Val Venis
Sean Allen Morley, better known by his ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment from 1998 to 2009. He has also worked for Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.
During his career in WWF/WWE, Venis held the Intercontinental Championship twice, the European Championship once, and the World Tag Team Championship once with Lance Storm. As the masked Steele, he was the youngest person to win the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship.
Professional wrestling career
Training and early career (1994–1998)
He began his wrestling training in the early 1990s under the tutelage of Jason and Dewey "The Missing Link" Robertson and debuted on the Canadian independent circuit before making his way to the international circuit, finding work with All Japan Pro Wrestling in Japan, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Promo Azteca, International Wrestling Revolution Group in Mexico, International Wrestling Association and World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico where he was one half of a tag team known as the Canadian Glamour Boys with Shane Sewell they were two time WWC World Tag Team Champions. 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 in Japanese. In Mexico, he adopted a robot-like mask and gimmick, changed his name to Steele, and won the CMLL World Heavyweight Championship.World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (1998–2009)
European Champion; Intercontinental Champion (1998–2000)
Morley was signed to the World Wrestling Federation in 1998 and given the gimmick of an adult movie star named "Val Venis". The night after WrestleMania XIV, on the March 30 episode of Raw is War, vignettes started to air that showcased Venis' lifestyle on and off the set. The most notable of these aired on May 4 and featured Venis with prominent real-life porn star Jenna Jameson. During this time he worked in dark matches while building up for his debut.He debuted on the May 18 episode of Raw is War, defeating Scorpio. Almost immediately, he was involved in an angle with the Kaientai stable, involving him having an affair with Yamaguchi-San's kayfabe wife, Shian-Li Tsang. As a result, the members of Kaientai had a series of unsuccessful matches against him. Venis made his pay-per-view debut at Fully Loaded: In Your House on July 26, defeating Jeff Jarrett. On the August 3 episode of Raw is War, his tag team partner Taka Michinoku would eventually betray him, which led to him and Kaientai tying Venis up backstage where Yamaguchi-San attempted to castrate him with a sword.
The next week, however, he reported that he was saved by "a little shrinkage" and help from his friend, John Wayne Bobbitt. He then challenged the four Japanese wrestlers to a match, which they accepted under the conditions that it must be a gauntlet match, meaning that Venis would have to fight all four of them individually in one match. The match ended with Michinoku executing the Michinoku Driver on Venis and getting the three-count, ending his undefeated streak. The feud ended a week later, after Venis fought Michinoku to a no contest.
Image:Val Venis 1999.jpg|thumb|Venis in 1999.
After feuding with Kaientai, Venis got his first title shot in the WWF at SummerSlam on August 30 against WWF European Champion D'Lo Brown for his championship. Venis was disqualified and as a result, Brown retained the title. Venis got involved in a storyline where he slept with other people's wives. He started a feud with Dustin Runnels, on the September 14 episode of Raw 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. This culminated in a match at Breakdown: In Your House on September 27, which Venis won. On the October 12 episode of Raw is War, Venis participated in a tournament for the vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship, defeating Marc Mero in the first round before losing in the semifinals to Ken Shamrock. On the same night, Runnels returned to his Goldust gimmick. Venis continued his feud with Goldust, with Goldust gaining a victory at Judgment Day: In Your House on October 18. The two faced each other again at Capital Carnage on December 6, and Venis went on to win the match, to end the feud. When Terri said she was pregnant, Venis dumped her.
At the end of the year, he formed a short lived tag team with The Godfather, unofficially dubbed "Supply and Demand". They began teaming on the December 7 episode of Raw is War against The Acolytes. Their team only lasted a week, including a match against Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown at Rock Bottom: In Your House, and a match against the Brood. At the Royal Rumble on January 24, 1999, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated by Triple H, On the February 1 episode of Raw is War, he started a feud with Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock after Venis made a film starring him and Shamrock's kayfabe sister Ryan called Saving Ryan's Privates. At St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House on February 14, Venis defeated Shamrock with the help of special guest referee Billy Gunn to win the Intercontinental Championship. The next night on Raw is War, Venis defended the title against Gunn and retained the title.
