What up there DOI-ites, and welcome to another McInterview. Today I interviewed indy manager and promoter, Ryan Maher. Ryan Maher works primarily in a lot of New Jersey promotions, and promotes GSPW. Check out this detailed interview to find out more about Ryan Maher and his career.

“The MiC”: How did you get into pro wrestling?

Ryan Maher: Most people remember an age where they started watching or the first match they saw. As far back as I can remember wrestling has always been something I'm obsessed with. I lived in northern NJ for the first few years of my life and when my parents worked my grandparents would baby sit me. My grandmother and uncle loved professional wrestling so I think that is where it started. My uncle was friends with Jimmy Powers from the WWF tag team the Young Stallions. So I've been hooked for a very long time. My uncle and grandmother took me to as many house shows and ppv events as possible at MSG or Continental Arena. What's interesting is my grandmother is now 72 and suffers from Alzheimer's disease yet still watches wrestling lol. And don't try and tell her it's fake or it's a work cause she will get so pissed. When Triple H went over on Goldberg at Summerslam she was seriously pissed. "Someone needs to stop that no good son of a bitch" lol. So I grew up with wrestling and when I moved to Bricktown here on the Jersey Shore Iron Mike Sharpe's school was only a few blocks away. I used to attend the student shows he ran under the GSPW banner (which was where I got the name for my first show) Alot of the connections that I have in the wrestling business now came from the people I met back when I was just 11 years old at Sharpe's.

“The MiC”: What was your training like?

Ryan Maher: I was never formally trained. I never laid down money to go to a pro wrestling school. I had back surgery when I was 14 and I pretty much knew right off the bat that I wouldn't be able to become a wrestler. So I started going to different indy shows. I met a man named Phil Varlese who ran wrestlingguys.com and he gave me my own column and would send me out to review shows for his website. That is where I started to meet new people and rekindle old friendships from my early days at Sharpe's. Alot of my training has come from guys like Mike Taris and before Donnie B's PCW shows he would do clinics involving all the ring crew kids and whatever name was on that show that night. So I would do mini clinics with guys like A.J Styles, Gangrel and a few indy veterans. I think I am trained well enough to consider myself a good manager but don't ask me to work an actual match. And if you don't believe me get a tape of the PWX show from Howell, NJ last Saturday.lol

“The MiC”: Who were your favorite managers growing up?

Ryan Maher: Jim Cornette was and is THEE man when it comes to managers. Some of his early stuff really revolutionized this business. If you look at the work they had him do when Vader first joined the WWF that is amazing as well. Jim Cornette is just one of those guys that can get anyone or anything over. I also liked Bobby Heenan. Some of his stuff with the "Heenan Family" never really showed his true talents. I liked when him and Curt Hennig were managing Flair in his first WWF run. Heenan would be doing color commentary (and he is without a doubt the greatest color man in the history of this business) and he would be putting over Flair while down at ringside Hennig would be cheating and doing whatever it takes to make sure Flair won. It was great stuff. I was also a big fan of Paul Heyman in his Dangerous Alliance WCW days. He would get on his mobile phone and start ranting and then someone from his stable would run out and interfere. It was classic stuff. When Terri Runnels was Alexandra York in WCW in the early 90's that was pretty interesting as well. The only manager who I could never stand was Jimmy Hart. He was very annoying which got him over big time as a heel but I think the whole thing with the mega phone put too much attention on him and not enough on the match going on in the ring.

“The MiC”: Who are your favorite indy managers today?

Ryan Maher: I really like Mike Winner, Dapper Johnny Falco and Donnie B. Winner can adapt to any wrestler's persona and help get them over and Dapper comes out with one of the most ridicolous outfits you have ever seen. Dapper gets all the little kids to hate him and almost riot. Winner has great acting ability and he shows what he can do without putting all the spotlight on himself. Donnie doesn't manage anymore but the stuff he did with The Backseat Boys was great as well as his earlier days with Mr. Motion and Ace Darling. He would come out with this big pool cue and he would always decorate it to fit the season. The candy cane pool cue was downright hilarious.

“The MiC”: What makes a good manager?

Ryan Maher: A good manager is someone who can help put his wrestler over and tell a good story without taking away from the match. I think managers cutting good promos is a must in this business. I also think managers need to interact and play the crowd more to get them more involved. Alot of outside interference always helps as well. There are quite a few good managers on the indy scene but the role of managers in the WWE is pretty much dead.

“The MiC”: What promotions have you worked for, and which ones do you like the best?

Ryan Maher: I have worked for Empire Wrestling Alliance,Northeast Championship Wrestling,Outlaws of Wrestling,National Wrestling Superstars,NWA Jersey,Phoenix Championship Wrestling,Prime Time Wrestling,Dino Sanna's WWWA, and Pro Wrestling Xplosion.

I liked all of them alot. My relationship with Empire ended on a sour note but everywhere else I worked I had fun. NCW was cool because I got to manage Mr. Motion and the Heartbreaker against the Rock N' Roll Express. Outlaws was fun because it was run by Phil Varlese who was very instrumental getting me into this business. NWS/NWA is alot of fun because it's steady work, they draw huge crowds and I like the locker room. Phoenix was fun because for a year and a half I did a behind the scenes role and learned a whole new aspect of this business and my work with Phoenix was very instrumental in bringing me to where I am at today. Prime Time was probably my favorite place to work. Gunns is one of the boys and he made the locker room a great place. The shows were awesome and I learned something new on every one of them. Dino Sanna's shows were good because I got to work for him two nights in a row out in PA. Both nights I got to work with Glen Osbourne, Missy Hyatt, Larry Zybysko and the Barbarian. The first night he had 25 people in Hamburg, PA and the next night he had 1700 in Salem, NJ. PWX was fun last week cause it was the debut show run by one of my first friends in the business. Billy Rivell a.k.a Dynamic B is a good guy who helped me out a lot when I started and although we didn't talk for a year due to a bunch of bullshit I'm glad we're cool again and I'm very glad he has taken up the job of running his own shows.

