Why exactly did Matt Striker retire?

[buddyriffic]

I was thinking about this last night while watching Raw, perhaps maybe only because he usually annoys the shit out of me on commentary. But I was listening alot to him last night and I have to admit, he is good sometimes, when he's not trying TOO HARD or bringing up TOO MUCH useless (or inaccurate) information. Or getting mad at Bret Hart for no logical reason. Or generally just sounding like someone I'd like to punch. lol. But he did have some decent rappore with Michael Cole and The King last night, and he's not afraid to put himself out there even if Lawler and Cole are going to gang up on him and cut him down. Obviously Vince McMahon has alot of respect for him being that he is given the slot that he has and let's face it.....he got swept under the rug pretty quickly as a wrestler. I'm sure Vince respects him because he's an intelligent guy, and a team player. So that's why he has his job. It COULD very well be Todd Grisham taking his place on the PPV's, and honestly, I might enjoy that alot better. But nonetheless, why do you think Matt transitioned from a wrestler to an announcer? Give me your thoughts. Was he pretty much told he had no future as a wrestler because he was too small? I think he could have made a bigger (and more meaningful) impact on the wrestling business then say, Santino has. At least he was portrayed seriously. Does anybody wish Matt Striker was still wrestling? And why do you think he's not?

 

[rayisawesomeness]

I don't like to speak for him but I'm going to give my idea why. No one cared about him. Sure, he was a pretty good technical wrestler but where's that going to get you if you're not over with the fans? Go back and watch his matches, the crowds were almost always dead. Do I think he should still be wrestling? That's not for me to decide, his career, his choice.

 

[TheFOUR]

I totally think that since Striker is a teacher in real life, that him being a wrestler took up too much time for him to be a wrestler an as an announcer he can take off house shows an trips and only has to be gone one day for one show. I do kinda find myself wishing Striker was a face because I see him having the same type of gimmick that The Franchise Shane Douglas had, if they pushed him properly he could totally be the "PG ERA" Stone Cold type of neutral wrestler. I will NOT say tweener cause that is not what a tweener is, a tweener is a person who is over with the kids and teens, ie John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho (as babyface). But Randy Orton is NOT a tweener nor are they pushing him as a tweener they are pushing him to be the new era Stone Cold an that's great cause Randy Orton may not technically be a babyface but at least when he does his heelish tactics it makes me respect him an like him more as a wrestler. Matt Striker from what I have seen was another wrestler who like Nick Dinsmore totally got fucked over, I mean both can use ANYONE'S finisher an nail it just as good as the person who uses it most. I believe he's not wrestling because let's face it, wrestlers are not long running anymore, they are not lasting like the Rey Mysterio's, the Jericho's, the Shawn Michaels, the Ric Flairs, Hogans, Stone Colds, Triple Hs, Jerry Lynns, RVDs, those guy who are or could be claimed to be past their prime. So I think he'd rather have had a decent mediocre career in the WWE and been on tv an had a few shirts an made some money and now he can be an announcer without taking too much bumps and then can retire from the ring and STILL be able to go back to teaching and helping out tomorrow's leaders.

 

[Layorz]

He probably just ran out of steam. Wasn't over with crowds, wasn't getting anywhere, so decided to step down and try commentating instead.

Off topic, I hate his commentating. I understand he's supposed to be a heel commentator, but come on. He doesn't support heels for doing whatever it takes, he justifies them (which detracts from the whole reason we like heels), and trashes faces as being cheaters etc. He just annoys me to the point where I want to mute the tv. I mean, a heel commentator actually trashing Bret Hart for "cheating" by stopping the Miz from cheating? Ugh. I hate it.

 

[Syborgg]

I agree he probably just figured that his in ring career had ran it's course, and the prospect of a much longer stint as an anouncer was his best option. I mean if Vince wants you there and you can do it well, why not? King has probably the sweetest gig in the entire WWE, and Striker is smart enough to see that and is trying to get to that status.

As for Layorz remark about a heel commentator bashing a face for cheating, did you ever watch the Jesse Ventura days? Anytime a face "bent" the rules it was a huge travisty and when a heel does it then "It's not cheating unless you get caught". That's the way a heel commentator works. IMO that's what Raw is missing with King and Cole both clearly on the babyface side. Cole somewhat plays the heel on NXT why don't they see if it would work on Raw? Sorry I guess that's a question for another thread.

