Two For The Win - S2.67 - SIX-Seveen, Special Guest Party McFly!

You can love pro wrestling your whole life and still be shocked by what it takes to live it. We’re joined by Party McFly, one of MATW’s standout originals, to talk about the real indie wrestling grind behind the entrances, the gear, and the highlight clips.

Party walks us through the spark that started it all, from childhood fandom and Attitude Era heroes to a hilarious Triple H Degeneration X story that feels like wrestling mythology come to life. From there, we get practical about the path: how far he’s traveled for bookings, what it means to be consistently booked, and why he treats an indie wrestling career like a self-made business where the return on investment is real, but rarely immediate.

We also get into pro wrestling training and development, including the advice that sounds easy until you’re in the ring: go slow, then go slower. Party breaks down fundamentals, pacing, and why wrestling seminars and credible coaching can level you up fast through skills and connections. He shares starstruck moments with legends, talks about the tight-knit wrestling community, and explains why authenticity is the difference between “doing a gimmick” and actually getting over with fans. We wrap with dream matches, big goals like global TV, and the hard part nobody can dodge: balancing family, work, and wrestling without losing yourself.

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Transcript

Welcome And Meet Party McFly

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, and everybody in between, thank you for joining us once again. We have another guest here on our show. This one, one of MATW superstars, Party McFly. Uh, welcome to the show, Party McFly. How are you doing today, man? Thank you for joining us. Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 0:15

That's PRTY McFly here in the flesh.

Childhood Fandom And Early Heroes

SPEAKER_01 0:20

All right. Nice, nice. Loving it. So, what drew you to wrestling? What got you inspired to go down the wrestling road?

SPEAKER_02 0:29

As cliche as it sounds, I've always been a childhood fan. Um, I had some cousins who had the video games, old school, like shut your mouth, here comes the pain. So my memory is fuzzy. I don't know if I played that first or if I discovered John Cena on TV first. But either way, that started it and then went from there.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Rest is history as far as that. So was that like your your idol, like the one that kind of was like, I like that dude.

SPEAKER_02 0:57

So like my cousin also had a some uh Attitude Era compilation tapes.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

So actually, my favorite Attitude Era became Triple H of all people. Nice.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Funny story, a buddy of mine, uh his parents want a trip to New York and they were going there for like a boxing match, but it got canceled. But they still got the trip. So they went up there, they were on one of those tour buses.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Degeneration X got on the same tour bus with them, and they were like, Oh my god, my buddy's a huge wrestling fan. And so they were like, Hey, can you record something for our son? They're like, Yeah, of course we can. That's dope. And everybody, everybody from that part was there. I mean, China, Tupac, everybody. That's dope. Triple H put a message in there for him, and I was watching it with him for the first time. And he goes, Hey, heard you're a huge fan. Sorry you couldn't make it, and your parents just ditched you at home. Uh, but they took his time, they want me to tell you something that you really needed to know. They want me to tell you you're adopted. And he paused for a good 15 seconds. He's like, No, calm down, calm down. I'm just messing with you. You ain't adopted. Bro, the look on his face. That is great. The look on his face was so priceless. Because he believed it for that split second. That is fabulous. So good guy.

Sports Fandom Without Deep Stats

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Now that's that's an awesome story, why now uh party McFly. Uh you prefer party McFly, party McFly. Does it does it matter? I know I'm kind of dancing with it here. People naturally just say party, so that works for me. Yeah, so all right, party. So here we got. Do you watch sports in general as well? You like any other sports? We'll talk some sports, but we'll talk about your journey as well.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

So I do, but here's it's funny you asked this because I just had this conversation uh a couple weeks ago with a friend. Do I like other sports? Yes. Can I talk anything past the generalistic of a team? No. So for me, when you get down to stats. That's okay. What's up, Joe Salazar?

SPEAKER_00 2:55

How you doing, sir?

SPEAKER_01 2:56

How you doing?

