Maven is enjoying his latest successful run in the spotlight.
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard spoke with Maven about his return to the wrestling business, which includes a hugely successful YouTube channel. The Tough Enough winner’s channel was an immediate hit. Some of the videos reached more than 1 million views with ease. Maven was asked what the “secret sauce” was, and he put things into perspective.
Maven’s business partner said that YouTube is actually an underutilized platform when it comes to pro wrestlers. Most people want to do podcasts or TikTok videos, but there wasn’t a real focus on monetizing strictly on YouTube. The podcast market is oversaturated with other shows. They wanted to reach a wrestling audience with a YouTube model.
“I would have come out every week trying to find someone to book as a guest, that’s a pain in the butt itself. And then try to fill an hour’s worth of content. Let’s say I did all that. Then you got to try to get umpteen thousand people to tune in every week for an hour, and people just don’t have that kind of time,” he explained.
“So what we do is we’re giving bite-sized chunks of information, but we’re doing it — it’s wrestling information, but it’s kind of in a style that your successful YouTubers are using. And listen, we just use their ideas,” he added. “And I’m not ashamed to say it, we’re using ideas that are successful with other people, and we’re just putting a wrestling spin on it.”
A Humble Goal
Maven said his original goal was to reach 50,000 views on his first video. He thought that would be a “good baseline” for the future. He shattered those expectations already.
“[My partner] gave me really realistic goals. He’s been making a living off YouTube for a couple years now. But he told me he was like, ‘Listen, we probably won’t turn a profit. We probably won’t see money off this for five to six months.’ And we shattered that,” he stated. “We made good money in the first month, and I couldn’t believe that.
“But again, I’m not throwing a parade just yet. I know people are fickle. And we just got to keep putting good stuff out. We have right now have videos up through the middle of November already filmed. [They’re] in the can, being edited as we speak. And he and I are constantly every day, just texting each other, going over video ideas,” he explained. “Now that I’ve gotten this much success, you don’t want to let something go at that point.”
ISPW
Maven also works for Independent Superstars of Professional Wrestling, a New Jersey-based promotion owned by ’80s Wrestling Con’s Tommy Fierro. He’s been working as a manager for ISPW, but he will compete in a Tuxedo Match at ISPW 25 this weekend.
Maven wears fancy suits to work in his day job at a capital firm in New York City, so he knows how to look the part. However, Maven says he’s not going overboard for the match stipulation.
“I don’t own a tuxedo. I’m not renting a tuxedo. They’ll get me in a suit. That’s as good as I’m getting,” he quipped. “And yeah, Rich Reed [Maven’s opponent]. I don’t know what got him all excited and upset. But he’s definitely playing outside of his depth.”
The tuxedo match has been a stipulation for various feuds, including managers and non-wrestlers. Ring announcer Howard Finkel competed in three tuxedo matches, while the latest one in WWE saw Santino Marella best Ricardo Rodriguez at No Way Out.
More Wrestling?
Does Maven have a favorite tuxedo match, or is there one he’s studying for strategy?
“Absolutely not. Studying? No. I don’t know… Trust me, by the time I get done with this whole YouTube channel, he said, “I’ve had my fill of wrestling. And the last thing on Earth I want to do is look at any more wrestling by the time we get done.” [laughs]
Maven said one good thing about his YouTube venture is he’s connected with other wrestlers, like Stevie Richards, who has his own channel.
“We touched base right when my channel had about two videos out. He reached out to say hi. And now he and I talk every day multiple times a day, bounce ideas off each other. He sends me videos, I send him videos before they go out. I talk enough wrestling throughout the day. The last thing on earth I want to do is go and look up more. My goodness, gracious.”
ISPW 25 takes place on Friday, September 29 at the Totowa PAL in Totowa, New Jersey, with a bell time of 7:30 p.m. More event information can be found here.
Watch our full interview with Maven below.
