John Morrison: WWE’s Next Franchise Player

Johnny Nitro. Johnny Mundo. Johnny Impact. No matter what name you know John Morrison by, you know he’s one of the best in the business. Since leaving WWE in 2011, he has lit the independent wrestling scene on fire with his epic runs in Lucha Underground, AAA and, most recently, Impact.

Last week, Morrison blew wrestling sites up when it was officially announced on WWE Backstage that he was returning to WWE. But what wasn’t announced was which brand he would be wrestling on.

WWE has three distinct brands in the mix at this point. Well, maybe four if you count NXT UK as a separate brand from NXT. 205 Live is also technically its own brand, but everyone should be able to agree that Morrison probably won’t end up there. Morrison will wrestle on Raw, SmackDown or NXT, and anyone who spends time thinking about such things is waiting with bated breath to find out where he’s going to show up.

John Morrison was popular with fans during his last WWE run but never quite broke through to the main event scene. That’s a big reason why he moved on from WWE, and it’s likely the reason he’s back. Morrison undoubtedly wants to be the top dog on one of WWE’s flagship shows. That means holding the NXT Championship, the WWE Championship or the WWE Universal Championship.

Taking one of the last two belts means facing either Brock Lesnar or ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt. It’s not that Morrison couldn’t beat Lesnar but he’d have to find ‘The Beast Incarnate’ before he could face him. Good luck with that as Lesnar’s also the reigning hide and seek champion of WWE. It’s also hard to imagine that Morrison is coming back to WWE just to be another photo with crossed eyes on the walls of the Firefly Fun House.
That leaves the NXT Championship.

NXT provides the most interesting options for dream matches: Keith Lee. Tommaso Ciampa. Adam Cole, and it’s hard not to imagine the epic match Morrison and Balor would put on given the chance. Watching Morrison pursue the NXT Championship has huge potential for fans. The downside is what it does for everyone waiting in line for their shot at the championship.

Competitors like Keith Lee have been fighting for a program that would lead them to the holy land; a shot at the gold. Morrison is a big name in the wrestling world; his arrival in NXT could jump him to the front of the line. The unintentional consequence of him being part of that brand would be the guys who have been working their way up the roster having their pushes disrupted. So many things can restructure the booking plans behind the scenes that adding one more obstacle to the pile might be all some current NXT superstars could take.

But that’s where many fans want to see John Morrison. WWE officials might have different ideas.

Again, Morrison is at a point in his career where he’s regarded as a big name. If the WWE is bringing him back as part of a big money, multi-year deal, they’re going to want to maximize their investment.

Raw and SmackDown both have great talent that fans would want to see him go a few rounds with. Some of them he’s faced before in other promotions but it’s doubtful that casual wrestling fans who watch pretty much only Raw and SmackDown have watched Lucha Underground. They also might not know Lucha Underground star Prince Puma now goes by the name Ricochet, who had some incredible matches with the man then known as Johnny Mundo.

Given the money on the table in WWE’s still new partnership with Fox, SmackDown is a safe bet for Morrison’s debut. There are huge opportunities for matches with Mustafa Ali and Daniel Bryan as well as rekindling his bromance with The Miz. Morrison has the potential to create memorable moments and build ratings, which WWE needs on SmackDown.

The downside here is that ‘The Fiend’ is the dominant force on that brand and it’s unlikely that Morrison will be the one to take him down. That being said, Morrison has as much of a chance as anyone else.

If done right, Morrison’s return to WWE has the potential to be one of the biggest moves in wrestling in the past few years. CM Punk returning to the ring might be able to trump it but that depends on Seth Rollins riling him up enough. Once fans know what brand he’s on, they can start laying out the rest of his career in the WWE. But once that question is answered, there’s still one more question waiting in the wings.

Will Taya Valkyrie, the wife of John Morrison and the current Impact Knockouts Champion, AAA Reina de Reinas Champion and Ironfist Wrestling Champion, sign with WWE next?