John Hennigan
Encyclopedia
John Randall Hennigan (born October 3, 1979) is an American professional wrestler
better known from his stint in WWE by his ring name
John Morrison, and previously Johnny Nitro.
Before being promoted to the main WWE roster, Hennigan entered Tough Enough III, a televised competition that would award the winner a WWE contract. He was one of the winners in the competition and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling
(OVW), to continue his wrestling training. While situated at OVW, he was placed in a tag team
, alongside Joey Mercury
, in which they won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
on one occasion. It was also during this time that he and Mercury, alongside their manager
Melina
, were known as the stable MNM
.
After signing with WWE, the group were called up to the SmackDown! roster and on their debut in April 2005, Hennigan and Mercury went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship
. After their third and final reign ended in May 2006, Hennigan and Melina turned on Mercury. Hennigan and Melina were let go from the SmackDown! roster and debuted on the Raw
brand. During his time with the brand, Hennigan competed in singles competition and won the WWE Intercontinental Championship
twice. In June 2007, Hennigan was drafted from Raw to the ECW brand. During that time, he won the vacant ECW World Championship
once, which was his first world championship. Hennigan formed a partnership with The Miz in late 2007, with the two capturing the WWE Tag Team Championship and the World Tag Team Championship on separate occasions. They split in April 2009, and Morrison returned to SmackDown, where he won the Intercontinental Championship for the third time in September 2009. In 2011, Hennigan and WWE parted ways.
studying both film and geology. Upon deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California
. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli
. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a WWE developmental contract and assigned to WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling
(OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in a Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance
in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat
in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade
and Mark Jindrak
in a tag team match
.
brand
under the ring name
"Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff
. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro
, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling
for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music
. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Hennigan lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene
, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
with his former partner Matt Cappotelli
. During the course of the feud Melina
was brought in to the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury
, forming the stable MNM
. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
once, before being called up to the main SmackDown! roster in April 2005.
In their first match for the brand, they won the WWE Tag Team Championship
from Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero
. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Mysterio and Guerrero and Hardcore Holly
and Charlie Haas
, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom (LOD) at The Great American Bash
. They won the titles again in a four-way match defeating The Mexicools
, William Regal and Paul Burchill
, and LOD, but lost them to Mysterio and Batista days before Armageddon
in December. Due to help from Mark Henry
, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on December 30 to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick
that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day
in May, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long
, "fire" them.
The next week Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion
John Cena
. Hennigan was immediately placed in the WWE Intercontinental Championship
picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance
in June defeating champion Shelton Benjamin
in a triple threat match also involving Carlito
. Hennigan held the belt for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy
on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on November 6 when the General Manager for the night, Eric Bischoff, restarted a match that Nitro lost by disqualification. The next week, however, Hardy won the title back.
In addition, Hennigan was featured in a sporadic feud with John Cena throughout 2006. The feud was unique in that it also involved non-wrestler Kevin Federline
, who appeared on the October 16 episode of Raw. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga
.
In November, MNM reunited on an episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys
(Jeff and Matt Hardy
) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and the Hardys feuded across the brands
throughout December, with the feud intensifying after Mercury was legitimately injured at Armageddon
in a four-way ladder match
. Mercury wrestled Matt on SmackDown!, while Nitro continued to feud with Jeff for the Intercontinental Championship on Raw, including a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution
. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble
, and again at No Way Out
in February which ended the feud. MNM continued on and off as a team until Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
Without Mercury, Nitro's association with Melina was played down as she began competing for the WWE Women's Championship
. Nitro was paired up with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE Draft, during which Nitro was sent to the ECW brand and Dykstra to SmackDown!.
Hennigan made his ECW debut on June 19 with a win over Nunzio
, and the next week, at Vengeance: Night of Champions
, took the vacant ECW World Championship
in a match against CM Punk
, when he was called upon to replace the missing Chris Benoit
.
A few weeks after getting the title, Nitro's name was changed to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing, modeled after Jim Morrison
, to whom Hennigan bears a resemblance. After defeating CM Punk again at The Great American Bash
, he began taking part in a "15 Minutes of Fame" segment on the weekly ECW on Sci Fi television program, where if a wrestler could either defeat him or last 15 minutes without being defeated, they would earn a title shot. The first wrestler to do so was CM Punk, which set up another match between the two at SummerSlam
. Morrison won by illegally using the ring ropes for leverage. The next week, Punk again became the number one contender; this time, however, Punk won the championship. Hennigan was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
Though rivals, Morrison and The Miz
were placed in an ad hoc team on the November 16 episode of SmackDown!, and were booked to take the WWE Tag Team Championship
from the imploding team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter. At Survivor Series
, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship
. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Miz and Morrison's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. In February 2008, Morrison and The Miz were given a streaming
segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and The Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and he credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. The team had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
at The Great American Bash
in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus
and Finlay
and Hornswoggle. Neither The Miz nor Morrison were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme
(Shad Gaspard and JTG) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday
. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and The Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on the December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and The Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston
at a Raw live event
. Morrison and the Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns
(Carlito
and Primo
), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team champions which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match at WrestleMania XXV
where both titles were on the line, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. As part of the 2009 WWE Draft
on April 13, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and, as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
On April 15, 2009, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft. In Morrison's first match back for the brand, on April 17, he defeated R-Truth
. Morrison would then feud with Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, emerging victorious against various singles and tag matches against them. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, after defeating Benjamin, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho
after Jericho slapped him, thus turning into a face
(fan favorite character). At Judgment Day
, Morrison defeated Benjamin in a rematch. On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship
match against champion Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title. On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then feuded with Dolph Ziggler, and defeated Ziggler at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view to retain his Intercontinental Championship. On "SmackDown", Morrison as Intercontinental Champion also managed four successful Intercontinental Championship defenses against Ziggler and another successful defense over Eric Escobar. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to Drew McIntyre.
In 2010, Morrison formed a friendship with R-Truth. He won an Elimination Chamber pay-per-view qualifying match and participated but lost and failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship
. Morrison and Truth defeated Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty
to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
match at WrestleMania XXVI
against ShoMiz (The Big Show and The Miz). At the event, they failed to win the championship.
, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood
in the second season of WWE NXT
. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT.
Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam
in which he and six teammates were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus
. At Survivor Series
, Morrison beat Sheamus. In November 2010, Morrison entered the 2010 edition
of the King of the Ring
tournament. He defeated Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio en route to the final where he lost to Sheamus. He continued to feud with Sheamus, and defeated him in a WWE Championship
number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs
pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Raw Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber
pay-per-view event but was eliminated by CM Punk
. At WrestleMania XXVII
, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus
and Jersey Shore
guest star Snooki
in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler, Michelle McCool
and Layla
.
Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship
on the April 11 episode of Raw, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take R-Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules
against John Cena and WWE Champion, the Miz. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new joint number one contender. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Hennigan then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck.
Morrison initially returned on the June 13 edition of Raw, but R-Truth put him out of action again by attacking him before their scheduled match. Morrison returned again on the July 25 edition of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam
, Morrison competed in a six man tag team match, teaming with Kofi Kingston
and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison would defeat R-Truth in a Falls Count Anywhere match. At Night of Champions
, Morrison competed in a Fatal-4-Way match for the WWE United States Championship
, also involving Alex Riley
, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler, in which Ziggler successfully retained his title.Morrison then challenged Rhodes for the Intercontinental championship twice, first on the September 26 edition of Raw in a 10 man battle royal and later at the Hell in a Cell
pay per-view but failed to win on both occasions. Following this he then went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 edition of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory for three months, over United States champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match, ending the losing streak. He faced Dolph Ziggler for the WWE United States Championship
at WWE Survivor Series 2011 but Morrison lost by pin fall.
On Morrison's last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 edition of Raw, Morrison was scheduled to face his former tag team partner the Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match. The Miz won the match by delivering his Skull-Crushing Finale maneuver on the steel stage. This was used as an injury angle to write off Morrison, as Morrison was stretchered away after the match. The next day, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract.
His WWE.com profile was moved from the active WWE roster list to the alumni list on November 30, 2011.
, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD
, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy
on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness
in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot.
Hennigan has also made several appearances on Zack Ryder
's YouTube
show, Z! True Long Island Story.
, where he attended high school. He graduated from the University of California, Davis
in 2002. Hennigan cites Shawn Michaels
, Randy Savage
, and Curt Hennig
as his favorite wrestlers.
Hennigan was in a long-term relationship with Melina Perez
, his former on screen
manager
.The pair met during auditions for Tough Enough III, although she did not make the show. Hennigan and Perez later began dating again. Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers Randy Orton
and Matt Cappotelli
.
Articles posted by Sports Illustrated
, the New York Daily News, and The Washington Post
during the weekend of August 30, 2007, named Hennigan as one of a number of WWE superstars to have purchased pharmaceuticals from an online pharmacy
, a violation of the Talent Wellness program. Specifically, Hennigan received somatropin
, anastrozole
, testosterone
, stanozolol
, and chorionic gonadotropin
between June 2006 and February 2007, which is after the "no drugs from online sources" rule was instituted. As a result of the infraction, Hennigan was suspended for thirty days.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
better known from his stint in WWE by his ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
John Morrison, and previously Johnny Nitro.
Before being promoted to the main WWE roster, Hennigan entered Tough Enough III, a televised competition that would award the winner a WWE contract. He was one of the winners in the competition and assigned to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW is run by owner Danny Davis and was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1997 until 2000...
(OVW), to continue his wrestling training. While situated at OVW, he was placed in a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
, alongside Joey Mercury
Adam Birch
Adam Birch is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure with World Wrestling Entertainment , and training in WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, as Joey Mercury...
, in which they won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
The OVW Southern Tag Team Championship is the tag team titles of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Created in 1997, the first champions were Nick Dinsmore and Flash Flanagan. As of 2011, the current champions are Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver, known as The Elite in their fourth reign...
on one occasion. It was also during this time that he and Mercury, alongside their manager
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
Melina
Melina Perez
Melina Nava Perez is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Women Superstars Uncensored. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring mononym Melina....
, were known as the stable MNM
MNM
MNM was a villainous professional wrestling stable in World Wrestling Entertainment and Ohio Valley Wrestling that consisted of Joey Mercury , Johnny Nitro, and their manager Melina Perez....
.
After signing with WWE, the group were called up to the SmackDown! roster and on their debut in April 2005, Hennigan and Mercury went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship
WWE Tag Team Championship
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...
. After their third and final reign ended in May 2006, Hennigan and Melina turned on Mercury. Hennigan and Melina were let go from the SmackDown! roster and debuted on the Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
brand. During his time with the brand, Hennigan competed in singles competition and won the WWE Intercontinental Championship
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
twice. In June 2007, Hennigan was drafted from Raw to the ECW brand. During that time, he won the vacant ECW World Championship
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
The Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...
once, which was his first world championship. Hennigan formed a partnership with The Miz in late 2007, with the two capturing the WWE Tag Team Championship and the World Tag Team Championship on separate occasions. They split in April 2009, and Morrison returned to SmackDown, where he won the Intercontinental Championship for the third time in September 2009. In 2011, Hennigan and WWE parted ways.
Tough Enough
Before getting into professional wrestling, Hennigan attended the University of California at DavisUniversity of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
studying both film and geology. Upon deciding that he did not want to pursue either path, Hennigan began his professional wrestling career training at the Supreme Pro Wrestling school in Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. After failing his audition for Tough Enough 2, he was accepted as a cast member for Tough Enough III in 2002, eventually becoming the co-winner with Matt Cappotelli
Matt Cappotelli
Matthew Lee "Matt" Cappotelli is an American professional wrestler, last working in Ohio Valley Wrestling, which was the primary developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment until February 7, 2008...
. For winning, Hennigan was awarded a WWE developmental contract and assigned to WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW is run by owner Danny Davis and was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1997 until 2000...
