Trevor Murdoch On The Biggest Takeaway From His WWE Run, Finding Out About Lance Cade's Death
Trevor Murdoch spent three years with WWE where he became a three-time tag team champion alongside Lance Cade. He talked about the WWE experience when he spoke to Andy Malnoske on The Wrestling Inc. Daily.
"The biggest thing I took away from that experience was that I never realized how many fans I was getting in front of," admitted Murdoch. "You go in a large venue where you're in front of 15 or 17,000 people, but that TV is extremely powerful. When you would go to other countries and people would chant my name, it would blow my mind on how far a reach that company has and putting me out there made me global. I don't think you and I would be having a conversation if it wasn't for that."
Cade passed away 10 years ago which shocked the wrestling world. Murdoch recalled that moment and how it affected him then and still affects him today.
"It was certainly unexpected. He was 29, had two little girls and was in some of the best shape of his life," stated Murdoch. "I'm at home and I get a phone call from Shawn Michaels. I had missed it and my wife ends up waking me up. The kitchen manager at the bar and grill I owned was there and I actually thought something had happened to Harley [Race]. He wasn't a spring chicken and is up there in age, so I asked, 'What happened to Harley?'
"My wife says it was Lance who passed away and I actually didn't believe her. I was half-awake and it didn't click with me. I looked at my phone and Shawn sent me a text saying, 'Call me immediately.' I called him and I'll never forget his words. He said, 'Kid, I'm sorry but he's gone.'
"He was one of my best friends. My kids called him Uncle Lance and he spent holidays here. ?To hear that news was just heartbreaking and it kinda messed me up for a while. You ask yourself what could I have done? It took some time to get over him and I still think about Lance every day."
Last year Murdoch came out of retirement to join NWA where he's already had a couple of title shots. He talked about what goals he has next in the wrestling business.
"I have no idea what's next for me. At one point in my career when I was younger, I was so driven to always have something set up. But I would stress myself out and now I'm just rolling with the punches," said Murdoch. "I'm having fun. I get to step in the ring in front of fans that love pro wrestling. I'm excited for the future but also excited for the fact that I don't know what it holds for me.
"I know that in my current direction what I want is to become the next National Heavyweight Champion for the NWA; that's my goal. But other than that, I'm just running with it. In this business you never know what's gonna happen. You think you're going left and then all of a sudden, you're looking right. So, I'm just gonna hang on for the ride."
Murdoch's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon: by clicking here. The full interview can be heard via the embedded audio player below: