Mid 20th Century
197-596: Nicholas Harry Aldis (born 6 November 1986) is an English professional wrestler . He is signed to WWE , where he is a producer and the on-screen general manager of the SmackDown brand . He is best known for his tenure in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under the ring name Magnus from 2008 to 2015, and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) from 2017 to 2022. Aldis made his debut on
394-633: A Lethal Lockdown match . On 21 March episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus was defeated by Jeff Hardy in a four-way number one contenders match for the World Heavyweight Championship , which also included Kurt Angle and Samoa Joe. On 18 April episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus was scheduled to face Devon for his Television Championship, however, was attacked by DOC and Knux before the match could start. Magnus returned on 9 May episode of Impact Wrestling , defeating DOC after an inadvertent distraction from D'Lo Brown . Later that night, Magnus
591-774: A ball-peen hammer . Magnus returned as a fan favourite on 31 January 2013 episode of Impact Wrestling in Manchester, England , interrupting and attacking Bad Influence (Christopher Daniels and Kazarian) who were insulting the country. Afterwards, Magnus wrestled his return match, defeating TNA Television Champion Devon in a non-title match via disqualification after interference from the Aces & Eights. At Lockdown in March, Team TNA, consisting of Magnus, Eric Young, James Storm, Samoa Joe, and Sting defeated Aces & Eights, consisting of Devon, DOC , Garett Bischoff , Knux , and Mr. Anderson in
788-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
985-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
1182-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
1379-541: A 2008 episode of TNA Impact! during the TNA Webography segment where TNA Superstars give an insight into their life that he has been married to his college sweetheart, a Hawaiian/Filipino woman named Larissa Vasper from Hawaii for four years. During that Webography, he also announced that when he was five, he was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD), which led to him getting involved with CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder),
1576-457: A Doomsday Chamber of Blood Match, in which neither wrestler could be legally pinned were he not bleeding. Morgan won after interference by Abyss' psychiatrist, Dr. Stevie, by hitting Abyss with a back low blow and then a chokebomb onto a pile of tacks. The following weeks Morgan began a campaign to convince the heel stable The Main Event Mafia to allow him to join them and become a member. He
1773-486: A First Blood match, after using fake blood on him, following a distraction from a planted fan , later identified as Anarquia , the newest member of Hernandez's Mexican America stable. On April 17 at Lockdown , Morgan defeated Hernandez in a steel cage match to win the feud. With his feud with Hernandez behind him, Morgan announced his intention of going for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on
1970-513: A TNA World Tag Team Championship match at Slammiversary IX , which they lost to James Storm and Alex Shelley. On 30 June, Magnus and Williams turned face by responding to Mexican America 's bad remarks by praising the United States. They were then attacked until Rob Terry returned to save them, effectively adding him back to the group. On 14 July episode of Impact Wrestling , Mexican America's Anarquia and Hernandez defeated Magnus and Williams in
2167-405: A TNA World Tag Team Championship number one contender's match, following outside interference from their stablemate Rosita . At 9 August tapings of Xplosion , Magnus defeated Alex Shelley in the finals of a sixteen-man Xplosion Championship Challenge tournament to earn the right to challenge for the title of his choosing. In December 2011, Magnus began teaming up with Samoa Joe to take part in
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#17328633385242364-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
2561-405: A backstage segment, and then when Magnus saved Tigre Uno from an assault from Bram the following week. On the edition of 5 June of Impact Wrestling, it looked as though Magnus would finalise his face turn and save Willow from Bram, but would in fact remain heel and attack Willow himself with a steel pry bar. Since developing a more violent persona, Magnus and Bram began a rivalry with Willow and
2758-424: A bar, but after leaving the bar he was then viciously attacked by Bram, which would turn Magnus face once again. The following week Mickie James , (Magnus's real-life fiancé) returned to TNA to confront Bram who threatened Mickie in return. The week after, Magnus returned and attacked Bram in retaliation for threatening Mickie. This would lead to a match between the two which Magnus won by disqualification after Magnus
2955-452: A bloodbath. However, Samoa Joe came to the ring to put a stop to this and hit Morgan with a Muscle Buster . This led to The Band coming out and Kevin Nash cashing in his "Feast or Fired" contract, after which he pinned Morgan to make himself and Scott Hall the new World Tag Team Champions. On the edition of June 3 of Impact! , Matt Morgan was distracted by somebody in the crowd which cost him
3152-464: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
3349-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
3546-505: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
3743-587: A coaching change at Monmouth, Morgan transferred to Chaminade University in Hawaii, where he finished his college basketball career and graduated in public speaking . While at Chaminade, Morgan played in the Maui Invitational against the number one ranked Duke Blue Devils . Morgan participated in tryouts for the NBA teams Indiana Pacers and Toronto Raptors , but he was not offered a contract by either team. Morgan
3940-474: A contract that anyone with any value, any sense of self-value or self-worth would sign...There’s no point in signing a contract to make you exclusive to one place if you’re not getting anything in return". He said he was willing to continue working for the company as an independent contractor on handshake agreements, but he was rebuffed. On 23 September 2017, Aldis made his debut for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood , defeating Will Roode. Immediately following
4137-405: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Matt Morgan (wrestler) Matthew Thomas Morgan (born September 10, 1976)
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#17328633385244334-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
4531-487: A double disqualification. On the following edition of Impact Wrestling , Morgan and Crimson defeated Mexican America to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. They would defend the titles against Mexican America, D'Angelo Dinero and Devon , and Magnus and Samoa Joe, until February 12, where they lost the championship at Against All Odds against Magnus and Joe in a rematch. They would try to regain
4728-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
4925-551: A feud with Team 3D over the IWGP Tag Team Championship . On 30 July episode of Impact! , Magnus and Williams won the IWGP Tag Team Championship by defeating Team 3D in a Tables match . However, New Japan Pro-Wrestling later stated that as the title change did not occur with the sanction of the promotion, they still recognised Team 3D as the official champions. On 10 August 2009, NJPW formally recognised
5122-470: A four-man ladder match to climb to number three spot in the tournament's rankings, however, just four days later it was reported that Morgan had torn his pectoral muscle, which would sideline him for six weeks, ending his participation in the tournament. Over the following weeks, Morgan was on commentary for the Bound for Glory Series matches. On August 29 it was reported that Morgan had been cleared to return to
5319-404: A four-way match with Samoa Joe, Sting, and the winner of the match, TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam . The camera's immediately showed what was distracting Morgan, but nobody could clearly see who it was, although Taz and Mike Tenay believed it to be Hernandez. The following week, Hernandez made his official return by attacking Morgan. After the attack The Band gave the injured Morgan
