Former WWE wrestler Matt Morgan recently appeared on INSIGHT With Chris Van Vliet for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling. Here are the highlights:
Why he didn’t return to WWE in 2014:
“I would have had that chance when I was supposed to go back and re-debut with them [in] 2014, January 2014. The Royal Rumble. I was going to be The Blueprint finally on WWE TV, not TNA. But my son Jackson was born January 7. And that was something that my wife and I had been praying on for 12 straight years, we went through eight rounds of IVF, none of them worked. And by the grace of God, she naturally got pregnant, the biggest thing for me in my life ever, ever! And so when he was born, and I held him for the first time, this switch went off in my head, I’m done. I’m not going back on the road, I need to be a dad and I need to be home here every night, you know, with my son. And like I’ve said many times that ended up being the right decision because just, you know, almost three short years later, a little bit under three years later, Jackson was diagnosed as being nonverbal autistic. So again, it’s a tag team, between me and my wife, on being able to take care of him and do the listening and the myriad things we have to do every single day before he goes to school after he goes to school. All the therapy needs, you know, getting them in the right charter school, that all those different things that are very important. But let’s say it never happened. I was on track to be re-debuting for Royal Rumble 2014 that January. And so I called them up. I told them what happened.”
Using the F5 as a finisher:
“So funny story. I always felt like Vince called me into his office to tell me that was going to be my new finisher. And it was right, I always felt it was kind of like a shot to Brock at this point. Now I get called back up to SmackDown, black dyed hair, stuttering Matt Morgan, right, with the black trunks. And anyways, he [Vince] called me into his office and said that he wants me to use the F5 as a finish and could I do it? And I said sure no problem. But in the back of my head, I kind of thought that was a shot at Brock because he had just, you know, not too long ago quit their company to go and try out for the NFL. And I kind of thought that was maybe a dig at him because I was close with Brock at the time. My first time I got called up, I rode with him a couple of times. He told me anything I ever needed come to him with, and I did my first time I got called up. We had that Danny Davis Ohio Valley Wrestling connections together. But anyways, my first time doing the F5 was to The Big Show, that was the very first time I ever tried to do the F5. So when they said can you do it? Yes, sir. No problem. But then, you know, you hope Big Show will help you get, you know, get his big butt up, things like that when you deliver the move. But, you know, we pulled it off, luckily. And at the time, I’m pretty sure I was only the third time to lift, the third time, I and pretty sure I was only the third person to lift Big Show up on their shoulders, at least in a WWE ring. Cena did it and I know Brock did, I was the third.”
For those who missed it, click here for Morgan’s comments about an idea for him to play Kane’s brother Abel.
You can listen to the complete podcast below:
