After training withJohnny Rodz, Kaye began working on the Americanindependent circuit.[3] While working full-time as a teacher in 2004, he continued to wrestle during his vacation time and weekends, while also using sick days.[2] Striker trained and worked the northeast independent circuit with notable stablematesRicky Vega andTim Arson. On December 16, 2004, Striker began a tour ofJapan withPro Wrestling Zero1 and was later invited back for an extended tour in early 2005.[5] After resigning from his teaching position, he continued to wrestle aroundNew York, and on April 30, 2005, won the New York Wrestling Connection (NYWC)'s Heavyweight Championship by defeatingMike Mondo.[2][6] A few weeks later, on May 21, while still the Heavyweight Champion, he defeated Joey Braggiol to win the NYWC Interstate Championship, but only held the championship for two weeks, before losing it back to Braggiol on June 4.[2][7] He made a few appearances forRing of Honor in mid-2005, before returning to NYWC to lose the Heavyweight Championship toJerry Lynn on July 30, after holding it for four months.[2][6] He continued to wrestle for independent promotions throughout mid-2005, until he signed a contract with WWE.[2]
Kaye, using the name Matt Martel, wrestledKurt Angle in an invitational match on the February 24, 2005 episode ofSmackDown! inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania.[2][8][9] After the revelation that Kaye was a teacher appeared in mainstream news publications,[9] Kaye made a WWE second appearance on the July 11, 2005 episode ofRaw to face Angle for a second time.[10] His news coverage was played up by Angle, who once again defeated Kaye.[10] The following week, Angle defeated him for the third consecutive time.[11] Kaye, now known as Matt Striker, went on to compete onHeat and appear in WWE'sdevelopmental territory,Deep South Wrestling.[2]
Striker developed a villainous teacher persona and beginning on December 12, hosted a segment calledMatt Striker's Classroom onRaw.[12] During the segments, he ridiculed the audience and treated the crowd as intellectual inferiors.[12] On April 24, he participated in asix-man tag team match, in which he,Chris Masters andShelton Benjamin were defeated byCarlito,Rob Van Dam, andCharlie Haas.[13] During theBacklashpay-per-view, Striker hosted an edition of hisClassroom segment, which ended whenEugene, who instoryline was mentally impaired, attacked Striker.[14] Striker, in retaliation, attacked Eugene with adictionary the following night onRaw.[15] The feud between the two ended when Eugene gained a mentor in"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and defeated Striker.[16] Striker appeared only rarely onRaw throughout June and July, and his final match for thebrand was on July 31, when he was quickly defeated byJohn Cena.[17]
At the end of August 2006, Striker left the Raw brand to joinECW, making his debut on August 23.[18] He continued hisClassroom segment on ECW, which provoked a feud withThe Sandman after Striker insulted him.[19][20] Striker made his in-ring debut for the brand on the September 19, 2006 episode ofECW, when his team ofMike Knox andTest were defeated byTommy Dreamer,Sabu, and The Sandman when Test was disqualified for pushing the referee.[21] Striker continued his feud with The Sandman until the October 17 episode ofECW, when The Sandman defeated him in aSingapore Cane on a Pole match.[22][23]
Striker (left) talking down toKelly Kelly at an ECW live event
On February 6, Striker aligned himself withMr. McMahon'sNew Breedstable, along withElijah Burke,Kevin Thorn, andMarcus Cor Von.[24] The New Breed immediately engaged themselves in a feud with theECW Originals (Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu and The Sandman).[25][26] AtWrestleMania 23, the New Breed was defeated by the ECW Originals in an 8-man tag team match, but won a rematch on the following episode ofECW.[27][28] In the midst of the feud, tension began to appear between the leader Elijah Burke and Striker, after Striker and Cor Von were defeated by the debutingMajor Brothers.[29] As a result, Striker began trying to avenge the loss to the Major Brothers and defeated Brett Major on the May 22 episode ofECW.[30] The feud with the ECW Originals lost momentum, however, as Sabu was released from his WWE contract in mid-May, and the feud ended at theOne Night Stand pay-per-view, when Striker, Cor Von, and Burke lost to Dreamer, Sandman, andCM Punk in atables match.[31][32]
On June 12, Striker was defeated byThe Boogeyman in a singles match, and two weeks later, The Boogeyman attacked him during an edition ofPiper's Pit.[33][34] On July 10, Striker invited Boogeyman to the ring, allowing the debutingBig Daddy V to attack him.[35] Striker then formed an alliance with Big Daddy V that lasted until March 2008, acting as Big Daddy V'smanager and regularly accompanying him to the ring.[36][37] In November, Striker and Big Daddy V started a feud withKane, after Kane attacked Striker.[38] Striker and Big Daddy V wrestled Kane in ahandicap match, and the pair also aligned briefly withMark Henry.[39] Henry helped Big Daddy V win a match against Kane on the November 27 episode ofECW, and in return, Strikerrefereed a match between Henry andThe Undertaker, refusing to count apinfall against Henry.[40][41]
