Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing absolutely nobody can deny, it’s that Netflix’s ‘Wrestlers’ is a docuseries that explores not just the way this titular sport imitates life but is also an art form in and of itself. After all, revolving around the storied Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), it incorporates both archival footage as well as exclusive interviews to really shine a light upon the operations of this industry. Amongst those to thus feature in this original to help navigate the same was actually firm co-owner Matt Jones — so now, if you simply wish to learn more about him, we’ve got you covered.
Who is Matt Jones?
Although born on August 28, 1978, in Lexington, Kentucky, Matthew “Matt” Harper Jones unfortunately grew up in a rather uncomfortable, unstable environment in Middlesboro owing to his father. The truth is the latter was an alcoholic and sadly ended up killing a few people while driving drunk one night, leading to a lengthy prison sentence plus the family’s social ostracization. The youngster hence grew up hearing countless things regarding his family, only for his mother to gradually turn things around by serving as a practicing Commonwealth Attorney in Bell County.
Therefore, the fact Matt chose to follow in his mother’s footsteps upon graduating from school came as no surprise, especially as he has never once shied away from admitting she was his hero. “I was very shy growing up,” he candidly expressed in this Greg Whiteley-directed series. “I was tall and awkward. I was never good at sports. I was kind of a nerd. I never totally fit in anywhere… I’m kind of a mama’s boy, right?… It was very important to her I do well in school, that I not get in trouble. I always wanted to please her, so I did those things… She did everything because she wanted me to not be affected by what my dad did.”
As a result, Matt graduated from Duke prior to returning to his home state to practice law, but then everything shifted around the mid-2000s as he began to develop a keen interest in all local sports. His growing passion was actually to such an extent he soon ended up launching Kentucky Sports Radio (or KSR) alongside a small network of podcasts to share the latest updates concerning this world. Though he could’ve never imagined his ventures would take off the way they did thanks to his marketing skills as well as the boon of internet, driving him to evolve KSR into a full-fledged radio show under WKJK’s banner by 2010.
Then came Matt’s stint as the host of a nightly news/recap program called ‘Hey Kentucky!’ from September 2016 until July 2019, just for him to gradually find himself dabbling in a few political discussions too. Nevertheless, the former lawyer’s primary focus remained on sports, as made evident by his establishing the Kentucky Sports Bar & Grille (KSBar) in 2019 and buying a stake in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in 2021. The former lawyer actually knew he didn’t have the proper knowledge to run such a business alone, yet his basics from watching wrestling as a kid and genuine desire to help propelled him to take on the role of co-owner.
Where is Matt Jones Now?
From what we can tell, following a tumultuous adjustment period that included more than a few issues with fellow co-owners as well as athletes, it appears as if Matt has truly settled into his role at OVW. In other words, upon learning the hard way he’s not great at day-to-day operations management yet is an undeniable promotor/marketing man; he has established himself in a rather respectable position. In fact, he’s the one who brought up the idea of doing summer tours along with weekly shows and connected with AEW CEO Tony Khan to ensure his talent could get opportunities on a bigger stage too, both of which panned out great.
Thus, today, this Kentucky entrepreneurial investor is leading a very fulfilled, happy life as a radio host, a public speaker, a social bar owner, as well as a now-respected wrestling organization owner. Matt does reportedly still struggle with his epilepsy and anxiety/panic disorder from time to time owing to his job as a public figure, but he maintains he’d rather listen to others talk bad about him for being his authentic self rather than being fake. After all, that’s not the way his mother raised him, plus he himself has grown to understand “the good guys aren’t perfect and the bad guys aren’t 100% bad… I’ll do things that are hopefully really good and then I’ll have moments where I regret something I say… no one’s all good and no one’s all bad.”