5516-585: A full-time wrestler. With Morgan joining Team Cage , he established himself as a face , and went back to his old OVW nickname, "The Blueprint". Morgan teamed up with Kip James at Sacrifice as a result of the Deuces Wild Tag Team Tournament draw. They failed to win the tag titles as James and Morgan could not get along long enough. He then began to feud with The Rock 'n Rave Infection after defeating Jimmy Rave in less than two minutes on July 17. Lance Rock immediately challenged Morgan to
5713-513: A gauntlet match. During the gauntlet, Magnus defeated Kazarian and Christopher Daniels, but was defeated by Bobby Roode, who took advantage of his injured knee and made him submit. After the match Magnus began venting his frustrations around the ring before Sting came out to calm him down, which culminated in Sting offering Magnus a match against him at Bound for Glory , which Magnus accepted. Magnus defeated Sting at Bound for Glory after Sting tapped out to
5910-453: A great love for professional wrestling and all the opportunities it afforded him, that his biggest dream in life was to be a father and so he had to take a job that allowed him to be home every night with his son, something he unfortunately would not be able to do as a full-time wrestler. In an interview with Chris Van Vliet in February 2023, Morgan also spoke he was intended to return to WWE in
6107-450: A heavy amount of interference against Styles, making Magnus undisputed champion. Samoa Joe then stepped up to challenge Magnus, labelling him a "paper champion". On 9 January 2014 episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus defeated A.J. Styles in a no disqualification title unification match after Styles had returned to TNA with his own TNA World Heavyweight Championship; Styles left TNA after the match. The next week, Magnus defeated Sting in
Nick Aldis - Misplaced Pages Continue
6304-466: A heel group by attacking the team of Eric Young and Orlando Jordan . In their first match back together, Magnus and Williams were defeated by Ink Inc. on 12 April, on Xplosion . On 17 April at Lockdown , Magnus and Williams were defeated again by Ink Inc. in a four tag team number one contenders' steel cage match . Despite not having won a match since their reformation, the British Invasion received
6501-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
6698-470: A low-blow and Michinoku Driver . On 11 May episode of Impact! , Magnus lost the GFW Global Championship to El Patrón via submission to the cross armbreaker . Magnus then acted as guest commentator during a match between Ethan Carter III and James Storm the following week on Impact! and got involved himself in the post-match melee between the two wrestlers, beating and leaving Storm laying by
6895-754: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
7092-509: A match right there, and Morgan squashed him. In August 2008 Morgan entered a tag team up with Abyss . The storyline was an additional chapter in the "Abyss' humanisation" storyline. Since his return to television, Abyss had portrayed an emotionally vulnerable character, exaggerating the meaning behind every gesture he received. Abyss saw Morgan as his best friend and was desperate not to displease him. But Abyss' new sensitivity made him more naive, thus causing him to make simple errors that cost
7289-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
7486-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
7683-402: A no disqualification title match to end Sting's TNA career. On 30 January episode of Impact Wrestling , Samoa Joe and Kurt Angle defeated Magnus and Ethan Carter III in a stipulated tag match. In the match, Joe forced Magnus to tap out and as a result of the stipulation put in place, he would receive a shot at the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On 2 March, Magnus successfully defended
7880-414: A non-profit organization based out of Landover, Maryland . In August 2008, it was announced that Morgan would contribute a sample of his DNA to be launched into space as part of game designer Richard Garriott 's "Operation Immortality" project. In 2014, Morgan's wife, Larissa, gave birth to their first child. Since 2016, Morgan has become a regular guest on The Wrestling Inc. podcast, reviewing
8077-640: A non-title match. Morgan made his first wrestling appearance since departing from TNA on August 31, 2013, at NWA Florida Underground Wrestling 's Throwdown 6 , defeating Kenneth Cameron . Morgan returned to NWA-FUW on October 26, defeating The Grease to win the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship . In November, Morgan made successful title defenses against Leo Gold, Deimos, and The Titan. Morgan made his debut for Family Wrestling Entertainment on October 12, 2013, at their Grand Prix iPPV, unsuccessfully challenging John Hennigan for
Nick Aldis - Misplaced Pages Continue
8274-422: A number one contender's match. On the edition of February 10 of Impact! , Morgan received a shot at Anderson's TNA World Heavyweight Championship, but was defeated following interference from the returning Hernandez, who made his first TNA appearance in over six months. On the edition of March 3 of Impact! Morgan defeated Hernandez via disqualification. On March 13 at Victory Road , Hernandez defeated Morgan in
8471-447: A number one contender's spot for the championship Magnus was met in a backstage segment by his childhood friend and fellow Brit Bram , who began to chastise him, claiming he had gone soft. Over the next several weeks, Magnus began showing signs of a face turn when Bram would throw weapons into the ring and encourage him to let out a more intense side but Magnus would refuse. More signs began to show from Magnus when he first attacked Bram in
8668-441: A regular tag match to determine an additional stipulation on the forthcoming match at Final Resolution. The match at Final Resolution would begin as a 4-on-1 handicap match, but if the disadvantaged wrestler survived the first 5 minutes his partners would then join the match, turning it into an eight-man elimination tag team match. Neal pinned Hernandez, meaning that Hernandez and his team would be disadvantaged at Final Resolution. At
8865-529: A release from NWA. As Aldis was publicly critical about the direction of the company, he was later suspended by NWA. Aldis pointed the new direction of the promotion as the reason to leave NWA. After leaving the NWA, Aldis would return to Impact Wrestling at Rebellion . After winning at Against All Odds in an 8 – 4 –1 match to become the number one contender for the Impact World Championship, he faced champion Alex Shelley at Slammiversary , but
9062-466: A rematch for the Global Championship. The rematch took place at 29 June tapings of Xplosion , with Terry retaining his Global Championship. On 3 July 2010, Dixie Carter announced that Aldis had signed a new long-term contract with TNA. On the edition of 14 July 2010 of TNA Today , Aldis debuted a new charming but promiscuous gimmick. He then went on to form a tag team with Desmond Wolfe , with
9259-482: A steel chair. Morgan later confirmed that the match was a one-time deal only in order to give his son the chance to see him wrestle. On the April 6, 2017 edition of Impact, Morgan made his return as the third pick on Team Jeremy Borash , joining Chris Adonis , Magnus and Alberto El Patrón . The foursome would defeat Team Josh Mathews ( Bram , Eli Drake , Lashley and Tyrus ) the following week. Morgan's next match
9456-430: A surprise return to professional wrestling as Aldis' corner and spokesman. Now working as a solidly "tweener" character, Aldis' primary angle was that of a traveling champion who actively accepts all challengers in a bid to raise the profile of the title and bring back some of its lost prestige. His first major story as champion was known as "The Aldis Crusade," a self-imposed mission to undertake twenty title defences over
9653-453: A tag team match. On the June 9, 2022, episode of Impact! , Morgan made a one night return and was interviewed by Gia Miller to talk about his career with the company until being interrupted by Vincent. In 2017, Morgan ran for public office, defeating incumbent Mark Weller as District 4 City Commissioner of Longwood, Florida . He changed his political affiliation from Democrat to Republican
