10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Matt Bloom

10. Johnny Ace And Fit Finlay's Boy?

There was something of a backstage power struggle on Smackdown in late 2002. Albert, who had split from Scotty II Hotty and spent about six months on Velocity, was brought over to the blue brand and re-christened A-Train. Working under Paul Heyman, A-Train was given a decent push. John Laurinaitis and agent Fit Finlay believed that push should be more sustained and lobbied for A-Train to be the man to attack and 'injure' Rey Mysterio (who was heading for minor knee surgery and would be out for a month or two). This would in turn lead to a feud with Mysterio's tag team partner Edge. On the opposing side was Michael Hayes, who believed that Matt Hardy should get the nod and be the one to take out Rey. After all, Matt could compete in the cruiserweight division, had history with Edge and was getting more and more over thanks to his 'Mattitude' gimmick. In the end, A-Train got the opportunity thanks to Finlay and Johnny Ace's involvement. Apparently Matt had heat with both Ace and Finlay, who felt that A-Train was a better prospect since Vince likes bigger guys. A-Train actually had a PPV match with Edge at Armageddon but his push didn't last: he was quickly squashed by a returning Mysterio, Brock Lesnar and, eventually, The Undertaker.