Boca Raton Championship Wrestling founder Matthew Maschler knew that the state of Florida had been a hotbed for the industry years prior to his journey in professional wrestling promotion. Before he started BRCW, Maschler was enamored with the black and gold era of WWE “NXT.”
In an interview with FightsATW ahead of BRCW’s “Birthday Bash” event on March 1, Maschler recalled seeing top international stars share the ring in WWE’s third brand.
“There were a lot of things going on at once,” Maschler said. “I’m a wrestling fan, and by that I mean NXT. Living in Florida, we had a lot of access to NXT, and it was really an amazing era of NXT watching Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Hideo Itami, Shinsuke Nakamura come into WWE and spend some time in NXT before being called up to the main roster.”
Maschler understood that it wouldn’t be long before the star power within “NXT” would force the brand to hold shows at bigger venues.
“While that was happening, I was pigging out at the buffet, I like to say,” Maschler recalled. “My wife would complain, and I’d say, ‘This is temporary. We’re in a moment here, and this isn’t gonna last,’ and we’re talking about seeing Adam Cole and Undisputed Era in a gymnasium before NXT turned from minor league to the third brand of WWE.”
Maschler quickly became familiar with Coastal Championship Wrestling. He admittedly wasn’t a fan of CCW, but he got in touch with the promotion’s owner, Nelio Costa. Soon after, BRCW would come to fruition.
“We got the idea; can I book a show? So, it’s a bought show. He doesn’t have to go out and promote. I hired CCW to do a show, and we kind of co-promoted it. My brand is called Matthew Mania, and a lot of things and events that I would do, I would do under the Matthew Mania brand, wrestling or not wrestling.”
While CCW wasn’t Maschler’s cup of tea, he eventually gained respect for the wrestlers in the promotion. Maschler mentioned Cha Cha Charlie, Skitz, and Ariel Levy as some of the performers who he enjoyed working with early on.
After a successful debut show for BRCW in 2022, Maschler kept the train going. He soon realized a decision needed to be made about the future of his wrestling shows. “We decided to continue doing it on an ongoing basis and in some ways it’s a separate promotion doing four or five shows a year, but in some ways, as a sister promotion to CCW, it’s not even a separate promotion,” Maschler said.
With a firm partnership in place with CCW, Maschler believed that focusing solely on holding shows in Boca Raton was the direction to go in.
“I wanted it to be very clear that I’m not worldwide,” Maschler said. “I don’t have an intention to expand, and I couldn’t even if I wanted to because then I would compete with CCW. If I expand to the entire state of Florida, I’m competing with CCW. To the extent I want to expand, I want to expand it through CCW, not BRCW.”
Maschler did reveal that BRCW will be in Las Vegas during “WrestleMania” weekend since CCW will be in town this April. BRCW’s “Vegas Vacation” event will be held inside the Future Stars of Wrestling Dojo on April 15.
BRCW’s top champion is Steve Maclin, who is currently involved in a “firing” angle in TNA Wrestling. Maclin will be defending the BRCW Championship against Matt Taven at “Birthday Bash.” Maschler witnessed Maclin perform dating back to his “NXT” days. Maschler admits he likes to boo Maclin. Just don’t expect him to try to ruffle any feathers.
“When he was Steve Cutler in NXT, I watched people boo the [expletive] out of him,” Maschler said. “I watched little kids boo the [expletive] out of him, I watched old ladies boo the [expletive] out of him. I enjoyed booing Steve Cutler more than I enjoyed watching other matches.
“You won’t catch me wearing my Maclin sucks shirt to the show because as a promoter I don’t want to get involved in the storyline, and no matter how bad he sucks, I don’t want to end up being in the ring with him. But you will catch me walking around the mall in my Maclin sucks shirt like a coward.”
Maschler started BRCW in May 2022, and he is approaching the promotion’s four-year anniversary. Given his experience, Maschler shared some advice for those who are looking to start a wrestling company in 2026 and beyond.
“Beware of your competition,” Maschler said. “If you’re looking to start a promotion in Florida, I would say don’t. CCW has got the area covered, and they really are a fantastic organization. What happens is every promoter, they have a reason or a vision, and my vision for Boca Raton Championship Wrestling is family-friendly, and that’s generally what I don’t like about indie wrestling. Sometimes it can be too bloody or extreme.”
Outside of special occasions, Maschler wants BRCW to remain local. While he plans to stay in Boca Raton, Maschler feels there’s a big step he can take to ensure the future of BRCW looks bright.
“If you ask me what the future is, I have to talk about the deficiencies,” Maschler admitted. “The deficiencies I have is storytelling outside of the live events. If you buy a ticket and come to my live show, you’re going to have an amazing experience. I really want to grow the online presence of YouTube, the stream, the storytelling.”
As a father, Maschler is thrilled seeing children enjoy their time during a wrestling show. It’s a big reason why BRCW is family friendly. The Matthew Mania head honcho is glad that his shows allow kids to be themselves.
“There’s something that a child at a wrestling show can do that they can’t do anywhere else in their life,” Maschler said. ”There’s no other time they can jump out of their seat and yell and scream. Even at a football or a baseball game, there’s some decorum. At a baseball game, you go and sit down and be scolded for reacting. At wrestling shows, they’re up, they’re out of their seats, they’re cheering, they’re booing. There’s no other time that a kid can do that, and those are the moments that I just love.”
Maschler also likes seeing adult fans turn back the clock when they’re able to meet legends from their youth during BRCW events.
“On the flip side, I love seeing it in adults,” Maschler said. “I love seeing an adult either turn into a little kid in front of my eyes because they just met Brutus Beefcake or ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan and they turn into a 12-year-old version of themselves watching wrestling in their mom’s basement, or losing themselves in the matches and the stories I create.”
Both adults and children will pack the VIP Ballroom at CBI for BRCW “Birthday Bash” on March 1. In addition to the aforementioned Maclin vs. Taven match, there will be a slew of familiar names set to perform on the card. The likes of former WWE star Matt Riddle, AJ Francis, and The Righteous will also be in action.
Here’s a look at the BRCW “Birthday Bash” card:
- Steve Maclin (c) vs. Matt Taven – for the BRCW Championship
- Stallion Rogers vs. Matt Riddle
- Sons of Boca vs. The Righteous
- Bull James and “Main Event Monster” Fulton vs. Kerry Morton and “Big Trouble” Ben
- Bishop
- A.J. Francis and Big Tito Lincoln vs. Lakay and Cha Cha Charlie
- “Kid Chocolate” Mo Jabari (c) vs. Sean Maluta – for the Jericho Cruise Oceanic Championship
- A Whole Lotta Women Battle Royale
TNA Wrestling commentator Matthew Rehwoldt will be calling the action along with Val Capone and Matthew Maschler. Brutus Beefcake, Emme Landau, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Lloyd Anoa’i are also scheduled to make appearances.
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