(OVW), to continue his training. Hennigan competed in a Bar Room Brawl match at Vengeance
Vengeance (2003)
Vengeance was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on July 27, 2003 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. It was the third annual Vengeance event and starred wrestlers from the SmackDown brand.Eight professional wrestling...
in July 2003. Hennigan and Cappotelli made an appearance on an episode of Heat
WWE HEAT
WWE Heat was a professional wrestling television program produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
in January 2004, losing to Garrison Cade
Lance Cade
Lance Kurtis McNaught was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time in World Wrestling Entertainment where he performed under the ring names Garrison Cade and Lance Cade....
and Mark Jindrak
Mark Jindrak
Mark Robert Jindrak is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...
in a tag team match
Professional wrestling tag team match types
Much like singles matches, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace...
.
Bischoff's assistant and apprentice (2004)
On March 1, 2004 Hennigan debuted on the RawWWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
brand
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
under the ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
"Johnny Blaze". His gimmick was that he was the apprentice and assistant of the Raw General Manager, Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
. The next week his name was changed to "Johnny Spade", and three weeks after that it was changed to "Johnny Nitro". The Nitro name, which finally stuck, was a reference to WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro
WCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
, the flagship show of World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
for which Bischoff had previously worked. To drive the point home, he began using the Nitro theme as his ring entrance music
Music in professional wrestling
Music in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
. Nitro acted as Bischoff's apprentice and assistant until June, when he was sent back to OVW. To explain his departure, Hennigan lost a match on the June 7 episode of Raw against Eugene
Nick Dinsmore
Nicholas "Nick" Dinsmore , better known by his ring names Eugene and U-Gene, is an American professional wrestler...
, which carried the stipulation that upon his loss, he also lost his job.
MNM and Intercontinental Champion (2004–2007)
Upon his return to OVW, Hennigan was put into a feudFeud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
with his former partner Matt Cappotelli
Matt Cappotelli
Matthew Lee "Matt" Cappotelli is an American professional wrestler, last working in Ohio Valley Wrestling, which was the primary developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment until February 7, 2008...
. During the course of the feud Melina
Melina Perez
Melina Nava Perez is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Women Superstars Uncensored. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring mononym Melina....
was brought in to the company as Nitro's ex-girlfriend and an ally of Cappotelli, only to turn on him and side with Nitro. Not long after, Nitro and Melina were joined by Joey Mercury
Adam Birch
Adam Birch is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure with World Wrestling Entertainment , and training in WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, as Joey Mercury...
, forming the stable MNM
MNM
MNM was a villainous professional wrestling stable in World Wrestling Entertainment and Ohio Valley Wrestling that consisted of Joey Mercury , Johnny Nitro, and their manager Melina Perez....
. MNM wrestled in OVW for around a year, holding the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
The OVW Southern Tag Team Championship is the tag team titles of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Created in 1997, the first champions were Nick Dinsmore and Flash Flanagan. As of 2011, the current champions are Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver, known as The Elite in their fourth reign...
once, before being called up to the main SmackDown! roster in April 2005.
WWE Tag Team Championship
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...
from Rey Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero
Eddie Guerrero
Eduardo Gory "Eddie" Guerrero was a Mexican-American professional wrestler born into the Guerrero wrestling family. He wrestled in Mexico and Japan for several major professional wrestling promotions...
. MNM held the titles for three months, having successful titles defenses against the teams of Mysterio and Guerrero and Hardcore Holly
Bob Holly
Robert "Bob" Howard better known by his ring name Bob "Hardcore" Holly, is a American professional wrestler. He is best known for his 15-year stint with World Wrestling Entertainment ....
and Charlie Haas
Charlie Haas
Charles "Charlie" Doyle Haas II is an American professional wrestler and former collegiate amateur wrestler. He competes on the independent circuit, and is signed to Ring of Honor , where he is one-half of the reigning ROH World Tag Team Champions with Shelton Benjamin...
, before dropping them to the Legion of Doom (LOD) at The Great American Bash
The Great American Bash (2005)
The Great American Bash was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment .It was the second annual event and took place on July 24, 2005, at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York...
. They won the titles again in a four-way match defeating The Mexicools
The Mexicools
The Mexicools were a professional wrestling stable and tag team, that were signed to World Wrestling Entertainment's SmackDown! brand. The team consisted of three well-known Mexican wrestlers of the late 1990s: Super Crazy, Psicosis and Juventud...
, William Regal and Paul Burchill
Paul Burchill
Paul Birchill , better known by his ring name Paul Burchill, is an English professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment , where he signed after training and debuting for the Frontier Wrestling Alliance in his home country.-Frontier Wrestling Alliance...
, and LOD, but lost them to Mysterio and Batista days before Armageddon
Armageddon (2005)
Armageddon was the sixth Armageddon professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on December 18, 2005 at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island and was a SmackDown! brand-exclusive event.The main event was a Hell in a Cell...
in December. Due to help from Mark Henry
Mark Henry
Mark Jerrold Henry is an American professional wrestler signed with WWE, where he performs on its SmackDown brand as the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. He is a 1992 Olympian, and winner of the 2002 Arnold Strongman Classic...
, MNM defeated Mysterio and Batista in a rematch on December 30 to win the championship for the third time. They began a rivalry with the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick
Paul London and Brian Kendrick
Paul London and Brian Kendrick are a professional wrestling tag team best known for their time together in World Wrestling Entertainment . The team never had an official team name, but were just referred to as "the tag team of London and Kendrick." In 2006 London and Kendrick put the tag team name...
that lasted over three months, until they dropped the championship to London and Kendrick at Judgment Day
Judgment Day (2006)
Judgment Day was the eighth annual Judgment Day professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
in May, with the storyline leading to Nitro and Melina suddenly turning on Mercury after the match, breaking up the group. Later that night, Melina and Nitro were booked off the SmackDown! brand by having the General Manager, Theodore Long
Theodore Long
Theodore R. "Teddy" Long is an American professional wrestling manager and former referee who currently works for WWE on its SmackDown brand as its General Manager.-National Wrestling Alliance / World Championship Wrestling:...
