Newest Gladiator Scoop - BEAST
Thursday, July 17 2008 | Comments (0)
AG's Newest Gladiator, Matt Morgan
Next week, American Gladiators will unleash their newest Gladiator - THE BEAST! And he is.....Matthew Thomas “Matt” Morgan (born September 10, 1976), an American professional wrestler, currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The TNA wrestling star has been confirmed as the newest American Gladiator for Season 2 according to TNAwrestling.com and NBC's American Gladiators web site. From 2002-2005 he signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment and he wrestled as “The Blueprint” Matt Morgan.
Morgan originally played college basketball for Monmouth University, and was on the squad which made the 1996 NCAA Tournament, who lost to Marquette in the first round. After a change of coach, Morgan transferred to Chaminade University, from where he graduated. Morgan had professional tryouts with the Indiana Pacers, but was eventually cut, and decided to pursue a career in professional wrestling.
Morgan was first introduced to the WWF when he entered as part of its Tough Enough II program but left the show early due to injury. In April 2002, Morgan signed a developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he wrestled as "The Blueprint" Matt Morgan. He made his WWE debut on the October 30, 2003 episode of SmackDown! and was picked by then GM of SmackDown!, Paul Heyman, to join Team Lesnar, which consisted of Morgan, Brock Lesnar, Big Show, A-Train, and Nathan Jones. They faced Team Angle in a ten person elimination tag team match at Survivor Series 2003 but were not victorious. Morgan was then used to make run-ins along with the other members of Team Lesnar, helping Lesnar against his opponents.
When Nathan Jones quit WWE, Morgan occasionally teamed with Lesnar. He teamed up with Lesnar, Big Show, and Rhyno in a 4 on 2 Handicap match against Chris Benoit and John Cena on the January 22 edition of SmackDown!, in a losing effort. He also competed in the 2004 Royal Rumble match, in which the winner would get a title shot against their brand's champion at WrestleMania XX; he got rid of The Hurricane but was eliminated by Benoit. As Lesnar quit the WWE, Morgan was sent back to OVW for further development and experience, wrestling again as "The Blueprint" Matt Morgan, and became the OVW Champion once again. Matt Morgan made his re-debut to WWE on April 21, 2005, with a new gimmick of a stuttering big-man who is defensive over his speech disorder. He allied himself with Carlito Caribbean Cool and became his "backup"; he helped Carlito defeat The Big Show at Judgment Day by delivering an F-5. This partnership ended when Carlito was drafted to Raw and subsequently Morgan was released by WWE on July 5, 2005.
The Beast!!!
Morgan debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling on the August 7, 2007 episode of TNA Today, appearing briefly in the background of a segment featuring Eric Young and Jeremy Borash. On the August 9 episode of TNA Impact! Morgan appeared alongside 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 the October 18 edition 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 Matt Morgan allowed Team Tomko to add James Storm to their team, giving them a 5-4 advantage heading to 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 a full time wrestler. With Matt Morgan joining Team Cage he has established himself as a face. Because of his wrestling abilities, Morgan has developed the nickname "The Blueprint". Matt was teamed up with Kip James at Sacrifice as a result of the Deuces Wild Tournament. They failed to win the tag titles as James and Morgan couldn't get along long enough. On July 10 2008, he participated in a 6 man tag team match. On the July 17 edition of TNA Impact Morgan faced and defeated Jimmy Rave in about less than 2 minutes. Then the other member of the Rock and Rave Infection, Lance Hoyt (who had changed his name to Lance Rock) challenged him to a match right there. Morgan accepted, and the ref rung the bell. Morgan then defeated him in about the same exact time.
In 2008, Morgan accepted an offer to appear on the second series of American Gladiators as one of the Gladiators. He will perform under the name BEAST. “To say I’m excited is a huge understatement,” Morgan told TNAWrestling.com. “Wrestling is in my blood and TNA will always be my home - and the chance to appear on both TNA and American Gladiators is a major personal accomplishment.”
TNA has also noted on their official site that Matt Morgan will remain a full-time wrestler with TNA while filming Season 2 of American Gladiators. Each season of American Gladiators can usually be filmed within 2-3 weeks. NBC began filming with Matt in April 2008.
Printable version Email this articles Comments (0) Post Comment
