Matt Morgan Talks TNA's Biggest Mistake, If GFW Has Recruited Him, TNA Atmosphere During Last Run
The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling today interviewed Matt Morgan, who discussed getting on the WWE's radar, Vince McMahon being into his work, leaving WWE, finding a home in TNA and more. You can download and listen to the full interview by clicking here, they sent us these highlights:
How was the atmosphere at TNA when he came in for his last run vs. Bram:
"It was such an encapsulated type of experience because, what I saw is might have been everybody's 'A' game or best face or best foot forward because they knew they were getting me there for three hours, one day and four hours the day of the pay per view. So when you have a special guest come in or an older talent come in for one match, you are going to get everybody's smiley face. You're not going to get the sh*t end of the story, or hear all the drama, or hear 'GOD this place sucks' but nor would I, I don't think either. Everyone was just trying to catch up with what was going on and what I've been up to. These were people that were like family members to me and a lot of them ironically a week or two after I left a lot of those family members were leaving TNA anyway."
How did TNA approach him:
"Here's the thing, I'm retired retired. I love pro wrestling, I love watching it still and I'm always trying to catch up on Raw and NXT, especially NXT. Impact not as much and not because it's an inferior show, I just honestly didn't know what channel, I didn't even know if I got Destination America and at this point I don't have time to be looking around for sh*t like that. Every once in awhile I'd get a text or a call from 'Big', John Gaburick. He had a lot to do with me being on Tough Enough 2 and was a big believer of mine. He took over creative when I left TNA and we always wanted to work with one another obviously and he's always trying to give me a little check in here and there to see if I'd be willing to come back and I think he figured out for sure that I was done with it, and he kind of stopped. But then he approached me with an idea for me to come back for just a one time only thing if I was interested and they were now filming again at Universal Studios, they were no longer on the road like they were when I left. They are twenty minuets from my house. More importantly, I wanted to say my son saw me wrestle live. In the long run what I am doing is best for my family of course. For that little braggadocios moment that my kid would never have had."
His program with Bram:
"Bram is a good buddy of mind. They are trying to get him over and to the next level of a main event act and for no rhyme or reason the guys they were feeding him or having him work with was not really working. You could see they wanted to get behind him, it's just the talent he was working other then Magnus really wasn't helping him get there. So I was honored to finally be asked because I had always been on the take so to speak when I was the young guy always wrestling the Stings and the Kurt Angles and The Steiners that helped get me to that level. Here is the first time I am asked to do that for a younger guy and I always wanted to be able to give back and do that if it ever helped someone and what a hell of an opportunity to have my kid sit there in the front row. That was probably the biggest part of this for me to take them up on that offer, a one time appearance only while also doing the honors for a guy that I was friends with and I thought that he was very very deserving of it and if I could help him become even more established or even an inch more over then so be it, I was definitely honored by that."
Has Jeff Jarrett recruited Morgan for Global Force Wrestling:
"Yeah definitely. I remembered asking Jeff if he had heard that TNA had contacted me about coming back and Jeff is another guy that has always been a backer of mine to a degree and would always believe in me and give me that fair shake. So the day the Jeff called me, the same exact day he called me to do one of those House Shows for Global Force and this was awhile back like in March or April (2015) the same morning I had a voicemail from "Big" from TNA as well and I asked Jeff if he knew why "Big" would be calling me by any chance and are you in touch with TNA at all and he said he had no idea. I thought it was ironic that both of them called the same exact day and it's been two years since I was on TV."
The Global Force/ TNA Relationship and having a co-branded invasion:
"I just think that from Jeff's perspective at the time there was zero brand awareness for what he has done with his amazing job and marketing campaign but as far as an "on television" presence there was zero. So to be able to get on a network and invade a company no matter who it is as long as it is national television it's nothing but a koo and a win for him. With TNA I thought it was very foolish. Unless there was a long term plan to get back in bed with Jeff and go back to doing what he had done for TNA in the past as a booker or part owner then that's a different story. I'm guessing that isn't the case because TNA is no longer going to be on Destination America."
What was the biggest mistake as far as what he has seen with TNA business:
"That stuff with Spike and I love him to death and he has done so much for me in this business, I love Hulk Hogan. That said with him and Eric (Bischoff) they spent so much money at TNA bringing in all these people and nothing affected the ratings. You could bring Jesus Christ to that show on Spike television and nothing was going to move that needle the way that people just assumed that needle could be moved because of star power. It just doesn't happen overnight, not even months it takes years, that's just the way it works. We spent all that money on those guys coming in and nothing really came of it and I'm sorry the 1.4 is not a big enough number for me to be impressed with those guys that we had on that January 4th (2010) show on Spike."
Start and Stop booking of his character:
"At first I would get super-pissed about it. But then I started to look around and it was happening to (Samoa) Joe on a daily basis well before it was happening to me. It was happening to Bobby Roode and (James)Storm on a different level. They kept forcing those two guys to be tag team stars only. Which is bullish*t. So I watched this go all around from not just me being start and stopped, it might be more obvious because I am big and some of the opportunities I'd be given were literal main event pay per view moments. Like me vs. Sting vs. Kurt in a three way. Me vs. Kurt, me vs. Sting, Me vs. (Jeff) Hardy in a main event pay per view. If I am a fan, I think the same way, well what the f*ck. I'd see it happening to AJ, to Joe, to Daniels and all these guys. You always hear that people want that Austin 3:16 moment and that's very exaggerated and as far as any of us ever having that moment but it's the A-HA moment. When you have been made, whether you've won the match or lost the match but you've been brought up to the main event and are literally in the main event of a pay per view match and you not only hold your end you get over somehow and the fans show their appreciation and everyone gives you high-fives and standing ovations in the back and you got over and then two weeks later you are doing nothing to do with any of that. Again, it's not just me. I watched this happened to five to eight other talents so I realized it's not some personal attack against me it's unfortunately the context of the company I am working in."
Matt Morgan also discussed all aspects of TNA, his feuds, his title runs and missed opportunities, looks back at his WWE run, working with Vince McMahon, Tough Enough, Injuries, leaving the business, being happy now retired and what he sees in the future with NXT and WWE's evolution. You can download and listen to the full interview by clicking here.