SPEAKER_02 2:57

How's it going? Appreciate you, bud. When it comes to me, when it uh when it comes to me, as far as stats is concerned, that's my limit. Can't go past that. Now I can tell you teams, football. I'm a um uh Ravens fan. I like the Giants as well by proxy. Ravens, Giants, good relationship. Shout out to my grandfather. Yeah, um uh basketball. I like Atlanta, I'm a Wizards fan. Here we go. Uh East Coast teams all day. Again, by proxy, Celtics. Uh you gotta feel bad about that 83-point game deal.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

It's a bad look. Listen, uh, let me see.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Baseball, I haven't really watched much. Um, claim fans or acclaim teams, but don't really watch much. Hockey, I'm an Anaheim person, but look, my generation, Mighty Ducks. I mean, come on.

Travel Costs And Weekly Bookings

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Honestly, I agree with the Mighty Ducks part, and honestly, all great choices, and definitely East Coast team, but also have the Anaheim team. Um, now we were talking a little bit before we went on record here. Did I say here you say earlier you just drove here from Kentucky? Or you had no no no I was talking about a Kentucky drive.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

I actually drove from the DC area.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Okay, so you drove down from DC. So uh so this gives everybody kind of a glimpse how far some of you guys come to be able to participate in events. Uh what is that like? Um, and how frequently and how far do you we'll start with this. What's the farthest you've traveled for a wrestling promotion so far? Houston. Houston. Yes. I bet that was fun. Houston, Texas.

SPEAKER_02 4:29

Uh it was actually for a convention at that. So, yes, it was fun. It the way it was set up basically gave you first episode Nitro Mall of American vibes. The way everyone was lined up from all the levels from the ground all the way up and made nothing but noise. It's one of my favorite matches, too, at that. I can only imagine. Did you drive there, did you fly there? Oh, I flew for I flew.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Okay. Do you do you prefer to drive if you can drive, or do you prefer to fly?

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Yes, and naturally, I think just naturally growing up taking mini road trips. I've always just been fine with driving. So I'm always when I'm looking at trips, that's the first thing I'm looking at is uh how far is the drive.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:11

And then we go from there.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Now, I'll say, how frequently do you travel for wrestling? Is it like a seasonal thing? Is it year-round? How often would you say you're on the wrong way?

SPEAKER_02 5:22

So wrestling, pro wrestling at that is is year-round, first and foremost. Uh, as far as us as individuals, it's so the way I like to say it is depends on how serious you want to take it. So it's all on you. This is full-on self-investment. Um, and a lot of guys don't realize that going into it. The biggest thing is you will make your return in the investment, but it's going to be in the long run. You're not going to see it the next day, the next week, whatever the case may be. So to answer your question, um, I'm at the point now to where I can consistently be booked every week.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

So it's kind of like you it is what you make of it. Exactly. So the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it. Exactly. Yeah, cool.

Finding Confidence After Early Tests

SPEAKER_00 6:06

It's a lot like owning and running a business, I imagine. Yes, you're it's literally self-made business, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

So uh being that you've you've done a lot of wrestling so far in your career, what's one of the like the biggest setbacks you've had? Like, was it an injury? Was it you know inability to make a show, or like what what what was probably the biggest setback you've had so far?

SPEAKER_02 6:29

I've been fortunate enough to not be injured.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Knock on There's a bench in there, please knock on it.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

I do I'm not gonna I do a pretty good job at trying to rest and take care of my body. I'll admittedly I should stretch more before working out, but I I do pretty good as far as that's concerned. Um, setback-wise, there's a couple times where I couldn't make a show, but I'm pretty set on if I'm booked, if I'm committed, it's there. Like, unless there's like in fact, it was a car accident that actually caused it, which I'm okay. It was all car damage, but that caused me to miss a show. Um significantly. I can't think of any other moments. Um I had one in mind, another one in mind. I just lost it. But not many, not from my end, not many.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Right. Well, so what would be like the moment where you felt like I'm doing something, I'm getting somewhere? Like this is I feel like I'm getting what I'm putting into this. What was the kind of your breakthrough moment for you?

