Posts Tagged ‘Matt Morgan’

Vince McMahon Originally Wanted Brock Lesnar To Assume Failed Gimmick Of Ex WWE Star

Matt Morgan has revealed that his horrible stuttering gimmick was originally meant for The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar.

The wrestler-turned-politician recently had an interview with Jonathan Coachman on his YouTube channel. They talked about things such as Morgan’s journey to sobriety, his time in WWE and TNA, and more.

During the interview, the 48-year-old recalled the stuttering gimmick given to him back in 2005. He told the story of Vince McMahon pitching the gimmick and his initial reaction to it:

“He goes, ‘Could you imagine? You, six feet, whatever you are, six ten, six eleven, you’ve all these physical, body perfections, and you have that Achilles’ heel to you that nobody sees coming. And you start to stutter.’ And I’m like, ‘With respect sir, I graduated top of my class in college with a public speaking degree. Are you sure?'”

The Next Big Stutterer

During the interview, Matt Morgan also discussed how Vince had been obsessed with the gimmick for some time. According to him, the boss originally wanted to give the character to Brock Lesnar:

“Vince trying to sell the stuttering character, he actually wanted to put this on Brock Lesnar as God as my witness. He wanted to find somebody that’s jacked and has all these great physical attributes. That looks like a warrior as he put it. But that when they opened their mouth there was this verbal imperfection. Coach we could have had ‘The next Big Stutterer.'”

Morgan debuted the stuttering gimmick in April 2005, defeating then-unknown Matt Cardona in his debut. He then aligned himself with Carlito as his backup in May. The gimmick did not last long and Morgan was released from his contract in July that year after Carlito was drafted to Raw.

Matt Morgan Running For Another Political Office

Already the Mayor of Longwood, Florida, Matt Morgan is throwing his hat in another political race. The former wrestler filed his paperwork at the elections office last week and is officially running for the Seminole County Commission District 1 seat. He was elected Mayor of Longwood in 2019.

“I want to be this county’s 7-foot 300-pound backbone,” Morgan said to News 13 Orlando. “And give them back the power and the decision-making process in Seminole County.” 

“Not the jury, judge and executioner, I say that with all respect, I get along with Bob,” Morgan continued to say about the current seat-holder Bob Dillari.

Matt Morgan wrestled with WWE from 2002-05. He was then with TNA from 2007 to 2013 and returned briefly to the company in 2015 and 2017. Morgan spoke to Spectrum News about his decision to run.

“I go where I feel that the residents of, whether its Seminole county or Longwood before that, call,” Morgan said. “Right now I feel I can be a bigger service to a bigger amount of people. Again, it goes back to my entire thesis behind being a public servant. If you are a true public servant you don’t make a career out of this. It’s about legit serving the public and being the people’s conduit and I am a living breathing 7-foot 300-pound conduit for Seminole County residents. That’s what I’m looking to do here.”

Matt Morgan Discusses Being Mayor, TNA & WWE Runs, more…

Former WWE and TNA star Matt Morgan was recently elected mayor of Longwood, Florida. The 42-year-old recently took part in an interview with Chris Van Vliet where he spoke on his wrestling and political careers.

“This is a thankless job. It doesn’t pay much money, it’s not enough to take care of your family,” Morgan said of being Mayor. “You do this because you want to make the city a better place… at the end of the day my job is to interpret law, that is what I do here in Longwood. My job is to have the pulse of my residents and to do that you have to be out there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at every single function there is, every event there is. That’s not to take pictures and glad-hand and kiss ass. You’re doing that because you’re asking them these questions that you know are going to be coming up so you can a true feel for what your city wants.”

The full interview can be viewed in the player below:

Matt Morgan On WWE and TNA Runs

Morgan also spoke about his time in both WWE and TNA during the interview. He revealed that at one time he was scheduled to return to WWE as a surprise entrant in the 2014 Royal Rumble.

“It wasn’t signed, sealed and done but I was going to come back, to my understanding, as a one-off for the Royal Rumble. My son was born January 7th, 2014 and the Rumble was January twenty-something. It was either going to be let’s see how it goes from there or I signed, I forget. I don’t remember. It feels so long ago. He’s only five years old but it feels like ten years ago he was born now.”

Morgan also spoke about being frustrated that he never won single’s gold in TNA.

“TNA gave me the opportunity to be a main event talent. I think I headlined 6 or 7 Pay-Per Views with them and a lot of Championship matches for the Heavyweight Championship and they really should have capitalized on it a couple of times and they didn’t. That’s on them, not me. But again, you’re telling a story and it’s your job and you can’t be such a mark for yourself. It’s hard for wrestlers not to do that because we eat, sleep and drink it and we put everything we have into it. We sacrifice time away from our families for this and you dream these huge dreams, these dreams of grandeur that you’re going to be the Champion one day. And if you don’t have that, you really shouldn’t be doing this and that’s the truth.”