 

[TokiRKO]

I just thought of another reason every one else seemed to have overlooked. He's a teacher. He teaches. He gives good PLAY BY PLAY. His colour commentary sucks though. He gives the anatomy behind why some thing hurts, what it hurts, and how it hurts it. King doesn't know shit about the human body beyond puppies and Michael Cole is just flat out ******ed and intolerable. Matt Striker is a breath of fresh air because he knows the moves and has the background and vocabulary to explain WHY it hurts and WHAT it hurts, instead of just saying puppies and vintage every 15 seconds

 

[matman8540]

First of all, I cannot remember Matt Striker winning a match. Maybe he won a stray match on ECW when it was the Originals vs the New Breed (or however they were called). When he managed on ECW, he won a few with Big Daddy V (aka Viscera) as his protege. He really hit his stride as an announcer. I don't think he's a full fledged heel announcer yet. He will still scold a heel for doing something real heinous; such as Sheamus' boot to HHH's face going up the ramp while he's being helped out of there by the officials. I also like his references to the old school fan; such as during the Extreme Makeover match, and hairspray was spritzed into the eyes of the Divas, he brought up the late, great Gino Hernandez (If memory serves, he had Baby Doll do that for him. I could be wrong since I only followed World Class through the Apter mags back then)

 

[sTyLnK]

Wasn't the WWE in trouble with trying to find people for commentary in the past? I thought they just shoved him there because they needed someone, anyone for the time being? I don't think he even had a choice.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

He always wanted to become a commentator, im glad he is. i liked him when he was with big daddy v, thats about it. his first year as commentator and he won a slammy. he was born to do commentary. i even say he is better than michael cole at times and i know i'm not the only one who thinks that. he reminds me of jerry lawler back in the attitude days, you should hear what matt striker says when he is on commentary, pretty funny at times.

 

[DL23]

Striker had the gimmick, and could wrestle, but for his gimmick his style of wrestling was fairly boring, and the crowd didn't buy into him.

That said, he probably realized he'd never hold a championship in WWE if I remember correctly he was pretty small so any of the major belts would be out the question which left the ECW title, but to be fair he probably realized he'd never get a fair crack of the whip so to speak, so he retired, PLUS he did wrestle at Wrestlemania 23, so it's pretty gnarly, he achieved one of his dreams.

Striker on announcing team? I find him to pretty knowledgeable at the most, I like some of his quirky lines I do enjoy his history lessons, BUT I have noticed he'll go on about this or that and he's wrong, like Sunday I'm sure it was him who said Beth won first Womens title, wrong by a long shot, and there is other stuff he'd said that has been wrong as well, saying that so was JR, and I picked up a few things JR said that was wrong, one being at Summerslam 2001, that the hardcore title ladder match was the first ever, when that was wrong because in December/November 1998 Big Bossman beat Mankind in a ladder match for the belt.

Over all I think he does a good job, but he comes off trying to hard, PLUS I didn't like it when he was in on the Piggy James storyline, I honestly thought he should of been been sympathetic towards Mickie rather then side with Laycool, but that was probably someone telling him to cheer the heels.

 

[Trill Co$by]

First off, for people saying Striker is a teacher... YOU'RE WRONG! Matt Striker and Michelle McCool are both FORMER teachers who have transitioned into the WWE. Him not being a wrestler now has nothing to do with him being a teacher, because he's not one. He stepped down from teaching in 2005 to focus on WWE.

Secondly, Striker isn't wrestling because of the same reason Taz isn't wrestling. He suffered a neck injury at a house show some time ago and he doesn't want to risk the injuries again. And from what I've seen, he's not really that great of a technical wrestler, so he couldn't last. I mean his gimmick was good when he was wrestling, but it was just a matter of time until it got old... Not to mention, why on Earth would he risk being fired as a wrestler when he has a secured spot as the Smackdown heel commentator and NXT Host?

Lastly, I personally like Striker as a commentator as opposed to the wrestler because he's just hilarious to listen to. It's funny to see him talk about morals and everything when CM Punk comes out and then continues to pander to other heels when they do guest commentary.

 

[Killer Kelbo]

Matt Striker retired either because he was a terrible wrestler, a better commentator, or he was injured. Honestly, I do not think Matt Striker was cut out to wrestle. He used to be a NYC public schools teacher, which does require you to be tougher than most teachers, but I do not think wrestling was really his thing. He gave it a shot, but it didn't really work out, even in ECW which was the low card of the WWE at the time. He transitioned to commentary from wrestling by taking a stop on the way to manage Big Daddy V (and I am damn glad he is gone, I hated looking at that man's boobs every week) Anyway, Striker went on to commentary, and does better on commentary, if he prefers to be in the wrestling business, that would be his calling.

 

[President Evil]

From what I remember he was a teacher in Queens NY, I remember reading in the newspapers headlines about him around 2006 or 2007 about him calling in sick from his teaching job, so he could do WWE/wrestling related things. Of course he was caught doing this, he was somehow punished by the department of education, and the E eventually gave him a job. First as a wrestler. I think I only have 1 match of him in my dvd collection, and he's nothing memorable in the ring.

I guess eventually the E saw him better for his mic skills than for in ring ability.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

The way I look at it is this:

Despite being an above average worker in the ring, being extremely good on the mic, and despite him being hugely over back when he almost beat Kurt Angle in his WWE debut, he didn't have much of a future in the WWE as a wrestler. His style didn't really mesh with what the WWE looks at in a wrestler, and therefore, he was for the most part, put on the backburner despite his talents and worked as basically, enhancement talent.

So, the WWE put him in a managerial role, and he did quite well with Big Daddy V. The man is extremely charismatic, and he was a huge reason why Big Daddy V was such an upper-midcard threat back when he had his huge push. Then Big Daddy V got hurt, and Striker was in the right place in the right time as the commentary positions in the WWE were in a major state of influx. Striker, seeing the writing on the wall where he wasn't going to make it as a wrestler, and managers, especially if its a male, have a limited shelflife. He probably lobbied to get a commentary position, seeing this as the last opportunity he'd have before the next stop was future endeavors.

I know Vince McMahon was very high on him. I remember reading a GQ Magazine article on Striker because of his interesting story, and when they asked Vince on his opinion of Striker, he said something to the effect of, "He's going to be doing big things for us." Vince probably figured he had nothing to lose at that point, and the rest is history. Striker and Grisham, back when they first became a team, were incredibly entertaining to listen to. Striker hasn't been as good since starting off, but he's still a commentary fixture when PPVs and major episodes of Raw take place. He has the one thing very few people have in the WWE: Job Security.

There's no reason to fault Matt Striker here for "retiring". He was doing what was best for himself, and he'll have a job in the WWE for at least the next 5-10 years.

 

[Andy 2 Randy]

Personally, i like Striker as a commentator than an in-ring star. Most of his matches were wern't crowd pleasing, his matches was the time you could go to the toilet without the risk off missing anything memorable.
As a commentator though, i think he's found his calling in life, just like Tazz when he retired from his in-ring persona. he is a great play-by-play commentator (even though he's ment to be colour), he states what body part is injured, and what could happen later due to the injury, which is great if you if you have no idea what happened!
And for those who dosn't think that he is a great 'heel' commentator, listen to the matches with Lay-Cool or the SES. within minutes he joins the side of the Heels (Piggy James perhaps?...). For months ive noticed that he agrees with CM Punk, and mainly draws attention from his opponents, such as Rey Mysterio.
Some Day, if JR dosn't Return, i think that he could be a fantastic replacement for Jim, seeing that he is already the best announcer on SD! today.

 

[thewrestleranurag900]

He retired for good because he was a terrible pro wrestler.And he is way better as a commentator.

 

["Cool Guy" Jensen]

Quite frankly, I was never really aware of how good or bad of a wrestler Matt Striker was. The very few matches I saw him involved in was a result of a job or a bad match. I hear that he was a pretty good technical wrestler, and I won't agree nor disagree with that. He is a much better commentator than he was a wrestler, and even when he wrestled, you could see that his mic skills exceeed his performing.

I never did know why he left the ring. I just know that he was drafted to Raw in the 2008 WWE Draft, and just about a week or two later, Joey Styles left ECW commentary, or was it Mike Adamle? Or Tazz. I don't know... Anyway, someone left ECW commentary, and Striker was chosen as the replacement. He's taken full advantage of that and unfortunately is really himself on commentary. He seems to like his commentary job way more than he did his wrestling job.

 

[whatalife1683]

Striker is doing commentary for two reasons. He has said in interviews he enjoys it, and two he suffered a neck injury. Will some of you stop saying he stopped wrestling because he was terrible because that is not true. I love these forums, but sometimes it seems some posters are very young and not very knowledegeable about wrestling. Also, he is not a teacher. He took sick days to wrestle shows in the New York area, and a co-worker saw him and he resigned from being a teacher. He was then offered a contract from the WWE. As a full time wrestler, he has never been a teacher. It is fun to talk about topics, but not when some posters seem like they do not know what the heck they are talking about. Sorry about the little rant.