Buddy Matthews revealed advice he received from Shinsuke Nakamura that opened his eyes.
Matthews said that this particular piece of advice from Nakamura helped him set himself apart and have something unique about him.
Speaking to Forbes, Matthews revealed the reason why he chose his ring attire for himself. Nakamura once talked to him about how casual fans perceive the product and the wrestlers need to differentiate themselves from the rest so that casual fans attending the shows can remember them.
That is why Matthews sports a unique ring gear featuring ripped-up shorts. This helps him distinguish himself with fans who aren’t that familiar with the product.
“I remember talking with Shinsuke Nakamura and he brought up a very good point that opened my eyes to it,” said Matthews. “He said when you have a casual fan and families that come to these events and watch us—especially a casual fan—they’re not going to remember our names. Because they’re not familiar with the product. They’re just there to follow their family, they enjoyed the show, hopefully, and then on the drive home they generally kind of recap the show.”
Matthews continued, “So Shin said they’re not going to remember his name. ‘Shinsuke Nakamura’ isn’t the easiest name to come off the tongue, but they can also describe him as something: ‘the guy who wears all red.’ And that kind of triggered something with me. ‘Okay, so what’s my description word to a casual fan when he’s driving his family home from an event? The guy in the ripped-up shorts.’ No action figure has had torn shorts before. So it was just all about having something unique to myself.”
This is the reason why Matthews stuck to his unique ring gear and sure enough, it helps him look unique because of that.
Matthews will be sharing the ring with Kazuchika Okada for his NJPW debut at NJPW Battle In The Valley this Saturday (Nov. 13). He discussed the magnitude of facing Okada and how he’s preparing for the match.
