It appears that Moose (real name Quinn Ojinnaka) may be on his way to a new home, but not the one many originally thought.
Major League Wrestling reported on their Twitter account Wednesday morning that the free agent had signed a multi-year agreement with TNA Wrestling — a report Ojinnaka refuted, telling them he has an offer from the company but hasn’t signed as of now.
Our Dave Meltzer has been reporting about Moose’s future for several weeks in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter including this from last week:
“The situation with Moose changed in the past week as well. WWE backed off on signing him at this moment due to a 2009 domestic violence allegation which led to him being suspended for a game when he was in the NFL. He was actually told not to worry by WWE with the idea it’s just a timing situation (given the recent situations with Adam Rose and Jerry Lawler) and not a closed door.
He was originally expected to be part of their September NXT introduction class with guys like Tommy End and Big Damo and most likely Roderick Strong, who did finish up here over the weekend. Moose has had offers from Lucha Underground, TNA, which offered the most money of anyone ($100,000 per year) and the door is open to staying here as well. Those at ROH view his future here as something that has changed a few times and it may or may not change again.
Right now they are going with the idea it could go either way. But the plans aren’t booked right now with him as a key part of things. The impression we have is it is most likely he will be elsewhere soon which rules out WWE as well. He was beaten a few times on TV and the PPV because he may be gone and was expected to be gone when the shows were first laid out. But the door is open for him to stay. The TNA offer was always the best one money-wise, but there is the feeling that if you go to TNA, you fall off the radar. Plus, nobody knows the future of TNA.”
At one time it appeared that Ojinnaka was headed to the WWE and would start at the Performance Center in September, but Dave Meltzer reported in last week’s edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE backed off of signing the former football journeyman because of a 2009 domestic violence allegation that led to him being suspended from the NFL for one game.
Ojinnaka’s wife alleged that he threw her down the stairs during an argument over a female friend that he had friended on Facebook, and Ojinnaka accused her of trying to stab him with a pen. The two are now divorced.
Ojinnaka left the NFL in 2012 after a seven-year career with four different teams. After his time in football was over, the longtime wrestling fan decided to pursue a career in professional wresting and debuted in 2014 with Ring of Honor.
MLW also tweeted that Lucha Underground/AAA have not made an offer to Moose, but that TNA and ROH are still in play for his services.