9850-495: A tag team, attacking Crimson and Morgan on the next two episodes of Impact Wrestling . On 2 February, Magnus and Joe defeated Crimson and Morgan in a non-title match to earn another shot at the TNA World Tag Team Championship, and at Against All Odds , Magnus and Joe defeated Crimson and Morgan to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Magnus and Joe then defeated Crimson and Morgan in two rematches in February and March and Mexican America (Anarquia and Hernandez) in March to retain
10047-487: A third opportunity at the belts at Genesis in a three-way match against Beer Money, Inc. and then-champions Jay Lethal and Consequences Creed . During the match, Abyss accidentally knocked Morgan out with one of the championship belts, causing him to be pinned by Beer Money. On the following Impact! , the team fought against Lethal and Creed in a number one contenders match for the tag team championship, which ended with Morgan once again being pinned because of Abyss. On
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#173286333852410244-421: A title shot earlier in the event. On 13 May at Sacrifice , Magnus and Joe lost the TNA World Tag Team Championship to Daniels and Kazarian. On 14 June episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus entered the 2012 Bound for Glory Series , taking part in the opening gauntlet match , from which he was eliminated by Samoa Joe. Magnus' participation in the tournament ended on 16 August episode of Impact Wrestling , when he
10441-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
10638-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
10835-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
11032-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
11229-523: Is an American politician and retired professional wrestler . He is the former mayor and current deputy mayor of the city of Longwood, Florida and is a former gladiator on American Gladiators . As a wrestler, he is known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), where he performed on the SmackDown brand , and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he is a two-time TNA World Tag Team Champion . Matthew Thomas Morgan
11426-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
11623-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
11820-453: The 2004 Royal Rumble match , in which the winner would get a title shot against their brand's champion at WrestleMania XX ; he eliminated The Hurricane but was eliminated by Chris Benoit. After Brock Lesnar quit WWE, Morgan was written off television with an unmentioned injury and sent back to OVW for further development and experience, wrestling again as "The Blueprint" Matt Morgan and on April 14, 2004, he defeated Nick Dinsmore to become
12017-495: The 2014 Royal Rumble event using The Blueprint gimmick he used in TNA but his son was born on January 7, days before the event and plans for it were then shelved. On June 24, 2015, Morgan returned to TNA as a face, after saving the returning Vader from an attack from Bram . It was soon announced that Morgan would face Bram at Slammiversary . At Slammiversary, Bram defeated Morgan after performing The Brighter Side of Suffering onto
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#173286333852412214-596: The F-5 . This partnership ended when Carlito was drafted to Raw , and Morgan was subsequently released by WWE on July 5, 2005. His last match in WWE was on the July 7, episode of SmackDown! against William Regal , although technically the match never took place as Morgan was attacked by The Mexicools before Regal ever got to the ring. Morgan toured with New Japan Pro-Wrestling in late 2005, defeating Yuji Nagata in his debut match. He
12411-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
12608-612: The OVW Heavyweight Champion . He held the title for almost six months before losing it to Chris Cage on October 13, 2004. Since the stipulation was that if Morgan lost he would "never show his face again" in OVW, he began wearing a mask to the ring and tweaked his name to simply The Blueprint. He would regain the OVW Heavyweight Championship on April 13, 2005, at an OVW live event after defeating Elijah Burke , but lost
12805-516: The RKK World Heavyweight Championship . Immediately after leaving TNA in 2015, Aldis signed with Global Force Wrestling (GFW), where he was the inaugural GFW Global Champion and subsequently became the longest-reigning champion in the title's history. In 2017, Aldis briefly returned to TNA, now Impact Wrestling, due to their new partnership with GFW, dropping the title and leaving the company later that year. He then signed with
13002-503: The Wild Card Tournament . On 5 January 2012 episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus and Samoa Joe defeated A.J. Styles and Kazarian to win the four-week-long Wild Card Tournament and become the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Championship. Three days later at Genesis , Magnus and Joe failed to capture the TNA World Tag Team Championship from Crimson and Matt Morgan. Despite the loss, Magnus and Joe remained together as
13199-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
13396-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
13593-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
13790-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
13987-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
14184-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
14381-417: The Bound for Glory Series, Magnus began a feud with Bad Influence , who assaulted him during the finals, and first challenged them to a six-man tag team match against himself, Sting and Samoa Joe, prior to the match Bad Influence incapacitated Magnus and injured his knee, but Sting and Joe emerged victorious. In the aftermath, Magnus announced he was going to take on all three members of Bad Influence himself in
14578-652: The British independent circuit in 2004 before signing with his first major contract with TNA in 2008. During his seven-year tenure there, he won the TNA World Heavyweight Championship once , becoming the first British-born world champion in the company's history along with becoming a three-time tag team champion, winning the TNA World Tag Team Championship twice and the IWGP Tag Team Championship once . At Ring Ka King in 2011, he won
14775-442: The British Invasion and completing his fan favourite turn. At Destination X 2010 , Magnus announced that from now on he would be known only by the name Magnus. He then went on to lose to his former mate and wrestling partner Rob Terry in a match for the Global Championship. After not being seen for over three months, Magnus returned on 14 June at the tapings of Xplosion , defeating Suicide and afterward challenging Rob Terry to
14972-503: The FWE Heavyweight Championship. Morgan returned to FWE on December 7 for their one-night tournament, losing to Ted DiBiase Jr. via count-out in the opening round. In January 2014, Morgan announced his retirement from professional wrestling full-time in order to be with his wife and new born son, as well as begin a career as a regional manager for a "big-time medical device company". Morgan has stated that while he has
15169-457: The January 23 episode of Impact! , Morgan and Abyss battled Beer Money, Inc. in a non-title first blood match. Towards the end of the match, Morgan turned on Abyss after hitting him with a steel chair, causing him to bleed, giving Storm and Roode the win and turning heel in the process. Morgan was defeated at Against All Odds in a standard match, but defeated Abyss in a Match of 10,000 Tacks at Destination X . The feud ended at Lockdown , in
15366-595: The Japanese Pro Wrestling Noah promotion, when he and Samoa Joe defeated Akitoshi Saito and Jun Akiyama to win the GHC Tag Team Championship . On 8 October, Magnus and Joe lost the title to KENTA and Maybach Taniguchi in their first defence. On 29 June 2015, it was announced that Aldis had signed with Global Force Wrestling , and will compete under his real name. On 9 July, Aldis made his in-ring debut defeating Tommaso Ciampa as part of
15563-489: The King's Lynn Cloverleaf. On 21 November 2013 episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus was entered into a tournament to crown a new TNA World Heavyweight Champion after the title was vacated. He defeated Samoa Joe in a Falls Count Anywhere match at Turning Point and Kurt Angle on Impact Wrestling to advance to the finals. He defeated Jeff Hardy in a Dixieland match to become the new TNA World Heavyweight Champion on 3 December;
