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The saying, “never meet your heroes” has been a saying used to prevent people from having high expectations of those they look up to or idolize.
For pro wrestling podcaster Dwayne Swayze, the phrase couldn’t have been more wrong.
Swayze teamed up with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star MVP to create the “Marking out with MVP and Dwayne Swayze” podcast focused on allowing wrestling fans to listen to in-depth interviews with their favorite stars from all wrestling backgrounds.
AEW STAR MVP BRINGS PRO Wrestling expertise and authenticity to BZZR
MVP, left, and Dwayne Swayze’s podcast partnered with BZZR. (Getty Images/Provided to Pakinomist Digital)
As podcast partners with BZZR, Swayze shared with Pakinomist Digital the story of how he got involved with MVP in the first place. He said he saw MVP at WrestleMania 25 in a Money in the Bank Ladder Match, and days later the professional wrestler was in his studio trying to record his own music for his entrance theme.
“All of a sudden, six months after being at WrestleMania 25, my favorite wrestler walks right in. I couldn’t believe it. And nobody knew how much of a wrestling fan I was, but I refused to go to the studio on Mondays or Fridays for ‘Raw,’ and there might even have been a Thursday then, for ‘SmackDown.’ relationship, and the very first song he ever put out, I was just sitting in the back of the studio watching my favorite wrestler and he was rapping. He asked for some tips every now and then. And I don’t know him enough to say anything because I’m like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe you’re here’. And he ends with this song – two verses. And he looks over at me and says, ‘Hey, you, do you want to do the second verse?’ And I say, “Of course, of course I do.”
“And ever since then we’ve been in the studio and we’ve been chatting, I’d always ask a wrestling-related question, being the big fan that I am. Something like, ‘OK, at Royal Rumble 2008, you’re wrestling Ric Flair, he’s on retirement, you, Mr. guys are in Madison Square Garden, it was reported that he had trust issues, what did you say to him in the ring right before the bell rang?’ And he would tell me, and that’s what would go on for 15 years. And in October 2024, I asked him a question and his answer to me was, “This should be a show.” … But that’s how we got here.”
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MVP, Dwayne Swayze and Kayla Becker have all partnered with sports-focused social media platform BZZR. (BZZR)
Swayze said BZZR offers sports fans a break from the regular noise they’d see on the major social media platforms, adding that BZZR removes the noise and keeps it sports-focused.
“BZZR launched with I think 10,000 videos, 500 verified creators — Josh Pate (college football), Brett Kollmann (NFL), of course, Kayla Becker hosting everything, Kenny Beecham and the joy of basketball with the NBA,” he said. “Not only the creators, there are also podcasts. And out of the more than 500 creators that exist, you get sports across the landscape with only top quality sports across the landscape.
“No baiting, you’re not going to find the little things. If you compare to Twitter/X, the people you follow on your timeline, that’s not all you see. You end up seeing some things you didn’t necessarily sign up for, and with BZZR, you’re only going to see sports.”
Of course pro wrestling will be the theme of “Marking Out”.
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WWE and AEW own the mainstream conversation when it comes to pro wrestling – at least in North America, if not the world.
Swayze spoke to Pakinomist Digital about some of the good things he’s seen at both companies.
“Some of the good things that I see … Well, outside of my ‘tribal chief’ (Roman governments), you’ve got to give him credit, there’s obviously a big youth movement,” he said. “In WWE, I love watching Bron Breaker, Je’Von Evans, Sol Ruca. AEW, ‘where the best wrestle’, of course, where MVP is right now. I really like Kyle Fletcher, Megan Bayne is amazing, Kevin Knight. I love seeing the changes in how things were in the past and how they are now.
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“These guys have so much more pressure on them than the stars of yesterday. I kind of compare it to Michael Jordan and LeBron James. They have to live in the era of social media and us as fans, the expectation is to see our star — we see them on television, we see them on their social media, a dirt can pull them up, there are podcasts. They just do so much, but they still perform. Entertain us. They put themselves out there. As a fan, I absolutely appreciate that.