Matt Morgan Named Mayor Of Longwood

After the Big Red Monster Kane became the mayor of Knox County, Tennessee, another former wrestling star has earned himself a mayoral position.

Former WWE and TNA star Matt Morgan has been appointed as the mayor of Longwood, Florida after being voted unanimously by the Seminole County municipality

In Longwood, the mayor is decided amongst the commissioners. Morgan was elected to Longwood’s commission in November of 2017 and now he has been chosen as the new mayor with a unanimous five to nothing vote.

Commenting on his new position to WrestlingInc, Matt said that he fought very hard for it and he is very excited to be elected the mayor of the city in just his second year as a commissioner:

“I’m very excited, fought very hard for it. Worked very hard for it. to get the unanimous five to nothing vote for mayor in just my first year and a half, my first term is insanity. Something I never fathomed.”

Matt Morgan was signed to WWE from 2002 to 2005 and at one point there were even plans to introduce him as Kane’s brother but they were scrapped later on.

Though he is better known for his run with TNA. He joined the company in 2007 and stayed with them until 2013. He won the TNA Tag Team titles twice during his run with the promotion.

Former WWE Superstar Reveals He Was Nearly a ‘Brother of Destruction’

Former WWE and TNA star Matt Morgan has revealed that he was very nearly cast as a brother of Kane and The Undertaker.

The initial plans in 2005 called for Morgan to appear in a mask that was almost identical to the ‘Big Red Machine’s’ and to have Morgan work a similar in ring style to Kane. The similarities in style would become obvious in time and it would’ve been later revealed that the ‘Brothers of Destruction’ did have another sibling.

Morgan also revealed to Wrestling Inc that his character’s name would’ve been ‘Abel,’ obviously a play on the biblical story of Cain and Abel. As you may well know this isn’t exactly what Morgan ended up with, his stuttering gimmick landed him on the preverbal scrapheap and he later enjoyed a somewhat successful run in TNA.

Oh how different Morgan’s career could have been…

 

Matt Morgan Wins City Commission Election In Florida

Former WWE Superstar Matt Morgan won an election for public office on Tuesday.

Morgan, a newcomer to politics, was elected  District 4 Commissioner in Longwood, Florida, defeating his incumbent opponent Mark Weller.

With 2,101 votes counted, Morgan won the election by a 58.5% to 41.5% margin.

Last month, Morgan explained why he was running for office.

“Enough of the citizens over the last five years have been asking me to run,” he said. “That combined with giving back to all these other cities during my career, I wanted to do it with my own city and take it where it needs to be. As a commissioner, you have an opportunity to have somewhat of a say by doing the job of listening to the people. They have gotten away from that. Not all commissioners, but my opponent for sure has.

You need a non-politician in office. That’s what we need. Someone who can keep these guys straight. Somebody whose vote can’t be bought. Someone whose vote can’t be swayed. You can have your own ideas. I’m not saying you don’t, but your job is to be the vehicle for the citizens and their opinions and see what their opinions are and then vote on their behalf. It’s the citizen’s opinions.”

Congratulations to Matt Morgan!

Matt Morgan Explains Why He’s Running For Public Office In Florida

Former WWE/TNA star Matt Morgan recently spoke with Scott Fishman of the Miami Herald about his bid to run for District 4 Commissioner in Longwood, Florida (Seminole County). Here are the highlights:

Why he’s running for office:

“Enough of the citizens over the last five years have been asking me to run,” he said. “That combined with giving back to all these other cities during my career, I wanted to do it with my own city and take it where it needs to be. As a commissioner, you have an opportunity to have somewhat of a say by doing the job of listening to the people. They have gotten away from that. Not all commissioners, but my opponent for sure has.

You need a non-politician in office. That’s what we need. Someone who can keep these guys straight. Somebody whose vote can’t be bought. Someone whose vote can’t be swayed. You can have your own ideas. I’m not saying you don’t, but your job is to be the vehicle for the citizens and their opinions and see what their opinions are and then vote on their behalf. It’s the citizen’s opinions.”

How he will be successful due to his background:

“Just like me as a pro wrestler. The argument I get is that I was successful as a pro wrestler because I’m 7-feet, 300 pounds. I can see that getting me in the door, but what always made me successful was the ability to outwork people. Whether it was in the gym, my dieting, cutting promos in the mirror every day I would wake up early in my career. Whatever it took to outwork people. I have a certain work ethic.

All I’m doing is taking that over to this. School was the same way. It’s the one thing you can control in life. You can control how hard you work at something. Once it started raining my campaign manager asked me to get out of there because he couldn’t risk me being sick knocking on doors the next day. I responded, ‘Even if I do get sick, I’ll work on through it.’ I did catch a cold, but I still worked the next two days knocking on doors. It was to show the citizens there is nothing I won’t do for them.”

You can read the entire interview here.