, "fire" them.
The next week Nitro, along with Melina, debuted on the Raw brand in a loss to WWE Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
. Hennigan was immediately placed in the WWE Intercontinental Championship
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
picture, beginning his first reign at Vengeance
Vengeance (2006)
Vengeance was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on June 25, 2006 at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the sixth annual Vengeance event. Eight professional wrestling matches were featured on the...
in June defeating champion Shelton Benjamin
Shelton Benjamin
Shelton James Benjamin is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment. Benjamin has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling in high school and at the University of Minnesota. In addition, Benjamin has acted...
in a triple threat match also involving Carlito
Carly Colon
Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colón, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Entertainment , but was released from his contract on May 21, 2010. In his native Puerto Rico, he is known as both...
. Hennigan held the belt for four months, feuding with several challengers before losing it to Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Jeffrey Nero "Jeff" Hardy is an American professional wrestler, who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is a former two–time TNA World Heavyweight Champion...
on the October 2 episode of Raw. Nitro recaptured the Intercontinental Championship from Hardy on November 6 when the General Manager for the night, Eric Bischoff, restarted a match that Nitro lost by disqualification. The next week, however, Hardy won the title back.
In addition, Hennigan was featured in a sporadic feud with John Cena throughout 2006. The feud was unique in that it also involved non-wrestler Kevin Federline
Kevin Federline
Kevin Earl Federline is an American dancer, rapper, fashion model, and actor. Previously engaged to actress Shar Jackson, Federline is best known for his two-year marriage to pop singer Britney Spears...
, who appeared on the October 16 episode of Raw. Federline was then, in storyline, trained by Nitro for a match with Cena, which he won after interference from Umaga
Eddie Fatu
Edward Smith "Eki" Fatu was a Samoan-American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Umaga...
.
In November, MNM reunited on an episode of Raw to accept an open challenge from The Hardys
Hardy Boyz
The Hardy Boyz are a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of real-life brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy...
(Jeff and Matt Hardy
Matt Hardy
Matthew Moore "Matt" Hardy is a semi-retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stints in World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
) at December to Dismember, a match that they lost. MNM and the Hardys feuded across the brands
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
throughout December, with the feud intensifying after Mercury was legitimately injured at Armageddon
Armageddon (2006)
Armageddon was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on December 17, 2006 at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. The event starred wrestlers from the SmackDown! brand.The main event was a tag team match, in which the team...
in a four-way ladder match
Ladder match
A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling that is most commonly used to describe a match where an item is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item...
. Mercury wrestled Matt on SmackDown!, while Nitro continued to feud with Jeff for the Intercontinental Championship on Raw, including a steel cage match at New Year's Revolution
New Year's Revolution (2007)
New Year's Revolution was the third annual and final New Year's Revolution professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on January 7, 2007 at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri and featured wrestlers and other talent from WWE's Raw brand...
. MNM lost to The Hardys at the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (2007)
Royal Rumble was the twentieth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on January 28, 2007 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown! and ECW brands. This marked the first...
, and again at No Way Out
No Way Out (2007)
No Way Out was the ninth annual No Way Out pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on February 18, 2007 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and was the final branded pay-per-view before all pay-per-view events became tri-branded.The main event was...
in February which ended the feud. MNM continued on and off as a team until Mercury was released from WWE in March 2007.
Without Mercury, Nitro's association with Melina was played down as she began competing for the WWE Women's Championship
WWE Women's Championship
The WWE Women's Championship was a professional wrestling championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment promotion. Created in 1956, it was the oldest active professional wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment history until its retirement in 2010 as a result from a unification...
. Nitro was paired up with Kenny Dykstra, until the 2007 WWE Draft, during which Nitro was sent to the ECW brand and Dykstra to SmackDown!.
ECW World Champion; teaming with the Miz (2007–2009)
James Maritato
James Maritato is an American professional wrestler, of Italian origin, currently working on the independent circuit. He is best known for his work in World Wrestling Entertainment and Extreme Championship Wrestling under the ring names Little Guido Maritato and Nunzio.-Starting out:While...
, and the next week, at Vengeance: Night of Champions
Vengeance: Night of Champions
Vengeance: Night of Champions was the seventh annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment within its Vengeance chronology, and the last to be promoted with the Vengeance name until 2011. It featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The...
, took the vacant ECW World Championship
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
The Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...
in a match against CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
, when he was called upon to replace the missing Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
.
A few weeks after getting the title, Nitro's name was changed to John Morrison and his gimmick was tweaked to be even more conceited and self-aggrandizing, modeled after Jim Morrison
Jim Morrison
James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American musician, singer, and poet, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band The Doors...
, to whom Hennigan bears a resemblance. After defeating CM Punk again at The Great American Bash
The Great American Bash (2007)
The Great American Bash was the fourth annual Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
, he began taking part in a "15 Minutes of Fame" segment on the weekly ECW on Sci Fi television program, where if a wrestler could either defeat him or last 15 minutes without being defeated, they would earn a title shot. The first wrestler to do so was CM Punk, which set up another match between the two at SummerSlam
SummerSlam (2007)
SummerSlam was the twentieth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on August 26, 2007 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and featured talent from each of WWE's three brands: Raw,...
. Morrison won by illegally using the ring ropes for leverage. The next week, Punk again became the number one contender; this time, however, Punk won the championship. Hennigan was then suspended for thirty days for violating WWE's Wellness Program, renewing his feud with Punk upon his return, as well as competing against The Miz for the number one contendership to the title.
John Morrison and The Miz
John Morrison and The Miz were a professional wrestling tag team and former WWE Tough Enough contestants. The team worked for World Wrestling Entertainment on its ECW brand, but also appeared on the SmackDown and Raw brands due to ECW's talent exchanges with those brands during their tenure as a team...
were placed in an ad hoc team on the November 16 episode of SmackDown!, and were booked to take the WWE Tag Team Championship
WWE Tag Team Championship
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...
from the imploding team of Matt Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter. At Survivor Series
Survivor Series (2007)
Survivor Series was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on November 18, 2007 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida...
