 Venis in 2010 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sean Allen Morley (1971-03-06)March 6, 1971 (age 54)[1][2] Oakville, Ontario, Canada[2] |
| Children | 2 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring names | |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[4] |
| Billed weight | 244 lb (111 kg)[4] |
| Billed from | Las Vegas,Nevada[5] |
| Trained by | |
| Debut | 1994 |
| Retired | 2022 |
Sean Allen Morley[1] (born March 6, 1971),[2][5] better known by hisring nameVal Venis, is a Canadian retiredprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure inWorld Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from 1998 to 2009. He has also worked forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre andTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling.
During his career in WWF/WWE, Venis held theIntercontinental Championshiptwice,[6] theEuropean Championshiponce,[7] and theWorld Tag Team Championshiponce withLance Storm.[8] As the maskedSteele, he was the youngest person to win theCMLL World Heavyweight Championship.
He began his wrestling training in the early 1990s under the tutelage of Jason andDewey "The Missing Link" Robertson and debuted on the Canadianindependent circuit before making his way to the international circuit, finding work withAll Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) inJapan,Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL),Promo Azteca,International Wrestling Revolution Group (IWRG) inMexico,International Wrestling Association (IWA) andWorld Wrestling Council (WWC) inPuerto Rico where he was one half of a tag team known as the Canadian Glamour Boys withShane Sewell they were two timeWWC World Tag Team Champions.[5] In Japan, he was known as Sean Morgan as the name Morley was difficult to pronounce due to the lack of phonetic differences between the L and R inJapanese. In Mexico, he adopted arobot-likemask andgimmick, changed his name to Steele, and won theCMLL World Heavyweight Championship.[9]
Morley was signed to theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1998 and given the gimmick of anadult movie star named "Val Venis". The night afterWrestleMania XIV, on the March 30 episode ofRaw is War,vignettes started to air that showcased Venis' lifestyle on and off the set.[10] The most notable of these aired on May 4 and featured Venis with prominent real-life porn starJenna Jameson.[5][11][12] During this time he worked in dark matches while building up for his debut.
He debuted on the May 18 episode ofRaw is War, defeatingScorpio.[3][5][13] Almost immediately, he was involved in anangle with theKaientaistable, involving him having an affair with Yamaguchi-San'skayfabe wife, Shian-Li Tsang. As a result, the members of Kaientai had a series of unsuccessful matches against him.[3][5] Venis made hispay-per-view debut atFully Loaded: In Your House on July 26, defeatingJeff Jarrett.[5][14] On the August 3 episode ofRaw is War, his tag team partnerTaka Michinoku would eventually betray him, which led to him and Kaientai tying Venis up backstage where Yamaguchi-San attempted tocastrate him with a sword.[15]
The next week, however, he reported that he was saved by "a littleshrinkage" and help from his friend,John Wayne Bobbitt.[16] He then challenged the four Japanese wrestlers to a match, which they accepted under the conditions that it must be agauntlet match, meaning that Venis would have to fight all four of them individually in one match. The match ended with Michinoku executing theMichinoku Driver on Venis and getting the three-count, ending his undefeated streak.[5][13] The feud ended a week later, after Venis fought Michinoku to a no contest.[5][13]
After feuding with Kaientai, Venis got his first title shot in the WWF atSummerSlam on August 30 againstWWF European ChampionD'Lo Brown for his championship. Venis wasdisqualified and as a result, Brown retained the title.[5][17] Venis got involved in a storyline where he slept with other people's wives. He started a feud withDustin Runnels, on the September 14 episode ofRaw is War when Venis showed Runnels his new porn movie, featuring Venis in bed with Dustin's wife,Terri Runnels. She then became his on-screen girlfriend.[18] This culminated in a match atBreakdown: In Your House on September 27, which Venis won.[5][19] On the October 12 episode ofRaw is War, Venis participated in a tournament for the vacantWWF Intercontinental Championship, defeatingMarc Mero in the first round before losing in the semifinals toKen Shamrock.[5] On the same night, Runnels returned to his Goldust gimmick.[20] Venis continued his feud with Goldust, with Goldust gaining a victory atJudgment Day: In Your House on October 18.[5][21] The two faced each other again atCapital Carnage on December 6, and Venis went on to win the match, to end the feud.[5][22] When Terri said she was pregnant, Venis dumped her.[23]
