ML EXCLUSIVE: Former Pro Wrestling Champion Comes To ManMMA
Jul 16, 2013 14:58:59 GMT -5
xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club likes this
Post by xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club on Jul 16, 2013 14:58:59 GMT -5
Matt Kruze (pictured here in 2009) as the USW World Heavyweight Champion. |
- Phoenix FC.com & ManMMA.com -
~VANCOUVER, BC~
The ManMMA world was rocked less than 2 weeks ago with the shocking news that The Sandmen had drafted none other than former multiple time Pro Wrestling Champion and current xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club Owner/Chairman & CEO, Matt Kruze, to their Manager's Division squad for the up coming ML season; Season 9. ManMMA.com caught up with Kruze at the xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club gym this week to talk about the draft, the subsequent trade to xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club and his thoughts about the Manager's League and a few of it's fighters.
ManMMA.com: First off, thank you for taking the time to do this, let's dive right in... How did you find out that you'd been drafted to The Sandmen initially?
Matt Kruze: To tell you the truth, the ol'Kruzermatic was as surprised as everyone else was. I got a call from that jive turkey, Justin Traviss, about 3 weeks ago. I figured he was looking to make some sort of trade, but instead he told me he was looking at drafting me to his manager division team. And don't get me wrong, I figure most folks have heard about my previous wrestling experience, but needless to say, I thought he was pulling my leg. I mean, why the f**k would he want an owner of another team fighting for him? Seems kinda stupid to me, but I told him: "Yah, you go ahead. You do that, pal.", not thinking he was actually serious. A week later, there's my name on the prelims for ML 42. I wasn't too impressed to say the least.
ManMMA: What was your first reaction?
MK: I called the son of a bitch up, told him he was a piece of s**t and that I wouldn't be fighting for him. Period.
ManMMA: Yet you still showed up and fought in your debut fight under The Sandmen banner vs. xx - Team GAP's Rick 'Torque' Sumner, why?
MK: Well, first and foremost, I have been, and always will be, a competitor; at any level. You wanna fight, the ol'Kruzermatic is happy to oblige. No problem. Bring it. Another reason is that I am a man of my word. Cuz whether I was sarcastic or not, it doesn't matter... I told him to go ahead and draft me. It's simple. So, I showed up, did enough to go the distance with Torque, handed The Sandmen a loss, then told Traviss I wanted out and started negotiating my release or a trade to xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club where I belonged, if I was going to be here anyways.
ManMMA: Now, there was a rumor floating around the internet that xx - Camp Cannon was in the hunt to obtain your services at a higher price than what you ended up paying to bring you back to your company. Was there any truth to these rumors?
MK: Yep. I can confirm that rumor. Camp Unick was definitely kickin' tires trying to get me over to his camp so he could basically shelf me just because Norm Cannon's an even bigger puke than Justin Traviss is. Alteast with Traviss, he has the business sense to know that having Kruze fight for another team other than xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club is a conflict of interest. Apparently Camp Unick didn't get that memo.
ManMMA: So how did the deal to xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club finally come about?
MK: Well thankfully, in his "inifinite wisdom", Cannon, "the wonder-kind", figured he could just "buy now and pay later" like this was a f**king Brick store or something and xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club just happened to have what The Sandmen were looking for right now. So, the deal was made. I'm a member of xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club and I couldn't be happier.
ManMMA: So what has this whole experience brought about now that you're officially a member of your fight team, xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club?
MK: Honestly, it's just given me even more incentive to stick around and go and fight for the team rather than just retire after one fight. I now have an opportunity to pop both those two jive turkey's mouth for rousting me out of the office and into the cage. They decided to poke a sleeping lion, and I guarantee you, they're gonna be sorry they decided to f**k with The Canadian Icon and with xx - Former Phoenix Fight Club.
ManMMA: Speaking of not retiring after one fight, your second fight in ManMMA, and debut fight under your own colors was against none other than old friend and rival, Greg Whiteman of xx - Team GAP. How does fighting him in the ring differ from fighting him in the cage?
MK: Yah, Whiteman and I go WAY back. He's a tough son of a bitch, that one, but I really can't say it's too much different now as oppose to then. We'd started not pulling our punches on eachother in about in about '05/'06 or something. We've always respected eachother, but there was a period starting around 2005 that we literally didn't like eachother; it wasn't just gimmick and we were actually beating the ever living s**t out of eachother almost on a nightly basis, just to see how much the other guy could actually take. So I wasn't overly shocked that he'd made the transition here to ManMMA. Our fight at ML 43 wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be, but it did the job. Both of us are more defensive fighters in the cage than we ever were in the ring, for obvious reasons, but I did feel kinda bad for the guy in a way... His first ManMMA fight against me ended the same way it did in wrestling; a loss. But that the chance you take when let it go to the judges like that; you never know that their gonna see out there. I'm just happy I was able to do enough in that fight to ekk out a win for my team.
ManMMA: Switching gears now to ML 44 where you will face one of your own team members in Matt Kryzanowski. How do you feel about facing team members in this league?
MK: It's just part and parcel for being fighter; sometimes you have to face your friends or people you like to get ahead. S**t happens. Kryz has brought his game to a level now that's near the top of the Manager's Division so I know I'm not going to have easy task ahead of me to beat him. The best part about it is that the team gets a win no matter who comes out on top, so both of us can just relax, execute our game plans and see which one is better than the other. It'll be like sparring at our gym, except that we'll actually be trying harder cuz it actually counts. I expect it to be a really good fight; win or lose.
ManMMA: Well thank you for taking the time to speak to us so candidly and good luck in your first full season he in ManMMA.
MK: Any time. And Thank you. Phoenix FC Rulz!