Matt Morgan Running For Public Office In Florida

Former WWE & GFW Superstar “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan is getting into politics. A press release sent out on Friday announced that Morgan is running for Longwood City Commissioner.

Matt Morgan, former Pro Wrestler, Announces Candidacy for Longwood City Commissioner

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AUGUST 25, 2017

Longwood, FL – Matt Morgan, a former professional wrestler, has announced his campaign for Longwood City Commissioner, District 4.

“As a candidate for Longwood City Commissioner, I am committed to build upon Longwood’s rich history.”

“I have never been the type to sit back and ‘armchair quarterback’ or just complain about things. I am the type that goes out and gets things done. I feel it’s my duty to step up and finally start DOING what needs to be done here for my fellow neighbors in this beautiful city.”

Following his wrestling career, Matt challenged himself to continue to be a positive influence on the people around him. He is currently a spokesperson for Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD) and the Drug Abuse Resistance Program (D.A.R.E.).

“I want to do everything possible to make this city a place my three-year-old autistic son can take pride in. I hope that one day he decides to raise his family here as well. I decided it’s time to start doing. It’s time to be the voice for the voiceless here in the city of Longwood.”

Eight years ago Matt Morgan settled in Seminole County with his wife Larissa and their 3 year old son Jackson. Matt is committed to see Longwood continue to be the best place in Central Florida to raise a family.

Former GFW Star Reveals How WWE Pissed Him Off

Knowing Mr McMahon’s love for tall guys, many believe that former GFW/TNA star Matt Morgan could have been a big Star in WWE if he would have worked with the company for long enough.

While The 7 footer did have a stint with WWE from 2002 to 2005 and became the OVW Champion multiple times too, he couldn’t achieve much in the main roster and was released from the company after having multiple gimmick changes.

During his appearance on the Sitting Ringside with David Penzer podcast, the former GFW star talked about his WWE release and revealed that Officials actually wanted him to go to NJPW and work there for sometimes before returning to the company.

However, Matt decided to leave New Japan and join TNA instead. According to him, he took this decision because he got really bitter and pissed off on WWE:

“WWE sets me up to go to New Japan, got paid really well, but I got really bitter and pissed off. I then decide, you know what? I’m going to shove this up their ass and go to TNA and be ‘The Blueprint’ Matt Morgan and show them exactly what they missed out on.”

Morgan recently left GFW because the Brand wanted to start touring again soon and he apparently couldn’t do it because of his 9 to 5 job.

While Matt Morgan did win multiple Championships in TNA, he was never considered to be a Main Event talent for the company and he never won any singles title in the promotion either. One could only imagine how different his career would have been if he had stayed with NJPW and later returned to WWE.

Another Talent Announces His Departure From Global Force Wrestling

Yet another star has announced their departure from Global Force Wrestling (GFW). Matt Morgan took to the Wrestling Inc. podcast to announce that he officially announced his release from the company due to scheduling issues. He previously worked for GFW (formerly known as TNA and Impact Wrestling) back in 2007 and remained there for six years, and returned yet again in 2015.

Morgan said he couldn’t let anything get in the way of his 9-5 job and had only returned to GFW to give back to the company that had been so good to him in the years prior:

“Here’s the deal,” said Morgan. “I made an agreement to wrestle with them on weekends, right? Where I didn’t have to leave my 9-5 job, anything like that. And unfortunately it just didn’t work out because they switched it and they started taping on week days and they’re looking to travel.”

“So when I first talking to Jeff [Jarrett] about this, the idea was you know, you guys are 20 minutes from my house, you guys are there on the weekends. As long as you guys are there on the weekends I can do this.”

Morgan now joins Nick “Magnus” Aldis and Davey Richards as fellow GFW stars who have announced their departure from the company.

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Former WWE Superstar Jumps to Jinder Mahal’s Defense in Midst of Steroid Accusations

Since making his return to the WWE, Jinder Mahal has been heavily criticized for his new physique. The drastic change in the current WWE Champion’s look has sparked accusations that the former Three Man Band (3MB) member is abusing steroids. Last week, one natural body builder released a video detailing a few reasons why he believes Mahal is in fact on steroids.

Former WWE Superstar and current Impact Wrestling star Matt Morgan responded to these claims on yesterday’s (Sun. June 4, 2017) episode of the Wrestling Inc. podcast, and was quick to jump to Mahal’s defense:

“I read something about some ‘natural, all natural bodybuilder,’ that’s an oxymoron by the way. Um no, there is a real such thing… Talking about how he could tell all the telltale signs that how Jinder Mahal is taking enhancements,” Morgan said. “Ok. Put this out there one last time to anybody that thinks this is true.