As part of the2008 WWE Supplemental Draft in June 2008, Striker was drafted back to the Raw brand.[42] After a brief stint, Striker returned to ECW to take over duties as color commentator, debuting on August 5.[43][44] Striker and his commentary partner,Todd Grisham, won the2008 Slammy Award for the Announce Team of the Year for 2008.[45] In April 2009, however, Grisham was moved to the SmackDown brand, andJosh Mathews debuted as the new play-by-play commentator.[46][47] In addition to commentating onECW on SyFy and ECW pay-per-view matches, Striker and Mathews represented the ECWbrand onWWE Superstars every week.[48]
On October 27, 2009, it was announced that Striker would move from commentary onECW toSmackDown, reuniting with Grisham. The move was made to help accommodateJim Ross, who had been taking time off to deal with his recentBell's palsy attack.[49] The following October, Striker and Grisham were joined byMichael Cole onSmackDown, forming a three-man announce team.[50] Striker, however, was replaced in early February 2011 byBooker T.[51]
Striker began hostingNXT in early 2010.[52] He wrestled his first match in three years on the August 2, 2011 episode ofNXT, teaming withTitus O'Neil in a winning effort againstDerrick Bateman andDarren Young in atag teammatch.[53] He fought Young in the next two weeks, but Young emerged victorious both times.[54][55] Striker later teamed up withWilliam Regal to face Young andJTG, but Striker and Regal were unsuccessful.[56] Meanwhile, asNXT host, Striker was frequently bullied byCurt Hawkins andTyler Reks,[57] The storyline included his "kidnapping" on the March 21 episode ofNXT Redemption by unknown persons,[58] later revealed to be Hawkins and Reks.[59] During this time, Striker also continued to commentate onSuperstars, with the explanation given being that to keep his kidnapping a secret, WWE hired a body double to assume Striker's duties.[60] Striker was later "rescued" on the April 11 episodeNXT Redemption.[61] Striker ceased his role as NXT host with the conclusion ofNXT Redemption.[62][63][64]
After hostingNXT, Striker began interviewing WWE employees onRaw andSmackDown. During the summer of 2012, Striker became the host ofWWE Afterburn for international broadcasts. On the October 12SmackDown, Striker tried to interviewTeam Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan), but they both attacked him.[65] On the October 15 episode ofRaw, Striker demanded that he receive an apology and was instead forced to face Kane in his final WWE match, which Striker lost.[66] On June 20, 2013, Striker departed WWE after the company opted to not renew his contract.[67]
On June 21, Striker made his first post-WWE appearance, by appearing onFamily Wrestling Entertainment iPPV,FWE Rumble inQueens, New York as a color commentator.[68] On October 21, 2013, Striker was defeated byJustin Credible in NYWC's House of Madness. After the match, Striker nailed Credible, causing him to bleed. Backstage, Striker tried to apologize but Credible cursed him out in the locker room and stormed off.[69] In July 2013,Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) announced Striker as the new announcer of the promotion onMAVTV.[70] On November 2, 2013, Striker made his in ring debut for CWFH, unsuccessfully challengingScorpio Sky for theCWFH Heritage Heavyweight Championship.[71]
On September 5, 2014, it was reported that Striker had signed withLucha Underground as the lead English language announcer, alongsideVampiro.[75] Striker and Vampiro provided English language commentary from the show's debut in 2014 to its conclusion in 2018.[76]
Striker, along withVampiro, served as one half of the English language commentators forAAA'sLucha Libre World Cup internet pay-per-view on May 24, 2015.[77] On August 9, 2015, Striker returned to AAA English language commentary alongsideHugo Savinovich for AAA'sTriplemanía XXIII pay-per-view.[78]
Matt Striker is currently the co-host of Bettor's Eye on The MLB Network.
Kaye was achild actor and had roles in the filmsWise Guys andChild Savers.[2] In 2011, Kaye appeared in the filmsBig Fat Gyspy Gangster andTezz in uncredited roles.
In early 2018, he joined FITE TV. Kaye can be seen on FITE In Focus analyzing combat sports events such as MMA, Boxing and Bare Knuckle fighting.
In 2019, Kaye continued his work in the sports broadcasting industry hosting shows such as "The Fantasy Baseball Hour, "Fantasy Sports Today", "Pro Football Rewind" and "Diamond Bets."
He has also hosted Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio programs.
Kaye was a writer and cast member of theLabor of Lovedating game show that began airing onFox on May 21, 2020. The eight-episode series features fifteen men participating in challenges and dates that test their parenting and personal skills. Those whom contestant Kristy Katzmann finds satisfactory will continue to advance to the following episode, until the end of the series, where she will decide – with the help of the show's host, actressKristin Davis – whether to choose one of the men to start a family with or not.[83][84][85]
Kaye played semi-pro hockey and has studied jiu-jitsu, catch wrestling, and boxing.[2] He has quoted scriptures on air from various sacred texts including, Torah, Quran, and the Vedas.[2][9]
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