New Beginnings: W. Morrissey Found Opportunity And A Chance To Reinvent Himself With IMPACT Wrestling
W. Morrissey is getting a fresh start with IMPACT Wrestling.
W. Morrissey, the former Big Cass, recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about joining IMPACT Wrestling and his plans for the next chapter in his career. He spoke in detail about why IMPACT was the right spot for him, adding that the company took a chance on him and he’s set on making sure he shows they made a good investment.
“IMPACT was the right spot for me because they gave me an opportunity and that’s really all I was asking for coming back. Luke Gallows, he gave me an opportunity on a show, I took that and ran with it and then IMPACT, they gave me an opportunity. They took a chance on me and I’m going to make sure that risk they took on me pays off big time. So, I really like their product, I like the talent there, I think they have an incredible talented roster on both sides and I really like their television product,” Morrissey explained, “so when they gave me an opportunity, I said yes, this is something that I want to try.”
The risk Morrissey speaks of stems from his recent substance abuse and health issues, which played out in a very public way after he’d left WWE in 2018. Now sober and in great shape, Morrissey says he’s not only out to show that he’s a changed man, but also looks at it as dealing with both personal issues and business as well.
“I think in wrestling there’s always an element of business, so I am there to do business, but I think that over the past few years that the wrestling industry has become a personal issue for me. There’s a specific type of person in wrestling that I don’t like and that seems to be people that are phony and fake—they’ll say ‘nice match!’ when you come back and then they’ll talk about you behind your back and bury you elsewhere. I just think there’s a lot of people who are phony and I think a fair amount of locker rooms are phony,” Morrissey said, “and I want to take out my frustrations on those people.
“To have people not talk to me for two or three years and then when I pop up at Rebellion they text me ‘you look great, I’m so happy for ya!’ It’s like, ‘well, where were you the past three years?’ Things like that. I just think that there’s a lot of phony people and that’s kind of where I have my sights set on people. So, I think what makes it different, is that it became personal for me. I’m there to do business,” Morrissey explained, “but I think my issues with wrestling in general and with a lot of the performers, it became personal over the past few years.”
My pleasure to welcome W Morrissey/@TheCaZXL to the @IMPACTWRESTLING roster#IMPACTonAXSTV https://t.co/BNdNUHxpc6
— Scott D'Amore (@ScottDAmore) April 30, 2021
The change is not just physical, mental or spiritual for W. Morrissey, but quite obvious in the new name he gave himself as well. ‘W. Morrissey’ is grounded in reality (his real name is William Morrissey), but it also represents a new beginning for him professionally. He made the reference in a promo on IMPACT TV, but Big Cass was known as ‘one-half of a catchphrase’ during his days his Enzo Amore. CaZXL was a performer, but the character didn’t go through the same things that the real-life Morrissey went through. It’s been said before that the best characters in wrestling are grounded in reality, and Morrissey saw IMPACT as a chance to start over.
“The second I showed up at IMPACT, I thought of it as a new beginning. CazXL wasn’t the guy that went through what I went through the past few years, that was a performer. And like you said, the best things on-screen are the things that stem from real life and William Morrissey and W. Morrissey for short, that’s the guy who’s been through all of those things the past few years,” he explained. “I wanted to bring the real me onto the stage of IMPACT Wrestling and using my real name and real life—I had real animosity and quite frankly, real-life resentment towards people. Coming in as W. Morrissey, it did rebrand me, but I also looked at it as a new beginning for me, a fresh start when I came to IMPACT Wrestling.”
Morrissey not only gets a fresh start with a new company in IMPACT, but the talent roster as well. Noting that he’d really only had a chance to work with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson in WWE before this, Morrissey said he can’t wait to show that he can hang with anyone and have good matches with the best in the world.
“There’s a lot of talent in IMPACT Wrestling that I’ve never gotten a chance to even train with, never mind being in an actual ring or match with. So, there’s a lot of fresh matchups and to be able to have good matches with anybody on the roster, that’s something I want to show people that I can do and also show people that I can compete with some of the best in the world, if not the best in the world. So, that’s my goal and that’s a goal that I know that I am going to accomplish. Ya know, to show people that I can go toe-to-toe with the best performers in the world and I can hold my own and I can have great matches with anybody. I think that’s something that I’ve been given the opportunity, so far, to do but I’m sure I’ll have that opportunity even more so, going forward.”
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