John Morrison, WWE/World Champion [TAKE 2]

[Lair of the Shadow MaDaBa]

Let's face it, folks--John Morrison is the future of the business. Living proof that Tough Enough was worth the time, money, and effort put into it, Morrison not only has "The Look" (I hate the concept of "The Look", but WWE's got a hard-on for it), but he's got an enormous amount of talent to back it up.

Compare this to, say, Chris Masters, who had "The Look", but no talent, yet they tried to push him to the WWE title picture.

Like Masters, Morrison originally sucked on the mike. However, unlike Masters, through endless practice and dedication, he's become one of the most exciting, charismatic, and ingeniously clever and funny people in the business today (and he didn't need a sombrero to do it). Sure, you could give the Miz half-credit...but I don't want to, therefore The Miz deserves no credit whatsoever by anybody for any reason simply because I just said he doesn't. So there.

My point is, Morrison's already been ECW World Champion and, even with a gimmick change, he worked. Some could argue that, if it wasn't for his Wellness violation, the WWE may never have taken the ECW title from him to CM Punk in September of 2007. Who once was considered a dreadful replacement in the fateful match that Benoit Voldemort no-showed (we didn't know why until the next day, tragically) has become the future face of the company, and maybe even the business.

What say you, Crapper Kingdom?

[Sana's got that SUPA LUV]

Not yet. I don't think it's the right time to give it to him when he's already so successful with the Miz. I think when next year comes around and the Miz and Morrison thing wears out, he'll be a top contender for either title.

[Mothman]

If Morrison's the future wrestling's screwed.

[Mozenrath]

It's really tough to say. I wouldn't of figured Punk would of made it to being champ like he did, but here we are.

Injuries, suspensions, angles, so much can change. I'll wait and see, but I predict big things.

[crnau87]

He's got along way to go before he becomes a WWE champion he's not even 7-8 years into the business yet to really deserve the shot. Huge Miz and Morrison Mark but i don't want this great tag team to breakup because vinces bodys told him to beef up and go for the gold.

[btrox85]

I voted that he wont get it for atleast 2 years. I think he has a lot of talent and is one of the main reasons I watch wrestling but there are just so many top guys in their prime right now and he isn't at that level yet. He certainly has the talent and physical abilities to get there but I'm really liking his run with The Miz and I think they should just let that run its course then give him a good run with the IC title for a year or 2 and if he puts on some great matches and shows he can carry the show then he should get the World Title. I would love to see him and Punk in the world title scene a few years down the road because they have already had some really good matches and I like them both. I see maybe around Wrestlemania 30 these guys should start to really shine if the WWE plays its cards right.

[Deleted]

Morrison will definitely be a world champ by 2010. He's not injury prone, he's extremely athletic, a talented ring worker, he sells as well as Michaels back in his early heel days, and he's a multiple-time tag champ. Not to mention that his appearance is really befitting for a main eventer and his mic work is markedly improving as time goes by. Probably his biggest obstacle is that of his monikers. While I think a name change like the one he got is good for a mid-carder, you don't want to have a world champ whose name is "John Morrison." That outright does not work, and he's probably going to have to change his name AGAIN if he wants to be in the main event (that is, either go back to Nitro or a different name altogether). He doesn't have to change his character or his attire (his attire especially...I hope he never changes that), but maybe a few changes to the former might help him.

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

I say he'll be World Champion this year.

He'll win it in the 2nd half of the year.

[Hiroshi Hase]

I don't see it personally, still seems like a midcarder to me. Can't really take him seriously.

[taylorandborland]

Jan 1, 2009 3:38:52 GMT -5 Lair of the Shadow MaDaBa said:

Let's face it, folks--John Morrison is the future of the business. Living proof that Tough Enough was worth the time, money, and effort put into it, Morrison not only has "The Look" (I hate the concept of "The Look", but WWE's got a hard-on for it), but he's got an enormous amount of talent to back it up.

I'm with you here. Hennigan's got loads of potential and he'll do something special in time.

