Kerry Morton On Making His Own Legacy In The NWA

In an interview with Fightful, Kerry Morton spoke about his father’s legacy in wrestling and wanting to make his own legacy as part of the NWA. Here are highlights:

On his decision to become a wrestler: “I feel like my whole life has been evolving to the day I was going to step into the ring. When I was in school I amateur wrestled and I happened to win a state championship at that. Then I did professional theater. Right before I ever stepped into the professional wrestling ring, I did professional theater. I toured with some musicals. There are some posters in the background as you can tell, too. Just some all over this guest bedroom. I hate that anyone that’s gonna stay the night is gonna get the story of my life. I did so many. I did the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was one of the last big tours before my contract came to an end when I was in high school. It was all involving my dad and my mom, which I’m so fortunate to have good parents that look out for me. They got me involved in acting and sports and vocal lessons and going to gymnastics or a gymnastic gym of some sort just to, I guess, looking at the bigger picture of one day hopefully becoming a successful professional wrestler in this industry and making a name for myself and hopefully making a good amount of money and enjoying my career and my love for this industry.”

On being a second-generation wrestler: “[I talk to these other guys—Brian Pillman, Colby Corino, there’s a bunch of names that come to mind right now—but a lot of people, they look at, especially speaking from a generational standpoint of a wrestling perspective. I’m just saying everyone expects us to be our fathers and that’s something we can’t do necessarily.] We have to make a career choice for ourselves. I’m not afraid to talk into a microphone. I’m not afraid to jump in front of the spotlight and speak my opinion. Quite frankly, I can’t wait for the day I get the opportunity to do more so. But right now, I’m just trying to get the edge in this sport. Meet people, find new people, make connections, getting leads to go to other places that have shows, and simply get better. I watch a lot of my dad’s [work]. My dad has a great moniker of being quite frankly possibly the best babyface in all of professional wrestling, which is simply one of the greatest compliments ever, especially from someone who admires this sport. It’s tough, but I’m also trying to create my own stone. I’m trying to put my own writing in stone this time. Also showing the edge to my father and then having mine and his in between.”

On making a name for himself: “My dad and Robert and a bunch of the older wrestlers that I talk to, I keep really good in contact with Dennis Condrey, Jimmy Cornette—he’s on me all the time. He watches my tapes, he’ll send me a clip. He’ll ask me what the hell I was doing wrestling at some show. Whatever. That’s the part of it. They always tell me that, ‘Your dad was always that young and hungry babyface.’ Which is great. But, me? I’m not afraid to speak my mind. I’m a little cocky. I’m a little confident. I’m not afraid to show that and that’s something I think definitely shows [?] apart from my father, coming from the underdog perspective. Knowing me, I’m smaller in this business compared to a lot of other guys, but I’m not necessarily an underdog. I know what I have and I know what I can bring to the table. That’s something I’m not afraid to show on the microphone or tell the promoters or tell a fan, ‘Listen, just because I’m Ricky’s son doesn’t mean I can’t make my own name for myself.’”

On his dad not retiring even though Robert Gibson is wrapping things up: “Honestly, my dad’s so happy. His love for wrestling, like, look a couple of years ago, I think he started back at Joey Janela’s Spring Break and when they wrestled Santana and Ortiz. They blew up a wrestling emotion once more and he absolutely adores this professional wrestling industry. Father time is catching up, but my father gets up every day at six o’clock in the morning. He’s off to the gym. He’s not back until about nine. From there he’s taking the dogs on a walk or he’s doing some business in his office of some sort. Then he’s watching tape and he’s on a production call for NWA or he’s talking about independent bookings or he’s talking to Robert. He loves it. I’m not the one to tell my father, ‘Hey, man. You gotta stop.’ But at some point, and we’ve talked about it recently, one of his big things he wants is being an agent for a big wrestling organization, including the NWA. Which is something he’s jumping into, but he’s also, as of now, a free agent. My dad can do a little bit of it all and I’m happy for him. He’s got a couple of other ventures. He’s wanting to start a coffee company. He’s been really pie-eyed, talking to some people about that. Robert, on the other hand, the farewell tour is kinda near its end and nothing against Robert, he’s family and I love him, but my dad is always big on giving fans their money’s worth. Robert is kind of beat up now. His knees hurt a lot. His hips getting kind of bad at the moment. It’s just a part, right now, of like, ‘Hey, Robert. You need to sit down sometime. It’s time to sit down, and wind down a little. Let’s do this farewell tour, let’s give the fans their money’s worth once more, and let’s go focus on something else in the wrestling industry.’”