'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Trevor Murdoch spoke to Sportskeeda Wrestling ahead of his NWA World title defense and opened up about his memorable three-year run in WWE.
Murdoch enjoyed a lot of success in WWE's tag team division alongside Lance Cade and stayed with the company until his release in 2008. The 41-year-old star has wrestled extensively on the independent circuit over the past decade and is currently one of the top stars in Billy Corgan's NWA.
Murdoch said wrestling for WWE was a completely different ball game as the superstar competed in front of thousands of fans, unlike the indie shows. The 3-time World Tag Team Champion admitted that talent must eliminate the fear of performing for larger crowds if he wishes to be successful in WWE.
Here's what Murdoch revealed while speaking to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Kevin Kellam:
"One of the things is like, when you wrestle for WWE, you're not wrestling in front of 100 people. You're not wrestling in front of 500, thousands of people! So, you have to lose a certain amount of, like you can't have a fear of walking out there because those people will see it and they will eat you up. So wrestling in WWE garnered a lot of confidence for me," revealed Trevor Murdoch. "If I can go wrestle for them, if I can go wrestle for 78,000 people. If I can go wrestle in front of 3.2 million people at home every Monday night. Like, I can do anything." [From 6:55 to 7:26]
Trevor Murdoch on learning the importance of branding in WWE
While WWE's TV figures may have dropped in recent years, the most prominent wrestling organization in the world still rakes in impressive numbers from all forms of digital and social media.
WWE wants its talent to have larger-than-life characters and stresses the need for effective branding. Trevor Murdoch praised WWE for being a "well-oiled machine" and said they had mastered the art of marketing and promoting grand wrestling events.
While Trevor Murdoch picked up the in-ring technicalities of wrestling from the legendary Harley Race, he admitted to learning about the business side of things from WWE.
"The other thing, too, is that WWE is a well-oiled machine. And they have perfected virtually everything when it comes to the marketing end of it, the character end of it, and what you need to do to stand out and brand yourself. I didn't get that education until I got to WWE," Murdoch continued. "God love Harley; he was focused on the pro wrestling end of it and maybe not so much on the business end of pro wrestling." [From 7:27 to 7:57]
Trevor Murdoch has significantly benefited from the two biggest lessons he learned from his time in WWE.
The star is presently in his second reign as the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion and will headline the company's 74th Anniversary show in a match against another former WWE superstar. He added:
"So, I learned a lot there, and I've taken that now working for a company that is slowly building its way back up and becoming a named-brand wrestling company. I'm taking those things I learned from there and applying them to NWA. And it's making me stand out. When I'm going to NWA, I do things that I know work on a larger scale for WWE." [From 7:58 to 8:25]
Do you agree with Murdoch's views on how WWE operates? Sound off in the comments section below.
NWA 74 streams on FITE TV PPV worldwide on Aug 27th and 28th from St. Louis, MO. Tickets and more: NationalWrestlingAlliance.com
When using quotes from this article, please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling and embed the YouTube video.
