Val Venis

Chief Morley

Sean Morley

Venis signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1998, and was given the gimmick of an adult movie star. The character was introduced with a series of vignettes that showcased Venis' lifestyle on and off the set.

He debuted on the May 18, 1998 episode of *Raw*, 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, Mrs. Yamaguchi-San. 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, defeating Jeff Jarrett. On the August 3 episode of *Raw*, 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.

After feuding with Kaientai, Venis got his first title shot in the WWF at SummerSlam 1998 against 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* when Venis showed Runnels his new 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, which Venis won. On the October 12 episode of *Raw*, Venis participated in a tournament for the 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. The two faced each other again at Capital Carnage, and Val went on to win the match, to end the feud. When Terri said she was pregnant, Val 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* 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, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match, where he was eliminated by Triple H, On the February 1, 1999 episode of *Raw*, he started a feud with Intercontinental Champion Ken Shamrock after Venis made a film starring him and Shamrock's sister Ryan called *Saving Ryan's Privates*. At St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House, Venis defeated Shamrock with the help of special guest referee Billy Gunn to win the Intercontinental Championship. The next night on *Raw*, 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, 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, Venis and Nicole Bass defeated Jeff Jarrett and Debra. Venis reunited with the Godfather and they began challenging for the WWF Tag Team Championships. On the May 24 episode of *Raw*, 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*, 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 next started a feud with Droz and Albert. The next week on *Raw*, 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 then started a feud with Steve Blackman and defeated him at Unforgiven. His next feud was with Mark Henry, whom he beat at Rebellion. He engaged in feuds with several main eventers including The Rock, Mankind, and Steve Austin. On the October 21 episode of *SmackDown!*, Venis faced Stone Cold Steve Austin in the main event, where he lost. At No Mercy, Venis faced Mankind in a winning effort. In late 1999, Venis started a feud with European Champion The British Bulldog over the title. At Survivor Series, 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. At Armageddon, Venis pinned the British Bulldog in a triple threat match with D-Lo Brown to win the WWF European Championship. At the Royal Rumble, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match, where he was eliminated by Kane.

On the February 10, 2000 episode of *SmackDown!*, he dropped the European Title to Kurt Angle, ending his two-month reign. Around this time, Venis largely disappeared from WWF television programming until mid-May, due to a legitimate neck injury. At King of the Ring, he participated in the King of the Ring tournament, where he defeated Eddie Guerrero in the quarterfinals, 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. With Stratus as his manager, and a new look - including a haircut, white boots and trunks - and the near total disposal of the porn star gimmick, he 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 rematch at Fully Loaded. During the match, Venis took a splash from Rikishi from the top of a 15-foot high steel cage and still went on to defeat Rikishi later in the match to retain the title. Val's manager, 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 at SummerSlam.

Shortly after, Venis underwent a complete change in persona and became a member of the Right to Censor (RTC) 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. Right to Censor feuded with the Acolytes and the Dudley Boyz, culminating in an eight-man tag team match at Unforgiven, 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, 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*, 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, which Venis won. At the Royal Rumble, Venis competed in the Royal Rumble match, where he was eliminated by The Undertaker.

At WrestleMania X-Seven, RTC faced Tazz and the APA in a six-man tag match, which RTC lost. The next night on *Raw*, 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 and the Invasion began, Venis disappeared from WWF television while recovering from surgery on his hip. After recovering, he was kept off television along with several other wrestlers.

Venis returned to action back in his old gimmick, at the 2002 Royal Rumble, where he entered at number twenty in the Royal Rumble match, but was shortly after eliminated by Steve Austin. On *Raw*, he had two very short feuds with Stone Cold Steve Austin and Mr. Perfect before being drafted to *SmackDown!* during the brand extension. On *SmackDown!*, he began calling himself "The Big Valbowski" and he aligned himself with babyfaces Edge, Randy Orton, Billy Kidman, and Hardcore Holly, and feuded with Chris Jericho, Deacon Batista, and Reverend D-Von. In June, Venis competed in the 2002 King of the Ring tournament. He defeated Christian in the first round, then lost to Chris Jericho in the quarterfinals. Venis was sidelined with a legitimate neck injury and laceration in late July. He returned to wrestling *SmackDown!* dark matches in September, and made his last televised appearance as Venis on October 26 at Rebellion, where he teamed with Chuck Palumbo in a loss to Reverend D-Von and Ron Simmons.