A few days later, he broke up with Ryan and eventually lost the Intercontinental Title to Road Dogg after only a one-month reign as champion. Venis began a feud with Road Dogg and made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania XV on March 28, where he challenged for the Intercontinental title in a Four Corners Elimination match which also included Ken Shamrock and Goldust. Venis failed to win the match. Throughout the rest of the year, he found himself having "woman troubles" with Nicole Bass, Chyna, and Debra. At Over the Edge on May 23, Venis and Nicole Bass defeated Jeff Jarrett and Debra, Venis reunited with the Godfather and they began challenging for the WWF Tag Team Championship. On the May 24 episode of Raw is War, Venis was defeated by The Rock in the main event. Venis then entered the 1999 King of the Ring tournament but was eliminated in the first round by Chyna. On the July 12 episode of Raw is War, Venis and The Godfather faced the Hardy Boyz for the titles, but the Hardy Boyz retained the titles by getting disqualified. Venis and the Godfather started a feud with Droz and Albert. The next week on Raw 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.
He started a feud with Steve Blackman and defeated him at Unforgiven on September 26. His next feud was with Mark Henry, whom he beat at Rebellion on October 2. He engaged in feuds with several main eventers including The Rock, Mankind, and Steve Austin. At No Mercy on October 17, Venis faced Mankind in a winning effort. On the October 21 episode of SmackDown!, Venis faced Stone Cold Steve Austin in the main event where he lost. Venis later started a feud with European Champion The British Bulldog over the title. At Survivor Series on November 14, Venis teamed up with Mark Henry, Gangrel, and Steve Blackman to face the British Bulldog and the Mean Street Posse with his team winning the match.
Image:Val Venis and Trish WWF - King of the Ring 2000.jpg|thumb|Venis at King of the Ring with Trish Stratus in 2000.
At Armageddon on December 12, Venis pinned the British Bulldog in a triple threat match with D-Lo Brown to win the WWF European Championship. On the January 10, 2000 episode of Raw is War, Venis defeated Edge to retain the title. At the Royal Rumble on January 23, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated by Kane. On the February 10 episode of SmackDown!, he dropped the European Title to Kurt Angle, ending his two-month reign. Around this time, Morley largely disappeared from WWF television programming until mid-May, due to a legitimate neck injury which limited his mobility.
At King of the Ring on June 25, Venis participated in the King of the Ring tournament where he defeated Eddie Guerrero in the Quarter-Finals but was defeated by Rikishi in the semi-finals. This culminated in a feud between Venis and Rikishi which led to Venis turning heel by aligning himself with Trish Stratus. On the July 6 episode of SmackDown!, Venis defeated Rikishi to win his second Intercontinental Championship, and aligned himself with Test and Albert. Venis and Rikishi continued their rivalry as Venis defended the title in a steel cage rematch at Fully Loaded on July 23. The match was notable for seeing Venis take a splash from Rikishi from the top of a 15-foot high steel cage and still going on to defeat Rikishi to retain the title. 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. At SummerSlam on August 27, Stratus inadvertently lost Venis' Intercontinental title to Chyna in a mixed tag team match involving the pair against the team of Chyna and Eddie Guerrero.
Right to Censor (2000–2001)
Shortly after, Venis underwent a complete change in persona and became a member of the Right to Censor stable. Venis joined RTC after being abducted by Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather. He became a censorship-based character, directly contrasting with his previously provocative 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. 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. RTC feuded with the Acolytes and the Dudley Boyz, culminating in an eight-man tag team match at Unforgiven on September 24, which RTC won. On the October 12 episode of SmackDown!, Venis got a shot at the WWF Championship against The Rock but failed to win the title. At No Mercy on October 22, Venis teamed up with Steven Richards to face Chyna and Mr. Ass. After interference from Eddie Guerrero, RTC picked up the win. On the November 6 episode of Raw is War, Venis lost to The Undertaker. On the November 23 episode of SmackDown!, Venis defeated K-Kwik. Venis started a feud with Chyna, culminating in a match at Armageddon on December 10 which Venis won. At the Royal Rumble on January 21, 2001, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match where he was eliminated by The Undertaker.At WrestleMania X-Seven on April 1, RTC faced Tazz and the APA in a six-man tag match which RTC lost. The next night on Raw is War, he faced Kane for the Hardcore Championship but lost the match. On the April 26 episode of SmackDown!, 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 the Invasion 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 remove bone spurs from his motorcycle racing days. After recovering, he was kept off television along with several other wrestlers, for whom WWF bookers could not come up with any storylines. Instead, he worked in WWF's developmental territory Heartland Wrestling Association in late 2001.