SPEAKER_02 7:34

So let me answer your question by telling the story going back to the beginning. Okay. So I start out training in wrestling um in the West Virginia area. Um fast forward maybe a good year, year and a half, MATW opens its doors. So I've been here since day one. I've been here since the ground up. Um being able to be around veterans that have done things in this business, as big or as small as you may deem them, for people to be able to, you know, have matches with the likes of a Jeff Jarrett, uh, a CM Punk, the Road Warriors, for example. Yeah. Being able to exactly these guys here that you see, such as uh Doug Delicious, such as a Preston Quinn, um have been there to some kind of extent, to some kind of degree. So having that knowledge and being able to listen, as much as you may not like these people, it's one of those things that's like honestly, I'm just gonna shut up, here we go, and then kind of you know, take it from there. There gets to a point to where you take that knowledge, you take that um uh expertise, and you apply it. And once you see the reactions that you get, the confidence starts to sink in. And then the more confidence that you get, it translates it's the whole circle of life, if you will.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

They just feed each other.

Go Slow And Master Basics

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Exactly, exactly. So, what would be the best advice you were given, or one of the best advices you were given when you're breaking into the center industry?

SPEAKER_02 9:25

Uh let me see here.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

So there's always the adage of go slow.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

Go slow, and if you think you're going slow, go slower. When you get in there, the adrenaline obviously overtakes you that you could be running 10 miles an hour from rope to rope, right? Sometimes you you can slow it down and pace yourself to be able to breathe and not, as we say, blow ourselves up, in other words, run out of breath.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Um, run out of breath to the point that we're that we're gassed or gasping and cannot do anything else, but think about catching our breath. Um so that's pacing, okay, first and foremost. And then just the basics as anything, just learning the basics, as long as you have fun strong fundamental basics, it doesn't matter what you do. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

So so if somebody was trying to break into the industry that knows nothing about it, what what would be your advice to them?

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Like how how would you suggest they introduce I do say that I got lucky when it came come came to my training. So first and foremost, definitely do your research and go find a school. Teach those strong fundamentals. Um, so first and foremost, do your research, find a place that will uh do that for you.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 11:02

Um, if you've got to save the money to go to a Booker T, a Cody Rhodes, you name it, then by all means go that route because you are at least gonna get something a little bit more substantial than what you may find cheaper locally. That's number one. And then of course you're making those connections there too.

SPEAKER_01 11:22

So um so get as much information as can from yeah, especially from seminars.

SPEAKER_02 11:29

Yeah, so that's the other thing. So as many seminars as you can. I always try to, I still go to seminars to this day. Um, I try to go to, again, the ones that I know have done something. So I've done a Eugene seminar, I've done a EC3 seminar and a Damian Sando, a Santino Morella. Um man, I'm I'm blanking, but you name it, I try to do it if I can. Tom Pritchard, for example. Um, one of the greatest trainers in wrestling. So, yes, doing that research and doing those things, the seminars are gonna take you to another level. Those schools are gonna take you to another level. And it's just all that knowledge you're constantly learning. Something I think that helped me going into it is being such a fan. I dwelved into the podcast world, listening to your cornets, listening to Stone Cold at the time, RVD, you whoever. So I think naturally, just as a fan, listening to just the constant stories and interviews made things a little easier mentally and psychologically coming into this.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

So, who who's somebody that you've met and it was like a starstruck moment where you're like, oh my god, I can't believe that I'm here standing with this person?

SPEAKER_02 12:48

As a fan, my fur actually, my first meet and greet was Jerry DeKinwaller. So that was a little that was a little little starstrucky. That was at a convention. Um, and then from there I kind of like made it a thing and like traveled. So I in a way I kind of prepared myself for wrestling without even knowing it. Um as a wrestler, um first name that comes to mind is EC3 and Damien Sandell, just again seeing them like in person face to face, getting compliments and advice from these people face to face, and seeing how tall and big that they actually are.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

Yeah, and I gotta I gotta say, man, especially in the age we live in now, especially with like podcasting, information is so much more widely available than it used to be. So now that all these, what I said earlier, tightens of the industry, like you mentioned, Undertaker, RVD, uh, these guys have podcasts now, and they're able to make their own personal experiences much more accessible uh to the crowds, and people trying to chase that same road, that same career path, can get an idea of the things they dealt with to get there. I think that's great.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

