Forget DiBiase, Morrison Is the Future of the WWE

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.

Morrison and Mercury (MNM) became one of the most dominating tag teams in the WWE, until Mercury went out of action due to a wellness policy infraction. The WWE had no choice but to let Morrison shine. Just like his eventful debut on Raw, Morrison looked to equal the impact by laying the smackdown on then Raw World Heavyweight Champ, John Cena.

Although he didn’t get the win, it was the start of a storyline that got picked up by the national media as he introduced the wrestling world, and Cena, to Britney Spears’ ex, Kevin Federline. It also propelled him to the first of three IC title reigns.

John Morrison was said to be the friend to the stars—truth be told, it was he that was the star. Morrison was later stuck back into MNM when Mercury returned, but he shined too bright for the duo, which finally garnered a split.

This was the start of something special. It was the beginning of a singles superstar.

When the Benoit scandal went down, just a week after Morrison’s ECW debut, it was he that came in with the save. Morrison was crowned the new ECW Heavyweight Champion and we saw his full potential become realized.

With a cocky attitude that hadn’t been seen since the brash young days of HBK, Morrison ruled ECW. Dripping with charisma and filled with talent to match, he displayed classic matches with CM Punk all over the country until the WWE was once again in need of a Morrison bailout.

They had to split the tag champs and bitter rivals MVP and Matt Hardy to keep the juice flowing in a very long feud, so they called on John and his former rival, the Miz, to help them out.

Who knew that pairing with the Miz would lead to such a major success? Anyone who’d ever seen a John Morrison match, of course.

Everything he touches is gold.

The duo went on to be one of the WWE’s most successful tag teams, as they defended the belts on ECW and Smackdown!, and were never pinned to lose the straps.

But Morrison didn’t need gold to shine. He, along with the Miz, was the star of the WWE’s most popular online segment, The Dirt Sheet, and was arguably one of the top heels in the company as part of the most over-heeled tag team.

As great as Morrison and the Miz were, this too had to come to an end.

Morrison was drafted to Smackdown! and the WWE leaned on him to help the Miz gain some extra heat as a singles heel. In turn, Morrison was finally released from paying his dues via the tag team ranks.

John Morrison immediately began to steal the Friday night spotlight with a bout against the always-athletic Shelton Benjamin. And his work with then World Champion Jeff Hardy was equally entertaining. But it was CM Punk, not Morrison, who was given the torch to carry and it wasn’t long before Morrison started battling the new champ.

That is until the WWE was once again stuck in an awkward situation and needed help. IC champion Rey Mysterio was notified that he’d be suspended for 30 days for a wellness policy violation. Who did they call to pick up the ball once again?

Yup, John Morrison.

In what Shane Howard of HitTheRopes.com called a potential match of the year, Morrison walked away with the IC title for the third time.

How is it that Morrison is propelled to greatness and overlooked all in the same breath? He continues to put on stellar matches, making all of his opponents look like gold, all the while bailing out the WWE every time they get into a jam. Yet it is DiBiase who’s said to be the future of the company.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Yes, DiBiase could be a potential big time player—nobody’s disputing that—but what have we seen from him? He hasn’t stepped out of Randy Orton’s shadow long enough to shine. Morrison’s work speaks for itself.

It’s only a matter of time before Morrison is given the ball and becomes the flag bearer of the company. He’s bailed out the WWE, can carry any superstar through a five-star match, and has gone from drawing major heat to some major love from the WWE Universe.

His theme lyrics say it all:

Now listen, this ain't no make believe
Come on, open your eyes and see
Now get up, get up, and follow me
And I’m gonna show you what the future will be

And the future of the WWE is definitely John Morrison.

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