We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Max Zaleski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Max below.

Alright, Max thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?

When I was breaking into wrestling, roughly 2012, it was more or less as a fan. There wasn’t a lot going on in Washington State (where I live) to get involved. I went to college to become an interpreter for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing and, given my love of professional wrestling, I noticed that DVDs and streams of wrestling content didn’t have subtitles / captions. So, I started a petition called “Wrestling with Subtitles” and eventually got the WWE and TNA / Impact Wrestling to put captions on their physical releases. By the time 2016 rolled around, streams also had live captions. This was a huge achievement and afforded me a lot of contacts and knowledge of social media in the burgeoning days social media marketing (2012-2014). I started working with a local Seattle company called 3-2-1 BATTLE! and applied my knowledge to grow their social media by 10-12x and got us signed on to be an official Twitch partner in 2016 to do live streaming – this was also during the time that Twitch was branching out for several different things and trying to do more than just gaming. Around this time I was handed an envelope and it had $40 in it. Everyone at the company made the same amount per show and I was paid for 2 shows for the first time in 12-14 months. I promptly spent it on a late night outing at a local burger spot with some friends and knew that wrestling was going to be a part of my life for the rest of my life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Funnily enough, outside of the Wrestling with Subtitles stuff in 2012, I trained to be a wrestler in Arlington, Washington in 2007-2008 but was duped by the trainer. When I started breaking into the industry ~4 years later, I asked around to see if anyone knew who “John” was but no one did. I did, however, know how to run the ropes and take a ‘bump’ – so I was already off to the races by the time I started training with the 3-2-1 BATTLE! crew in 2016.

As for general social media management, while I haven’t been super active in that medium or accepting new clients in a few years, it all stemmed from being reached out to by WWE in Nov/Dec 2016, right around the time that the 3-2-1 BATTLE! stuff was kicking off. They had my name from when I was doing the Wrestling with Subtitles adventure and then saw the progress that was being made on social media in our region in terms of wrestling. However, it wasn’t the right time and they wanted me to step back from other wrestling companies if I started working with them – and they were, at the time, only going to have me do social media for West Coast WWE events. Around that time, I started helping out independent wrestlers, doing both solo assistance and seminars, and that branched out into helping other companies with their social media, including PCW Ultra. Additionally, I started helping out non-wrestling ventures such as TTRPG companies such as Abby Normal and Ulisses Spiel in 2015 (The Dark Eye).

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Not everyone is your friend & not everyone is going to like you. Not only is that super important in wrestling and other entertainment ventures, but it’s important in general. You’d get 50 positive affirmations on something but the 1 person who had a negative comment is the thing you dwell on – it’s maddening. I’ve been a lot better about it in the recent past, but I remember the first couple of events I worked for 3-2-1 BATTLE!, I made a typo on the name of a wrestler and I caught it but it was live for… 15 seconds? It was seen by the promoter and I had just gotten involved, so it was a big deal to me – and from there, I believe that some people just didn’t see the use in someone like me being involved with the company. Even after getting partnered with Twitch, I feel there was a lot of hesitation for having me be involved AND still training to be a wrestler.

This almost doubled or tripled when I started my own wrestling company in 2018. I had gotten injured and was unable to continue my want to be a pro wrestler, so I took a step behind the curtain in my own venture. This was seen as someone who was young in the business and getting in over their head. And maybe, while sometimes a little true, I wouldn’t trade that time for anything. I learned very, very quickly that people will buddy up just because you have a platform and they want a payday – which, in the end, is fine. It’s a business. But talking out of both sides of your mouth is a nasty habit – and one that I have tried very hard to remove from my personality since starting up the wrestling company in 2018 – but we all do it to some extent. It’s the nature of the business at times.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Leave Wrestling Better Than When I Got Into It. There’s a phrase in wrestling that “wrestling doesn’t owe you anything.” It will be here after you as it was before you. However, in our region, I’d like to think that my involvement, and the involvement of the people I (and the companies I’ve been involved with) have helped, is a positive.

Now, with a different venture coming along, I’ve turned all of my knowledge of wrestling, the local region, and seeing the views of people around me – my endgoal for wrestling has slowly started coming to fruition. It’s a no-ring, no rules event that features music and other entertainment performances and solely supporting LGBTQ+ causes. Every single penny that Unconfined Fight Offerings (UFO) brings in above the cost of the event goes to charity. We had our first successful event in December 2024 and have plans for the rest of 2025, with Feb 22 hosting “Abduction” live in Everett, Washington.

My hope is that, with my knowledge and experience, if we’re able to help a few people along the way feel more comfortable in their skin and help provide to a good charity, then I have reached my goal. I have left wrestling better than when I found it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ufo_pnw/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UFO.PNW
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxazaleski/
• Twitter: https://bsky.app/profile/maxinthepnw.bsky.social

Image Credits

Max Zaleski