15760-555: The Mafia's favor. On the August 13, 2009, episode of Impact! , Morgan defeated A.J. Styles in the deciding match of a "Best of Three Series" to secure his place in a triple threat match at Hard Justice also involving Sting and Kurt Angle . He lost at the event after Angle hit him with a steel chair. At No Surrender competed in a re-match that also featured A.J. Styles and Hernandez , who used his "Feast or Fired" contract to include himself in
15957-490: The Magnus ring name as a fan favourite, helping to save Matt Morgan from a 4-on-1 attack by Team Josh Mathews ( Bram , Eli Drake , Lashley , and Tyrus ), beating down Bram and, in the process, being revealed as Team Jeremy Borash 's 4th member, joining Chris Adonis , Morgan and Alberto El Patrón , that would battle the aforementioned foursome. The two sides squared off on the following episode of Impact! , with Magnus getting
16154-663: The NWA World Championship against Flip Gordon . On 1 September 2018, Aldis lost the title to Cody at All In . On 21 October 2018, at the NWA 70th Anniversary Show , Nick Aldis beat Cody to regain the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship. On 24 November, Aldis successfully defended the title against Jake Hager at WrestleCade: SuperShow. Other challengers have included Cowboy James Storm, Jimmy Havoc , Leland Race (son of Harley), and Marty Scurll . Aldis retained
16351-490: The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship to Murdoch, ending his reign at 1,043 days. While still employed by the NWA, Aldis returned to Impact Wrestling on 1 April 2022 for the Multiverse of Matches event, teaming with Mickie James to compete against Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green. He also appeared at Slammiversary 2022 on 19 June 2022. On 6 November 2022, Aldis announced on his Instagram for his subscribers that he requested
16548-532: The NWA and would soon after win the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship , a title he would hold twice, becoming the second British wrestler to hold that championship (after Gary Steele ), making him a four-time world champion in professional wrestling. Aldis then left the NWA in late 2022 and briefly returned to Impact Wrestling in 2023 before departing the company in July and subsequently began working for WWE in August. Aldis also appeared in
16745-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
16942-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
17139-528: The Open Fight Night, however, he lost the match via disqualification, after hitting Joe with a wrench. The rivalry culminated in a No Disqualification match on 11 November at Turning Point , where Magnus was again unsuccessful in winning the title. On the following episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus was sidelined with a storyline injury after he was ambushed by the Aces & Eights and hit in both his knees with
17336-533: The TNA World Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo, Japan , defeating Kai at Wrestle-1 's Kaisen: Outbreak event. At Lockdown , Magnus successfully defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Samoa Joe. On 3 April, Magnus successfully defended his TNA World Heavyweight Championship against Samoa Joe, Eric Young and Abyss. On 8 April, Director of Wrestling Operations MVP announced a 10-man gauntlet match that took place on 10 April episode of Impact Wrestling where
17533-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
17730-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
17927-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
18124-659: The background of a segment featuring Eric Young and Jeremy Borash . On the August 9 episode of TNA Impact! , Morgan appeared alongside former TNA Management Director Jim Cornette , with TNA later identifying him as Cornette's " backup ". Morgan was the Special Enforcer in the Samoa Joe and Christian Cage match at Bound for Glory , preventing Christian's Coalition from interfering as Joe gave Cage his first true defeat in TNA. Morgan had to restrain Tomko and A.J. Styles on
18321-497: The beatdown and aligned with the three men. This foursome would go on to be called Strictly Business . Shortly after forming the new faction, Aldis retained the title against Ricky Morton on Powerrr and Villain Enterprises ' Flip Gordon at Hard Times , which set up a title defense for Aldis against Gordon's teammate Marty Scurll at Crockett Cup , a rematch between the two from the previous year's Crockett Cup. In preparation for
18518-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
18715-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
18912-428: The championship. On 15 April at Lockdown , Magnus and Joe defeated The Motor City Machine Guns in a steel cage match to retain the TNA World Tag Team Championship. During the first "Open Fight Night" on 26 April, Magnus and Joe successfully defended the TNA World Tag Team Championship against the team of Jeff Hardy and Mr. Anderson , after which they were attacked by Christopher Daniels and Kazarian, who had asked for
19109-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
19306-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
19503-426: The company GFW) on 20 April and that he only worked April's Impact! tapings on a handshake deal to protect the lineage of the GFW Global Championship by transitioning it to El Patrón. On 26 July edition of sports writer Chris Featherstone's Pancakes and Powerslams podcast , Aldis cited the lack of financial compensation and creative challenge GFW would offer him as his reasons for not signing. He added that "it’s not
19700-480: The conference tournament, Monmouth received an automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA tournament. Of his trip to the tournament, Morgan said, "it was fun to be able to say that you actually played in the NCAA tournament and actually got some minutes. I didn’t score, but at least I got in as a freshman, which was cool." Monmouth lost to Marquette University in the first round of the tournament by a final score of 68–44. Following
19897-654: The course of sixty days across three continents in the spring of 2018, concluding with a title defence against Colt Cabana in Wenzhou , China . That summer, Billy Corgan made an announcement at the All In press conference, naming Cody Rhodes as the new challenger for the title at the 1 September event. To promote the match, Aldis wrestled two matches in Ring of Honor: on 24 May 2018 he and Mark Haskins were defeated by The Young Bucks , and at Honor For All , Aldis would successfully retained
20094-531: The crowd in street clothes, hopping a guardrail and attacking Robbie E. The following night at another house show in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania , Morgan entered the ring after a match between James Storm and Jeff Hardy, delivering a Carbon Footprint to referee Brian Stiffler. The second appearance was later broadcast on the October 4 episode of Impact Wrestling , where Bruce Prichard was lecturing D'Lo Brown about
20291-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
20488-478: The edition of August 12 of Impact! Morgan joined Ric Flair 's Fortune (originally spelled Fourtune) stable, as he, A.J. Styles, Kazarian , Robert Roode , James Storm and Douglas Williams attacked EV 2.0 , a stable consisting of former Extreme Championship Wrestling performers. At Bound for Glory Morgan, Styles, Kazarian, Roode and Storm were defeated in a Lethal Lockdown match by EV 2.0 members Tommy Dreamer , Raven, Rhino, Sabu and Stevie Richards . On
20685-608: The edition of October 1 of impact, Matt Morgan defeated Eric Young. On October 5 Morgan announced on his Twitter page that he had signed a new 5-year deal with TNA. Morgan's feud with Angle culminated in a singles match at Bound for Glory , where despite Morgan's loss, he managed to gain Angle's respect. This match practically ended the Main Event Mafia. Morgan then teamed up with Hernandez and D'Angelo Dinero and moved on to feuding with Rhino and Team 3D, who accused TNA of favoring
