By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Matt Goldberg's Crash Collision Wrestling animated videos have garnered him a loyal fan base - including Eric Bischoff.

Action figures beware - they’re coming. Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan are on their way to CCW.

CCW – Crash Collision Wrestling - is the brainchild of grad school student Matt Goldberg. He uses stop-motion animation to bring to life matches between action figures from various TNA and WWE toy lines.




Goldberg, 22, has been collecting wrestling figures since the age of 4, and making videos using wrestling toys since he was a junior high student.

“My dad got me into wrestling when I was little, so my parents and grandparents would buy me figures from time to time,” Goldberg said in an interview with PWTorch.com. “I was inspired in middle school in an after school club. I learned how to make stop-motion animated videos and I thought it would be awesome to bring my toys to life, so I went home and started making videos as a hobby. Eventually I was inspired to try wrestling animations and they just took off, creating my large fan base today.”

Goldberg isn’t exaggerating when he says he has a large fan base. Many of his videos on YouTube have received more than 100,000 views, and fans are constantly asking for more.

“I get asked daily when my next video is coming out, and this has gone on for years,” Goldberg said. “I never imagined my hobby would attract such a large audience. I ended up making a separate Facebook (account) just to interact with them.”

Among those who have reached out to Goldberg is a certain well-known wrestling executive.

“The craziest feedback was when Eric Bischoff emailed me after coming across the videos when I was 17 in 2008,” Goldberg recalled. “He loved my work. I, of course, thought someone was playing a prank on me, but it was him.”

Goldberg and Bischoff struck up a friendship. Coincidentally, Goldberg was going to film school in Tampa and doing some animation for Jakks Pacific when Bischoff and Hulk Hogan made the jump to TNA in nearby Orlando.

Goldberg’s relationship with Bischoff and the skills he obtained in film school opened doors for the young filmmaker. He animated videos using TNA figures from Jakks, and made two short live-action documentaries with Lisa Marie Varon (Tara, Victoria) and Elijah Burke, a/k/a D’Angelo Dinero that went to the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner in 2012 and 2013.

“How’s that for a crazy story from this little hobby?” Goldberg laughed. “I’m very, very grateful for all of it. Eric is like my mentor, who I still keep in touch with.”

Bischoff denied an interview request from PWTorch.com, stating that he wasn’t doing any wrestling-related interviews at the time of this article.

Goldberg’s growth as a filmmaker and an artist is evident in his work. From his earliest work through “Crash Collision Wrestling Episode 4 (Part 1),” Goldberg’s animation has gotten crisper, and the level of detail has increased tremendously.

Fans are especially fond of Goldberg’s take on the Wyatt Family vignettes that began airing on WWE programming earlier this year. For his video, Goldberg added clothing to wrestling figures who looked like the real-life Wyatts: a Mattel Mike Knox became Bray Wyatt, a Jakks Bruiser Brody was transformed into Luke Harper and a Jakks Rory McCallister was used to create Erick Rowan.
Goldberg interspersed animated action figure shots with actual live action shots from the original vignettes.

“I love the Wyatts and I’m extremely anxious for their figures to release,” Goldberg said. “I enjoy all my videos, but there are times I really impress myself, such as the Wyatts.”

Stop-motion animation is known as a very tedious, time-consuming process that requires very precise movements and shots. Goldberg’s videos take different lengths of time to complete, depending upon how much animation is required.

“The Wyatt video didn't take too long, since I didn't animate like I normally do,” Goldberg said. “I think designing my customs of them took the longest, honestly. Otherwise, I shot all the footage in a few hours time.”

More time consuming has been part 2 of “Crash Collision Wrestling Episode 4,” which Goldberg is working on now. That video will feature an animated match between C.M. Punk and Ted DiBiase, Jr. for the Intercontinental Title.

“People of all ages really enjoy them, so I continue to make them when I'm home from grad school,” Goldberg said. “It's just so surreal to see your work in such high demand.”




Matt Goldberg can be contacted at:

- YouTube.com/mbg1211
- Facebook.com/MBGFilms
- Facebook.com/CrashCollisionWrestling
- Twitter.com/MBGFilms
- Twitter.com/WWETNAfigures
- On IMDB
- CrashCollisionWrestling.mfbiz.com

PWTorch Collectibles Specialist Michael Moore can be reached at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com .

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