At the end of the year, he formed a short lived tag team withThe Godfather, unofficially dubbed "Supply and Demand".[5] They began teaming on the December 7 episode ofRaw is War againstThe Acolytes.[5][13] Their team only lasted a week, including a match againstMark Henry and D'Lo Brown atRock Bottom: In Your House,[5][24] and a match againstthe Brood.[5][13] At theRoyal Rumble on January 24, 1999, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated byTriple H, On the February 1 episode ofRaw is War, he started a feud with Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock after Venis made a film starring him and Shamrock'skayfabe sisterRyan calledSaving Ryan's Privates.[3][5] AtSt. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House on February 14, Venis defeated Shamrock with the help ofspecial guest refereeBilly Gunn to win the Intercontinental Championship.[3][5][25][26] The next night onRaw is War, Venis defended the title against Gunn and retained the title.[27]
A few days later, he broke up with Ryan and eventually lost the Intercontinental Title toRoad Dogg after only a one-month reign as champion.[3][5][27] Venis began a feud with Road Dogg and made hisWrestleMania debut atWrestleMania XV on March 28, where he challenged for the Intercontinental title in aFour Corners Elimination match which also included Ken Shamrock and Goldust. Venis failed to win the match.[5][28] Throughout the rest of the year, he found himself having "woman troubles" withNicole Bass,[29]Chyna,[30] andDebra.[31][32] AtOver the Edge on May 23, Venis and Nicole Bass defeated Jeff Jarrett and Debra, Venis reunited with the Godfather and they began challenging for theWWF Tag Team Championship. On the May 24 episode ofRaw is War, Venis was defeated byThe Rock in the main event. Venis then entered the 1999 King of the Ring tournament but was eliminated in the first round byChyna. On the July 12 episode ofRaw is War, Venis and The Godfather faced theHardy Boyz for the titles, but the Hardy Boyz retained the titles by getting disqualified.[5][27] Venis and the Godfather started a feud withDroz andAlbert. The next week onRaw is War, Venis and Godfather, Droz and Albert, and the Acolytes challenged the Hardys to a fatal four-way elimination tag team match for the titles, where the Hardys went on to retain the titles.[5][27]
He started a feud withSteve Blackman and defeated him atUnforgiven on September 26.[5][33] His next feud was with Mark Henry, whom he beat atRebellion on October 2.[34] He engaged in feuds with severalmain eventers includingThe Rock,[5][35]Mankind,[5][35][36] andSteve Austin.[5][35] AtNo Mercy on October 17, Venis facedMankind in a winning effort. On the October 21 episode ofSmackDown!, Venis faced Stone Cold Steve Austin in the main event where he lost. Venis later started a feud with European ChampionThe British Bulldog over the title. AtSurvivor Series on November 14, Venis teamed up with Mark Henry,Gangrel, and Steve Blackman to face the British Bulldog and theMean Street Posse with his team winning the match.[5][37]
AtArmageddon on December 12, Venis pinned the British Bulldog in atriple threat match with D-Lo Brown to win theWWF European Championship.[3][5][38][39] On the January 10, 2000 episode ofRaw is War, Venis defeatedEdge to retain the title. At theRoyal Rumble on January 23, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated byKane. On the February 10 episode ofSmackDown!, hedropped the European Title toKurt Angle, ending his two-month reign.[5][40] Around this time, Morley largely disappeared from WWF television programming until mid-May, due to a legitimate neck injury which limited his mobility.[41]
AtKing of the Ring on June 25, Venis participated in the King of the Ring tournament where he defeatedEddie Guerrero in the Quarter-Finals but was defeated byRikishi in the semi-finals.[42] This culminated in a feud between Venis and Rikishi which led to Venisturningheel by aligning himself withTrish Stratus. On the July 6 episode ofSmackDown!, Venis defeated Rikishi to win his second Intercontinental Championship,[3][5][40][43] and aligned himself withTest and Albert. Venis and Rikishi continued their rivalry as Venis defended the title in asteel cage rematch atFully Loaded on July 23. The match was notable for seeing Venis take asplash from Rikishi from the top of a 15-foot high steel cage and still going on to defeat Rikishi to retain the title.[43][44] Soon after, Venis began sporting a new look that included a haircut, white boots and trunks - and the near total disposal of the porn star gimmick. AtSummerSlam on August 27, Stratus inadvertently lost Venis' Intercontinental title to Chyna in amixed tag team match involving the pair against the team of Chyna andEddie Guerrero.[5][45]
