Summary

Matt Striker recently reflected on his experience at WrestleMania 23, where he appeared as part of The New Breed in an ECW match against the ECW Originals. Although the ECW Originals won the bout, Striker said the night remains one of the most meaningful moments of his career.

He explained that the event carried personal weight because of his relationship with his late father and because he knew his family was watching him perform on WWE's biggest stage. Striker also described the backstage environment he navigated during that period, saying he often changed in isolated spaces away from the main locker room.

What WrestleMania 23 Still Means To Matt Striker

Striker said the memory that has stayed with him most was unexpectedly sharing that space backstage with Sabu, Rob Van Dam, and The Sandman before the match. He framed that moment as a sign of genuine respect, and said it made the night unforgettable.

Quote from Matt Striker

"It was so special for me on a multitude of levels. Wrestling is woven into the fabric of my relationship with my late father. So knowing that my dad was watching me back home in Bayside, Queens, while I was on the grandest stage of them all, I swear to you, I was 10 feet tall. But more importantly, during my time in WWE, I didn't make a lot of friends. Shocking, I know, and I used to have to dress in closets and underneath staircases, and there were fights that went on in the ring that fans didn't know about. There were fights that went on in the locker room that fans didn't know about. One day I went back to my my little janitor's closet and the door was open, and I said, 'I guess they're gonna jump me again. Here we go.' I'm a kid from Queens, New York. I've taken my lumps. I opened the door and there were three guys standing there. One was Sabu. God rest his soul. The other was Rob Van Dam, and the third was The Sandman, and my face turned white. Because I'll fight anyone, but you want to fight those guy? They said, 'kid we're not here to fight you. We're here to dress with you. We'd rather sit with you than sit with those a-holes.' The fact that I got to go to WrestleMania with Sandman, Sabu, Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, the fact that there is- my favorite picture is all four of them standing in the middle of the ring with their hands held high, and I am laying right on the apron just to the left, kind of hanging down, and I laid there purposefully because I knew that that picture would be taken, and I knew that I would remember seeing my friends get their WrestleMania moment, and I just wanted to be just right in the corner of it. So it's something I'll never forget. But it just goes back to when you know that people are real and genuine and they care about you, you connect with them, and no matter where you go and they go in the world and in life, there's a line from your heart to their heart that can never be broken. I still have a friendship with Sandman to this day. Every time Rob and I see each other, it's a hug. We shared something. Sabu, I think about him all the time. All the damn time. So that's what WrestleMania meant to me. It was a moment for them."

The ECW Originals Moment Still Stands Out

Striker's story adds another layer to how wrestlers from that ECW era are remembered backstage as much as they are in the ring. His comments about Sabu, Rob Van Dam, The Sandman, and Tommy Dreamer place WrestleMania 23 in a more personal light than a simple match recap, especially with Sabu now gone.

It also fits with Striker's larger reflections on his wrestling career, much like he did in Matt Striker saying early WWE NXT helped him spot future stars. For fans, the takeaway here is less about the result of that WrestleMania match and more about how much acceptance from the ECW Originals meant to him on one of wrestling's biggest nights.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.