wrestling / Columns

I Was Wrong: Matt Morgan As WWE World Champion

October 14, 2014 | Posted by Justin Watry

Doing this for over six years now, there are many perks that come with writing columns about wrestling. Obviously, the monetary gain depending on the website. The chance to interact with other fans. The opportunity to interview/quote wrestlers. The platform to voice an opinion. The ego boost received through emails/tweets from readers. All that good stuff. A part of that comes with the inevitable – gloating about being “right” when the history books are written.

From the man who predicted the sinking of the Titanic (what is his name?) to the man who predicted Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan at WWE WrestleMania 28 would last under a minute (hi!), there is always that motivation. Mine have been numerous throughout the years: WWE stock plummeting, everything about TNA Impact Wrestling’s current mess, Zack Ryder being a flash in the pan (if even that), John Morrison leaving WWE, Mark Henry being World Champion in 2011, Hulk Hogan returning to WWE, CM Punk NOT coming back anytime soon, Sting working with WWE in 2014, weekly television ratings patterns, Daniel Bryan getting his payoff, etc. The list goes on and on. However, there are two sides to a coin…

I have also been VERY wrong over the years. Very wrong. Thus, this concept was born. Instead of raving constantly about ‘calling it’ every week, why not flip the script? Humble myself a little? Sure. Sounds like fun. This week…

I Was Wrong: Matt Morgan As WWE World Champion

Note: Before I begin, I want to thank Matt Morgan for helping out with this column. Kudos to you sir.

For years, the Matt Morgan bandwagon has been driven by yours truly. Who is the one man you want to return to WWE? Matt Morgan. Who should leave TNA Impact Wrestling for WWE? Matt Morgan. Who was under appreciated/underutilized during his career? Matt Morgan. Who would have made a great World Champion but did not get the chance? Matt Morgan. Who did I repeatedly predict for a return to wrestling last year? Matt Morgan. This column will be similar to last week’s entry on Alex Riley. A guy with loads of talent and SHOULD have been at the top of the card…but never got there. Why is that? How about we take a look? First, to his WWE run…

*Good to see Zack Ryder*

“The Look” – In 2014, the issue of ‘big guys vs. small guys’ is not really a major issue anymore. The proof is in the pudding. Daniel Bryan just came off a spectacular year defeating Kane, The Shield, Sheamus clean, Randy Orton clean (a bunch of times), John Cena clean in the main event of WWE Summerslam for the top prize, Triple H at WrestleMania XXX, and made Batista tap out in the main event of the biggest show of the year to win the WWE World Title. Add in all of CM Punk’s success, as well The Miz being in the main event of WM27, Dolph Ziggler as a former two-time World Champion, plus newcomers like Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, Adrian Neville, Sami Zayn, Prince Devitt, Hideo Itami, and others. No longer is there the cry of stars being “held down” because of their height, weight, and/or lack of muscle tone. If you are talented, you will get an opportunity. Bottom line. That being said, in 2003-2005, it was very much still the land of the giants in WWE. The ‘desired look’ everyone talks about was a factor. Matt Morgan was right there among the biggest, most intimidating and agile of the bunch. No wonder he was signed by WWE…

Ability – Truth be told, Matt Morgan was able to perform moves that most big men would never even attempt. What 300 pound men are able to do inside that squared circle are just amazing when comparable to other 300 pound men in, say the NFL. It is not even close. Morgan was just like Kane and The Undertaker in the sense that he is not just going to lumber around the ring. Huge seven foot men are not meant to go to the top rope. For Morgan? Looked right at home. Make no mistake, the Carbon Footprint was still impressive. The power moves still were on display. However, he was far from your Great Khali style big man. The size WWE liked at the time AND able to move around in the ring? Sounds like a match made in heaven.

Youth Movement – There is this thought that WWE just recently began a youth movement and started to think about the future. That it was somehow ignored for all these years. Like it was simply the “John Cena, Randy Orton, and Batista Show.” Nothing else. That is wrong. Vince McMahon and company have absolutely been looking towards the next generation of performers for well over a decade. Most of them just have not worked out. Look no further than the era Matt Morgan was around for and the year after he left. Nathan Jones, Heidenreich, A-Train, Snitsky, Kozlov, Mordecai, Kenzo Suzuki, Carlito, Edge (eventual main eventer), Chris Masters, Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy (eventual main eventer), and yes even Matt Morgan were all in different periods of a “youth movement.” Some worked; some did not. You can argue all day long why that is, but such is life.