“I want you to go back and I want you to come up with all the stars that failed this Wellness policy,” Morgan implored. “There are so many guys that failed this thing… That lost time, that they had to take the title belts off of, they had to do all types of things to recreate their TV because these guys were either on the gas or part of that pharmacy, Signature Pharmacy bust all the guys got screwed through… Where they were ordering steroids online, ” Matt recalled. “…But a bunch of things have happened over time that cost guys time but more importantly, WWE their storylines. We’re talking heavyweight champions here.

“So I’m just trying to make sure I’m understanding this correctly,” Morgan stated. “Out of them all… all of them, right? We’re going to let Jinder Mahal take steroids?! Are you high? Are you high? It makes no sense at all.”

Morgan continued on and stated that TV adds weight to the performers you watch on a weekly basis, and if fans saw Mahal in person they wouldn’t think he’s as big. Morgan believes Mahal is clean and stated that it makes no sense as to why the WWE would allow him to take steroids.

You can listen to the full segment in the video player above (around the 47:31 mark).

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions.

Impact Wrestling Highlights: Chris Masters and Matt Morgan Debut

It was a night of debuts for Impact Wrestling, as they continue to rebrand under new ownership. The show centered around Josh Mathews and Jeremy Borash picking teams for an 8-Man tag team match next week. Borash’s team includes a few new roster additions.

Continue below for a complete recap of last night’s Impact Wrestling:

Impact Wrestling
April 6th 2017
Orlando, FL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jShUhS5tdEc

1. Eli Drake w/Tyrus vs. Caleb Konley

Konley seemed like he had things in control, but then got distracted by Tyrus on the outside. Drake picked up the victory after hitting a white noise-esque move.
Winner: Eli Drake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuGiL-471ls

2. Gauntlet Battle Royal for Knockouts Division#1 Contender

This was Royal Rumble rules until the final two competitions, and at that point pins and submissions come into play. Madison Rayne and ODD were the final two. ODB used the TKO to get the pin on Rayne, and she earns a title match against Rosemary. She is a former 4x “Knocked Up Champ”.
Winner: ODB 

James Storm DCC Town Hall Meeting

Eddie Kingston and James Storm had a heated exchange here. Storm is now babyface with the rest of the DCC going heel. Bram went to hit Storm with a chair but was countered. Storm said his catch phrase and the segment ended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p8GBQff6gw

3. Andrew Everett vs. Suicide vs. Marshe Rockett

Last week we learned that Everett would be given a chance to earn an X-division title match tonight, and this was his opportunity. Everett hit a shooting star press on Rockett for the win. Commentary only mentioned that he had “stayed in contention” for an X-division title match, though it seems likely he will be granted one at some point.
Winner: Andrew Everett

4. Last Man Standing Match
Davey Richards w/Angeline Love vs. Eddie Edwards

The wives of both Eddie and Davey got involved here. The end of the match came when Angelina Love was holding Edwards and Richards had second thoughts about delivering the final blow. Love then told him to “do it for me” and he kicked his former partner in the head. Edwards was out for the 10 count.
Winner: Davey Richards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUjwUR98P6M

5. Alberto El Patron vs. *Local Talent*

Squash match showcase for Alberto El Patron. He got on the mic after the match and said he was coming for Bobby Lashley.
Winner: Alberto El Patron

Josh Mathews and Jeremy Borash Pick Their Teams

Earlier in the night Bruce Pritchard announced that Borash and Mathews would each select a team to represent them in a match against each other next week.

Team Borash: Alberto El Patron, Chris Adonis (Chris Masters), Matt Morgan, and Magnus
Team Mathews: Bobby Lashley, Eli Drake, Tyrus, Bram

 

Matt Morgan & Other Returning TNA Stars Backstage At Impact Wrestling Taping (Photo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXS_5-0GJO0

Several stars from TNA’s past are returning to work with Impact Wrestling’s new management, and in a note that confirms our previous report, Matt Morgan was backstage at this week’s TV tapings to take some promotional photos. Morgan previously received a decent push in TNA, but in 2012 voiced displeasure with management and he was released shortly after. Morgan is now 40 and hasn’t had a match since 2015, but he’s been training and appears to be in great shape.

Gail Kim and Chris Masters were also backstage at this week’s Impact tapings. According to PWInsider.com, Masters and Morgan are both expected to appear on TV soon. As previously noted, former TNA personalities Bruce Prichard and Konnan are also returning to the company. Prichard is returning in both a management and on-air capacity, and it’s unknown what roles Konnan will be filling.

Updated TNA Slammiversary 2015 PPV Lineup: Live Coverage This Sunday!

Following Wednesday night’s edition of TNA Impact Wrestling, new matches, and new participants for existing matches, were announced for this Sunday’s TNA Slammiversary pay-per-view at the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.

Below is the latest look at the official lineup for this Sunday’s pay-per-view event.

