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Matt Riviera
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Matt Riviera (born May 18, 1983, in Russellville, AR) is an American professional wrestler, actor, movie producer, and Reality TV star. As a wrestler, Riviera (as of August 2009) is the PWA Heavyweight Champion, and one-half of the PWA Tag Team Champions. Riviera began appearing on VH1's reality show, Megan Wants a Millionaire in August 2009, in which he and 16 other millionaire bachelors vied for the heart of reality TV star and model Megan Hauserman. Early Life Riviera was born in Russellville, Arkansas on May 18, 1983. "I grew up on a big hill. I didn't have many neighbor kids to play with. I spent my summers working," Riviera has said about his childhood. Ironically, Riviera had absolutely no interest in professional wrestling until he was 12 years old, when he came upon an episode of "WCW Worldwide" on television. After seeing Dick Slater do a swinging neckbreaker, Riviera was hooked. He got into the wrestling business at age 15, helping to create the programs that were sold at Inter-Continental Pro Wrestling venues. His participation in the creation of the programs included writing articles and taking photos. At age 17, Riviera, after meeting legendary wrestler/promoter/trainer Bill Ash, then began to assist in the promotion of wrestling events. Riviera has called Ash his wrestling mentor. College and Beginning of Wrestling Career Riviera is a 2006 graduate of Harding University (Searcy, AR) with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. Riviera, his appetite for pro wrestling whetted by his involvement as a teenager with creating programs and dabbling in promoting, attended wrestling school on three different occasions, starting when he was 15 years old. He quit each time, disillusioned by the physicality. But at age 21, Riviera stuck with it and trained for six months before attending wrestling school once again for about four months.<ref name="blogs.three8six.com"/> His first pro match was in August 2001. Wrestling Character, Style Riviera's persona has been described as that of a "charismatic old-school Southern gentleman with a wild side." Riviera once said that he's an "old school, pretty boy, party guy but you don't want to piss him off either. He talks a lot, but when a man's down he kicks 'em. I've never hurt anybody in the ring (either)."<ref name="blogs.three8six.com"/> In the ring, his style has been compared to that of either William Regal or Buddy Landel, or even a combination of the two. Movie Producing, Acting Riviera executive produced and acted in "Blood Forest", a movie about the legend of Bigfoot. In it, Riviera plays a sheriff's deputy who tries to take over a town. The movie was released in August 2009. The movie was filmed in Arkansas, and has been described as similar to Sylvester Stallone's "First Blood", only with Bigfoot in the Rambo role. == "Megan Wants a Millionaire" == In February 2009, Riviera and 16 other millionaire bachelors taped episodes for the VH1 reality show, Megan Wants a Millionaire, which debuted in August 2009. The show revolved around the efforts of the millionaires to win the heart of reality TV star and former model Megan Hauserman. All 17 men lived in the same house over a period of weeks, with Hauserman eliminating men weekly, dwindling the total down to one man as "the winner." Riviera considered the experience on "Millionaire" to be a tremendous one, and said that his experience as a pro wrestler/entertainer helped him greatly in preparing for the VH1 show. As for how he qualified as being a legitimate millionaire, Riviera said that he was successful in certain investments, including those in real estate. "I've learned not to put all of your eggs in one basket," he said. <ref name="blogs.three8six.com"/> 
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