20882-531: The edition of October 18 of Impact! when they tried interfering in the main event helping Christian defeat Samoa Joe in a Fight For The Right Qualifying match. On the April 3, 2008, edition of TNA Impact! , it was revealed that Morgan allowed Team Tomko to add James Storm to their team, giving them a five-to-four advantage heading into Lockdown ; however, at the end of the program, it was revealed that Morgan himself had joined Team Cage. The next week, Jim Cornette relieved Morgan of his assistant duties to become
21079-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
21276-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
21473-444: The fall of the year. NWA resumed hosting events with Back For The Attack on 21 March 2021, where Aldis retained the title against Aron Stevens in the main event. In the weeks following the event, the recently debuted Chris Adonis joined Strictly Business as its newest member. The group immediately began feuding with Trevor Murdoch , who won a battle royal to face Aldis for the title at When Our Shadows Fall , where Aldis retained
21670-537: The first night of the semifinals in the joust. He defeated each of his two opponents in less than eight seconds. On September 24, 2010, Morgan appeared on Fox television show The Good Guys , playing the role of a Russian mobster on an episode titled Vacation . In November 2010 Morgan was a contestant on an all TNA week of Family Feud , teaming with Jay Lethal , Mick Foley , Mr. Anderson and Rob Van Dam against Angelina Love , Christy Hemme , Lacey Von Erich , Tara and Velvet Sky . On June 30, 2011, Morgan
21867-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
22064-426: The following edition of Impact! Fortune formed an alliance with Hulk Hogan's and Eric Bischoff 's new stable, Immortal . However, Morgan would be kicked out of Fortune after he faced Jeff Hardy for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, turning him into a face. He would have two titles matches at Turning Point and Final Resolution , but he lost both times. At Genesis Morgan was defeated by Mr. Anderson in
22261-490: The following edition of Impact! , but was interrupted by Scott Steiner who claimed to be next in line for the shot, before laying Morgan out with a low blow. On June 12 at Slammiversary IX , Morgan defeated Steiner in a singles match. Later that month, Morgan entered the Bound for Glory Series to determine a number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. On the edition of July 21 of Impact Wrestling , Morgan won
22458-453: The footage the crew gathered, Magnus confronted Storm and warned him to stay out of his and Mickie's business. The following week the two would have another confrontation where Storm would push Magnus too far and provoked him to attack Storm with a guitar officially igniting their feud. The following week on Impact Wrestling , Magnus called out Storm for a fight to instead be met by former rival and Storm's Revolution teammate Abyss and eventually
22655-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
22852-498: The gladiator character and formed a villainous group called The British Invasion with fellow British wrestlers Doug Williams and Rob Terry . In their debut match as a team, Williams and Magnus defeated Homicide in a two-on-one handicap match after assaulting his tag team partner Hernandez backstage prior to the match, and stealing his Feast or Fired briefcase. The Invasion has since formed an alliance called World Elite with Eric Young, Sheik Abdul Bashir and Kiyoshi and engaged in
23049-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
23246-558: The inaugural GFW Grand Slam Tour. On 10 July 2015, Aldis faced Kongo Kong as part of the GFW Grand Slam Tour in Erie, Pennsylvania making this their first of three matches during the tour which saw him winning on all three occasions. On 24 July 2015, Aldis entered into a tournament to crown the inaugural GFW Global Champion , defeating Kongo Kong in the quarterfinals of the tournament. On 5 September, Aldis defeated Chris Mordetzky in
23443-412: The incident. Morgan returned to pay-per-view on October 14 at Bound for Glory , helping Joey Ryan defeat Al Snow to earn a TNA contract thus establishing himself as a heel . The following Impact Wrestling , Morgan explained his actions, claiming that Hulk Hogan had not delivered on his promises; Hogan in turn blamed the TNA creative about Morgan's treatment. While Morgan continued to vilify Hogan, it
23640-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
23837-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
24034-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
24231-538: The match Aldis set forth a challenge to Tim Storm for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship . That match took place on 12 November and saw Storm retain the title; this was the first title match under the new NWA regime headed by Billy Corgan . On 9 December, Aldis defeated Storm in a rematch at Cage of Death 19 to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him the second British-born champion after Gary Steele . The same evening, retired NWA star Austin Idol made
24428-434: The match aired on 19 December, on Impact Wrestling: Final Resolution . In the process, he turned heel by joining Team Dixie and allying himself with Dixie Carter, Ethan Carter III , and Rockstar Spud . Styles returned on the edition of 2 January 2014 of Impact Wrestling still claiming to be the legitimate champion as he was never defeated for the title. He then lost to Magnus due to TNA President Dixie Carter directing
24625-402: The match, but was removed after a few minutes when he sustained an injury at the hands of Eric Young. During the match, Styles attempted a front flip senton from the apron onto Morgan outside of the ring, at the same moment Angle attempted to attack Morgan, but accidentally got struck by Styles instead. Morgan seemingly took this as a friendly gesture and agreed to assist Angle for the remainder of
24822-508: The match. But when Angle seemed set to win, Morgan turned on Angle and cost him the TNA World Heavyweight Championship , turning into a face in the process. On the September 24, 2009, episode of Impact! , Morgan cemented his newfound disinterest in the Main Event Mafia when he teamed with Hernandez to defeat Kurt Angle and Eric Young, which also solidified his status as a face. On the following impact, he teamed with former rival Abyss to defeat Kurt Angle and Mick Foley . Another week later, on
25019-576: The matches. On the edition of May 3 of Impact! it was announced that Morgan would defend the World Tag Team Championship at Sacrifice against Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore , both of whom he had attacked in the two previous weeks, and that Hulk Hogan would decide his partner for the match. On the edition of May 13 of Impact! Morgan demanded to find out who his partner would be and when he did not get an answer, threatened to turn his match against Generation Me (Jeremy and Max Buck) into
25216-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
25413-411: The messes" that Hulk Hogan had made, beginning with attacks on World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy and Joseph Park . The attack on Park resulted in a singles match on the March 21 episode of Impact Wrestling , where Morgan emerged victorious. On the April 25 episode of Impact Wrestling , Morgan confronted Hogan and offered his services to take out the Aces & Eights , in exchange for being named
25610-602: The name "Oblivion" along with fellow professional wrestler Mason Ryan under the name "Goliath". After beginning his training at the age of 16, Aldis made his professional debut on 17 December 2004 for the British Wrestling Promotion Dropkixx Wrestling (DKW), losing to Charlie Rage. Early title matches included a DAM Promotions event where Aldis teamed up with Bash to take on the DAM Tag Team Champions Big Dave and The Bulk for
25807-612: The name Brutus Magnus, a modern-day gladiator. Aldis competed under his Brutus Magnus name and gimmick at the TNA Maximum Impact! Tour in Glasgow, Scotland on 22 January 2009, where he defeated Matt Morgan . Two days later on the last night of the tour, Magnus defeated Sheik Abdul Bashir in London at the Wembley Arena . On 29 January episode of Impact! , another vignette of Magnus
