Professional wrestlers jumping from one promotion to another is nothing new. It can be from WWE to TNA, from NJPW to AEW, and vice versa. Very rarely does one professional wrestler remain in one promotion for their entire career. However, the grass is not always greener on the other side.
In the mid-2000s, Monty Brown was one of the biggest up-and-coming stars in professional wrestling. He was known as the “Alpha Male” and was showing a lot of growth in TNA. He was truly geared to be a top star. He had the moveset and the look, but in 2006, he signed with WWE. It ended up being the worst choice for him, and it was a move that totally derailed his professional wrestling career.
Monty Brown Was A Star In TNA
Monty Brown Formerly Competed In The NFL
Kevin Nash played a huge part in TNA, helping the company grow while providing some great moments fans may have forgotten about.
Before he became a professional wrestler, Brown had a career in the NFL playing for the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots. He spent about three years in the league before he went on to pursue a career in the professional wrestling business. He was trained by Dan Severn and Sabu, and shortly after, Brown went on to begin his career.
Brown debuted for TNA in 2002 and challenged for the NWA World Heavyweight Title against Ron Killings (aka WWE’s R-Truth). After spending some time away from TNA, he returned to the promotion in 2004. This was the start of a very dominant reign for him. He became incredibly popular and fans even wanted to see Brown become the world champion. While this did not happen, it did not derail his popularity.
During his time in TNA, Brown was in the ranks of other top stars. This included Jeff Jarrett, Jeff Hardy, Samoa Joe, Christian Cage, and more, but in 2006, Brown departed the company. That same year, he joined WWE.
Monty Brown Became Marcus Cor Von In WWE
He Was A Member Of The New Breed In ECW
| New Breed Members | Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker, Kevin Thorn, Ariel, CM Punk |
| ECW Originals Members | Rob Van Dam, Sandman, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, CM Punk |
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In WWE, Monty Brown was renamed Marcus Cor Von. He was a member of the ECW brand, something which is still one of WWE’s worst ideas. From the start, Cor Von was built-up as a dominant competitor, much like was in TNA. If WWE had executed it right, they could have given Cor Von the world title run that TNA did not. He was very popular and ECW could have been used to catapult him to stardom, but, as history shows, that is not at all what happened.
Instead, WWE put Cor Von in the horrible New Breed stable. It was a group of ECW talent that sought to take the place of The ECW Originals that were a part of the brand. And while The New Breed did manage to get some wins, they were never going to be presented as a major threat to the ECW Originals. At WrestleMania 23, The ECW Originals took on The New Breed. As expected, The New Breed lost.
In the aftermath of that loss, Cor Von and The New Breed quickly faded into the background. He and Kevin Thorn did challenge for the World Tag Team Titles in a battle royal, but they did not win. The New Breed did get a win over The ECW Originals in a rematch, but at that point, it did not matter. The group was essentially no longer going to be a threat. The New Breed lost again at One Night Stand 2007.
After the end of The New Breed, Cor Von entered a tournament for the ECW World Heavyweight Title, but he didn’t win. Cor Von then took time off of WWE due to family issues. However, he later ended up being released from WWE. He was gone from WWE less than a year after his debut.
Monty Brown Is Retired From Professional Wrestling
Monty Brown Has Not Competed Since 2007
WWE is bigger than better than ever, but they have an issue when it comes to their Raw and SmackDown main eventers.
There was a lot that went wrong with Brown’s time in WWE. ECW was never going to work for him because it was already a brand that WWE didn’t really care about. They could have used it to help build-up new talent, almost like NXT is today, but they didn’t. WWE wasted the popularity that Brown had from TNA. In WWE and TNA, Brown never got the push that he could have succeeded in.
Since he was released from WWE, Brown has remained retired from professional wrestling. He has not wrestled since 2007, when he faced CM Punk in an ECW World Title Tournament. He was another case of WWE getting names from another promotion and not knowing what to do with them. And while that has changed in recent years, as has been seen with former AEW and TNA talent, Brown should have been way bigger.