King of the Mountain
– Jeff Jarrett vs. TBA

Handicap Match
– Awesome Kong & Brooke Tessmacher vs. Jade, Marti & Taryn Terrell

Unsanctioned Match
– James Storm vs. Magnus

Winner Chooses Stipulation For Impact Tag Title Match
– Austin Aries vs. Davey Richards

– Ethan Carter III & Tyrus vs. Bobby Lashley & Mr. Anderson

– Robbie E vs. Jessie Godderz

– Matt Morgan vs. Bram

Make sure to join us here at SEScoops.com on Sunday, 28, 2015 for the best TNA Slammiversary 2015 live PPV results coverage on the web!


BRAND NEW PHOTO GALLERY: Ronda Rousey In Skimpy Bikinis & Tight Outfits


Jeff Jarrett Returns At Impact, Will Wrestle At TNA Slammiversary

Global Force Wrestling founders Jeff Jarrett and Karen Jarrett made their TNA returns at tonight’s Impact Wrestling show.

Jarrett will be taking part in the returning “King of the Mountain” gimmick match at this Sunday’s TNA Slammiversary pay-per-view.

Also on the show are Vader and Matt Morgan.

We should have more on this story in the near future. Stay tuned to SEScoops.com for continued coverage.

UPDATE: Why did Jarrett return at Impact Wrestling this week? Are TNA and GFW merging? Read a detailed backstage update on this story here: Backstage Update On Jeff Jarrett’s TNA Return, TNA-GFW To Merge?


BRAND NEW PHOTO GALLERY: Ronda Rousey In Skimpy Bikinis & Tight Outfits


Matt Morgan Talks To Vince Russo About Advice He Received From McMahon, More

The following are highlights of the latest Vince Russo “The Swerve” podcast, which features an interview with Matt Morgan:

Failing to get picked up by The Monster Factory despite his size: “In the past, the only wrestling school I’d ever heard of was ‘The Monster Factory’. I was still in college at the time in Hawaii, and I tried to call them up to try to get trained when I’d be back in Connecticut after graduating. Larry Sharp kept hanging up on me! Every time he’d ask me my name, my height and my weight, and every time I’d tell him, “Look, seven feet tall, 382lbs…” and he kept hanging up. He was like “Kid, if I had a dime for every time someone told me they were seven feet, I’d be a millionaire” and he hung up. So obviously that wasn’t the route to go.”

How he got himself in front of Vince McMahon: “At night I was working as a bouncer and wound up meeting this guy named Marco Torelli, who worked for the WWE Magazine, and became my friend. Every time he’d come in, he’d tell me, “Dude you gotta come by Titan Tower! You’re working down the street, you’d be a fool not to let Vince see you”. He knew I was a big wrestling fan, obviously, but just like any other guy out there, I was like “How do you begin? How do you start?” So every Friday night, he’d bring me in, which is when Vince would work out at the gym there at Titan Tower. So I’d go there every Friday from 8-10 hoping to bump into him, and after six months of going every week, I finally bumped into Vince in the seventh month.”

McMahon’s advice: “He asked me how big I was, and my name. And I told him I was a huge fan of what the guys do, and I asked “Could you give me some guidance on what do I do to become a professional wrestler?” He gave me Jim Ross’s card, and he gave me Tom Prichard’s card. So I started annoying Tom from that moment on.”

How the infamous stuttering gimmick was presented to him: “Me and Jillian Hall both got called up from OVW to go to a show in Chicago. We’re in catering, and John Laurinaitis taps me on the shoulder and says, “I want you to go and speak to Vince, he really wants to speak with you in his office”, and was like “Great”. When I get there, Laurinaitis is outside and he goes, “Now Matt, this is an opportunity. Vince doesn’t come up with ideas very often for individuals…this is a one-on-one opportunity that he’s about to present to you, so you might wanna be a team player here”. So I go in there, wondering what he’s got for me, and I sit down across from him, and Vince goes on about how he’s been waiting for a guy with the right look, the right height, and all these perfections, who he could then hang this one big imperfection that nobody sees coming. He tells me: “You’re gonna stutter. You’re gonna have this speech impediment and it’s going to be your Achilles Heel. Nobody’s going to make fun of you, but you’re going to think that the whole world is mocking you.” … and I would’ve taken anything he had given me, this was Vince McMahon talking to me.”

You can check out the complete podcast above, or at PyroAndBallyhoo.com.

  • WWE NEARLY Put Ronda Rousey On SSlam PPV, UPDATE On Her WWE Future [>>]
  • Matt Morgan Speaks On WWE Network Price Increase, Commercial Rumors

    Former WWE and TNA star Matt Morgan recently commented on Twitter about rumors of a WWE Network price increase, as well as rumors of commercials possibly being added to the Network.