26004-563: The names of Sodom and Gomora. Morgan also worked for NWE Wrestling in Italy and Rings of Europe in Austria, where he participated as the Monster Heel in a 20 Men Rumble Match. He and Joe Legend became allies but were unable to defeat Austrian Hero Big van Walter in the end. Morgan debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the August 7, 2007, episode of TNA Today , appearing briefly in
26201-408: The new on-screen general manager of the SmackDown brand . Aldis married American professional wrestler Mickie James on 31 December 2015. They have a son named Donovan Patrick Aldis, who was born in 2014. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
26398-547: The number one contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary , but was firmly denied. The following week, Morgan faced Sting in a number one contenders match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Sting won after locking Morgan in the Scorpion Deathlock and making him pass out. Morgan's last appearance for the company was on the June 13 episode of Impact Wrestling , where he
26595-412: The pay-per-view Morgan and Hernandez defeated the British Invasion to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship, his first major championship. At Against All Odds as part of the 8 Card Stud Tournament Morgan and Hernandez were forced to face each other in the first round. Morgan defeated Hernandez by taking advantage of his injured shoulder and pinning him, while grabbing a hold of his trunks. However, in
26792-532: The pay-per-view Morgan, Hernandez (who survived), Dinero and Suicide defeated Jesse Neal, Team 3D and Rhino, with Morgan scoring the deciding fall on Brother Ray . On the January 4, 2010, live, three-hour, Monday night episode of Impact! Morgan and Hernandez defeated Dr. Stevie and Raven to become the number one contenders to the TNA World Tag Team Champions British Invasion ( Brutus Magnus and Doug Williams ) at Genesis . At
26989-478: The pinfall victory on Bram. Over the next two TV airings, Magnus exhibited villain-type arrogance during backstage segments, by verbally putting himself over, berating other wrestlers, especially El Patrón, and proclaiming himself number one contender for the Impact World Championship . On 4 May episode of Impact! , Magnus successfully defended the GFW Global Championship against Matt Morgan following
27186-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
27383-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
27580-413: The rematch he had wanted for the World Tag Team Championship and easily defeated him to retain the title. At Slammiversary VIII Morgan defeated Hernandez via disqualification, when Hernandez was disqualified for shoving the referee, when he had gotten enough of him reprimanding him for going after Morgan. The following month at Victory Road Morgan was defeated by Hernandez in a Steel Cage match . On
27777-401: The rest of The Revolution members Manik and Khoya . At Slammiversary XIII , Magnus faced James Storm in a losing effort. On 29 July episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus and Mickie James defeated James Storm and Serena in a mixed tag match. On 29 June 2015, TNA announced that Magnus was released from the TNA, after nearly 8 years with the company. On 22 July 2012, Magnus made his debut for
27974-400: The returning Abyss . Magnus defeated Willow on 15 June 2014, at Slammiversary XII . On 26 June 2014, episode of Impact Wrestling Magnus and Bram defeated Willow and Abyss in a tag team Monster's Ball match . On 20 August 2014, at Hardcore Justice , Magnus was a participant in a six-sides of steel match to determine a number 1 contender for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship , the match
28171-496: The revival of Gladiators , where he was known as Oblivion . He was also a co-presenter of Britain's Strongest Man on Challenge TV . Nicholas Harry Aldis was born on 6 November 1986 in Docking, Norfolk . Before training to be a wrestler, Aldis became proficient in swimming and tennis; he then began bodybuilding, which ultimately led to him becoming a professional wrestler. In 2008 he made several appearances on Gladiators under
28368-535: The ring post, putting him out of action indefinitely. With Hernandez scheduled to miss months of action, Morgan declared himself the sole World Tag Team Champion on the edition of April 5 of Impact! and TNA went along with this and recognized him as the sole Champion. Morgan then went on to successfully defend the World Tag Team Title while teaming with the likes of Amazing Red , Shark Boy and Jesse Neal as his substitute partners, attacking each of them after
28565-582: The ring steps then entering the ring to argue with Carter. Consequently, Impact authority figure Bruce Prichard booked the three rivals in a triple threat match for an opportunity at the Impact World Heavyweight Championship. This match took place on 25 May episode of Impact! , where Magnus lost to Carter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported on 20 July that Aldis rejected a contract offer from Anthem, who had purchased and merged Jarrett's promotion with Impact Wrestling (renaming
28762-416: The ring to announce Mickie's retirement from professional wrestling to focus on raising their son but were interrupted by Storm who managed to convince her not to. Magnus was later approached backstage by Davey Richards (who had previously feuded with Storm) who warned Magnus not to trust Storm, after which Magnus asked a member of the camera crew to follow Mickie around to keep an eye on her. After consulting
28959-465: The ring. Heading to Bound for Glory, Morgan started a feud with Samoa Joe, who had vowed to ruin the Bound for Glory Series. On September 11 at No Surrender , Morgan defeated Joe in a grudge match, but lost against him on the following edition of Impact Wrestling in a submission match. At Bound for Glory , they would have a triple threat match also including the eventual winner Crimson . On November 13 at Turning Point , Morgan wrestled Crimson to
29156-644: The same month he filed to run for office in the majority Republican county. He served as mayor of Longwood from May 7, 2019, until September 2020. Morgan ran for Seminole County Commission in 2020 and lost to incumbent Bob Dallari, who received 60.1% of the vote to Morgan's 39.9%. He serves as District 4 City Commissioner of Longwood, Florida after his defeat. Morgan was linked to former tax collector of Seminole County Joel Greenberg , via payments that Greenberg's office made to Morgan's company, Blueprint Enterprises, for consulting jobs. However, auditors wrote that they could find "no evidence of work product". Morgan
29353-635: The semifinals Morgan was defeated by the eventual winner of the entire tournament, D'Angelo Dinero. At Destination X Morgan and Hernandez retained the Tag Team Titles in a match against Beer Money despite plenty of miscommunication between the two champions. After the match Morgan nailed Hernandez with the Carbon Footprint and left with both title belts, turning heel in the process. The following day on Impact! Morgan defeated Hernandez via referee stoppage after sandwiching his head between his boot and
29550-458: The semifinals to advance to the finals of the tournament. On 23 October 2015, at the GFW Amped taping, Aldis defeated Bobby Roode in the finals of the tournament to become the first ever GFW Global Champion. On 28 October, Aldis and Doug Williams reunited as The British Invasion as part of Global Force Wrestling 's GFW UK Invasion tour, defeating Marty Scurll and Rampage Brown . Aldis lost
29747-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
29944-609: The tag team of Magnus and Wolfe was named London Brawling. They were scheduled to receive their shot at The Motor City Machine Guns and the TNA World Tag Team Championship at No Surrender , but were at the last minute pulled from the event, with TNA citing a "personal issue" as the reason. It was later reported that Wolfe had been sidelined due to an undisclosed medical situation. Magnus returned to working live events on 30 September. On 16 December, Magnus made his first appearance on Impact! in three months, when he met his former tag team partner Douglas Williams and informed him that Wolfe
30141-424: The team matches. Through time, Morgan would go from understanding to frustrated over Abyss' errors. They feuded briefly with Team 3D . The duo defeated Team 3D at No Surrender , but lost at Bound for Glory IV in a Monster's Ball match for the TNA World Tag Team Championship , which Beer Money, Inc. won. At Final Resolution when Storm hit Abyss with brass knuckles when the referee was distracted. They gained
