Everyone is talking Ted DiBiase this, DiBiase that. There has even been talk about the Legacy member dethroning the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, but all that hype should go to the man actually backing it up—John Morrison.

Since his start in the hit wrestling reality show Tough Enough, John Morrison has been a winner. After coming out on top over thousands of other contestants, Morrison took his newly-won WWE contract to Ohio Valley Wrestling, where he could not be overshadowed by guys like Muhammad Hussan, Spirit Squad’s Johnny and Rob Conway.

OVW pushed all three to be the flagship of the company and the next WWE superstar. All three, for one reason or another, where pushed out of the WWE only a few years later.

As the saying goes, the cream will rise to the top, and eventually Morrison did. He managed to avoid the OVW World Heavyweight title, which recently has been about as good for your career as being named the new poster boy for a Madden cover.

Paul Burchill is stuck in mid-card at best. Jay Bradley moved to Smackdown! and was released, as was Idol Stevens. Chett the Jett also gone. Of course there have been recent exceptions, such as CM Punk, Evan Bourne and Cody Rhodes, but the list is much longer on the down side.

Not knowing quite what to do with Morrison, yet knowing something had to be done, they called up the fiery young talent and assigned him to be Eric Bischoff’s protégé. They even renamed him after Bischoff’s baby, Nitro.

Like his stint in developmental, they were unsure of what to do with the future star and eventually sent him back to OVW, where he truly came into his own. They paired him with indy circuit veteran Joey Mercury and from there his ego, and his talent, was brought to the light. The duo held the Southern tag titles for only a couple of months before being called up to the main brand.

Teaming with Mercury and his real-life girlfriend Melina, who he met during Tough Enough III, he became one half of the WWE World Tag champions in their very first match. And to top off an outstanding year, they were named PWI’s Best Tag Team of 2005.

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?