Lee Moriarty On "Being Watched" By AEW, WWE And Other Major Promotions
On a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast, "The Apex of Combat" Lee Moriarty chatted with Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman about his possible future with a big wrestling company. Moriarty was recently on Impact Wrestling, and he talked about whether he has had any conversations with other wrestling companies.
"I'm not talking to anyone, but I'm being watched," Moriarty revealed. "I know because I've gotten those messages. People saying, 'Keep it up,' and I know I'm being watched, but so far, right now, my focus is on helping the independent scene kind of stay afloat right now in this difficult time. And at some point next year, if I can pursue a contract, that's going to be the goal."
Moriarty clarified that independent wrestling doesn't necessarily "need him". However, he said he wants to give back as much as he can to independent wrestling because of how much it means to him.
"I don't want to say the independents need me. There's so many good wrestlers," Moriarty pointed out. "They don't need me, but I feel like I have something to offer, and if I can use this to help people move forward, and the state of things now, I'm going to do that as best of my ability because I wouldn't be anything if I didn't have independent wrestling.
"I love PWG. I loved all those things growing up. I used to watch AIW in my computer lab, and now I'm wrestling for them. So I want to help the independent scene as much as I can while I'm still here, and when it's time for me to go, it is what it is, but right now, until that contract's put in front of me, I'm 100% an independent wrestler. I'm focused on helping."
Hausman noted that AEW star Joey Janela said something similar to him backstage at Warrior Wrestling, where he does commentary, as well. Moriarty praised Janela for continuing to help independent wrestling even during a pandemic.
"Independent wrestling means a lot to a lot of people professionally and personally, especially people like Janela," Moriarty noted. "He doesn't have to wrestle for the independents, especially during a pandemic. He chooses to because he loves wrestling, and he wants to give back."
On the topic of AEW, Moriarty gave his reaction to Sting's debut on AEW Dynamite. Moriarty also talked about being a fan of Team Taz as well.
"I think it's really cool with the way they've done stuff with talent. The nostalgia thing is really cool," Moriarty said. "Team Taz, I love Team Taz. So them bringing in Sting, I don't know if he's going to be in the ring, or if he's just going to be an advisor. We don't know yet, but I think it's really cool to see him and see people's reactions to him. He's an icon, literally, not just in his nickname."
Wrestling Inc. exclusively reported that the relationship between AEW and Impact is not likely to be very intertwined. Moriarty discussed his thoughts on crossover between the larger promotions in general.
"I love it because it's not often you get to see dream matches. There's not as many opportunities," Moriarty noted. "You see Chris Bey competing in the Super J-Cup. It's those rare things, and they can work. You can have working relationships but still be competing. There's basketball players I train together [with] on the offseason, and they still compete as hard as possible when it's the regular season.
"I love seeing it. It's really exciting, and you see people tweeting on both sides of Impact and AEW. You'll see FTR, they were just tweeting out tag team names. They can say any tag team names and it gets people hyped and excited about it. That's just really cool."
Moriarty also talked about his upcoming appearance for Limitless Wrestling competing in their Vacationland Cup this Saturday night. He discussed how his appearance came together.
"So I've always wanted to wrestle for Limitless Wrestling," Moriarty admitted. "I would watch it all the time. I'm a big fan of the production. I remember I was in an interview with Malcolm Bivens, and I talked about how that was on my bucket list of goals. I think they heard that. They reached out, and now I'm in the tournament competing. I guess I had a good year. So they thought I was deserving to compete for this title."
Lee Moriarty will compete as part of Limitless Wrestling's Vacationland Cup this Saturday, December 19th. For more information about how to watch the event please visit LimitlessWrestling.com. Lee's full interview 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.