Former WWE announcer Matt Striker who is now the play-by-play commentator for Lucha Underground with Vampiro joined Jeff Jackson and Tony Mirabella live on SNS UnPlugged this past Tuesday.
Striker joined the boys at the beginning of the show to talk about Lucha Underground and about “some of the best wrestlers in the world” who he is enjoying watching while sitting ringside with Vampiro. Striker compares himself and Vampiro to “peas and carrots” along with the “meat” which is the in-ring wrestling.
The discussion turned to the different style of backstage promos that are shot at Lucha Underground and Striker said that it’s come a long way from the days of Kamala being “in the jungle” coming to Memphis when in reality he was in Jerry Jarrett’s backyard.
Striker talked about transitioning from wrestler to announcer back in his WWE days and how it was Joey Styles who helped him make the move. He thanked the creative department for helping him and said that they unfairly gets a bad reputation on the Internet but they are the people who make the show happen. He mentioned how Jim Ross and Spanish announcer Hugo Savinovich are his favorite and how he tries to emulate Savinovich’s style while broadcasting for Lucha Underground.
He said that as the show progresses every week, story arcs will get better and deeper and fans will see some great television. Striker believes that the way the show is filmed with different camera angles attracts new viewers and he also mentioned that fans are free to boo and cheer for who they like and they don’t force them to choose a particular person. He said lucha libre is the nicest, prettiest, and smoothest wrestling style and it’s his favorite.
Before wrapping up his 20 minute interview, Striker talked about Justin Roberts, the recently released WWE ring announcer, and his time at NXT.
You can hear the interview here.
