Meech Golden has navigated his way up the talent management ladder, and now works with a growing stable of wrestles to build his own company. After working with Michael Strahan’s SMAC (Sports, Media and Culture), Golden left the agency in 2021 to launch Good Gold Agency. An accomplished talent manager in the space, Golden has worked with LeBron James’ Spring Hill Company, ESPN and he even garnered an Emmy nomination for his work on The Cost of Winning.
“Good Gold was birthed through pressure and choosing one’s path to pave a new way and build space for community,” reads the company website.
“Our primary focus is telling cultural stories thoughtfully and meaningfully in an innovative way by creating a platform for new storytellers to have their voices uplifted and heard.”
Golden’s passion for pro wrestling helped shape his company, with many clients such as The Bella Twins, Saraya, Rene Paquette and Bryan Danielson, coming from the wrestling world. And as WWE and AEW continue to scratch and claw their way toward mainstream prominence, high-profile sponsorship deals for wrestlers will be a pivotal.
Golden sat down for an exclusive interview with Forbes about his journey, how brands view pro wrestling and the many opportunities to pair wrestlers with lucrative sponsorships.
ALFRED KONUWA: Let’s start by talking about how you made the transition from working in talent management to founding your own talent management company.
MEECH GOLDEN: It’s actually interesting, growing up a wrestling fan during the Attitude Era. I was a Big Shawn Michaels fan, Stone Cold, The Rock. That stuff was great. That was a great era. I moved to New York in 2010 to initially to get into artist management. I worked my way around and found myself working for a company called SMAC Entertainment. SMAC Entertainment is a talent management production company owned by Constance Schwartz-Morini and Michael Strahan. And it was there where I really developed and honed in on my skills as both a manager and then ultimately a producer.
We worked with a number of different talents over there. I was Deion Sanders’ day-to-day manager for four-and-a-half years. I worked with the actor Omari Hardwick and for about a year or so, I had the pleasure of working with the Bellas who we managed.
In September 2021, I decided to leave SMAC and go off and do my own thing which has turned into Good Gold Agency. Through my relationship with Brie and Nikki, I was able to link up with Bryan Danielson. He was in the middle of figuring out what was gonna be next for him. Ultimately, he ended up going with AEW, and it was funny because I had the initial conversation with Brie about it. I was like ‘we’d love the opportunity and I think I could do a lot of great things with him outside the ring.’
Then he debuts on like September 5th. Mind you, my last day was the third. He comes out and debuts. So I’m in a car with a buddy and I’m probably in New York somewhere, and I get the text and they’re like Bryan Danielson debuts. And I’m crushed, because I’m thinking that goes my chance. I’m probably going to get that anymore. But that Monday, I was on the phone with him and then the next week we were rocking and rolling. I was there with him at the big show at Arthur Ashe Stadium. That led to ultimately getting introduced by Brie again to Saraya. And then Saraya ultimately introduced me to Renee Paquette.
AK: How did you cultivate your relationship with the Bellas to where they were able to trust you enough to introduce you to some of these other high-profile wrestling clients?
MG: That’s a great question. I think first and foremost, lead with honesty. I ask questions, because I want to get to know you as my client. At the end of the day, you hired me, you brought me on board. So it’s my job to be of service to you and your goals and the things that you want, and then advise you in areas in which strategically, we need to be making these decisions to put us in this position, which is ultimately the goals that you set forth.
We don’t have to be best friends, but I do know what’s going on with you on the daily, so that I can know if you’re making a decision based on your emotions and not necessarily based on what’s the best course of action for you in a particular situation. So with the Bellas, in particular, were at a very intricate point in their careers and in navigating that space.
AK: Talk about some of your plans and ideas that you’ve had in terms of representation, which I know is part of the mission statement of Good Gold Agency.
MG: It’s funny, because I can probably count on my hand the amount of African-American wrestlers that I remember growing up. I went through an era where I wanted to go to wrestling school. I think I wanted to give this a shot. It was literally a thought in my head.
I was transitioning out of football. I was like, hey, what if I do this? And to be looking around, especially like the AEW landscape and see so many African Americans, like getting TV time, getting these opportunities. I think it’s incredible.
A guy like Ricky Starks, who is just probably scratching the surface of what he can and will ultimately become. Lee Moriarty and there’s so many other guys that I get to speak to backstage, I’m, I’m so happy for them all. And even like Sonny Kiss man, like, like, are you kidding me? Like the way in which we are getting opportunities now it’s just nothing short of incredible.
The biggest thing that I want to focus on this year is now showing brands, and specifically companies outside of the rest of the industry, just how important these superstars are to their fans and how loyal those fan bases are. And to show them that it will actually translate much more than using this football player, or this basketball player, or this baseball player. But when they take those jerseys off, nobody cares.
AK: What are some examples of strategies you’ve had to pair your clients with certain brands?
