“I bring way too much to this world not to be re-created.” – Matt Riviera
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Aimee Elizabeth & Matt Riviera: client intros
“I got another damn millionairess,” Destin announces as we kick off another edition of The Millionaire Matchmaker. But first, Rachel introduces her client, Matt Riviera, 28, who is “a bit of a wrestler” and owns a sand and gravel company. He’s also deemed as “a real wild child.”
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“His motto: 24/7, 365,” she adds.
“So he’s a player,” Patti Stanger assesses.
Matt introduces himself via video, and his southern accent ties to the fact that he’s from “RussVegas, Arkansas.” I actually did some research on this one and it seems that “RussVegas” refers to a city called Russellville. So there you go.
“I’m the prize bass stud stallion of the natural state,” Matt declares, and it’s at this moment we realize that we’re in for a hell of a Millionaire Matchmaker ride with this one.
When we see a picture of Matt in his wrestling gear, Patti says, “He’s like a big baby in his diaper.” Matt also claims that he’s “been ranked in the top 500 in the world,” but it’s hard to know exactly what that means. “I have yet to find a woman who didn’t find that attractive,” he adds.
He also says that he wants to settle down and have kids. And then in the next breath he talks about how he finds the concept of two women fighting over him to be “entertaining.”
Meanwhile, Destin introduces the twice married Aimee Elizabeth, 49, who is from Las Vegas. “She’s complicated,” he explains. As soon as Aimee says hello via her video intro, Patti cuts in with, “She doesn’t have a stitch of makeup on her.”
Aimee says that she’s a real estate investor with 24 houses and a net worth of $4 million. She also wrote a book called, “Poverty Sucks! How to Become A Self-Made Millionaire.” Hello, product placement!
She also explains that she’s looking for love but “sucks at romance.” Also: no touching whatsoever on the first date, gents.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Aimee Elizabeth & Matt Riviera: Patti meets the clients
Patti drives over to one of LA’s famous Roscoe’s Chicken ‘N Waffles to meet her “good old boy,” Matt.
Matt lets us know that he’s the CEO of Big River Materials, worth $5.5 million, and that’s before you get into his pro wrestling career. He also refers to himself as “a lady’s man, an international playboy, the lover boy, the all-night man,” and it’s hard to tell if he’s hyping up his wrestling persona or stating information that he believes about himself.
On kids: “I bring way too much to this world not to be re-created.”
Patti’s first observation when sitting down with Matt at a restaurant is pretty astute: dudes who for real sleep around don’t go around bragging about it. “I’m not buying what you’re selling,” she adds. Matt equivocates by stating that there’s the “entertainment side of me and then there’s the real me.”
Patti bluntly counters that Matt should leave his “wrestling side in the wrestling ring.”
Matt then describes his dream woman: an Anna Kendrick lookalike who is “a housewife but not lazy.”
Patti’s advice: become an old-fashioned Southern gentleman for the mixer. The use of the word “become” implies it’s a façade but… I guess Patti’s just trying to move merch, if you feel me.
Aimee then visits Patti at The Millionaire’s Club office. Aimee talks about how she leads a pretty boring life, and we see footage of her house in Las Vegas, and I must say it’s just about the most boring wealthy person’s house that I’ve ever seen. Even Aimee’s cat looks bored.
Aimee reemphasizes her “no touching rule” and then also advices the fellas: “If you don’t like to dance, you won’t be getting in my pants.” If that’s confusing, she clarifies in stating that she doesn’t do “touching dancing” and instead dances “freestyle.” So keep a three-foot barrier, gentlemen.
Vegas has a “plethora of losers,” via Aimee, and she’s looking to Patti for help.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Aimee Elizabeth & Matt Riviera: the recruiting session and mixer
Highlights from the recruiting session include:
- Mara the recruiter joins the Patti, Destin, and Rachel. Patti deems her to be “boobalicious.”
- Sisters Esther and Jacqueline audition together, most unusual.
- One of the gals was a “ring girl” as a model, so therefore she’s greenlit as a possible match for Matt.
- A student of economics is told by the team that Matt would “eat you up and spit you out.”
- Paulo, who is Columbian/Sicilian and likes to dance, is deemed perfect for Aimee.
- A dude who works in law enforcement with a mustache is castigated as looking like a “porn star mustache” and/or a “Fu Manchu.” To be fair, it does look pretty bad.
- A guy named Rob who is a carpenter is told by Patti that he’s “Jesus,” presumably because he’s a carpenter.
When Patti brings out her clients at the mixer, I’m reminded that Matt considers himself to be “a top 500” wrestler, which sounds like a made up thing about a not real sport, I’d say?
The mixer has a wrinkle! Aimee both get a large bell, which they get to “ring” when they want to boot the attendees of the mixer. We’ve got a battle royale, people!
As the mingling begins, Matt gets pervy flirty while Aimee asks every single dude, “Do you like to dance?”
At the first “bell ringing” (which sounds very Eyes Wide Shut-ish, I guess), Patti asks her clients to kick some people out, before forcing them to explain why right in front of the person who got booted. That’s just sad. As more eliminations go on, it starts to feel like this is an episode of Elimidate.
