World Wrestling Entertainment (2002–2005) Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2003) Morgan 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 was called up to the
SmackDown brand.
SmackDown! (2003–2004) 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 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 on November 16, 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 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 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.
Return to Ohio Valley Wrestling (2004–2005) 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 the
OVW Heavyweight Champion. 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 on May 22, using Lesnar's former finisher, 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.
Japanese and European promotions (2005–2007) Morgan toured with
New Japan Pro-Wrestling in late 2005, defeating
Yuji Nagata in his debut match. He 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 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.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2007–2013) Jim Cornette's bodyguard (2007–2008) Morgan debuted in
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the August 7, 2007, episode of
TNA Today, appearing briefly in the background of a segment featuring
Eric Young and
Jeremy Borash. Morgan was the
Special Enforcer in the
Samoa Joe and
Christian Cage match at
Bound for Glory on October 14, 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 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. The next week, Jim Cornette relieved Morgan of his assistant duties to become 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 on May 11 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.
Lance Rock immediately challenged Morgan to a match right there, and Morgan
squashed him. At
Final Resolution on December 7, Morgan and Abyss lost again when Storm hit Abyss with brass knuckles when the referee was distracted. They gained a third opportunity at the belts at
Genesis on January 11, 2009, 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 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 on February 8 in a standard match, At
Victory Road on July 19 he defeated
Daniels to regain the Mafia's favor. On the August 13 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 for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship at
Hard Justice on August 16 also involving Sting and
Kurt Angle. He lost at Hard Justice after Angle hit him with a steel chair. At
No Surrender on September 20, Morgan competed in a re-match that also featured A.J. Styles and
Hernandez, who used his "Feast or Fired" contract to include himself in 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 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 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. Later that night, Morgan teamed with former rival Abyss to defeat Kurt Angle and
Mick Foley. Another week later, on the October 1 episode 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 on October 18, 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 the younger talent of the company. At
Turning Point on November 15, 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 on December 20 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 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 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 on January 17. At Genesis, Morgan and Hernandez defeated the British Invasion to win the TNA World Tag Team Championship, his first major championship. At
Against All Odds on February 14, 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 the semifinals Morgan was defeated by the eventual winner of the entire tournament, D'Angelo Dinero. At
Destination X on March 21, 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 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 the matches. On the May 3 episode of
Impact! it was announced that Morgan would defend the World Tag Team Championship at
Sacrifice on May 16 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 May 13 episode 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 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 June 3 episode of
Impact!, Morgan was distracted by somebody in the crowd which cost him 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 the rematch he had wanted for the World Tag Team Championship and easily defeated him to retain the title. At
Slammiversary VIII on June 13, 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 on July 11, Morgan was defeated by Hernandez in a
Steel Cage match.
Fortune (2010–2011) in August 2010 On the August 12 episode of
Impact! Morgan joined
Ric Flair's
Fortune (originally spelled ) 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 on October 10, 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 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 on November 7 and
Final Resolution on December 5, but he lost both times. at
Slammiversary IX At
Genesis on January 9, 2011, Morgan was defeated by Mr. Anderson in a number one contender's match. On the February 10 episode 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 March 3 episode of
Impact! Morgan defeated Hernandez via disqualification. On March 13 at
Victory Road, Hernandez defeated Morgan in 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 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 July 21 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Morgan won 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 the ring.
Teaming with Crimson (2011–2012) 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 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 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 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.
Final feuds and departure (2012–2013) Morgan made a surprise return to TNA at a house show in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, on September 15, entering through 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 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 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 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 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 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.
Independent circuit and first retirement (2013–2014) 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 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 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 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 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 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.
Return to TNA (2015, 2017, 2022) 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 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 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 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 the June 9, 2022, episode of
Impact!, Morgan made a one night return were he was interviewed by
Gia Miller to talk about his career with the company until being interrupted by
Vincent. Return to the independent circuit and second retirement (2019) On March 16, 2019, Morgan returned to the
independent circuit where he wrestled the final match of his career, teaming with Deon James in a team match, defeating Braydon Knight and Chico Adams with Eric Christopher as their manager. ==Political career==