Michael Morgan (born August 20, 1957) is a former

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

who competed in the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a ...

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Natio ...

and

World Class Championship Wrestling World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), later known as the World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA) (1986–1991) was an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter E ...

best known as Rip Morgan. Best known as one half of the New Zealand Militia in WCW with Jack Victory. Morgan also wrestled in the NAWA/SAPW with Jack Victory as "The Royal Family". He was the last flag bearer for the original New Zealand Sheepherders. He was formerly the CEO of the now defunct

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by m ...

-based professional wrestling promotion Kiwi Pro Wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Mike Morgan made his professional wrestling debut in 1983 under the

Ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projectin ...

Rip Morgan working in his native

. On 8 September 1983 he won the NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship, but records are not clear on who he defeated to win the championship, nor who he later on lost the championship to. In 1984, he travelled to the United States of America where he was paired up with The Sheepherders ( Luke Williams and Butch Miller), working as their "Flag Bearer", someone who would wave the New Zealand flag during their introductions and help them cheat during their matches. Morgan worked with the two to continue his wrestling training as Williams and Miller taught him aspects of professional wrestling outside of the actual wrestling moves. In 1985, Morgan wrestled as Bigfoot for the WWF appearing on TV.

The Sheepherders (1985–1986)

After his brief WWF run Morgan teamed up with

Jonathan Boyd Jonathan Barry Boyle (21 October 1944 – 7 August 1999) was an Australian professional wrestler who is known worldwide under the name "Lord" Jonathan Boyd. Initially Boyd competed both in North American and international promotions as part of ...

to form a new version of the Sheepherders, using the name "The Kiwi Sheepherders". Boyd and Morgan quickly made their name known in the

Continental Wrestling Association Continental Wrestling Association (later the Championship Wrestling Association) was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually re ...

, based out of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

by defeating CWA's most popular team The Fabulous Ones (

Steve Keirn Stephen Paul Keirn (born September 10, 1951) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in multiple National Wrestling Alliance territories as Steve Keirn as one-half of the tag team The Fabulous Ones, as ...

and

Stan Lane Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane (born August 5, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler and color commentator. He is best known for his appearances with the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Jim Crockett Promotions and World Champi ...

) for AWA Southern Tag Team Championship on 17 June 1985. The team was soon stripped of the titles due to excessive cheating but had the titles returned to them when Boyd and Morgan threatened to sue CWA management. Instead of taking the titles from the Sheepherders by stripping them the Fabulous Ones took the Southern tag team titles from them the old fashioned way – 4 times in a row between 5 September and 12 October. After the series of violent matches with the Fabulous Ones came to an end the Sheepherders came face to face with another team that would turn out to be a constant thorn in their side The Fantastics (

Bobby Fulton James Hines (born October 4, 1960) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobby Fulton. He was one half of the tag team The Fantastics with Tommy Rogers. Professional wrestling career James Hines started wr ...

and Tommy Rogers). Jonathan Boyd reunited with the Sheepherders in the

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC) (Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha"), is a Puerto-Rican professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón Sr., Victor J ...

in Puerto Rico. In the winter of 1985 the Kiwi Sheepherders and the Fantastics traded wins back and forth with no side gaining a clear advantage in their feud. In January 1986 the Kiwi Sheepherders defeated the teams of

Koko Ware James W. Ware, Jr. (born June 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Koko B. Ware is an American retired professional wrestler. He debuted in 1978 and became widely popular in 1986. He later went on to the World Wrestling Federation, where he ...

and Rick Casey and also the team of

Tojo Yamamoto Harold Watanabe (January 6, 1927 – February 19, 1992) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Tojo Yamamoto. Early life Watanabe was born in Hawaii in 1927 to a Japanese father and an American mother. He serve ...

and Dirty Rhodes to reach the finals of a tournament to crown new Southern Tag Team Champions, but in the finals they fell to the Fantastics. The loss to the Fantastics only intensified the Sheepherders' anger bringing the feud to its high point as the two teams clashed in a "No DQ Loser Leaves Town" match on 20 January 1986. The Kiwi Sheepherders lost and left Memphis while the Fantastics rode a wave of popularity thanks to the feud.

The Thing, Rip Morgan (1987–1988)

Following the dissolution of the Sheepherders Morgan ended up worked for

Fritz Von Erich Jack Barton Adkisson Sr. (August 16, 1929 – September 10, 1997), better known by his ring name Fritz Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler, wrestling promoter, and the patriarch of the Von Erich family. He was a 3-time world champi ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

under the ring name "The Thing" and later on "The Real Thing". In Texas he lost to

Kerry Von Erich Kerry Gene Adkisson (February 3, 1960 – February 18, 1993), better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. He was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time wi ...

on WCCW's "Thanksgiving Star Wars" show in 1987. Later on Morgan joined

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promo ...

, later known as

(WCW). He worked the 1988

Great American Bash The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Created by Dusty Rhodes, the event was established in 1985 and was originally produced by the Nationa ...

tour facing

Bugsy McGraw Michael Davis (born November 1, 1945), best known as Bugsy McGraw, is a retired American professional wrestler. He also wrestled under the name The Skull. He is not to be confused with the other wrestler named Mike Davis. McGraw is known for hi ...

on several stops of the tour. Later on Morgan and Jonathan Holliday teamed up to challenge for the

NWA United States Tag Team Championship The NWA United States Tag Team Championship is a name used for several secondary tag team championship used by various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) members since 1958. There are eleven different versions of the NWA United States Tag Team Champ ...

but lost to The Fantastics (

and Tommy Rogers. At Clash of the Champions V special event Rip Morgan lost to

Rick Steiner Robert Rechsteiner (born March 9, 1961) is an American real estate broker and retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Rick Steiner. Steiner is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he wa ...