MG: So, for instance, with Bryan, you know, a lot of the work that I do with Bryan is in the environmental space. And so, you know, for me, that was a relatively newer space. I come from a background of working with the bigger PepsiCo’s
PEP
With someone like Saraya obviously, there’s cosmetics there’s fragrances. The same way that you’re using a Lady Gaga or Natalie Portman in those ads, you could be using a Saraya and legitimately be crossing over because obviously she had the film, Fighting with My Family, which gave her some huge crossover appeal in my personal opinion.
But then you’re talking about somebody that’s gonna actively activate 6.1 million people on Instagram. No disrespect to any of the other actresses and actresses that I named or that I didn’t name, but I can guarantee you that they can’t activate their audiences in the way that these wrestlers can.
AK: You said something very interesting that I completely connect with in terms of a lot of these brands not understanding wrestling. There’s a lot of misinformation about what wrestlers are. People are constantly surprised by their massive followings. What do you find is the most consistent things that brands get wrong about pro wrestling?
MG: Probably the number one thing that most of the people say, “it’s fake.” I’m like, define “fake” for me. And I know that when I have that conversation with people, I tend to get a little bit feisty about it. Because no matter which company you’re looking at, if you look at WWE, they go, what, over 200 days a year? I’m talking about banging, you know what I mean? Jumping off of ladders and getting hit with steel chairs and performing at the highest possible level, night in and night out.
Guys in the NFL don’t do that. They have 17 weeks that they have to perform. 17 weeks, right? So imagine the grit and grind of their game, times 240, the impact that that has on your body, right? The time being away from your family. It’s nothing short of amazing what these people are able to do. Some more of the the indie-style wrestling can be a little bit more technical, but it also can be a little bit more high-flying and acrobatic in a lot of ways. To call that fake is like the biggest slap in the face.
I think that’s the part that brands don’t understand. There is an element of it that is scripted. At the same time, fans are still buying into it. Why is that? Think about that. As fans, we don’t know which way a match is gonna swing. We oftentimes hope, like back when Bryan Danielson was there and fans literally took over. They were like, ‘nope, he’s our guy.’
This is a multi-billion-dollar organization, and the people have spoken and said ‘no. Whomever you put in front, if it’s not this man, we’re not going to accept it. It’s not gonna work.’ You’ve got to change your marketing materials, you’ve got to change your storyline, be creative. It’s just insane. So I think that’s probably the biggest thing for me, is to eliminate the sort of fake POV that people have and helping them understand just how real it actually is and why it’s important.
AK: I’ve always felt that the scripted nature of pro wrestling is actually what makes it endearing, much like the critically acclaimed dramatic TV shows we see on HBO. At the same time, for the sake of advertising and partnerships, you kind of have to pitch it like a sport.
MG: Absolutely. And I think that that’s the other thing, right? I don’t know that brands necessarily look at it like a product. There’re some circles that you’ll talk to where the NFL, the teams. They’re looked at as products. You are a product of this city, and this team and this franchise. And I don’t think that necessarily, like the Wrestling program is always looked at like that unless, there’s a huge crossover appeal.
There’s certain guys that have just surpassed all levels of expectation for what a sports entertainer supposed to look like. Dwayne Johnson obviously, but even a guy like the Undertaker. For as big and as iconic and legendary as the Undertaker is, there are certain rooms that he’ll walk into and people will genuinely not know who he is.
I don’t understand that. I don’t understand why he wasn’t positioned in a way where he was doing the general commercials with Shaq. Or he wasn’t getting the TV opportunity. And maybe he didn’t want them. Let me not speak on behalf of him or his representation or anything. Maybe those are not things that he wanted. But I know that those things would definitely be there for him.
I would love to see guys to get their moment. Like a guy like MJF, right? You look at MJF, he is a star. He gets it on every single level. He gets the intellect of professional wrestling. He gets the business of professional wrestling. He gets the business outside of professional wrestling. He knows his positioning in the world outside of professional wrestling. And he’s doing and he’s making all of the moves and shout out to his team because they’re putting him in situations where he’s able to really capitalize on this character that he’s built. And we will see where that ultimately takes him in the future. And I hope that more guys get those sorts of opportunities and help to continue to change that narrative.
If you see a Drake concert, and you fill that exact same stadium with fans of professional wrestling. And I guarantee that the fans of professional wrestling are screaming “Judas” louder for Jericho than they’re screaming, starting from the bottom for Drake.
AK: Do you see any voids or opportunities in the content creation space that maybe wrestling should take more advantage of?
MG: I think Renee Paquette is a trailblazer, first and foremost, but she’s so creative and it’s not just limited to wrestling. Opportunities, like late night talk shows and stuff like that. Why can’t Renee be like a Chelsea Handler or Samantha Bee?
Why can’t she have those opportunities and cater to this niche audience? And bring them in through some more popular pop culture like subjects and show people just how similar and how regular and ordinary wrestlers are. I’ve heard Bryan say this in an interview once that you had to be a little bit weird to be a wrestler. But weird is cool. Nobody wants to fit into these bubbles and these boxes everywhere they go. And so if this thing is weird and cool, then it should have its own opportunity that tell its own stories.
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