“The MiC”: What do you think about the current state of independent wrestling?

Ryan Maher: The business is down all over the place. When regular everyday people think professional wrestling they think WWE. So if WWE isn't giving the people what they want then why should they expect the indies to be able to? That's the problem with the indies people don't try to promote with the everyday people. The only companies that I saw do that were NWS and the new PWX. And they were both very succesful. Everyone tries to bring in the smart marks to there shows and quite simply there arent enough smart marks to keep an indy promotion afloat. Besides smart marks ruin a show in my opinion. I am not trying to bash them but they are harder to please. A guy who his bringing his family out to a wrestling show for a night of entertainment is more likely to cheer for the good guys and boo for the bad guys. You won't hear them yelling "you fucked up" on a blown spot or anything out of line. People want to have a good time and cheer the good guys and boo the bad guys. Dapper Johnny who promotes NWS realizes this and so does Dynamic B who just started up PWX. Alot of people that report on pro wrestling say that the reason business is down is because the same promotions are using the same guys. They also say that new indy companies need to find and breed new talent. This is all true. But that same reporter makes those claims and then whe he goes to a show where he hasn't heard of the people working he immediately bashes it. This is the case with PWX which got some bad reviews on a site. Everyone on that show was a very good worker that is trained, and has been working for a few years but they are just not known to the smart mark internet crowd. And the show was basically shit on. But it doesn't matter because that show still drew more then most indies do today. I think this site as well as the guys at clothesline and other sites can do good for indie wrestling. But the internet should not be the be all and the end all when it comes to promoting. The majority of your fan base if you promote properly should come from walk ups that just wanna see what you have to offer.

“The MiC”: What was your reaction when you heard PCW closed, and why do you think it closed?

Ryan Maher: PCW closed?!?!?!?! I was not aware of that. In my eyes PCW has been dead for almost a year now. Using a bunch of backyard kids that have no training whatsoever that like to play high school mind games is not what I got into professional wrestling for. I never heard an official announcement about them closing although someone told me the site is down. Donnie B. is a cop now and obviously that takes up a lot of his time. I wish him the best because I have a lot of respect for him outside of this business. But I feel like I kinda got screwed around with a bit in PCW.

“The MiC”: Also, what was your reaction when you heard PTW closed, and why do you think it closed?

Ryan Maher: Deeply saddened and shocked. PTW was my favorite company both as a worker and a fan. The storylines were fresh and the matches were awesome. Gunns used top talent on the indies but it caught up with him. Unfortunately PTW was one of those companies that in my opinion tried a bit too hard to cater to the smart marks. But I think Gunns will eventually be back, he loves this business too much. For me it was my favorite cause I was getting to work with people like Julio Dinero,Alexis Laree,Rob Eckos,Bruiser. And I would always get positive feedback and constructive criticism from people like Julio and Joey Matthews. It was great to work with such professionals that have no problem giving advice and helping a green back such as myself out. I will miss the times I spent in PTW and I hope and pray for it's quick return.

“The MiC”: You recently promoted a show in New Jersey, under the Garden State Pro Wrestling banner. (GSPW) How did you feel about that show, and what is in the future for GSPW? Do you think GSPW can be successful, when there are at least 20 other indy wrestling companies in New Jersey?

Ryan Maher: I thought the show was very good. Unfortunately I only drew about 40 people after I busted my ass to promote. I didn't realize it until after the show was booked but Jay Leno was performing a concert 10 minutes from my show and Ring Of Honor ran in Elizabeth the same night as me. But also the place I ran was supposed to promote and they didn't. They claimed that they had a summer camp of about 1,000 kids and that they were talking about the show everyday. Well that's BS cause I figure at least 100 of them would have showed up. I will run again and I'll take it show by show and just see what happens.

“The MiC”: Do you have any prematch superstitions?

Ryan Maher: Not really I just hope I don't screw anything up.

“The MiC”: What is a normal day in the life of Ryan Maher?

Ryan Maher: I wake up around 5 p.m and shower,eat and go out and stay out till about 6 a.m. Come home watch tv till 9 a.m and then go to sleep for 8 hours. I'm nocturnal. I DJ weddings and parties so the night life just appeals to me. Not a morning person. But next summer I'm debating joining the police academy so I need to get in shape and to do that I need to change my routine in a hurry.

“The MiC”: What are your career goals?

Ryan Maher: Well I go to school with a major in Broadcast Jorunalism so maybe one day a career in radio. Or perhaps in law enforcement. I really don't know how far I will go in the wrestling business but I'll keep trying and learning and most of all having fun.

“The MiC”: What do you want to say to anyone reading this?

Ryan Maher: I wanna thank you Sean for allowing me this forum and everyone stay tuned cause www.RyanMaher.com is coming soon. But for now check out www.nwswrestling.com or www.pwxplosion.com

“The MiC”: Thanks for doing this interview with me.