TNA News

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Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

As reported before, TNA wanted WWE to mention them on the Hall of Fame ceremony in return for allowing Ric Flair to appear. WWE turned down that request but reportedly agreed to another one - a WWE talent appearing on a TNA DVD.

Details are sketchy right now but TNA wanted a WWE wrestler to come into their studio as a "talking head" and speak on one of their DVD releases. TNA asked for this in exchange for allowing Flair to appear on the WrestleMania 28 DVD.

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- According to Dave Meltzer of the F4WOnline.com, TNA President Dixie Carter recently spoke with The Wrestling Observer saying there would be a lot of changes in the next few weeks as far as the presentation of the shows after her meetings yesterday with Spike TV. She wasn't specific, only saying it would play out soon and would include format changes and new elements to the show. She said the company is making a very conscious decision to focus now on young talent.

- Dixie Carter also noted that Bruce Prichard is back at work and has dropped 31 pounds. Carter noted it was a real scare but if he was lucky, it was that he was already in the hospital (for heart surgery) when he suffered the heart attack. If he wasn't, things could have been a lot worse.

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."