chad:Javier.
Jason Keenan:I'm Jason. I'm Tim.
Chad:And we are the Funky Panther. Bye.
JaeBoy:Keep playing. Thanks, thanks, y'all. Sends out the terror in the fabric. Call me Jimmy. New track is blasting off as a habit. Fuck the bass, make it in my attic Spazzing like a machine gun. But mine is C Kelly, don't do me petty, this shit is heavy. Got bars with the ready, get the check and chase the Grammy rappers falling like a Mandy. Chicka Cheese and Curtain Sandy, I be bout to like a Betty.
JaeBoy:I am medicine gingerly appears like a Tennyson Gain on your head, like a Tennyson Going back and the lack of Kanye. I'm to graduate. She's someone really my enemy. Fuck these demons. I be up to life, beaming, feeling like a magic cause. All of y'all still be sleeping, still get depressed. I'm alive like a seamstress. Still be robbing on that dime, not no heathen. I'm making sense, but I be making sense. Call that royalty checks. Like I'm a king in chess, you're a pawn at best. That makes me less, and under work it's more or less I'm breaking next.
