Moose: The Money Wasn’t Attractive From WWE Or AEW; I Want To Play, Not Sit On The Bench

Moose provides more insight as to why he re-signed with TNA Wrestling. 

In 2023, Moose made the decision to re-sign with TNA/IMPACT Wrestling. Moose previously said that he had offers on the table from WWE and AEW. 

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Moose explained why he stuck with TNA. 

“It was a few things. Number one, I’m a very loyal person. And my relationship with Scott D’Amore, honestly, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today if I never met Scott 10-plus years ago. So it’s hard for me to ever say no to him when we’re discussing numbers and what my future would be. Because I feel like in this business, first of all, I played in the NFL for seven-plus years. I’ve made a tonne of money doing that. So money was never something precious to me. I was good with my money. You hear you hear bad stories. Luckily for me, fortunately for me, I did good. I saved a good bit. So money has never been something that rained heavy over my head like, oh, I need money. I’ll stick to Scott for right now for the first reason. My relationship with Scott, playing in the NFL for so long and knowing that that business can be so cutthroat they can really let you go in any second. But my relationship with Scott is, it’s more than just a boss-talent relationship is almost like a big brother little brother. So he’s had to be my coach, be my friend and be my boss. So now I had to think about that,” he said. 

Moose continued, “If I go to AEW, I don’t have a relationship with Tony. So he’s literally just my boss. If I go to WWE, I don’t have a relationship with Hunter. He’s really just my boss. So some of the things that some of the situations I could potentially be in are just a boss talent conversation. Where here in TNA is a friend first, a friend-friend conversation, a big brother little brother with compensation, and then there’s a boss talent compensation. So I had to throw that in, that was a big decision making for me. Number two, because I’ve made money playing over seven years in the NFL money wasn’t a huge burden for me. So going to AEW or going to WWE the money wasn’t attractive. And for me, the guys who know me will tell you everybody loves me, because that’s my goal is to make everybody love me. But some people hate dealing with me, because my greatest gift is also my greatest curse. I take wrestling so seriously, that if I’m gonna go somewhere, I know how good I am as a wrestler.

I know that In my humble opinion, I’m one of a kind. I know what I could do in the ring. I know how I look physically. I know that I could talk on the mic. So if I’m not in a spot that I deserve, I should be. Money is not attractive to me to get me to be happy with where I’m at. I want to play, I don’t want this much money to be on the bench. I want to be on the field. So I had to think about that. And at that point, I don’t know if I was confident enough to make that jump and be the starter. I don’t know that wrestling is one of those things that it doesn’t matter how talented you are. It matters how somebody perceives you. So your control is out of your hands.”

Moose won the TNA World Title at TNA Hard to Kill, defeating Alex Shelley in the main event. 

Fightful provides coverage of TNA iMPACT! every Thursday beginning at 8 p.m. ET. 

Fans can watch the entire interview with Moose in the video below.