Trevor Murdoch is a national treasure.
That’s not just a pun regarding his former status as the NWA’s National Heavyweight Champion, but in this writer’s opinion, a statement to the incredible work that he’s done over the course of his 25-year career and, of course, through his time with the National Wrestling Alliance.
Since the return of the NWA just a shade over a month ago, Murdoch has been front and center, taking on the role as the proverbial thorn in the side of Nick Aldis and Strictly Business. While, as mentioned, Murdoch has been beloved by both fans and people inside the business alike since the onset of his career, but for many in the FITE and television audience, this is their first taste of the Fredericktown, Missouri, native in a main event role.
Murdoch’s ascent was something I had to ask about during my recent conversation with the Real World’s Champion Nick Aldis, launching this Tuesday on Love Wrestling.
“Even now you look at it, and a guy like Trevor Murdoch, who’s always been a great wrestler, is moving up onto the Nick Aldis level, which is a pretty good level to be on,” I asked Aldis. “What have you maybe seen in him over the last little bit that’s allowed him to take this step?”
“Well, I’m glad you mentioned Trevor,” began the NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion. “One of the things that’s almost really become a calling card of the brand is we’ve taken the guys that didn’t get the chance to really showcase themselves to their fullest potential. Because of the somewhat cold-hearted nature of wrestling, sometimes, it can be kind of like you’re written off. That’s it. If you don’t happen to have the right connections, or you don’t happen to appeal to the right type of fans, it’s like your skillset can be greatly underutilized. That was Trevor Murdoch.”
“I’ve known Trevor since I went to Harley’s camp in 2007, and at the time, he was on the road with WWE at that time,” Aldis continued. “In my mind, I was like, ‘wow, it’s so cool that this guy’s a WWE star, and he’s taking his two days at home off the road to come and help us. That’s so cool.’ To get it to come sort of full circle – we didn’t give him anything. He took it. All we did was say, ‘I think you might be a good fit. It was literally just one of the ‘hey, what about Trevor Murdoch?’ And Billy went, ‘oh, yeah, that’s a good shout! Let’s try him!’ He walked out on that first episode of Powerrr, or I think it was the first episode, and you could just feel the people in the building go ‘oh, yeah,’ because now the shoe fits.”
“He just resonates in that environment,” I agreed.
The Real World’s Champion agreed before continuing. “Finally, Cinderella found the right slipper. You know what I mean? It’s like they go ‘oh, man, we kind of forgot about this guy, but yes! He’s great. He’s believable. He’s a good worker, and he fits so well in this. It was this sort of double whammy, right, this one-two punch where people went ‘Oh, yeah, this guy’s legit.’ And then, they also went, ‘oh, I’m starting to get a feeling of what this show is going to be about, and what this brand is going to be about.’ So it was this kind of one-two [punch]. As much as I represent the NWA in many different ways – a lot of people have been very kind and made some very lofty comparisons, and I won’t share those. But, I try to honor the sort of standard set by guys like [Ric] Flair and Nick Bockwinkel and Harley [Race]. As much as I sort of appeal with that particular taste, Trevor appeals [to] the type of tastes of people who like Dick the Bruiser, or Dusty Rhodes.”
“That’s really what we’re about,” Aldis stated to close out the question. “We just want really good pro wrestlers here. Good, solid, believable pro wrestlers, and Trevor, he’s upper echelon now and I’m sure he’s going to prove it as we move forward.”
Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes.