So, one of the um uh a cool story, a couple cool stories, but one big one is Sabio Vega. I did his seminar, yeah, obviously, take advantage of that. Well, because of his connection of the promoter at that time, naturally, sometimes, depending on the promotion, depending on where you're at, group of the guys likes to go out to eat, you know, afterwards, depending on the timing and everything. Well, Sabio Vega was there. Yeah, and I said, Well, forget these guys, I'm gonna sit with the promoter, Sabio Vega. Yeah, so just being able to literally, that was one of those surreal moments like I'm literally here in Applebee's, eating, watching wrestling, drinking margaritas with Sabio Vega. That's one of those surreal moments.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Like, this is how did I get here? Yeah, how did we get here to this moment?

SPEAKER_01 14:58

Please don't let me wake up if this is the story.

Starstruck Meals And Indie Mentors

SPEAKER_00 15:00

And I will say, having that said, that's an incredible story and an incredible experience, by the way. Um, but I will say the wrestling community, pro wrestling community, especially in the Indies, is very close-knit. Everybody seems to know everybody. Yes. I know you have your bad apples, but have you been able to experience uh a level of that camaraderie yourself personally? Have you been able to help somebody else, or has somebody else been able to help you uh as far as on your journey?

SPEAKER_02 15:30

So I think for me, and it's kind of a recent realization, but I think for me, I've discovered that I have a gift as far as teaching is concerned. Um I really enjoy like sitting and breaking things down with people, especially people that I know who want to learn. So I'm always willing to like pay it forward in that sense. Um again, going back to PQ, for example, I mean, being able to uh run the business that he's ran here for MATW and put you to certain tests that you sometimes may think different things here. Sometimes you may think you're ready for something and find out that you are to a degree, but may not be there yet. Or it could be a test where you think, wow, I really like, and then you knock it right out the park, and it's like, yeah, it's why you're put in that position. Again, all of that ties into the confidence that is instilled in you. And what's tried and true is the fans, when they watch, can spot authenticity. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 16:52

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

If you're not authentic, you're not gonna get over. Yep. And the fact that I jokingly say I live my gimmick, but it's not a I'm not playing it necessarily. That's what they say though, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:05

It should be you turned up to 10.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Exactly, and that's exactly what it is. And honestly, it's I would say it's turned up to five because I'm already turned up to 10.

Authenticity And Living Your Gimmick

SPEAKER_01 17:14

So who would be like your ideal opponent and what would be like your like if you could ever put it together? What your dream match? Like who, who, when, where, why?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Give us the we'll make this the second to last question because this is a good one. I like this one. So okay. I have a few. I have a few.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Break them down.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

Unfortunately, break them down.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

A lot of people. You can tell us more than one if you want. Yeah.

Dream Opponents From AJ To Piper

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Well, unfortunately, a lot of my people are either retired or rest in peace. But the first one that comes to mind is AJ Styles. Okay. So great pig. You asked me who my favorite was, and I said Triple H. Yeah. Then I discovered a little place called TNA. So as I like to compare it, Edge grew up being a Hulkamaniac. Edge being a hardcore fan, if you will, was all about Breithart. And that was the same for me. Triple H through and Through. And then AJ stuff is undeniable. Yeah. I could probably throw Shawn Michaels in there too, because I just just the flamboyancy is I just gravitate. Um and that's another thing for side side quest, as Freddie Prince Jr. says. Um it's funny. As a fan, I was team Shawn Michaels. As a wrestler, team Bret Hart. But going back, yes, um, I would definitely say uh AJ Styles, first and foremost, for one. I feel like John Cena would be cool. Cody Rhodes would definitely be on that list. Um as far as dream opponents, anyone idolized. I am, you could probably obviously see it in the gear, a huge macho man fan.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

So yeah, I admire that as well.