Shortly after, Venis underwent a complete change in persona and became a member of theRight to Censor (RTC) stable.[5][46] Venis joined RTC after being abducted byBull Buchanan and The Goodfather.[46] He became acensorship-based character, directly contrasting with his previouslyprovocative on-screen character. Of this change, Morley said in an interview that "the porn star gimmick and storylines kind of overshadowed my work," and that he wanted a more serious persona to better highlight his in-ring abilities and move towards being one of the WWF's top heels.[41] Morley has gone on record saying, the RTC character was his least favorite character, since he lost the core of his previous character and it was hard to wrestle wearing a tie and t-shirt.[47] RTC feuded with the Acolytes and theDudley Boyz, culminating in an eight-man tag team match atUnforgiven on September 24, which RTC won.[48] On the October 12 episode ofSmackDown!, Venis got a shot at theWWF Championship againstThe Rock but failed to win the title. AtNo Mercy on October 22, Venis teamed up with Steven Richards to face Chyna andMr. Ass. After interference from Eddie Guerrero, RTC picked up the win.[49] On the November 6 episode ofRaw is War, Venis lost to The Undertaker. On the November 23 episode ofSmackDown!, Venis defeated K-Kwik. Venis started a feud with Chyna, culminating in a match atArmageddon on December 10 which Venis won.[50] At theRoyal Rumble on January 21, 2001, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated byThe Undertaker.
AtWrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, RTC facedTazz and theAPA in a six-man tag match which RTC lost.[46][51] The next night onRaw is War, he faced Kane for theHardcore Championship but lost the match.[5][52] On the April 26 episode ofSmackDown!, RTC faced The Undertaker in a 4 on 1 handicap match where the other members of the group walked out on Steven Richards. Venis stayed in RTC until they disbanded right before theInvasion storyline, feuding with Chyna and "The One" Billy Gunn during his tenure with the group. When RTC broke up in June and the Invasion began in July, Venis disappeared from WWF television while recovering from surgery on his hip to removebone spurs from his motorcycle racing days. After recovering, he was kept off television along with several other wrestlers, for whom WWFbookers could not come up with any storylines. Instead, he worked in WWF's developmental territoryHeartland Wrestling Association in late 2001.
Venis returned to action back in his old gimmick, at the2002 Royal Rumble, where he entered at #20 in the Royal Rumble match but was shortly after eliminated by Steve Austin.[5][53] OnRaw he had two very short feuds with Stone Cold Steve Austin andMr. Perfect before beingdrafted toSmackDown! during thebrand extension.
OnSmackDown!, he began calling himself "The Big Valbowski" in reference to the 1998 filmThe Big Lebowski, and aligned himself withbabyfacesEdge,[5]Randy Orton,[5]Billy Kidman,[5] andHardcore Holly[5] and feuded withChris Jericho,Deacon Batista, andReverend D-Von.
In June, Venis competed in the2002 King of the Ring tournament. He defeatedChristian in the first round, then lost to Chris Jericho in the quarterfinals.
Morley was sidelined with alegitimate neck injury and laceration in late July, after gym equipment fell on him inCanada.[5] He returned to wrestlingSmackDown!dark matches in September, and made his last televised appearance as Val Venis on October 26 atRebellion, where he teamed withChuck Palumbo in a loss to Reverend D-Von andRon Simmons.[5]
He returned to television on the November 18 episode onRaw under his real name, Sean Morley. He was appointed Raw "Chief of Staff" by RawGeneral Manager,Eric Bischoff, turning heel once again by acting as Bischoff's assistant and going by Chief Morley.[5][54] Morley began a feud with the Dudley Boyz in March 2003. On the March 24 episode ofRaw, he officially became one half of theWorld Tag Team Champions withLance Storm after Storm's partner,William Regal, was sidelined with an illness.[5][55][56] Storm and Morley successfully defended the World Tag Team Championship on the episode ofHeat prior toWrestleMania XIX on March 30 atSafeco Field againstRob Van Dam andKane with help from the Dudley Boyz,[5][57] only to lose them to Kane and Van Dam the next night.[5][58]
Morley was "fired" from his assistant job by Bischoff after he lost a match toJerry "The King" Lawler in whichJim Ross' job was on the line.[5][59] He was quickly "rehired" by co-General Manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin. After returning as Val Venis, he participated in abattle royal atJudgment Day for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, won byChristian.[5][60] Throughout mid-2003, 2004, and the first half of 2005, Venis became a face again, but did not get much in the way of apush. Venis began wrestling as a mid-carder onHeat and on the September 14, 2003 episode ofHeat, he faced Christian in another match for the Intercontinental Championship, which Christian won.[5][61]
He reformed his previous tag team with Lance Storm as faces, but the partnership faded and Venis became utilized mainly as a "jobber to the stars". AtArmageddon, Venis and Storm competed in a Tag Team Turmoil match for the World Tag Team Championship which was won by Batista and Ric Flair.[5] In 2005, he started shaving his headbald. He defeatedRing of Honor wrestler and futureWWE ChampionCM Punk in Punk's first WWE tryout match on May 9, 2005,[62] which led to CM Punk getting a contract and being sent to developmental. On the January 2 episode ofHeat, Venis lost toRic Flair in the main event of the night.