Why the departure for Matt Morgan in summer 2005 then?

There you go!

Now I know what everyone is saying: “But…but Justin! Matt Morgan was also in TNA! Do not forget about that!!!”

You would be right. He absolutely did spend time in TNA and despite my personal thoughts on the company these days…

…I must discuss Matt Morgan’s time in TNA which one could argue was even more impressive than anybody could have ever predicted when he left WWE and far surpassed expectations from fans.

Prototype – Watch that video above. Listen to the promo from Matt Morgan folks. Just listen to it. He was exactly what TNA needed at the time and was precisely the man to make an ‘impact’ for them. When fans, wrestlers, trainers, and others predicted in 2002/2003 Morgan would one day main event, THAT is what they had in mind. Jim Cornette was right on the money with his scouting skills. The Blueprint had arrived in TNA; now it was up to the company to take the next step.

Start/Stop – Sadly, the company did not take the next step with Matt Morgan despite having dozens (yes, dozens) of excellent opportunities. It was always one thing or another. Heel big man, face turn, tag team with different wrestlers, a going nowhere feud in the mid-card for a few months, back in the main event scene for awhile, another heel/face turn, back into a tag team, etc. Rinse, lather, repeat. I do not care what company it is. If you do THAT with anybody, it is not going to work. TNA had years to pull the trigger on Matt Morgan as a beast at the top of the card and never went all the way. I asked him about being a potential main eventer and/or World Champion during his time in TNA…

*Maybe the best TNA match in Matt Morgan’s career from 2009*

TNA Departure/WWE Return In 2013? – Speaking of start/stop problems in TNA, even up to Matt Morgan’s final days in the company, he was right there feuding with HULK FREAKIN’ HOGAN and The Icon Sting. Then poof! Gone. Around this time, it was heavily, heavily reported/assumed that WWE wanted to sign Matt Morgan. It seemed like his return to his former wrestling promotion was a matter of when, not if. Heck, I wrote about it ad naseum for MONTHS on end in Fall 2013. He was a perfect fit for WWE, and the signs pointed in that direction heading into 2014 especially when Matt Morgan guaranteed he would be on national television wrestling again in January 2014. Clearly, that did not occur, so what happened?

Matt proceeded to tell me a story about getting on his knees, and in his words “prayed my a** off” after his son turned a bad color. Thankfully, he then started breathing again, and at that moment Matt knew he would never leave him for a wrestling tour again. Never. He thanked both WWE and TNA for the opportunities they presented and retired from professional wrestling. Now, this IS the wrestling business, where the phrase “never say never” is often brought up. Thus, I asked the obvious followup question: Would a part-time Chris Jericho kind of schedule interest you?

Absolutely heart warming, especially when you consider seven different doctors told him and his wife they had no chance to conceive children. A ‘ten year odyssey’ as he called it. Such a touching story. It was at this point that my respect level for Mr. Morgan went up ten fold. Not only was he one of my favorite wrestlers that deserved a main event World Title run, he had his priorities in order away from the squared circle as well. Nothing but respect for the man inside and outside the ring. He may not have ever won the “World Title” championship belt in WWE or TNA. However, he was something much, much more important in life – a World Champion father.

YOU TELL ME! Voice your opinion in the comment section below: Matt Morgan as World Champion?

Self-Promoting Finale

Thanks to everybody who joined me for my third ever live tweeting session last Monday night during WWE RAW! Not my cup of tea admittedly, but I said if I reached 600 Twitter followers I would live tweet again, so I did. When will I live tweet again you ask? Well, I will get back to you when I reach 650 Twitter followers. Only 40 away!

Follow me on Twitter @JustinWatry

Follow Matt Morgan on Twitter: @BPmattmorgan

Go check out my Jay’s Ways column over at the NoDQ website…

…and finally…

Click it. Read it. Love it: http://winifredjac.com/

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