Matt Morgan, who wrestles
Crimson on Sunday's TNA Lockdown PPV event,
said on today's PWTorch Livecast that his contract
with TNA is up later this year. He says he is loyal to TNA, but WWE has
expressed interest in him and he could see circumstances that would lead to his
going back to WWE.
"I have another year left on my contract with TNA," he
said. "My fifth of five years. I signed a five year deal with them four years
ago. I believe in October it will be up. The way it works is I'm a businessman
first and foremost, right? And you try to keep your options open as much as
humanly possible. I did start with WWE. They gave me a lot of tools and a lot of
knowledge and I was trained by some of the best big men this business has ever
had and learned a lot of things from those people over there in WWE. So I was
very very lucky."
He said it was a mistake for WWE to release him five
years ago, but he understands in retrospect the circumstances that led to his
being part of massive layoffs in 2005.
"Unfortunately, unluckily I came
there during a time when there was a revolving door. The day I got released I
believe we lost 22 other guys in a two days span on a Thursday as well as Black
Friday in 2005. I believe it was one of those wrong places, wrong time. Timing
is everything in this sport."
As far as a possible WWE return goes, he is
not ruling it out. "To say I wouldn't go back would be dumb on my part and it
would be a lie," he said. "But at the same time, I really am - I know people
don't like this answer who are pro-WWE and not so pro-TNA - but that's the
truth, I am loyal to those who are loyal to me. The minute, the day TNA stops
being as loyal to me as I feel I am being to them, that's a different discussion
all to itself and I definitely would weigh my options a lot differently if and
when that day ever came. But speaking right now, I'm happy for the most part
with how TNA has been treating me and they've done a really good job with me the
last four years."
He believes WWE would look back at releasing him as a
mistake, yet at the same time WWE had so much talent around the same age, he
understands their decision. "I think I've proven it was a mistake, but not a
mistake because of the timing," he said. "Timing really is everything. If they
have a roster, which they did at the time, full of guys in my age group - they
were throwing so much crap against the wall to see what would stick, a lot of us
weren't given a lot of time to stick against the wall, first and foremost, to
see if something would come out of these characters they were trying to present
so quickly. I mean, if you watch back those old Smackdowns and Raws from '03 to
'05 or '06, you'd see a lot of guys I could easily see now becoming
huge."
He said one thing that could influence his return is the recent
re-signing of Brock Lesnar. He worked with Lesnar during his previous run with
the company and at times traveled with him.
"Brock Lesnar coming back to
WWE, that guy helped me a lot when I was first up there," Morgan said. "He is
someone who helped me a lot work as a bigger guy, the psychology involved in
working as a big guy. So did Undertaker, so did Kane, so did Big Show. And
there's still some other dream matches out there that I want to happen before my
career is up. So I guess I would weigh my options a hell of a lot more when that
day comes. I'm a businessman first and foremost, to answer your question
honestly. But at the same time, that's what my agent is for. I know there has
been interest from that company. But at the same time I am loyal to TNA for
now."
He said the way TNA brought him along from a bodyguard at the
beginning to a PPV headliner has worked out well. "I went from, you know, a body
guard to being Cornette's lackey to making these awful matches on Impact and
getting in trouble and having him scream at me on national television. But I was
in a suit and was first brought on to speak, so these fans right away got to
understand Matt can hold his own on the mic, this kid can talk, he's not relying
on his physicality, not relying on flexing every ten seconds, not relying on
being 6-11, 328 pounds of muscle like every other meathead in this business
relies on. So that was a good lesson for me because I got introduced for my
verbal skills for the most part. And when it was time to transition me to a
wrestler, it was easier from that point moving forward. The fans had something
to sink their teeth into somewhat because they understood me as a character
first and foremost as opposed to another big guy who's really in good shape,
let's say, like so many other big guys. We added a few good layers to my
character over the years, and as long as they keep doing that, I have no reason
to leave TNA, so to say."