AtWrestleMania 21, Venis competed in a 30-man Interpromotional battle royal which was won byBooker T. In the summer of 2005 he formed another team, V-Squared, withViscera.[5] While wrestling onHeat, theysquashed a number of other tag teams including the World Tag Team ChampionsLance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in a non-title match.[5][63] On the December 5 episode ofRaw, V-Squared participated in a fatal four-way match for the World Tag Team Championship, including the championsBig Show and Kane,The Heart Throbs, andSnitsky andTyson Tomko but were defeated.[5][64] Venis and Viscera continued to team in 2006, getting another shot atBig Show and Kane's titles, while occasionally having solo matches.[5][65] In March 2006, Venis suffered a kayfabe injury at the hands of theSpirit Squad which allowed him to take time off forlegitimate elbow surgery, during which about a dozen more bone spurs were removed, six others were shaved down, and a nerve was transplanted.[5][66]
While he was out, Viscera began teaming withCharlie Haas, leaving Venis to team with Snitsky upon his return in a team that didn't last long.[5] Venis began a feud withEugene onHeat when Eugene interrupted and attacked him during a "Kiss Cam" segment on December 4.[5][67] On the following episode ofHeat, Venis and Eugene had a match which Eugene won.[5][68] On the December 18 episode ofRaw, Val participated in a #1 contender's battle royal, won by Edge.[5][69] In February 2007, WWE.com launched a new broadband network giving fans an opportunity to access free videos, and Venis was given his own show calledSex-U.[70] The show would see Venis and a special guest offering love tips to the viewing audience.[70][71]Sex-U was the most popular show in the first three months of the new broadband network and its four episodes were streamed more than 800,000 times.[72] No new episodes were made after this and the show was removed from WWE.com without reason shortly afterwards.[73] On the March 19, 2007 episode ofRaw, he participated in aMoney in the Bank qualifying battle royal, won byEdge.[5][74]
In late 2007, he began a feud withSantino Marella. During the feud, Marella gave Venis a sneak attack, causing him an injury.[5][75] The two had a match on the October 15 episode ofRaw, which Marella won.[5][76] On the February 18, 2008 episode ofRaw, he lost toMr. Kennedy in a Money in the Bank qualifying match.[5][77] On the March 25 episode ofECW on Sci Fi, he participated in a twelve-on-twelve tag team match involving all the participants of the battle royal.[5][78] AtWrestleMania XXIV, he participated in a pre-show number one contender's battle royal, with the winner facingECW ChampionChavo Guerrero later that night. Kane went on to win the battle royal. On the April 7 episode ofRaw, Venis fell toUmaga. On the April 14 tapings forHeat, he lost his last WWE match to Snitsky. Morley spent the rest of 2008 out of action due to an injury,[5][79] during which WWE transitioned to the more family-friendlyPG Era and his traditional porn star gimmick would no longer be appropriate for the company's target demographics of children. On January 9, 2009, he was released from his WWE contract after over a decade of working for the company.[80]
After his release from WWE, Morley toured in Japan withNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), losing toHiroshi Tanahashi on March 22, 2009, and withHulk Hogan'sHulkamania: Let the Battle Begin tour of the world which started inMelbourne,Australia.