    Morgan tweeted the following:

  • NEWS: MAJOR Star Is DONE With WWE + *SPOILER* On DANIEL BRYAN’S In-Ring RETURN!
  • Jim Ross Blog: WWE Network Announcement, WWE TV Deals, Matt Morgan

    The following are highlights from the latest online blog by WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross:

    On the WWE Network: “Big day for WWE fans and those that earn a living within WWE. The long awaited announcement regarding the new, WWE Network is set for later today in Las Vegas. This will be a critical day in WWE history, one way or another… One major key to the success of this Network is the development of NEW programming as it cannot be only about the old, tape libraries. I can see live, interactive programming being produced on a daily basis which, if true, then it provides several talents with opportunities to contribute to the brand and the network… The other key to the network’s success is the airing of ALL the PPV’s live. Right now, WrestleMania is the most, “must see” PPV in WWE and some might argue it is the only “must see’ PPV in WWE. That point is arguable and is dependent upon the attraction.”

    On WWE’s new television deals: “I see WWE getting a major bump in their rights fees from a cable network but I don’t hold the same optimism for TNA. Trust me, I hope that both companies score big time but its all about leverage in these types of negotiations (as in what have you done for me lately?) plus the ability to go LIVE on a weekly basis that most networks find very desirous.”

    On Matt Morgan: “Congrats on Matt Morgan on leaving the wrestling biz and getting an excellent day job where he can be a full time Dad and earn a great living with benefits.”

    Check out the complete blog online at JRsBarBQ.com.

  • Jim Ross’ Status For WMXXX, Royal Rumble Surprises & More
  • Matt Morgan Announces He’s Leaving Wrestling & Just Became A Father

    Former WWE & TNA star Matt Morgan announced Tuesday night that his wife Larissa gave birth to their first child, Jackson.

    In an interview with Jason Powell of ProWrestling.net, he also revealed that he is leaving professional wrestling after getting an offer from a medical supply company that he couldn’t refuse. 

    “An opportunity came up within the last 20 days,” Morgan said. “Absolutely zero to do with professional wrestling. I’m actually going to get out of professional wrestling. Going to be a regional manager for a very big-time medical device company.”

    Despite his past success in the industry and recent negotiations with WWE and TNA, the decision to take a more traditional job was an easy one to make.

    “I’ll be home every single night of the week, every month of the year to put my newborn to bed, be part of his life, and watch him grow,” Morgan said. “This was an opportunity that I could not pass up. Financially-speaking, as well as the most important factor I’m home every single night to be home every night and be a father to my son.”

    Morgan said the financial offer from the medical company blew away anything WWE or TNA could offered him. Morgan believes he’s still in his physical prime and let the door open to work occasional independent shows if he “gets the itch” to wrestle again.

    NFL Legend Criticizes WWE After Watching RAW, Morgan/Hero Note, Mick Foley

    – Former TNA star Matt Morgan and recently released WWE NXT star Chris Hero (aka Kassius Ohno) are scheduled to headline the next NWA-Florida Underground event in Tampa, Florida this Friday, November 29th. For more information, visit FUWrestling.com.

    – WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley is scheduled to make an appearance at the Kalamazoo Wings hockey game on Friday, January 24th. For more information, visit MLive.com.

    – Retired NFL quarterback Joe Thiesmann criticized the current WWE product in a new tweet he posted while watching WWE RAW this past Monday night. “Raw needs more wrestling and less gum flapping,” wrote the NFL legend, which ended up being covered by The Washington Post. For more on that story, visit WashingtonPost.com.

  • Triple H Flips The Hell Out Backstage At RAW – Find Out What Happened!
  • The Latest From John Cena, Morgan vs. DiBiase Booked, Hero Shoot Interview

    – Former WWE Superstars Matt Morgan and Ted DiBiase, Jr. will be squaring off for the first time ever on 12/7 Family Wrestling Entertainment’s one-night tournament in Corona, New York.

    – World Heavyweight Champion John Cena tweeted today:

    – RF Video has released a new shoot interview with former WWE NXT star Kassius Ohno, now known as Chris Hero again. Below is a preview:

    Former Top TNA Star Debuting New Fantasy Football Radio Show Tonight

    Former TNA Impact Wrestling star Matt Morgan is launching a brand new fantasy football radio show called “The Fantasy Blueprint,” which will be co-hosted by Nathan Zegura and will air on SIRIUS Satelitte Radio channel 87 and on XM channel 210 at 6:00pm E.T. The show will make its’ official debut tonight, according to Twitter.com/BPmattmorgan.

    Morgan tweeted the following about the shows’ debut:

    Related News: Is Matt Morgan Going To Sign With WWE?

    Matt Morgan Talks About His First Meeting With Vince McMahon, Leaving TNA & More

    Former WWWE & TNA star Matt Morgan recently spoke to Raj Giri of WrestlingInc.com. Here are some highlights of what he said about:

    Breaking into the business and first meeting Vince McMahon at the gym in WWE Headquarters:

    “I was … wondering how do I start. So I moved back and was in my parents house in Connecticut where I took a job with Enterprise Rent A Car in Stamford. I remember Titan Towers was literally a block away. Literally, I could throw a football and hit it from where I was working at Enterprise. A lot of the wrestlers would come in there. So I would sit there and jump all over them and walk them to their car, rent them their car, hook them up, things like that, and beg them for info on how a guy gets started.