SPEAKER_02 19:03

I would love to have um a match, something that he did with DDP or even a Shawn Michaels back in the day. Um a uh oh, I lost it. I had it and I lost it. Roddy Piper.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

Ooh, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 19:20

And what again, like I said, Triple H was my guy, right? Yeah. You would think it'd be Cena because of how I discovered it, but Triple H was my guy. To add to that, loved Hulk Hogan as a kid. I'm not even gonna deny that. But my legend was Roddy Piper. Yeah, I don't know what it was about him, but my legend was Roddy Piper, and of course, like I said, Macho Man.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

So I say I was always a big Ric Flair fan myself, and then when the Attitude era kind of came around, I kind of, you know, ECW, some of those guys came over, WWF, WWE, ECW. You know what?

SPEAKER_02 19:55

I had a huge I I did when ECW came back around in that 05-06, I I had an ECW face watching that original one night stand.

SPEAKER_00 20:05

I was sold and I became a huge RVD fan as a result of some of that. So, I mean, I remember I think some of the greatest days in pro wrestling are from the at from the attitude era, for real.

SPEAKER_02 20:17

So I I definitely for for from moments, definitely. Yeah, matches and stories, I love that debate. I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna say that. I just love that debate.

Family Work Balance And Clear Calendars

SPEAKER_00 20:29

It is a good debate, and I'll throw one last one here at you, just winding it back a little bit. So, uh, what's it like? So I know you you have a life outside of wrestling, you have a job, you have a family. What's it like trying to balance that specifically your family and work life with your wrestling life?

SPEAKER_02 20:50

That's tough. We all know the the the one thing that helps with any relationship is communication. So as long as the communication is there, everything else will end up working itself out. I I have a calendar now that I map everything out. So I'm literally it literally it started with just wrestling, and now there's like, okay, if I'm going to a concert, I'm putting that in there, but you know, blah blah blah. Um and for you can get lost in it with the goals and aspirations that you have, which of course I'm trying to get to TV, national TV, wait, global TV. I was like, wait, I'm all national. Global TV. I want to get everywhere. But um I keep losing my thought.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

It's all right. You can lose your thought, it's fine. I keep losing my thoughts. How are you doing, young man? Uh pause.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Where are we doing again?

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Getting national. Getting global. Family, family, family, family, family work balance, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

And I almost lost it myself.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Um, yeah, so of course my goal is to get to global television. AW, WWE, maybe even a TNA. Whoever. I want to get a contract. But my point is, I can get I've I and I've I caught myself. You can get lost in trying to do the grind that you kind of neglect things. So taking a step back and deliberately making those points of okay, I won't take a booking this weekend. Let me spend time with the missus. Or let me go to this family event because I've done all this stuff with wrestling. You just gotta really sit down, ground yourself, and really the best thing is just looking at it on paper and kind of just delegating it from there.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Delegate there, and like you say, communication and hopefully much more understanding from the other side.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

You would probably say that there's there has to be support and acknowledgement on both sides that you're doing this, but you're still in it with them. Like we're doing it. I'm gonna go do this thing. Look, but next weekend is us. It's only us.

Final Thanks And Where To Watch

SPEAKER_00 23:11

I leave you with this. If it were easy, everybody would do it, right? Amen. Anything worth doing is hard. It's hard. It is hard. But I believe it's very worth it. I can see in your face it's worth it too. But thank you again, Party McFly, for being with us on the show. Thank you. I love what MATW is doing. They're doing a great job just developing this company, developing talent, and you are one of their staple OG superstars. And I really appreciate you being here with us today on the show. And I know our listeners do too.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

I've got to the point again, like I mentioned before, putting in situations that I can't believe I'm here now. They got uh good old Keyshawn colors that they placed under my wing, and that seems to be working out for him where it's starting to blossom on his own now.

SPEAKER_00 23:52

So I think that's a great combination, too. And we look forward to seeing you guys on the Right Now TV Network. Oh this coming week, and wish you luck in your match tonight. And uh, Mike, do you have anything? Party me fly, do you have anything for us? I'll be back. I hope you'll be back. I hope you'll be back. We had a lot of fun conversation with you. So absolutely, welcome you back anytime. Thank you, thank you. Thank you again, buddy. Appreciate you, man.