, Morrison and The Miz were both defeated by CM Punk in a triple threat match for the ECW Championship
ECW World Heavyweight Championship
The Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...
. After the defeat, the rivalry aspect of Miz and Morrison's relationship faded, as they were now portrayed as trusting friends. In February 2008, Morrison and The Miz were given a streaming
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and The Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and he credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show. The team had many successful title defenses over the next few months, before dropping the titles to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder
Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder were a American professional wrestling tag team who appeared on the independent circuit and WWE under a variety of evolving names....
at The Great American Bash
The Great American Bash (2008)
The Great American Bash was the fifth annual Great American Bash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment...
in a fatal four-way match which also featured Jesse and Festus
Jesse and Festus
Jesse and Festus, also once known as The Dalton Boys, were an American professional wrestling tag team made up of Ray Gordy and Drew Hankinson . As of April 22, 2010, Ray Gordy was released by World Wrestling Entertainment...
and Finlay
Dave Finlay
David John "Fit" Finlay Jr. is a Northern Irish professional wrestler and road agent. He is perhaps best known for his time in World Championship Wrestling and WWE as an active wrestler and later as a road agent...
and Hornswoggle. Neither The Miz nor Morrison were pinned, as Hawkins pinned Jesse to win the titles.
Afterwards, they started a feud with Cryme Tyme
Cryme Tyme
For animated series named Crime Time, visit Crime TimeCryme Tyme was a professional wrestling tag team that was signed to WWE.The team consisted of JTG and Shad , an over-the-top parody of stereotypical street thugs.-Early lives:Of Haitian and...
(Shad Gaspard and JTG) through each team's Internet show, which then transitioned to matches on Raw and at Cyber Sunday
Cyber Sunday (2008)
Cyber Sunday was the fifth and final Cyber Sunday professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on October 26, 2008 at the US Airways Center in Phoenix, Arizona. It featured wrestlers from the Raw, ECW, and SmackDown brands...
. After winning the Slammy Award for Best WWE.com exclusive earlier in the day, Morrison and The Miz won the "Tag Team of the Year" Slammy Award on the December 8, 2008 episode of Raw. On December 13, Morrison and The Miz won the World Tag Team Championship from CM Punk and Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah , is a Ghanaian American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kofi Kingston. He is currently signed to WWE and works on its Raw brand where he is one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Evan Bourne as Air Boom...
at a Raw live event
House show
A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and...
. Morrison and the Miz engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns
The Colóns
The Colóns were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of real-life brothers, Carlito and Primo. The team worked for World Wrestling Entertainment...
(Carlito
Carly Colon
Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colón, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Entertainment , but was released from his contract on May 21, 2010. In his native Puerto Rico, he is known as both...
and Primo
Eddie Colon
Edwin "Eddie" Carlos Colón is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is currently signed by WWE wrestling on its Raw brand as Primo. He is the son of Carlos Colón, Sr. and the younger brother of wrestlers Stacy and Carly Colón, better known as Carlito in WWE...
), who were the reigning WWE Tag Team champions which resulted in both teams defending their respective championships successfully in separate matches. Their feud culminated in a tag team lumberjack match at WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV
WrestleMania XXV was the twenty-fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on April 5, 2009 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas...
where both titles were on the line, but it was The Colóns who would unify the championships with a win. As part of the 2009 WWE Draft
2009 WWE Draft
The 2009 World Wrestling Entertainment Draft was the seventh Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The Draft took place over two days: the first day was televised live for three hours on April 13; the second part, the "Supplemental Draft", was held on April 15...
on April 13, The Miz was drafted to the Raw brand to split up the team, and, as a result, Miz attacked Morrison.
SmackDown and Intercontinental Champion (2009–2010)
Ron Killings
Ronald Aaron "Ron" Killings is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE working on its Raw brand. Since working for the company, he has been a one time United States Champion under the ring name R-Truth and a two time Hardcore Champion under the ring name K-Kwik...
. Morrison would then feud with Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, emerging victorious against various singles and tag matches against them. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, after defeating Benjamin, Morrison engaged in a backstage fight with Chris Jericho
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine , better known by his ring name Chris Jericho, is an inactive Canadian-American professional wrestler, musician, songwriter, radio personality, television host, actor, author, and dancer...
after Jericho slapped him, thus turning into a face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
(fan favorite character). At Judgment Day
Judgment Day (2009)
Judgment Day , a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , took place on May 17, 2009 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was the eleventh and final show under the Judgment Day name and the tenth show held annually; it...
, Morrison defeated Benjamin in a rematch. On the July 31 episode of SmackDown, Morrison had his first World Heavyweight Championship
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand...
match against champion Jeff Hardy, but failed to win the title. On the September 4 episode of SmackDown, Morrison defeated Rey Mysterio to win his third Intercontinental Championship. Morrison then feuded with Dolph Ziggler, and defeated Ziggler at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view to retain his Intercontinental Championship. On "SmackDown", Morrison as Intercontinental Champion also managed four successful Intercontinental Championship defenses against Ziggler and another successful defense over Eric Escobar. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, Morrison lost the Intercontinental Championship to Drew McIntyre.
In 2010, Morrison formed a friendship with R-Truth. He won an Elimination Chamber pay-per-view qualifying match and participated but lost and failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship
World Heavyweight Championship (WWE)
The World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the SmackDown brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the WWE Championship of the Raw brand...
. Morrison and Truth defeated Cryme Tyme and The Hart Dynasty
The Hart Dynasty
The Hart Dynasty was a professional wrestling stable that appeared in World Wrestling Entertainment. The unit consisted of the tag team of Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith, and WWE Diva Natalya...
to earn a Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
WWE Tag Team Championship
The WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...
match at WrestleMania XXVI
WrestleMania XXVI
WrestleMania XXVI was the twenty-sixth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on March 28, 2010 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. This was the fourth WrestleMania to...
against ShoMiz (The Big Show and The Miz). At the event, they failed to win the championship.