. Two months later he challenged

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-ear ...

for the

NWA World Television Championship The NWA World Television Championship is a world television championship owned and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The inaugural champion was Ricky Starks. The current champion is Jo ...

at Clash of the Champions VII but again was unsuccessful in his efforts.

Teaming with Jack Victory (1989–1993)

In 1989 the bookers of World Championship Wrestling decided to put Rip Morgan together with another former flagbearer of the Sheepherders, Jack Victory, creating a tag team known as the "New Zealand Militia", billing Jack Victory as a native of New Zealand despite being born in the United States. The two made their in-ring debut on 14 June 1989 where they took part in a tournament for the vacant

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA Worl ...

. The team faced and lost to The Dynamic Dudes ( Shane Douglas and Johnny Ace, also a former flag bearer for the Sheepherders). Following the tournament loss the Militia found themselves frequently facing off against the Dynamic Dudes over the summer and fall of 1989. In 1990 WCW gave Morgan and Victory a new image, re-introducing them as "The Royal Family", naming them Ripper Morgan and Jack O'Victory and adding the manager Lord Littlebrook to the group. The Royal Family were billed as descendants of British Royalty. The Royal Family family was one of eight teams entered in a tournament for the vacant

WCW United States Tag Team Championship The NWA United States Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team championship contested for previously in the United States-based Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promotions, with the title now i ...

. The group lost in the first round to eventual tournament winners Flyin' Brian and "Z-Man" Tom Zenk. WCW held the "Pat O'Connor International Tag Team Tournament" as part of the 1990 Starrcade with eight teams representing various countries. The storyline was that the Royal Family had won a tournament in Australia to earn the rights to represent Australian and New Zealand, in reality none of the teams had won qualifying tournaments. Victory and Morgan lost to "Team Japan" (

Masa Saito was a Japanese professional wrestler better known as Mr. Saito or , who wrestled for 33 years around the world. He had success as a singles wrestler, winning the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990, and as a tag team wrestler with multip ...

and

The Great Muta is a Japanese professional wrestler and professional wrestling executive currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah), where he is a former GHC Heavyweight Champion. He is best known for his work as in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...

) in the first round of the tournament. The Royal Family's last significant appearance with WCW was on 28 April 1991 where they teamed up with Black Bart as they unsuccessfully challenged the team of the

Junkyard Dog Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American professional wrestler and college football player, best known for his work in Mid-South Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation as the Junkyard Dog (or JYD), a nickname ...

Ricky Morton Richard Wendell Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. He is the current GCW Television Champion, after pinning Matt Cardona at GCW Say You Will. For most of his care ...

and

Tommy Rich Thomas Richardson (born July 26, 1956) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tommy “Wildfire” Rich. He is a one time former National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion and Smoky Mountain Wrestling ...

for the WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship. In 1991 Victory and Morgan made their way to the

Global Wrestling Federation Global Wrestling Federation was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. Often the promotion pr ...

in Dallas TX this time as The Maulers. The duo competed in the tournament for the first ever

GWF Tag Team Championship The GWF Tag Team Championship was the tag team title in the Global Wrestling Federation in Texas. The title existed from 1991 until 1994, when GWF closed. The title was featured on the promotion's show that aired nationally on ESPN. It is known a ...

. In the first round they defeated "Wet'n'Wild" (Steve Ray and

Sunny Beach Slanchev Bryag ( bg, Слънчев бряг , en, Sunny Beach) is a seaside resort on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, north of Burgas. Created in 1958 as a weekend getaway for Bulgarian families, Sunny Beach has become the largest tourist a ...

), followed by a victory over Chaz and

Terry Garvin Terry Joyal (March 1, 1937 - August 17, 1998), better known by his ring name Terry Garvin, was a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with kayfabe brother Ron Garvin, with whom he won several tag team championships in the ...

. In the third round, the semi-finals of the tournament the Maulers lost to eventual tournament winners Chris Walker and Steve Simpson. Wrestling as the Maulers, Victory and Morgan also wrestled a dark match at a '' WWF Superstars'' taping in Mobile, Alabama on March 9, 1992, defeating Jim Cooper and John Allen. The Maulers did not stay in the GWF after the tournament, instead moved on to Smokey Mountain Wrestling (SMW) in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. They competed in a tournament to determine the first ever SMW Tag Team Champion. In the first round the Maulers defeated the Rich Brothers ( Davey Rich and Johnny Rich), but lost to The Fantastics (

and Jackie Fulton) in the second round to be eliminated from the tournament. Their short lived run in SMW was the last time Morgan and Victory teamed together on a regular basis.

Retirement and Kiwi Pro Wrestling CEO

In the early 1990s, Morgan wrestled in Germany, known for performing a Maori

Haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompa ...

before each match. In the late 1990s Rip Morgan retired from full-time wrestling and returned to his native New Zealand and began promoting wrestling. He later became the CEO of the

-based professional wrestling promotion Kiwi Pro Wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

AWA Southern Tag Team Championship The AWA Southern Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the Tennessee area from the 1940s through the late 1980s. It was originally named the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship ''(Mid-America version)'' from its ince ...

( 5 times) – with

* NWA New Zealand :* NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

**PWI ranked him #229 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

in 1992 *Western Ohio Wrestling **WOW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jack Victory

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Rip 1957 births Date of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand male professional wrestlers 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people 20th-century professional wrestlers