Like Masters, Morrison originally sucked on the mike. However, unlike Masters, through endless practice and dedication, he's become one of the most exciting, charismatic, and ingeniously clever and funny people in the business today

Nah...he's still got a ways to go on the charisma side. He's not completely unover but Morrison's still yet to build a connection with the crowd. Something happened between his ECW title run and his teaming with The Miz that hurt his cred with the audience.

Case in point? Coming out to complete silence during his match with Finlay for the IC tourney. That's not a good look for someone who they plan on pushing.

That said, his ring work is so good at this point, if they turned him face tommorrow, he'd get over big-time based on his spots alone.

Sure, you could give the Miz half-credit...but I don't want to, therefore The Miz deserves no credit whatsoever by anybody for any reason simply because I just said he doesn't. So there.

Actually you're not wrong. Miz hasn't really done anything to elevate Morrison. Hennigan's mic work is pretty much the same as it was last year (i.e., idiosyncratic but passable) and the ring skills have been sharpened over years, can't credit Miz with that.

My point is, Morrison's already been ECW World Champion and, even with a gimmick change, he worked.

The gimmick change was necessary. Nobody would've taken Johnny Nitro as a credible contender, even if he was stepping his game up. Remember this was when the ECW title was still important.

What say you, Crapper Kingdom?

I doubt he'll be champ unless they REALLY tweak his character again. He's fallen into this rut of going around and cracking jokes with Miz and showing off his abs. If they could give him back that depth he had to his gimmick before his suspension, he'd have some more cred, at least enough for a quick run.

[Loki]

Hard to make a prediction...

Who would have thought Jeff Hardy would have become WHC when he was signed back? We all were taking bets on how soon he was going to get fired again, and even the most optimistic Hardy fans were going for a couple of IC title runs, nothing more.

Morrison could be World Championship material, but he still needs that last bit of "edge" to rise above the midcard.

[Gopher Mod]

Jan 1, 2009 3:57:00 GMT -5 Mothman said:

If Morrison's the future wrestling's screwed.

Well then, wrestling's going to be screwed..... with a higher sense of enlightenment. ;D

[Aaron E. Dangerously]

2010 for sure. If I had to speculate when he would when it if in 2009, I would say towards the tail end of the year, maybe at Survivor Series or Armageddon.

[Lair of the Shadow MaDaBa]

I'm so disappointed in myself. I had a "There will be a World Championship in the Palace of Wisdom" line begging to be written and I didn't capitalize.

[Deleted]

Only as a face.

The guy doesn't get much heel heat. People will go ahead and cheer his opponent, but they don't really boo him. That's not sufficient for a heel champ.

I'm surprised they haven't pulled the trigger and turned him face already actually. It's good that they haven't quite yet though.

[SAJ Forth]

I see him holding Big Gold in 2010.

[seamonsters]

Morrison has a long way to go to be a main eventer, let alone a champion.

Apart from a short run, his entire WWE career has been as a Tag Team wrestler. His short solo run as Johnny Nitro was a little uncomfortable, and didn't work for some reason, and his one singles fued in ECW was very good, but cut short because of a wellness violation.

He needs a good solid - uninterrupted - singles run before he'll even be considered. The other so-called tag specialists who became champions (Booker T, Bret Hart, Edge, Christian, Jeff Hardy, Shawn Michaels) all had to spend at least 2-3 years proving their worth on their own. Morrison may get a short cut because of the Tough Enough connections, but I'll be suprised if it's this side of 2011.

[steamboat1]

It all depends on if he is in the money in the bank match. If he is in that match, I cant see anybody but him winning regardless of who is in the match.

[TOK Hehe'd Around & Found Out]

I really like Morrison, but I can't see him winning a World Title until the latter end of 2010. He needs a lot of buildup, such as a high profile split from Miz, and then a strong run in the upper midcard. A win in MITB wouldn't hurt, either.

[Mac]

He has a long way to go. I think hes an interesting character with pretty good skills, and the WWE seems pretty content with hot shotting medicore talent to the world title picture and THEN worrying about them getting over by sheer force of will.