Raw and departure (2010–2011)
On April 26, Morrison was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2010 WWE Draft2010 WWE Draft
The 2010 World Wrestling Entertainment Draft was the eighth Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE. The Draft took place over two days: the first day was televised live for three hours on April 26, and the second part, the "Supplemental Draft", was held on April 27...
, and lost his first match back for the brand later that night to Jack Swagger. Later that week, in his final match on SmackDown, he lost to Cody Rhodes. On June 1, Morrison announced that he would be mentoring Eli Cottonwood
Kipp Christianson
Kipp Christianson is an American professional wrestler and former basketball player. He is currently signed to WWE, where he works in their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling and was part of the second season of NXT under his ring name Eli Cottonwood...
in the second season of WWE NXT
WWE NXT
WWE NXT is a sports entertainment television program produced by WWE that debuted on February 23, 2010. Described as a hybrid between reality television and WWE's scripted live event shows, the premise of the show follows select talent contracted to WWE's developmental territory Florida...
. Cottonwood, however, was the second person eliminated from the competition, and was eliminated on the July 27 episode of NXT.
Morrison then went on to participate in the main event of SummerSlam
SummerSlam (2010)
SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , that took place on August 15, 2010 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for the second consecutive year...
in which he and six teammates were victorious in a seven-on-seven elimination tag team match against The Nexus
Nexus (professional wrestling)
The Nexus was a villainous professional wrestling stable in the professional wrestling promotion, WWE, that competed on its Raw brand. The group originally consisted of all eight rookies of NXT season one and shifted their roster several times throughout their existence...
. At Survivor Series
Survivor Series (2010)
Survivor Series was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , that took place on November 21, 2010 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida...
, Morrison beat Sheamus. In November 2010, Morrison entered the 2010 edition
King of the Ring (2010)
King of the Ring was a special edition of World Wrestling Entertainment's television program, Raw. The episode was held on November 29, 2010 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
of the King of the Ring
King of the Ring
King of the Ring is a professional wrestling single-elimination tournament held by WWE. The tournament was held annually from 1985 to 2002, with the exception of 1990 and 1992, and from 1993 to 2002 the tournament was produced as a pay-per-view event....
tournament. He defeated Tyson Kidd, Cody Rhodes, and Alberto Del Rio en route to the final where he lost to Sheamus. He continued to feud with Sheamus, and defeated him in a WWE Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
number one contender's ladder match at the Tables, Ladders & Chairs
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs (2010)
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on December 19, 2010 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. It was the second annual TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event...
pay-per-view on December 19. Morrison received his WWE Championship match on the January 3, 2011 episode of Raw, but lost to reigning champion The Miz in a falls count anywhere match. On February 20, Morrison participated in the Raw Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber
Elimination Chamber (2011)
Elimination Chamber was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on February 20, 2011 at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California...
pay-per-view event but was eliminated by CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
. At WrestleMania XXVII
WrestleMania XXVII
WrestleMania XXVII was the twenty-seventh annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , held on April 3, 2011 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia...
, Morrison teamed with Trish Stratus
Trish Stratus
Patricia Anne Stratigias , better known by her ring name Trish Stratus, is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and television personality currently signed with WWE. She is also a former fitness model....
and Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore (TV series)
Jersey Shore is an American reality television series that premiered on MTV on December 3, 2009 in the United States. The series follows the lives of eight housemates spending their summer at the Jersey Shore in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Season 2 followed the cast escaping the cold northeast...
guest star Snooki
Nicole Polizzi
Nicole Elizabeth "Snooki" Polizzi is an American reality television personality who appeared on the MTV reality show Jersey Shore starting in 2009.- Early life :Polizzi was born in Santiago, Chile...
in a mixed tag match to defeat the team of Dolph Ziggler, Michelle McCool
Michelle McCool
Michelle Leigh McCool , is a retired American professional wrestler who is best known for her time in WWE.McCool originally worked as a middle school teacher in Palatka, Florida. She joined WWE in 2004 after participating in the 2004 WWE Diva Search. In her initial on-screen role, she acted...
and Layla
Layla El
Layla El is an English dancer, model and professional wrestler of Moroccan and Spanish descent. She is employed by WWE as a WWE Diva and appears on the SmackDown brand as Layla...
.
Morrison participated in a five-man gauntlet match for the number one contender's spot for the WWE Championship
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
on the April 11 episode of Raw, but was eliminated by R-Truth. The next week on Raw, Morrison challenged R-Truth to a match later on in the night, with the stipulation that if Morrison won, he would take R-Truth's place in the steel cage match at Extreme Rules
Extreme Rules (2011)
Extreme Rules was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE, which took place on May 1, 2011 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Florida...
against John Cena and WWE Champion, the Miz. Truth accepted, and lost the match, making Morrison the new joint number one contender. At Extreme Rules, R-Truth interfered in the match, attacking Morrison and preventing him from winning the match. The next night on Raw, Morrison was attacked by Truth again, prior to a scheduled match between the two which did not happen as a result. Hennigan then underwent surgery to correct a legitimately pinched nerve in his neck.
Morrison initially returned on the June 13 edition of Raw, but R-Truth put him out of action again by attacking him before their scheduled match. Morrison returned again on the July 25 edition of Raw, attacking R-Truth. At SummerSlam
SummerSlam (2011)
SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on August 14, 2011. For the third consecutive year, SummerSlam was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, and it was the 24th annual SummerSlam event...
, Morrison competed in a six man tag team match, teaming with Kofi Kingston
Kofi Kingston
Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah , is a Ghanaian American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Kofi Kingston. He is currently signed to WWE and works on its Raw brand where he is one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions with Evan Bourne as Air Boom...
and Rey Mysterio to defeat R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio and The Miz. The following night on Raw, Morrison would defeat R-Truth in a Falls Count Anywhere match. At Night of Champions
Night of Champions (2011)
Night of Champions was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on September 18, 2011 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York. It was the 4th annual WWE Night of Champions event and the 11th in the WWE Vengeance overall timeline. Seven matches took...
, Morrison competed in a Fatal-4-Way match for the WWE United States Championship
WWE United States Championship
The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling championship, and is currently the secondary championship of the Raw brand....