Morley made his debut forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the January 4, 2010, episode ofImpact! in a backstage segment withThe Beautiful People.[81] On the January 14 episode ofImpact! Morley had another segment, complete with revamped theme music, where he explained that he was no longer an adult film star, but rather an adult film producer. This led toDaniels coming to the ring and attacking him, setting up a match at theGenesis pay-per-view on January 17.[82] At Genesis, Morley defeated Daniels in his first match for the company with his patented Money Shot.[83] On the January 28 episode ofImpact! Morley suffered his first loss in TNA, losing toDesmond Wolfe in an8 Card Stud Tournament qualifying match.[84] On the March 4 episode ofImpact!, Morley pinned Jeff Jarrett in an impromptu Falls Count Anywhere match by order ofEric Bischoff, turning heel for the first time in TNA.[85] However, the next day Morley announced on his Facebook page that largely due tothe move ofImpact! to Monday nights, his original plan to wrestle for both TNA and CMLL had to change and therefore he was done with TNA.[86]
Morley worked with Elite Xtreme Wrestling now known as Future Stars of Wrestling as Val Venis where he was a former EXW Tag Team Champion with Dexter Verity.[87] On April 16, 2011, Venis defeatedRhett Titus inFranklin, Pennsylvania for a special IWC Nights of Legends event.[88] Three events later Venis challenged John McChesney for the IWC World Heavyweight Championship but was unsuccessful.[89]
In late 2011, Morley returned to Canada wrestling for Championship Wrestling International, Venis defeated formerWorld Tag Team ChampionSylvain Grenier inLindsay, Ontario, Canada.[90] The following day Venis defeatedChris Masters at CWI Fall Brawl 2 inCaledonia, Ontario, Canada.[91]
On June 1, 2012, Morley lost to former WWE wrestler and tag partnerBig Daddy V in New York City for ECPW Five Boros.[92]
In 2013, Morley returned to Canada working in Manitoba's Canadian Wrestling's Elite and 2014 in British Columbia'sElite Canadian Championship Wrestling and Invasion Championship Wrestling where he reunited with his former WWE tag partnerThe Godfather.[93]
Morley toured in England for House of Pain: Evolution where he defeatedMarty Scurll in Derby, England on June 19, 2015.[94]
On April 5, 2019, Morley teamed withJoey Ryan andSeXXXy Eddy losing toScarlett Bordeaux,Priscilla Kelly andMartina in a six tag intergender match at Wrestlecon Joey Ryan's Penis Party in New York City.
Morley speaks socialSpanish, which he learned during the time he spent in Mexicanlucha libre promotions.[95] His sister, Alannah Morley, was married toAdam "Edge" Copeland between 2001 and 2004, after she had been in a relationship with Copeland since 1998.[96][97][98]
Morley is an advocate for thelegalisation of cannabis, and now works as a budtender at "Health for Life"marijuana dispensary in Mesa,Arizona.[99]
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In February 2020, Morley came under fire from many wrestlers and wrestling fans after making several comments criticizingAll Elite Wrestling (AEW)'s decision to put their women's championship on a transgender wrestler,Nyla Rose. Morley commented on his Twitter and Facebook profiles, arguing that Rose was a biological male and saying only a "real woman" should be holding a women's championship. Several professional wrestlers in many promotions immediately came to Rose's defense, most notablyCodyandDustin Rhodes, and criticized Morley's views.[100] In February 2024, Morley received similar backlash for an edited image of a selfie involving Cody Rhodes and a transgender flag that a trans fan brought to a WWE live event, saying that the trans fan "needs the power of Jesus to affirm their salvation instead of affirming a mental disorder."[101]
Morley has been known to express libertarian political beliefs and to be a believer inQAnon conspiracy theories. On his YouTube channel, "Top Shelf Anarchy," he advocates foranarchy and claims that "thegovernment" is a "criminal organization." His channel features several videos of Morley attempting to film in facilities that prohibit video recording, and the resulting confrontations with security and law enforcement officers, a practice described by practitioners as "First Amendment audits".[102] Morley has on multiple occasions postedCOVID-19 vaccine misinformation on his social media pages, most notably following the death of wrestlerBray Wyatt after a heart attack exacerbated by COVID.[103] In January 2021, Morley was temporarily banned from Twitter for violating their child sexual exploitation policy after posting a photo which he claimed showedHunter Biden having sex withMalia Obama.[104]
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