30338-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
30535-568: The title 17 days later to Brent Albright on April 30 after Albright hit Morgan with a crowbar . Morgan returned to WWE on the April 21, 2005, episode of SmackDown! , with a new gimmick as a stuttering big-man who was defensive over his speech disorder , and quickly defeated a then-unknown jobber , Brett Matthews . On the May 19 episode of Smackdown! , he allied himself with Carlito and became his "backup" . Morgan helped Carlito defeat Big Show at Judgment Day , using Lesnar's former finisher,
30732-478: The title after Murdoch got disqualified. Aldis retained the title against Murdoch in a rematch at T-Mart Promotions event The Gathering II on 24 July. However, Murdoch earned another opportunity against Aldis after his team won the Champions Series on Powerrr . The subsequent Title vs Career match for Aldis' championship and Murdoch's career match took place at the NWA 73rd Anniversary Show , where Aldis lost
30929-604: The title in a three-way match against Beer Money and The Motor City Machine Guns ( Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin). At Final Resolution they were once again able to retain their title in a match against Shelley and Sabin. At Genesis the British Invasion lost the TNA World Tag Team Titles to Matt Morgan and Hernandez. Afterwards, Magnus and Williams began abusing Terry and blaming him for their losses. On 18 February 2010 episode of Impact! , Terry finally grew tired of this and attacked Magnus, thus ending his alliance with
31126-507: The title match, Aldis appeared at ROH's Free Enterprise , where he teamed with Rush against Scurll and PCO in a losing effort. Crockett Cup was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the rematch never came to fruition due to Scurll leaving ROH amid allegations of the Speaking Out movement . NWA did not hold any events throughout 2020 but Aldis defended the title on a few occasions during
31323-479: The title on 22 April 2017 to Alberto El Patrón . Following Jeff Jarrett 's hiring as TNA's executive consultant in January 2017 and promotion to executive producer and chief creative officer status a month later by its new owners Anthem Sports & Entertainment , GFW talent and championships started being featured on TNA (renamed Impact Wrestling in March) television. Aldis returned on 6 April episode of Impact! under
31520-407: The title switch. At Bound for Glory , the British Invasion lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship back to Team 3D, but managed to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship in a four way Full Metal Mayhem Tag Team match against Booker T and Scott Steiner , Team 3D and Beer Money, Inc. ( James Storm and Robert Roode ). The following month at Turning Point Magnus and Williams successfully defended
31717-564: The title throughout 2019, leading into the October debut of the weekly Powerrr studio streaming show, which he headlined as champion and on the first episode of which retained the title against Tim Storm. At Into The Fire , Aldis successfully defended the title against James Storm in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match. On the next episode of Powerrr on 17 December, Aldis turned full heel when he aligned with The Wild Cards ( Thomas Latimer and Royce Isaacs ) and led an attack on Tim Storm. Kamille looked to have come to Storm's aid but would instead join
31914-764: The titles and he also went up against Ashe for the LDN Championship at Summit Wrestling, he would lose both matches. In 2007, he would face the WAW British Heavyweight Champion Brett Meadows for the title and lost. His last match before joining TNA was a win against Marty Scurll . During his time in England he wrestled primarily at All Star Wrestling and World Association of Wrestling. In November 2008, Aldis signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). On 11 December 2008 episode of Impact! , TNA started airing vignettes of Aldis' debut under
32111-426: The titles two times, but failed. After their second match at Victory Road , when Crimson turned on Morgan. On April 15 at Lockdown , Morgan was defeated by Crimson in a steel cage match. On the edition of May 10 of Impact Wrestling , Morgan and Crimson were set to face each other in what was billed as their "final confrontation", however, before the match could start, Morgan was attacked by Bully Ray . After Morgan
32308-401: The tournament. On 4 July episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus was named the fourth member of the newly reformed Main Event Mafia along with Kurt Angle, Sting, and former tag team partner and rival Samoa Joe. On 12 September episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus defeated Roode in a Bound For Glory Series Final Four match to advance before ultimately losing to A.J. Styles in the finals. After
32505-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
32702-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
32899-407: The two of them defeating Amazing Red and Suicide in their first match together at 13 July tapings of Xplosion . At the 26 and 27 July tapings of Xplosion Magnus and Wolfe defeated the teams of Hernandez and Rob Terry and Ink Inc. ( Jesse Neal and Shannon Moore ) in a four tag team tournament to earn the right to challenge for the TNA World Tag Team Championship. On 26 August episode of Impact!
33096-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
33293-483: The week's latest edition of Raw while also covering all WWE's pay-per-views and NXT 's TakeOver events. In 2019, Morgan also started reviewing SmackDown , AEW Dynamite , NXT , and both WWE and AEW pay-per-views for Wrestling Inc. In 2008, Morgan accepted an offer to appear on the third series of American Gladiators as one of the Gladiators. Morgan, under the name Beast, made his Gladiator debut during
33490-430: The winner would receive a future TNA World Heavyweight Championship that same night. The match would later be won by Eric Young who requested to have his shot at the same night, in which Magnus lost the TNA World Heavyweight Championship to Young. At Sacrifice , Magnus received a rematch for the title, but was again defeated by Young. Shortly after his loss to Eric Young , Magnus began a losing streak, after losing out on
33687-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
33884-515: The younger talent of the company. At Turning Point , Rhino and Team 3D defeated Morgan, Hernandez and Dinero in a street fight. The next night, the two teams had a re-match which ended the same way after Jesse Neal returned and attacked Hernandez with a steel chair. It was announced that the two teams would face of at Final Resolution in an elimination match, but both teams were required to have four members. Team 3D immediately enlisted Neal, while Dinero pursued Suicide 's help. Both teams fought in
34081-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
34278-526: Was again attacked by the Aces & Eights. At Slammiversary XI , Magnus teamed with Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe in a winning effort against Aces & Eights (Garett Bischoff, Mr. Anderson, and Wes Brisco ). On 13 June episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus defeated Kenny King , Matt Morgan, and Rob Terry in a four-way match to qualify for the 2013 Bound for Glory Series . The following week, Magnus defeated Kazarian in his first Bound for Glory Series match via submission to earn ten points and take an early lead in
34475-425: Was aware that the current members of the Mafia were all former World Champions, but realizing that Team 3D, Kip James and Al Snow had been invited into the Mafia (Team 3D refused, and James and Snow were rejected), Morgan felt he should have been invited too. He faced Sting at Slammiversary , but was unable to defeat him and was thus barred from joining the Mafia. At Victory Road he defeated Daniels to regain
34672-472: Was being pushed as a "monster gaijin" and along with Brock Lesnar, was expected to become one of NJPW's top foreign wrestlers, but plans for this were abandoned when he decided to leave NJPW to go to All Japan Pro Wrestling . Morgan debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling as a member of Taka Michinoku 's foreigner-oriented RO&D faction. He and Mark Jindrak wrestled for HUSTLE as a tag team under