He returned to television on the November 18 episode on *Raw* under his real name, **Sean Morley**. He was appointed *Raw* "Chief of Staff" by *Raw* General Manager, Eric Bischoff, turning heel once again by acting as Bischoff's assistant and going by **Chief Morley**. Morley began a feud with the Dudley Boyz in March 2003. On the March 24, 2003 episode of *Raw*, he officially became one half of the World Tag Team Champions with Lance Storm after Storm's partner, William Regal, was sidelined with an illness. Storm and Morley successfully defended the World Tag Team Titles on the episode of *Heat* prior to WrestleMania XIX against Rob Van Dam and Kane with help from the Dudley Boyz, only to lose them to Kane and RVD the next night.

Morley was "fired" from his assistant job by Bischoff after he lost a match to Jerry "The King" Lawler in which Jim Ross' job was on the line. He was quickly "rehired" by co-general manager, Stone Cold Steve Austin. After returning as **Val Venis**, he participated in a battle royal at Judgment Day for the vacant Intercontinental Championship, won by Christian. Throughout mid-2003, 2004, and the first half of 2005, Venis became a face again, but did not get much in the way of a push. Venis began wrestling as a mid-carder on *Heat* and on a September 2003 episode of *Heat*, he faced Intercontinental Champion Christian in another match for the Intercontinental Title, which Christian won.

He reformed his previous tag team with Lance Storm as faces, but the partnership faded and Venis became utilized mainly as a "jobber to the stars". At Armageddon, Venis and Storm competed in a tag team turmoil match for the World Tag Team Championship, which was won by Batista and Ric Flair. He defeated CM Punk in Punk's first WWE tryout match on May 9, 2005. On the January 2, 2005 episode of *Heat*, Venis lost to Ric Flair in the main event of the night.

At WrestleMania 21, Venis competed in a 30-man interpromotional battle royal, which was won by Booker T. In the summer of 2005, he formed another team, V-Squared, with Viscera. While wrestling on *Heat*, they squashed a number of other tag teams including the World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in a non-title match. On the December 5 episode of *Raw*, V-Squared participated in a fatal four-way match for the World Tag Team Championship, including the champions Big Show and Kane, The Heart Throbs, and Snitsky and Tyson Tomko, but were defeated. Venis and Viscera continued to team in 2006, getting another shot at Big Show and Kane's titles, while occasionally having solo matches. In March 2006, Venis suffered an injury at the hands of the Spirit Squad, which allowed him to take time off for legitimate elbow surgery.

While he was out, Viscera began teaming with Charlie Haas, leaving Venis to team with Snitsky upon his return in a team that didn't last long. Venis began a feud with Eugene on *Heat* when Eugene interrupted and attacked him during a "Kiss Cam" segment on December 4, 2006. On the following episode of *Heat*, Venis and Eugene had a match, which Eugene won. On the December 18 episode of *Raw*, Val participated in a number one contender's battle royal, won by Edge. On the March 19, 2007 episode of *Raw*, he participated in a Money in the Bank qualifying battle royal, won by Edge.

In late 2007, he began a feud with Santino Marella. During the feud, Marella gave Venis a sneak attack, causing him an injury. The two had a match on the October 15 episode of *Raw*, which Marella won. On the February 18, 2008 episode of *Raw*, he lost to Mr. Kennedy in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. On the March 25 episode of *ECW on Sci Fi*, he participated in a twelve-on-twelve tag team match involving all the participants of the battle royal. At WrestleMania XXIV, he participated in a pre-show number one contender's battle royal, with the winner facing ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero later that night. Kane went on to win the battle royal. On the April 7 episode of *Raw*, Venis fell to Umaga. On the April 14 tapings for *Heat*, he lost his last WWE match to Snitsky. Venis spent the rest of 2008 out of action due to an injury. On January 9, 2009, he was released from his WWE contract after over a decade of working for the company.