Trevor Murdoch: Now Everyone Is Making Lists Of Female Wrestlers, Where Was That Before EmPowerrr?
Trevor Murdoch gives further comment on NWA EmPowerrr 2 not happening.
Billy Corgan has been outspoken regarding NWA EmPowerrr 2 not happening, saying a big reason was that there weren’t enough TV ready females talent to carry a pay-per-view and have it live up to the standard set by the first EmPowerrr.
Reigning NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship Trevor Murdoch has previously agreed with Corgan and offered more insight into why no follow-up on NWA EmPowerrr has taken place.
“It’s a subject where, I’m going to get heat in whatever direction. Any answer, other than, ‘we are going to do it,’ I don’t think would have satisfied anybody. First off, look at the first EmPowerrr. We had a quarter of our girls on that show. We had girls from all over the globe, we had girls from other companies. We had different working relationships with other companies when we did that first EmPowerrr. Number two, when you look back at the first EmPowerrr, how many talents we had on that card for that show, there were a lot of wrestlers on that show. A lot of people don’t understand, someone had to pay that bill. Someone has to pay those girls, as much as Tony (Khan) wanted to chime in and say he paid for Leyla, which is great, but Billy covered the rest of that shit. That’s a huge bill,” Murdoch said in an interview with PWTorch.
He continued, “When it came down for the second EmPowerrr, there isn’t a book out there that just has every great female wrestler out there and we can just look at it and go, ‘We get this person, that person, this person.’ Granted, I know there is a ton of fans out there that can give me a list of 10 or 20 people that they know in their area that can fit on that show. In the same sense, I understand you’re fans of those women, but maybe they haven’t done what they need to do to stand out to get the attention that they need to. There are so many factors in there into what was said in that statement. It’s easy for people to jump on the negative, ‘you guys are assholes,’ there are a lot of factors going into the decision and a lot of factors going into EmPowerrr to make it successful. Some of the people who are publicly making comments and are upset and it was part of their decision, privately, they were burying the whole thing. That’s what makes me shake my head. Publicly, people want to say one thing, but privately, they were saying the opposite. I’m not going to air someone’s dirty laundry out. I heard it from the horse’s mouth. There are so many factors that go into it. Not to mention, some of the girls that we booked for the last EmPowerrr, the dates didn’t match up. They were already booked other places or were already with another company where they’re not allowed to wrestle for us. Why think of all that shit? Why put all that into consideration? It’s easy to look at a rich musician and bury him for one single comment and not put any thought in it. So many more dates and women were free and available because there weren’t as many promotions running. Now, we’re back into the thick of it and we’re working in front of crowds. People are trying to get jobs in other places. A lot of factors went into it and a lot were out of our control.”
Corgan also noted that wrestling the NWA style was a factor in considering who should be part of a potential second EmPowerrr show.
When speaking to MuscleManMalcolm, Murdoch was asked about the NWA style that the company would be looking for.
“You’re going to have to have women…we’re a smash mouth style of pro wrestling, but we’re also safe. Oh man, there are going to be girls who are going to bury me because there’s no right or wrong answer for this. At the time, from what I was told, there wasn’t enough women that we could get and put together and have the show the same quality as the year before. I’m sure there are a lot of amazing female wrestlers out there, and there still are a lot of amazing female wrestlers, girls are out there killing it. At the time, we couldn’t find enough. Now, everyone has made a list, like thousands. Did we have that list before EmPowerrr? No, we didn’t. No one wants to think about that though. It’s just easy to jump on the bandwagon. Let’s be realistic,” he said.
Corgan has said that the NWA is a physical style with reality that includes selling. You can find his comments on the NWA style by clicking here.
Murdoch is set to defend the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match against Matt Cardona and Tyrus at NWA Hard Times 3. Fans can check out the lineup for the show by clicking here.
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