Alex Marvez's weekly look at professional wrestling

ShareThis

The defect was with World Wrestling Entertainment's talent assessment, not Matt Morgan's speech.This has become clear since Morgan made his debut last August in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Serving as figurehead commissioner Jim Cornette's bodyguard, Morgan is given the chance on TNA Impact (9 p.m. Eastern, Thursdays, Spike TV) to showcase the verbal acumen that could have made him a WWE superstar.WWE squandered that potential in April 2005 by casting the well-spoken Morgan as a stutterer. The gimmick failed miserably even though Morgan was paired with the charismatic Carlito Colon.Fans never took to Morgan's character or the athletic maneuvers that belied his 6-foot-10, 330-pound frame. He was released three months later, squandering the four years spent developing Morgan's skills in WWE's Ohio Valley Wrestling developmental territory."WWE has almost an A-B-C formula with giants and monsters," Morgan said during a recent telephone interview. "Anyone above 6-foot-7 has to have some form of retardation, slowness or something mentally wrong with their character. I don't understand why that is. Why can't a giant be smart and think he's God's gift to the world of giants? That was my Blueprint character (in OVW)."Morgan said he didn't complain about the stuttering gimmick because he was desperate to rejoin WWE's main roster. Despite having limited grappling ability at the time, Morgan was on WWE Smackdown in late 2003 and early 2004 because of his size and muscular physique. He was demoted to OVW shortly after partners and fellow behemoths Brock Lesnar and Nathan Jones left WWE.Morgan said WWE owner Vince McMahon pitched the stuttering gimmick by saying it was originally designed for Lesnar."Instead of having the 'Next Big Thing', they could have had the 'Next Big Stutterer,'" said Morgan, referring to Lesnar's WWE nickname. "Apparently, someone else (in WWE management) must have pulled the drapes on that one because obviously Brock had a great career at an early age. But that is how the idea was sold to me."After his WWE firing, Morgan quickly began touring with New Japan Pro Wrestling. When Cornette signed with TNA in July 2006, Morgan was atop the list of free-agent talent he pitched to TNA management. While running OVW, Cornette worked closely with Morgan and once called him a "Wrestlemania moment waiting to happen.""Jimmy could tell from my first few matches where I could be in 10 years while I had no clue," said Morgan, a former college basketball player who joined OVW after an ill-fated stint on WWE's Tough Enough reality show. "He kept telling me what might happen if I don't quit and keep working hard. He instilled a work ethic in me."TNA fans are now getting anxious to see Morgan work in the ring. So far, Morgan has only gotten into verbal confrontations with heel performers while doing Cornette's bidding.Once he actually wrestles, Morgan can unveil a repertoire of power moves that includes the impressive Mount Morgan Drop, which is a vertical suplex turned into a Rock Bottom.Morgan, though, is in no hurry to don the tights."TNA is doing a good job because they first have to erase the memory of a seven-foot, jacked-up stutterer," said Morgan, 29. "Plus, they've got to be very careful how they market and book a big man. You have to know what you're going to do with him from beginning to end with the storyline and whether this is going to get a giant freak over or not (to the crowd) so I don't end up like with what happened in WWE."This is really refreshing and cool. TNA lets me cut my own (interviews) and lets me be me. That makes it a much more enjoyable environment. I can't wait to go to the ring."(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro wrestling column for Scripps-Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv@aol.com.)