    “I remember one time Tom Prichard came in. Of course, I knew who Dr. Tom Prichard was, who didn’t? I was a wrestling fan. He gave me the idea to start showing up to the gym, they have a gym there at Titan Towers, and start coming in there. I had a friend who wrote for the magazine, for the Raw Magazine at the time, and so between those two I would go work out at the gym on Friday nights. [I thought] hopefully, maybe I’d bump into Vince McMahon because I heard he worked out on Friday nights with his trainer.

    “I went every Friday night for about eight months straight without seeing the man. I kept hearing that I just kept missing him. So, I was coming up from work on Friday nights, so I didn’t have many hours to be able to do this. One night I finally hit it and I met him and I introduced myself. He obviously looked at my size and was asking how big I was and things like that. “What’s your name? Where are you from?” That kind of thing. He was pretty shocked I was from Connecticut and he hadn’t heard of me and I explained to him that I never wrestled, never trained, I didn’t know much of anything, I had my money taken from me from an independent trainer in Hawaii. I asked him, “what’s the best bet for someone like me to make their start in wrestling? I really want to do this.”

    He goes, ‘You don’t play any other sports?’ I go, I’ve got a combine with the Rams coming up very soon.’He goes, I think you would owe it to your family and yourself to at least go to the tryout. You at least owe it to yourself. There’s no guarantee in wrestling, no matter how big you are.” I was like, ‘okay, and if it doesn’t work out?’ He was like, “well, you talk to Tom Prichard and maybe Tom can set you up with something.’So I talked to Tom Prichard. The combine for the Rams did not go well, [but] I couldn’t have cared less because my mind wasn’t even on it. I already wanted to be in wrestling. When your mind’s set on something else, it’s kind of hard not to make up for that. So when your mind and your heart is really set on something, after I talked to Vince McMahon, it felt like the dream was starting to come together in a weird way, a very slow, weird way. What was the next step to take?

    So I called Tom Prichard. My NFL camp didn’t work out. He said, ‘they’re doing this Tough Enough thing now. You would be great because you have zero experience. We wouldn’t have to untrain any mistakes you made on the indys that you learned. I can’t guarantee anything will work out for you. You clearly have to go there, bust your ass and impress whoever’s judging this thing, whoever the talent scouts are because it’s just as much MTV’s decision as it is WWE’s. So got out there, bust your ass, show them your heart, your passion, and hopefully you can make it. That would be my advice to you to get started.'”

    Being given the stuttering gimmick in WWE: That was Vince McMahon’s idea, to give me something. I was still, they didn’t want to do the Blueprint character because I had done it in OVW. Creative, the writing team and more importantly Vince, was the one that came up with it. He for years had been wanting to put this stuttering character on the right guy. I remember him saying, ìLook, if this isn’t you, you got to tell me now. It’s not a big deal, we’ll send you back down. Still improving and doing what you’re doing. I hear you’re doing really well. Just keep it up and we’ll find something for you eventually.’

    I remember being at the time like I’m still learning a lot, but I know I’m going to learn a hell of a lot faster if I’m on the road with these guys again at house shows. I would have said yes to anything. I mean if you tell me to wear a pink jock strap, I would have went out there with a freaking pink tutu, I would have done it, on a unicycle, to boot. I would have done it. That’s how desperate I wanted to be back on the big show. Who doesn’t?

    I remember when he talked about the character to me, he used a really good analogy that made sense to me at the time. But again, no matter what he told me I would have done, because any time he gets an idea, you would assume that you would be used and used to the benefit of his abilities. In his defense he did. He absolutely did. It’s just I take full credit for not getting fully over and not working. I’m very confident on the microphone, so I really believed I could eventually make it work. But what started happening was, which was kind of my concern at the time, was people are going to laugh. And I get that’s what it’s supposed to do. But then what I was told was once I started getting the heat on my opponent, and being a big, bad ass mother you know what, that there’s the rub. No ones going to be laughing necessarily at that point. Well, they kind of were because I’m sitting there stuttering in the middle of my heat, talking trash to my opponent. So I just tried to go with it and make it as comical as I could and maybe that’s why it didn’t work. I take full credit on that one for it not working. You always take credit for it on your own. You can’t always blame other things like writers or this or that. Just take it on the chin yourself as a learning experience. Me doing that character, it opened me up even more as far as, I don’t want to say making an ass of myself, but being even more comfortable doing anything you throw at me.