Meanwhile, Aimee can’t stop telling the dudes about how much she loves to “freestyle” dance, and then mentions that she’s into the “stripper strut.”
After multiple bell ringing rounds, Matt ends up with Shelise and Vanessa for the mini-date round while Paulo and Ken are the semi-finalists for Aimee.
During the mini-dates, it’s noticeable that Matt drops the “showy wrestler Matt” mode and comes across as somewhat more normal and relatable, while it’s clear that Aimee is vetting her potential dates for someone that she could potentially have a serious relationship with.
For the “master date” round, Aimee went with the suave but much younger Paulo while Matt opted for Shelise because she’s beautiful and “somebody mom would like.”
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Aimee Elizabeth & Matt Riviera: Aimee and Paulo’s first date
Paulo sets up a date for the couple to have a salsa dancing lesson. Aimee is immediately impressed with how Paulo paid attention to her interests, so plus one for Paulo there.
Aimee is nervous about such a “touchy feely dance” but she winds up feeling relaxed and having a good time. It helps that Paulo is very comfortable in his own skin and even though he’s not a natural dancer, he’s very relaxed and comfortable and therefore helped to make it a successful date.
The couple then dresses up elegantly for dinner at Sadie LA, where the chatter involves their interests and then gets a little bit deeper in terms of their ideal places they’d like to live. Aimee calls herself a “desert rat” in terms of enjoying living in Vegas, and then it was a little hard to tell where things landed in the end based on the editing.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Aimee Elizabeth & Matt Riviera: Matt and Shelise’s first date
Matt wants to show Shelise how out of his comfort zone he can get, and he’s not joking (this time): he not only takes her for a yoga lesson at a place with the new age-y name Creative Chakra Spa, but makes the experience romantic by laying out a heart made out of little chocolates when she enters the room. I found myself being genuinely impressed by how unlike his annoying “top 500 wrestler” guy persona he comes across here.
It helps too that both are equally inexperienced at doing yoga. However, Shelise seemed to be a natural while Matt has a rough time with it (and that part I can certainly relate to).
After the lesson, they relaxed with strawberry lemonade and more candy and seemed to have a genuine rapport. They’re both outdoorsy too, and Matt relayed that he’d be very comfortable taking her to meet his family.
Dinner is at L.A. Farm , and the banter between the two feels like the two are genuinely interested in each other. Things even go to the place where Matt takes the “dare” to talk to Shelise’s dad on the phone during the date. Matt and Poppa Shelise even bond over their shared love of hunting and fishing over the course of their phone call. Shelise seems impressed by Matt overall, and I was surprised by how much I was rooting for the two crazy kids at the end.
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Aimee Elizabeth & Matt Riviera: post-dates upshot
Patti and Destin call Paulo first, who relayed that he never “sensed any issues with the touching” when it came to Aimee.” We also learn that the date ended with a kiss on the cheek… which leads to Paulo revealing that “there’s just I think a few too many difference there.” In other words: welcome to the Friend Zone, where freelance dancing reigns.
In the office, Aimee talks about how she’s now more comfortable with touching generally on an initial date, and that she’s grateful to Patti for her help.
Rachel and Patti then call Shelise, who says that things went so well with Matt that she already has plans to fly out to Arkansas to visit him. In the office, Patti talks about how blown away by how Matt was able to turn off his “lover boy” side and now is in Southern Gentleman mode. And it’s hard to disagree based upon what we’ve seen
The end of episode captions then tell us: “Aimee and Paulo never went out again. She’s still looking for a salsa partner to go on a second date with.” And: “Matt and Shelise have made plans to see each other again but he’s still trying to wrestle that hunting invitation out of Shelise’s father.”
The Millionaire Matchmaker, Aimee Elizabeth & Matt Riviera: where are they now?
I was able to track down both clients on the web, not that it revealed much. Aimee Elizabeth has a presence on Twitter/X that touts herself as “Best Selling Author of Poverty Sucks! How to Become a Self-Made Millionaire. A homeless teenager who retired at 38, & how you can too!” There’s also a link to her personal website… but it’s a broken link.
Matt Riviera has a private account on Instagram, but we’re able to see that he touts himself as such things as a former pro wrestler, Christian, and “tactical training.”
Some stats and info about The Millionaire Matchmaker – Aimee Elizabeth & Matt Riviera (“The Dancer and the Wrestler”)
TV SHOW – The Millionaire Matchmaker
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 6, Episode 6
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Bravo
AIR DATE – February 19th, 2013
GENRE – Reality TV, Dating Shows, Trashtastic TV
STARS – Patti Stanger, Destin Pfaff, Rachel Federoff, Aimee Elizabeth, Matt Riviera
GOOGLE PLAY DESCRIPTION – Matt Riviera is 28, owns a sand and gravel company, but is probably best known in his Arkansas hometown for not only being a fan of Professional Wrestling, but for actually doing it! Patti, however, immediately recognizes that the wild child is a front for a real Southern Gentleman with a good heart. Aimee Elizabeth is a self-made millionaire and dance enthusiast who has done everything from buying and selling real-estate to penning a best-selling book, but has had less success with love. Patti realizes Aimee’s problems stem from control issues. Can Patti get Aimee to let go of control long enough to be open to love?