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Morgan Stuck At The Centre Of Controversy

Posted: Oct 7th 2009 By: CMBurnham

If you asked SWCW Champion Kevin Morgan how he felt right now, he probably wouldn't say "Awesome". More than likely, the response you'd get would be closer to "Awful".

Since Impact, Inc. re-invaded MSWA, Morgan has found himself slowly being dragged into the centre of controversy that surrounded that faction's attention on MSWA Mid-South & IZW Champion Aaron Neil. Several weeks ago, Johnny Z & MSWA Oklahoma Champion Jermaine Johnson manipulated things so that Neil defended his MSWA title against Morgan. Neil was victorious in that match, but Johnny & Jermaine saw it as an opportunity to divide and conquer.

Later, Morgan found himself with a chance to earn a shot at the MSWA Oklahoma Title, but lost that to Jermaine Johnson when Impact, Inc. attacked Aaron Neil at the back of the arena. Morgan went to help the champion and ended up being counted out. Again, Impact, Inc. did nothing actively against Morgan, but their presence in his career was certainly felt.

On October 2, Morgan believed he had nothing to worry about from Impact, Inc. as he was simply booked in a match against former partner Xavior. Although the match went the way of Morgan, Impact, Inc. made their presence known at ringside for that match, cheering and encouraging Morgan, despite his rejection of their advances. Things certainly looked bad from the fans' perspective as there seemed to be some sort of favouritism from Johnny & Jermaine towards "The Awesome One". And then, things really got confusing during the No DQ/Triple Threat Match for the vacant MSWA Mid-South Tag Team titles. Originally, it was supposed to be T. M. S. vs. Aerial Assault, but Impact, Inc. insisted they be allowed in the match, even though they had not competed in the brackets. With the No DQ policy in place, it seemed that Ky-ote Joe & Montego Seeka had no chance to walk away as champions. But then, Kevin Morgan made an appearance. He simply came to sit at ringside and watch the procedings, but after the referee was knocked out, Morgan grabbed his chair and entered the ring. For a long moment, he stared at Impact, Inc. and appeared to be preparing to hit them with the chair, but then he swung the other direction, where GPCW Champion Seth Allen was holding Ky-ote Joe. Exactly who he was trying to hit is still debatable, but he connected with Allen, knocking him out, then left the ring as the referee counted out an unconscious Allen and declared Joe & Seeka the new tag team champions.

Two days later, lots of questions remained unanswered as the MSWA event opened and Impact, Inc. arrived in the ring. After running down the crowd, they invited new star Rick Russo to the ring and again try to persuade him to join Impact, Inc. Russo refused, just as he had the last time the offer was made. But this time, Johnny & Jermaine double team him until Kevin Morgan once again strode to the ring, chair in hand. Johnny recapped the events of the previous Friday and said that it was apparent to him that Morgan knew what was going on. He gave Morgan the microphone and invited him to share what was on his mind, but Morgan never got the chance as "Running With the Devil" blared over the speakers and the MSWA commissioner, Outlaw, made his way to the ring area.

After Outlaw got into the ring, he told everyone that he couldn't believe what was going on because it looked to him like Kevin Morgan tried to hit Ky-ote Joe. he asked Morgan to explain his actions, but Johnny Z took the mic and told Outlaw that Morgan didn't need to explain anything. Outlaw & Johnny then engage in an arguement that backs both men into a corner while a visably frustrated Morgan walked, steel chair in hand, to the other corner. At that point, several things happened very quickly. Johnson joined in the attack on Outlaw, making it 2-on-1. Morgan took the chair and swung it in the corner. While it seemed as if he was trying to hit Impact, Inc., it wasn't clear and he ended up connecting with Outlaw. Whatever his intention, Morgan showed no remorse and just walked away. Johnny Z, ever the opportunist, thanked Morgan for the assistance and called Outlaw a "washed up bastard!" before security arrived to assist the fallen veteran from the ring.

With that level of success on their side, Impact, Inc. were nearly intolerable in their actions during the show. Jermaine Johnson made a successful defence of the MSWA Oklahoma Title against Tyson Jaymes and Johnny Z scored a victory over Rick Russo. Plus, every chance they could get, members of Impact, Inc. would snatch the hat off of MSWA ring announcer Milton Winkleman's head and throw it somewhere for him to have to run and reclaim. These bully tactics would quickly be curtailed at the beginning of the second half of the show when an irate Outlaw returned from the back with an icepack on his neck. He said that after a discussion with the MSWA owners, he was levying the highest possible fine against Impact, Inc.: $20 000. He also called out his former tag team partner Bad Boy because he had a favour to ask of him. Bad Boy arrived and Outlaw informed him that he wanted to make a tag team match for October 18 pitting Impact, Inc. against Bad Boy and a partner. Bad Boy agreed to this. Outlaw then revealed that the partner would be Kevin Morgan and brought him out. Morgan arrived and Outlaw asked him if he was OK with the partnership. But, before Morgan could respond, the strains of the Impact, Inc. entrance theme sounded and the faction strode to the ring. Johnny Z bragged about how his truck cost $50 000, so $20 000 was nothing and he would pay because he would pay anything. Outlaw inquired whether Johnny could pay for a suspension and then demanded that he shut up, but Johnny ignored him and addressed Kevin Morgan. Johnny told Morgan that he saw the look in Kevin's eyes and he thinks the tag team match is a great idea. As the chant of "No, Kevin, No!" rang from the crowd, Outlaw brought Morgan over to a corner and reminded Kevin that he was the man who retired him. When that happened, Outlaw didn't cry because he knew he had passed the torch. Based on the actions from earlier, it would have been understandable for Outlaw to fine or suspend Morgan, but that wasn't going to happen because he truly believed that what Morgan did was an accident.

At that point, Kevin Morgan took the microphone and a hush fell over the crowd as it appeared that he was finally going to reveal what had been going on in his head. After a moment, Morgan asked everyone in the ring as well as everyone at ringside if this was what they wanted to see. Everyone agreed. Once again, Morgan seemed very frustrated, shouted "Fine!", threw down the mic and left the ring without any further explanation. After the moment of shock had passed, Johnny Z told Bad Boy to bring his partner in two weeks...if he can trust him.

While this tag team match isn't for a title, it certainly will make things very clear in the growing divide between Impact, Inc. and several of the MSWA stars. The obvious question on everyone's mind is "Can Kevin Morgan be trusted?" But also at hand is the issue of what it would mean to MSWA if Morgan has secretly joined Impact, Inc. Someone of that size, power and with that knowledge of the MSWA locker room could do untold damage to the unity that is already being threatened.

Hopefully Morgan will have these issues at the back of his head when he defends his title this Sunday at the SWCW event.

Tags: SWCW, Kevin Morgan, MSWA, Impact, Inc., IZW, Aaron Neil, Johnny Z, Jermaine Johnson, Xavior, T. M. S., Aerial Assault, Ky-ote Joe , Montego Seeka, GPCW, Seth Allen, Rick Russo, Outlaw, Tyson Jaymes, Bad Boy