Trevor Murdoch reflects on his history with Nick Aldis.
Trevor Murdoch and Nick Aldis are currently two of the top competitors in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship scene. At NWA 73, Murdoch defeated Aldis to become world champion for the first time ever.
Their run-ins with one another in the National Wrestling Alliance were not the first time they met. In fact, Trevor tells Sean Ross Sapp that his relationship with Aldis dates back to a Harley Race training camp in 2007.
“Nick, I was actually World Tag Team Champion for WWE when Nick got his first wrestling experience over here in the States. He came to Harley’s week-long camp that he would have. He’d have WWE officials there, he’d have TNA officials there, he’d have NOAH officials there. Harley would have this big week-long camp. There’d be a hundred / hundred and twenty guys and we’d run them through the mill, basically. Have matches. It was an opportunity for guys to get seen in front of these officials and get opportunities,” said Trevor. “Well, Nick was actually one of those guys and I remember specifically walking through the crowd of guys, talking to them and interacting with them and just showing them—I didn’t want to big league anybody—I wanted to be an example that you could be on top and still be humble. Nick was one of those guys that I stopped and talked to because he was from England and I was like, ‘Oh, wow. It’s awesome you came all the way over here for this.’ We had a really great conversation.”
Eventually, most men would wind up in Ring Ka King, an offshoot of TNA Wrestling specifically created for the Indian market, and they would strike up a friendship that would even lead to Trevor giving Nick some first-time advice as Nick was preparing to become a father.
“Fast forward, Nick starts doing well, I’m doing well in WWE, he does TNA. We end up meeting in Ring Ka King. Obviously extremely friendly and this is either right before he had Donovan or right before Mickie’s about to have Donovan, and we were talking children. Two of my three kids were already in the world, just trying to give him some advice and how everybody talks about it changing everything, it freaks you out. But it’s a good change. Sure enough I think I saw him at an independent show five or six months later and we’re talking and he goes, ‘Hey, I just want to stop and tell you, everything you said was true. Thank you for that.’ It really calmed his nerves about becoming a new dad. Which, I think, that helped foster a good relationship between him and I which led to an opportunity with NWA,” said Trevor.
Speaking about their relationship in the National Wrestling Alliance, Trevor would say that regardless of Nick opening the door for him, he earned his spot and did things the old-fashioned way. However, Trevor does give Nick credit for elevating him as a performer.
“I don’t know, looking back on it now, if the way things went if Nick would be so friendly ‘cause I’ve come in, I’ve been blessed, things have gone well for me,” he said. “I’ve earned my spot. That’s the one thing can ever say about me in NWA. I didn’t walk in and just take over or at the very least just run the show. I started from the bottom and I had my ass kicked from the bottom all the way up top. Which led me to Nick and with Nick being that old-school pro wrestling, he really knows how to tell stories and he really knows how to get the most out of it. Which is extremely important in this business. To be champion, you not only have to get yourself over, but you have to help get your opponent over.
“I give all the credit in the world to Nick,” Trevor continued. “He really brought me up to his level. He deserves that respect. Nick and I don’t always agree on personal things now and we don’t always agree on our pro wrestling now. But as men, I think we have a lot of respect for each other. You can’t take away what he’s done in this business. He is a fine example for a young man that wants to come up in this business. He’s a perfect example of what all in really means.”
Trevor Murdoch also gives Nick Aldis credit for elevating the prestige of the World Heavyweight Championship. Saying that he remembers wrestling for the title during a time when there wasn’t any buzz surrounding it and he credits Nick for restoring some of the importance to the title.
“I wrestled for the NWA World Title in that era of just didn’t have the popularity and prestige that it use to have. That’s the one thing I give Nick all the credit. He took a title and a company and made it mean something,” said Murdoch. “He also knew with going with NWA, he can be in complete control. That’s very valuable to a pro wrestler to be able to have complete control over your career, your direction. Whereas you go to a lot of the other companies, they don’t have that same vision. You might end up being like Tyrus and dancing.”
Trevor was supposed to face Nick at NWA 74 for the championship belt but due to issues between Nick Aldis and Billy Corgan, Billy replaced Nick with the aforementioned Tyrus. Murdoch is looking forward to getting in the ring with Tyrus and finding out who the better man is.
Fans can check out the full card for both nights of NWA 74 in our events section and we will have live coverage on August 27 and 28.
