Trevor Murdoch conducted an audio interview with Sean Radican of PWTorch. He was on to promote Hard Times 3 and commented on the situation between Nick Aldis and Billy Corgan.
Murdoch stated, “Mine and Nick’s relationship hasn’t fallen apart, and I have all the respect in the world for Nick, as a pro wrestler. I also have respect for him for being one of the guys to help speak up for me to bring me into the NWA. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today. So I have a ton of gratitude for Nick in that aspect. I think where the heat is with Billy with Nick, is the fact that Nick wasn’t happy with — I’m only repeating what he said. He wasn’t happy with the company. He wasn’t happy with the relationship between what was going on between him and Billy.
My only issue was, I didn’t agree with Nick dragging the company and dragging the guys in it. When you start making comments, like the show’s too embarrassing for me to be a part of. First off, I think that’s a little bullsh*t. Secondly, you’re disrespecting all the men and women that you know, Nick’s not the only part of the show. And since we’ve started Powerrr, it hasn’t been Powerrr about Nick. It’s been NWA Powerrr. So there’s been a lot of talented wrestlers that have come through there that’s helped make NWA successful. And I just don’t think bringing all those men and women into the middle of your argument or your public squabble. I just don’t think that was the right thing to do. If Nick and Billy want to air out personal grievances, I also think that both sides of the story need to be told. It’s easy for someone to be in a position that’s leaving to just say what they feel they need to say to get the, I guess maybe, the public opinion to be swayed their way. There’s two sides to every story. It’s very easy for everybody to jump on the negative end and say that’s how it was because it’s a lot juicier. You know what I mean? It’s a lot more exciting. But there’s only half stories being told on some of this. And I think, the NWA and Billy have taken a stand on being a little bit more professional, and not interested in airing those grievances publicly.”
Murdoch continued, “There’s a way to go about doing it, in my opinion, and this is just my opinion, and I’m sure I’ll get heat. I’m sure I’ll piss some people off. But if you’re on your way out, and you have issues with the company, how big are those issues really if you bring them up publicly, not personally to the person you have the issue with. If I’m angry and upset with somebody, and I’m really angry and upset with them, I go to that individual first and air my grievances and at the very least tell them how I feel. I don’t go public about it first, and then expect to have a conversation or expect some sort of civil conversation after that.”
Murdoch was asked if Aldis’ public statement about his resignation from the NWA accelerated the issues between Corgan and Aldis. Murdoch said:
“You also got to understand Billy’s position too. Okay, why is Billy any different than WWE in this aspect of the business? And why is it any different than AEW? If you have a talent that is on their way out and they know they’re leaving, and they decide to just publicly bury the company and the boss, would you be okay with having that guy on your next show and pretending as if none of that sh*t happened? Not to mention Billy has not only focused on this [but] he has a whole locker room. What does that say to the locker room when that kind of stuff happens? It’s it’s no different than any other job. We’ve all had regular jobs. If I go run my mouth, and my boss finds out that I’ve been publicly burying him in the company I worked for, I don’t intend to be employed much longer. I mean, where else in the f**king world does that sh*t work?”
“And, again, it’s no different than any other job you work for. Let’s be real. You publicly talk sh*t about your boss and the company you work for? I can’t honestly think you’re gonna continue to be employed. I mean, it’s just like everybody wants to blow this up like Billy is an a**hole. But it’s literally just basic business 401, you know. You work for a company, you do what’s asked of you. You know, if you have issues with the boss, you go to the boss about it. If you step outside of those boundaries, you’re most likely gonna get fired.”
Murdoch also spoke about his relationship with Corgan:
“Actually, you know, it seems like every show him and I get a little bit more and more on the same level. Billy gained a lot of respect for me from when I first started in the company. And what I mean by that is when I realized that they wanted to keep me on and have me on as a full-time talent, and put me under a deal, I sat down and had the conversation with them that I’ve had with every promoter that I’ve done a major business deal with. And that was, what do you want from me? What position? What role do you want me to fill? And how can I best benefit the company? And his answer was, ‘Trevor, I just want you. I want Trevor Murdoch, the wrestler.’ And I was a bit confused at first because every promoter I’ve worked for, they put me in these parameters. And they said, ‘well, Trevor, we’ll have you come in. And we want you to do this with this person. Because, you know, this is going this way. And don’t do this. Don’t do that. Try to get this over.’ You know what I mean? Like, they lay it out for me. And, you know, after a while, you become almost like a robot. You know what I mean? You have to have that direction…With Billy and NWA, there were no parameters. There were no, ‘don’t do this.’ There was no ‘don’t do that.’ It was ‘go out there and do what you’re hired to do. And that’s wrestle.’ And once I realized I was able be free and not get in trouble for trying different things, or doing things that I knew would work but in other companies, they would frown upon it. You know what I mean? Because it’s too wrestling. So for me, once I realized, like, he opened up the floodgates for me, I was like, okay, he respects me, not only as a man and a person, but as professional. And, I mean, that’s all I’ve been looking for my whole career. It’s all I’ve been wanting is somebody to go, ‘I believe in you and I trust you [and] go do you?’ And now that I’ve got it, look what I’ve been able to do with it. You know what I mean? Could you imagine if this would have been 20 years ago and Vince would be like, ‘just go out there and do you Trevor.’ We might be having a whole different conversation about business, right?… Once Billy gave me that opening and then he started to trust me, you know what I mean? He gave me the opportunity. But it took me to build that trust. And then once he realized that things that I was doing were getting the reaction he was wanting, he started trusting me more. And it’s again, given me more freedom and given me opportunities to express my opinions about angles and what I’m doing and the company. And he’s made me feel like I’m not only a wrestler, but I am a part of this company, I’m a part of this family, this atmosphere, this idea of, we’re going to bring Smash Mouth pro wrestling, back to pro wrestling. We’re going to that’s where we’re going to carve out our niche. That’s our piece of the pie is a Smash Mouth storytelling pro wrestling.”
For those who missed it, click here for Murdoch’s comments on if Corgan could have found a better way to explain to fans why there are no plans for a second EmPowerr and then say that it will happen when the time is right.
(h/t to Wrestling News for the transcription)
