Perry Saturn Details Origin of the Infamous Moppy Storyline

Former WWE Superstar Perry Saturn recently opened up about being punished for his unscripted attack on Mike Bell in 2001 and how it led to the infamous Moppy storyline.

In 2001, Saturn battled Bell at a show called WWE Jakked/Metal. During the match, Bell botched an attempted arm drag, leading to Saturn landing awkwardly on his head. He responded by attacking Bell for real. This led to a gimmick change for Saturn, who began acting eccentrically and fell in love with Moppy.

During a recent appearance on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, Perry Saturn opened up about the backstage reaction to the wrestler attacking Bell. He also revealed what Vince McMahon told him afterward and how the idea of the Moppy storyline was pitched. Below are the highlights:

Saturn on the Reaction to His Attack on Mike Bell and What Vince McMahon Said to Him

“They were hot. Tom Prichard was the agent, and he babyfaced me with the heat. ‘Perry, are you okay? We need to make sure he’s okay. I didn’t know he landed on his head like that.’ The next day, my neck was f*cked up. I had to go to the doctor to get my neck looked at, but I wasn’t hurt, and that doesn’t give me the right to do what I did. And Vince told me, ‘Okay, Perry, you have to tell me right now that you’re never going to do that again.’

“I go, ‘Vince, I didn’t do it on purpose this time, so I can’t tell you that because I didn’t mean to do it.’ He was getting hot at me, and I’m just not going to tell him something that I don’t believe. If I tell him something, he’s going to know it’s what I believe. Otherwise, I’m not going to say it, because that’s important to me. My excuse to Vince was why I couldn’t tell him I wouldn’t do it anymore is because I landed on my f*cking head and I had no idea what I was doing. A week later, I’m doing Moppy.”

On How the Moppy Storyline Was Pitched to Him

“They didn’t pitch it to me. They had Paul E pitch it to me because I was close with Paul E, and I’m pretty sure they assumed I was going to quit, and I was going to. Paul E explaining it like I’m the village idiot. I go, ‘Paul E, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to look like a f*cking idiot.’ He goes, ‘Perry, you have no choice. You have to do it.’ I go, ‘I can’t do it. I’ll be f*cked.’ He goes, ‘You’ll be f*cked if you don’t do it.’ I go, ‘So I’m f*cked either way then? So I’ll just go home.’

“He goes, ‘You won’t be f*cked if you get it over.’ I trusted Paul E, and they never gave me any direction or anything. They just go here’s the mop and do whatever. They called them Saturnisms. I was very serious, especially back then. Every day I wanted to quit, and every day I thought about it. But I kept hearing Paul E say, ‘Not if you get it over.’ No direction at all. I come up with all that sh*t on my own. The island, Castaway, I make Moppy into the ball, Wilson.”