34869-626: Was born in Fairfield, Connecticut on September 10, 1976. After a successful high school basketball career at Fairfield High School in Connecticut, Morgan played Division I college basketball for Monmouth University at center position. During Morgan's freshman year at the university, the Monmouth Hawks defeated Rider University to become the Northeast Conference champions. By winning
35066-615: Was called up to the SmackDown brand . Prior to his WWE main roster debut, Morgan was originally earmarked to become Kane 's storyline brother named "Abel" wearing a mask even though the plans were scrapped and a similar role was given to Drew Hankinson years later. Morgan then made his debut on the October 30, 2003, episode of SmackDown! and was chosen with the returning Nathan Jones by then General Manager of SmackDown! , Paul Heyman , to join Team Lesnar, which consisted of Morgan, Jones, Brock Lesnar , Big Show and A-Train . It
35263-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
35460-464: Was charged with no crimes. Seminole County commissioners agreed to hire a law firm to attempt to recoup public money misspent by Joel Greenberg. In May 2022, Longwood city commission meeting, Morgan's fellow city commissioners elected Morgan to become the city's new mayor. He served as mayor until May 2023, but his term on the Longwood city commission is not up until November 2024. Morgan announced on
35657-431: Was close to a comeback. On 30 December episode of Impact! Magnus offered to team up with Williams in a tag team match, where they were defeated by Fortune members A.J. Styles and Rob Terry. Magnus reappeared as a heel on 24 February 2011 episode of Impact! , in a match, where he was defeated by Crimson . On 31 March episode of Impact! , Magnus and Douglas Williams officially reformed the British Invasion once again as
35854-480: Was close to his home, only taped on the weekends and did not tour, and therefore would not interfere with his other 9 to 5 career. This changed when GFW started taping its shows on weekdays and planning to travel, and so Morgan wanted out of the promotion. On March 16, 2019, Morgan returned to the independent circuit where he wrestled the final match of his career, teaming with Deon James to defeat Braydon Knight and Chico Adams with Eric Christopher as their manager in
36051-400: Was defeated by Joe in a singles match, leaving him outside a spot in the semifinals. Afterwards, Magnus would attack Joe after the latter offered a sign of respect, turning heel in the process. On 14 October at Bound for Glory , Magnus unsuccessfully challenged Joe for his TNA Television Championship . On 1 November episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus challenged Joe to a rematch as part of
36248-460: Was defeated by Magnus in a four-way 2013 Bound for Glory Series qualifying match, which also included Kenny King and Rob Terry . After initially asking that same month, TNA granted Morgan his release from the company on July 9. Morgan debuted for AAA on June 16, 2013, at Triplemanía XXI , where he, Jeff Jarrett, and Monster Pain defeated AAA World Trios Champions Los Psycho Circus ( Monster Clown , Murder Clown and Psycho Clown ) in
36445-456: Was defeated. On 16 July, it was reported that Aldis was officially done with Impact Wrestling. He competed in his final match with the company on the 27 August tapings of Impact in a losing effort against Eric Young . In August 2023, Aldis began working with WWE as a backstage producer . Two months later on the 13 October episode of SmackDown , WWE's chief content officer and head of creative Paul "Triple H" Levesque introduced Aldis as
36642-613: Was first introduced to the World Wrestling Federation when he entered as part of its Tough Enough II program but left the show early due to an injury. In April 2002, Morgan signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He made his OVW debut on October 2, 2002, at the OVW TV Tapings as "The Blueprint" Matt Morgan teaming with Mark Jindrak , defeating Travis Bane and Lance Cade . He wrestled there sporadically (usually winning handicap matches) until October 2003 when he
36839-519: Was for the GFW Global Championship on Impact's May 4 episode; he would lose after suffering a low blow followed by a Michinoku Driver from then champion Magnus, solidifying the latter's heel turn. This would be Morgan's final appearance as he was granted his release request on July 24 by GFW, which was now Impact Wrestling renamed following its merger with Jarrett's promotion on April 20. Morgan says he had only agreed to return because Impact
37036-494: Was hinted that Morgan and Jones would be a tag team, but their only tag team match was at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, when they took on Team Angle (not the stable introduced one year earlier, but a one-off combination of five wrestlers). They lost to Team Angle in a ten-person elimination tag team match at Survivor Series; Morgan was eliminated from the match by Kurt Angle after Angle gave Morgan an Angle Slam . Morgan
37233-633: Was insinuated that Hogan was just trying to rile him up, while secretly backing him. Morgan competed in his return match on the November 29 episode of Impact Wrestling , defeating Douglas Williams. On December 9 at Final Resolution , Morgan and Ryan unsuccessfully challenged Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Hernandez for the TNA World Tag Team Championship, after losing to them via disqualification. Morgan and Ryan challenged Guerrero and Hernandez again on January 13, 2013, at Genesis , but were again unsuccessful in winning their titles. In March, Morgan began "cleaning up
37430-598: Was played and it stated that Magnus' debut would occur next week. He debuted on 5 February episode of Impact! as a villainous character, defeating Shark Boy with his finishing move, the Tormentum . After the match, he issued an open challenge to anyone on the TNA roster . Chris Sabin answered the open challenge at Against All Odds , which Magnus also won. This continued with another victory against Eric Young at Destination X . On 30 April 2009 episode of Impact! , Magnus dropped
37627-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
37824-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
38021-535: Was strapped to the ropes, after which Mickie ran down to the ring and was grabbed by Bram who forced Magnus to kiss his boot, to which he obliged. Magnus would get redemption and attack Bram backstage. This would lead to a No Disqualification match between the two which Magnus won to end the feud. Magnus would enter into a storyline with James Storm who intervened in his final match with Bram by saving Mickie James from being attacked. On 24 April episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus and Mickie James both came down to
38218-506: Was stretchered away, Crimson was given a countout victory. In an interview on June 14, Morgan expressed frustration with TNA management and confirmed that his contract with the promotion would be up soon. Working exclusively on house shows for his last month with TNA, Morgan finished his commitments with the promotion on June 16. Morgan made a surprise return to TNA at a house show in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on September 15, entering through
38415-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
38612-412: Was then used to make run-ins along with the other members of Team Lesnar, helping Lesnar against his opponents. Soon thereafter, Jones quit WWE, so Morgan occasionally teamed with Lesnar. He teamed up with Lesnar, Big Show, and Rhyno in a four-on-two Handicap match against Chris Benoit and John Cena on the January 22, 2004, episode of SmackDown! , in a losing effort. On January 25, he competed in
38809-483: Was ultimately won by Eric Young and Bobby Roode. On 23 January 2015, episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus competed in the Feast or Fired match grabbing the final case which contained a TNA World Tag Team Championship title opportunity, in which Bram claimed to have been the one to obtain it for himself but the chance was stolen from Magnus. On 30 January episode of Impact Wrestling , Magnus tried to reconcile with Bram in
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