, also involving Alex Riley
Alex Riley
Alex Riley is a TV and radio presenter.Born and brought up in Sheffield, Riley started performing with the city's Crucible Youth Theatre during which time he originated, and appeared in, dozens of sketches and devised pieces, as well as appearing in a number of plays and farces at the Library...
, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler, in which Ziggler successfully retained his title.Morrison then challenged Rhodes for the Intercontinental championship twice, first on the September 26 edition of Raw in a 10 man battle royal and later at the Hell in a Cell
Hell in a Cell (2011)
Hell in a Cell was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on October 2, 2011 at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was the third annual Hell in a Cell event. Like the 2009 and 2010 events, this event also featured the Hell in a Cell match...
pay per-view but failed to win on both occasions. Following this he then went on a losing streak, lasting a number of weeks. On the November 7 edition of Raw, Morrison picked up his first victory for three months, over United States champion Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match, ending the losing streak. He faced Dolph Ziggler for the WWE United States Championship
WWE United States Championship
The WWE United States Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It was originally a National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling championship, and is currently the secondary championship of the Raw brand....
at WWE Survivor Series 2011 but Morrison lost by pin fall.
On Morrison's last advertised WWE appearance on the November 28 edition of Raw, Morrison was scheduled to face his former tag team partner the Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere match. The Miz won the match by delivering his Skull-Crushing Finale maneuver on the steel stage. This was used as an injury angle to write off Morrison, as Morrison was stretchered away after the match. The next day, WWE acknowledged the end of Morrison's contract.
His WWE.com profile was moved from the active WWE roster list to the alumni list on November 30, 2011.
Other media
In 2009, Hennigan appeared on two episodes of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? is a television game show format based on asking grade-school level questions to adults, hosted by Jeff Foxworthy...
, which were both aired on September 29. Hennigan is the subject of a WWE DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, called John Morrison – Rock Star, which was released on February 16, 2010. The DVD covers his career from his name change to John Morrison up until his Intercontinental Championship win in September 2009. He appeared on an episode of Destroy Build Destroy
Destroy Build Destroy
Destroy Build Destroy was a live action program on Cartoon Network. It focuses on an unusual type of a game show, where two teams destroy a random object and build vehicles out of them, and then destroy the losers' creation...
on March 3, 2010. Hennigan was on the cover of Muscle & Fitness
Muscle & Fitness
Muscle & Fitness is an American bodybuilding magazine founded by Joe Weider, but now published by American Media, Inc.-History:Muscle & Fitness has a more mainstream focus than its companion publication, Flex...
in June 2010, with the issue also featuring an interview and photo shoot.
Hennigan has also made several appearances on Zack Ryder
Zack Ryder
Matthew Joseph Cardona, Jr. better known by his ring name Zack Ryder, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE and works on the Raw brand as a wrestler and the SmackDown brand as an assistant to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long.Cardona wrestled mostly with his tag...
's YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
show, Z! True Long Island Story.
Personal life
Hennigan has two sisters and grew up in Palos VerdesPalos Verdes
Palos Verdes is a name often used to refer to a group of coastal cities in the Palos Verdes Hills on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S...
, where he attended high school. He graduated from the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
in 2002. Hennigan cites Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...
, Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
, and Curt Hennig
Curt Hennig
Curtis Michael "Curt" Hennig , also known by the ring name Mr. Perfect, was an American professional wrestler, manager and color commentator who worked for, among other promotions, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , the American Wrestling Association , World Championship Wrestling and the World...
as his favorite wrestlers.
Hennigan was in a long-term relationship with Melina Perez
Melina Perez
Melina Nava Perez is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Women Superstars Uncensored. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring mononym Melina....
, his former on screen
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
manager
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
.The pair met during auditions for Tough Enough III, although she did not make the show. Hennigan and Perez later began dating again. Hennigan is good friends with fellow professional wrestlers Randy Orton
Randy Orton
Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand...
and Matt Cappotelli
Matt Cappotelli
Matthew Lee "Matt" Cappotelli is an American professional wrestler, last working in Ohio Valley Wrestling, which was the primary developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment until February 7, 2008...
.
Articles posted by Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, the New York Daily News, and The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
during the weekend of August 30, 2007, named Hennigan as one of a number of WWE superstars to have purchased pharmaceuticals from an online pharmacy
Online pharmacy
Online pharmacies, Internet pharmacies, or Mail Order Pharmacies are pharmacies that operate over the Internet and send the orders to customers.Online or internet pharmacies might include:...
, a violation of the Talent Wellness program. Specifically, Hennigan received somatropin
Growth hormone
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals. Growth hormone is a 191-amino acid, single-chain polypeptide that is synthesized, stored, and secreted by the somatotroph cells within the lateral wings of the anterior...
, anastrozole
Anastrozole
Anastrozole is an aromatase-inhibiting drug approved for treatment of breast cancer after surgery, as well as for metastasis in both pre and post-menopausal women. The severity of breast cancer is increased by estrogen, as sex hormones cause hyperplasia, and differentiation at estrogen receptor...
, testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
, stanozolol
Stanozolol
Stanozolol, commonly sold under the name Winstrol , Tenabol and Winstrol Depot , was developed by Winthrop Laboratories in 1962...
, and chorionic gonadotropin
Gonadotropin
Gonadotropins are protein hormones secreted by gonadotrope cells of the pituitary gland of vertebrates. This is a family of proteins, which include the mammalian hormones follitropin , lutropin , placental chorionic gonadotropins hCG and eCG and chorionic gonadotropin , as well as at least two...
between June 2006 and February 2007, which is after the "no drugs from online sources" rule was instituted. As a result of the infraction, Hennigan was suspended for thirty days.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
-
- Moonlight Drive (Corkscrew neckbreaker) – 2007–2009; used rarely thereafter
- Nitro Blast (Superkick) – 2008
- Running knee smash to a seated opponent – 2010–2011; used as a signature move before Nov 2010
- Starship Pain (Split-legged corkscrew moonsault) – 2009–2011
- Signature moves
-
- 180° spun flare transitioned into a leg dropLeg dropA leg drop or legdrop refers to an attack used in professional wrestling in which an attacking wrestler will jump and land his leg across a fallen opponent's chest, throat, face or head or in some cases, the groin/lower-abdominal area...