    I was a very confident man, very confident in my abilities and super confident in my athleticism and talking ability. What better way to prove that then doing something that isn’t your strength? I was going to knock it out of the ballpark come hell or high water, that’s the attitude I had by attacking it. That night when Vince talked to me about it, he wanted me to go down to OVW and practice it a little bit. I probably should have taken the man’s advice, but I was so gung ho to show that this doesn’t phase me and I’m going to freaking kill this thing, this character. I said to him, quite quickly, ìMr. McMahon, I can have this down cold by the end of the night.’We were at Chicago doing a taping for Smackdown. He was like, ìWell, that’s pretty fast, Matt. Don’t you think you should give it some time? Work it into matches and promos down there in promo class?’I was like, ìJust give me an opportunity. Let me come back in here by the end of the night, after the show if you don’t mind, and I’ll cut a promo on ya with this character.’And he loved it because Vince loves people that attack things head on. That’s the kind of man I am as well. So cool. Smackdown comes, here I am in the bathroom mirrors in between matches, trying to work on this character. His facials, what words does he stammer on, and then I came up with the idea of when I would start to stutter on a word to replace it with a completely different word. Like I’d start to use the f word and then replace it with a ridiculous word. You know, like instead of using the f word use a funny word because I couldn’t get the word out.

    I went back to his office. He had John Cena in there at the time and he wanted me to cut it on John. I ripped into John with this stuttering character and they both were dying laughing. At the time John was like look, we need big guys, we need big heels on our show right now, we need some new blood. Hopefully this works out for you, big man. He was really supportive of it actually, of me trying it and keep going. Anyways, so I did it and they both liked it. I think it was a week later I debuted on Smackdown.

    His Decision To Leave TNA: 

    “I just think it was… I was about to start a story line, a pretty major one actually. Unfortunately it just didn’t materialize and they went in a different direction with another person’s character. I 100% understand why they had to do it with this particular character, but as far as I’m concerned with my storyline, that left me odd man out where I was going to be taking some time off and sitting at home again.

    I remember talking to Dixie [Carter] about it and her telling me to hang in there a little bit more and things like that. “I’m sure creative will come around, we can find something.” The problem with that was, again, I was going to be sitting. I’m in my prime right now and I just felt it wasn’t best for me and my family, most importantly, I have a kid on the way. I’m having my first child coming and I’m a nervous wreck about it as it is, let alone sitting at home doesn’t make that any better, financially speaking. I had to do what was best from my family’s financial standpoint.”

    Morgan also talked about working with Hulk Hogan and Brock Lesnar, his stuttering gimmick in WWE, if he’d return to WWE and more.

    Matt Morgan Says He Knows His Future Plans Already, Talks Possibility Of TNA Return

    The following are highlights from a recent interview with former TNA Impact Wrestling wrestler Matt Morgan:

    On the possibility of a TNA Impact Wrestling return: “Definitely if the timing is right. Timing is everything in this sport. I’ve always said that and it’s the truth. But I do not want to go back somewhere where it’s business as usual and let’s do the start – stop stuff again. It’s got to be full guns blazing, let’s do this thing. You’ve got a seven-foot, 330-pound steroid-free monster that is the most durable thing there is right now. Please tell of someone who is my size and hasn’t had an injury in ten years. I’ve never missed time for anything. That being said, let’s go. Let’s just come out of the gates blasting.”

    On his future: “I’ll put it to you this way without saying too much. I know exactly what I’ll be doing and where I’ll be heading and when I’ll be doing that.”

    Check out the complete interview online at BetweenTheRopes.com.

    HUGE Update On TNA’s Future — Not Looking Good! [DETAILS HERE >>]

    Matt Morgan About Returning To WWE & The Current Main Event Picture

    Matt Morgan recently spoke to Raj Giri of WrestlingInc.com about a potential return to WWE. When asked about the prospect of working for WWE again after being granted a release from TNA several months ago, Morgan said:

    “I think with that company there’s so many fresh matchups for me. There’s so many endless possibilities. That company’s really cooking right now on all cylinders. Triple H done an amazing job.”

    He also commented on the controversy surrounding the fallout from WWE Summerslam – and fans who were upset that Daniel Bryan got screwed out of the WWE Championship by Triple H & company. Morgan says WWE is playing the situation perfectly and setting Daniel Bryan up for a long run as a main event talent:

    “I just watched RAW the other night, the thing that he’s got right now with Randy [Orton], as well as Daniel [Bryan], is absolutely perfect. Perfect. And all the people that are b—hing and moaning going, ‘ah, they shouldn’t disrespect him by calling him small and s–t like that. They ruined his moment [winning the WWE Championship at SummerSlam].’ That’s the whole point! That’s the hook! The fans out there that think he’s never going to get higher – as far as reaction – than he was at that moment, you should see the reaction he gets when he finally climbs that hill and conquers.

    It’s going to be something that, instead of maybe for eight months of him being super duper over, it’s something that they’re trading for years and years and years of drawing power. As him as the top dude, the top dog. My hat’s off, he’s done an amazing job.”