- Belly to back wheelbarrow facebuster
- Corkscrew moonsault
- Corkscrew plancha
- Diving crossbody
- European uppercut
- Inverted superplex
- Multiple kick variations
- Capoeira / Spinning hook
- Cartwheel / Handstand
- DropkickDropkickA dropkick is an attacking maneuver in professional wrestling. It is defined as an attack where the wrestler jumps up and kicks the opponent with the soles of both feet; this sees the wrestler twist as he or she jumps so that when the feet connect with the opponent one foot is raised higher than...
, sometimes from the top rope - Enzuigiri
- Flying Chuck (Springboard roundhouseRoundhouse kickA roundhouse kick is a kick in which the attacker swings his leg around in a semicircular motion, striking with the front of the leg or foot. This type of kick is utilized in many different martial arts and is popular in both non-contact and full-contact martial arts competitions...
) - Leg lariat
- Pelé
- Slingshot baseball slide
- Spinning heel
- Russian legsweep
- Shooting star plancha
- Slingshot or a springboard elbow drop
- Springboard 450° plancha
- Springboard moonsault
- Standing moonsault side slam
- Standing shooting star press
- STO backbreaker followed by either a Russian legsweep or a neckbreakerNeckbreakerIn professional wrestling a neckbreaker is any throw or slam that focuses its attack on the opponent’s neck. One type of neckbreaker involves the wrestler slamming an opponent's neck against a part of the wrestler's body, usually the knee, head or shoulder...
- Tilt-a-whirl DDT
- 180° spun flare transitioned into a leg drop
- With Joey MercuryAdam BirchAdam Birch is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure with World Wrestling Entertainment , and training in WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, as Joey Mercury...
- Snapshot (Delayed flapjack (Mercury) / Elevated DDT (Nitro) combination)
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- MelinaMelina PerezMelina Nava Perez is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Women Superstars Uncensored. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring mononym Melina....
- Jillian HallJillian HallJillian Faye Fletcher is an American professional wrestler who is currently signed to Women Superstars Uncensored. She is also known for her tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring name Jillian Hall or simply Jillian...
- The Bella TwinsThe Bella TwinsBrianna Monique Garcia and Stephanie Nicole Garcia are American twin professional wrestlers. The twins are a professional wrestling tag team under the ring names Brie Bella and Nikki Bella, collectively referred to as The Bella Twins, and work for WWE on the Raw brand.Before being promoted to the...
- Nikki BellaThe Bella TwinsBrianna Monique Garcia and Stephanie Nicole Garcia are American twin professional wrestlers. The twins are a professional wrestling tag team under the ring names Brie Bella and Nikki Bella, collectively referred to as The Bella Twins, and work for WWE on the Raw brand.Before being promoted to the...
- Melina
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- JoMo
- The Guru of Greatness
- The MondayWWE RAWWWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
/ Tuesday / Friday Night Delight - The New Face of ExtremeHardcore wrestlingHardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted...
- The Prince of Parkour
- The Shaman of Sexy
- Entrance themesMusic in professional wrestlingMusic in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
- WCW Monday NitroWCW Monday NitroWCW Monday Nitro was a weekly professional wrestling telecast produced by World Championship Wrestling, created by Ted Turner and Eric Bischoff. The show aired Monday nights on TNT, going head-to-head with the World Wrestling Federation's Monday Night Raw from September 4, 1995 to March 26, 2001...
theme song (2004) - "Paparazzi" by Jim JohnstonJim Johnston (composer)James Alan "Jim" Johnston is an American music composer who has been working for WWE since 1985. His work is often accredited to the names Jim Johnston, James A...
(2005–July 2007) - "Ain't No Make Believe (instrumental)" (July 2007–August 2007)
- "Ain't No Make Believe" by Stonefree Experience (August 2007–2011)
- WCW Monday Nitro
Championships and accomplishments
- Ohio Valley WrestlingOhio Valley WrestlingOhio Valley Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW is run by owner Danny Davis and was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1997 until 2000...
- OVW Southern Tag Team ChampionshipOVW Southern Tag Team ChampionshipThe OVW Southern Tag Team Championship is the tag team titles of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Created in 1997, the first champions were Nick Dinsmore and Flash Flanagan. As of 2011, the current champions are Ted McNaler and Adam Revolver, known as The Elite in their fourth reign...
(1 time) – with Joey MercuryAdam BirchAdam Birch is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure with World Wrestling Entertainment , and training in WWE's developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, as Joey Mercury...
- OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2009)
- PWI Tag Team of the Year (2005) with Joey Mercury
- PWI ranked him #27 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 2010 and 2011
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- ECW World ChampionECW World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe Extreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...
(1 time) - World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Miz
- WWE Intercontinental ChampionshipWWE Intercontinental ChampionshipThe WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
(3 times) - WWE Tag Team ChampionshipWWE Tag Team ChampionshipThe WWE Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship in WWE. It was established as a second title for tag teams in WWE in 2002 to complement the original World Tag Team Championship...
(4 times) – with Joey Mercury (3) and The Miz (1) - Internet ChampionshipInternet ChampionshipThe Internet Championship is a professional championship in WWE created by The "Long Island Iced Z" Zack Ryder.The belt is custom-made with Ryder's siluette on it.- History :...
(1 timeInternet ChampionshipThe Internet Championship is a professional championship in WWE created by The "Long Island Iced Z" Zack Ryder.The belt is custom-made with Ryder's siluette on it.- History :...
) - Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year (2008) – with The Miz
- Slammy Award for Best WWE.com Exclusive (2008) – with The Miz
- WWE Tough Enough III
- ECW World Champion
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Tag Team of the Year (2008) with The Miz
- WrestleSlam Awards
- Finishing Move of the Year (2009) for his Starship Pain maneuver (split-legged corkscrew moonsault)