411’s WWE Chronicle: John Morrison Report – Vince McMahon Butt Dial Led To Morrison’s WWE Return

WWE Chronicle: John Morrison

-It’s Royal Rumble weekend and that means new specials dropping on the WWE Network. Tonight we tackle the newest edition of WWE Chronicle featuring John Morrison and tomorrow after the Rumble, the latest WWE 24 debuts. That one will cover last year’s WrestleMania, but before we get there, it’s all about the return of John Morrison to the WWE.

-We start with Morrison bouncing off the ropes and doing all his crazy parkour stuff in a ring that looks to be in the middle of nowhere. This is WWE Chronicle: John Morrison.

-The following takes place from Dec 8, 2019 to January 24, 2020.

-In 2011 Morrison left WWE to pursue new ventures and had great success winning titles in other promotions. With that he still had unfinished business in the WWE.

-We join Morrison on the set of a movie and he talks about how the news has broken that he has signed to return to the WWE. He is thinking about what it will be like to return to a full time wrestling schedule. He talks about the work he has done outside of wrestling and plugs the movie, “The Speed of Time.” Basically he creates an app that destroys the world and he has to travel back in time to stop himself. He is excited to return to the WWE and isn’t sure yet if he will be back on RAW, SmackDown, or NXT. He is pumped to return though.

-Jan 21, 2020: Los Angeles: Morrison talks about being born and raised in LA. The thing that ties all of them together is that it is the entertainment capital of the world. When he was in High School he was at a gym and across the street saw a movie being filmed in a diner. He wrote down his name and put he was an actor and was able to get on set before someone realized he wasn’t supposed to be there and called security.

-Morrison makes an appearance on WWE’s The Bump and says he will heading to The Tower after that. The company still feels the same, but also feels different at the same time. He says during his first run he was just a kid growing up in the business. He talks about it being tricky figuring out who you are when dozens of voices are telling you the way to do things. For better or worse he has had 8 years away with his thoughts and has a better idea of who he is and who he wants to be inside and outside of the ring. That’s what excites him about this return as he at least knows who he is this time.

-He talks about the end of his run as Impact Champion and felt he needed a run in the biggest wrestling organization and that’s the WWE. It all started when he texted Vince and after a brief exchange, Vince called him. He was shocked Vince called him, but Vince told him it was a butt dial and they could talk next week. Awesome! They had a great talk and then John had some great conversations with Hunter. He was shocked he was able to just call and get a spot back in the company, but he knew he treated people well when he was there the last time.

-Back in LA he talks about how he keep other ideas in his head while he was in WWE. Leaving the WWE the first time gave him a chance to do things he wanted to do and get that out of his system.

-Dec 12, 2019: WWE Performance Center: Morrison is blown away by the PC as he calls it pretty epic. It’s bigger and better than he thought it would be. We see him working out in the ring and he looks pretty crisp for a guy that hasn’t been in a ring for 3 months. He says he remembered rather quickly that wrestling makes you tired. He talks about ring shape and how it is a real thing. You can do all the weights and cardio, but nothing is like being in the ring.

-He meets up with Ohno and talks about enjoying the match he had with Tyler Bate. Morrison says it does feel like he is home and talks about the warmth and acceptance he has received. He is ready to polish up his parkour and show the world what he can do in 2020. At least he hopes it will be 2020 and not 2021.

-Dec 28, 2019: LA: Morrison plays at his home with his dogs. He jokes about bringing the dog out with him for his return interview. I would have enjoyed seeing that. Animals on live TV are always interesting. Morrison talks about the waiting period and how it is wearing on him a bit. He knows this part of the wrestling business and says if you want to be in the wrestling business, you have to get used to it.

-Jan 3, 2020: SmackDown in Memphis: The day is finally here as Morrison has returned to SmackDown. Morrison talks about changing his name to John Morrison and he did a bunch of research on Jim Morrison and the Doors. Coming home is an interesting concept as even if it is home, you can feel nervous. He says nothing outside of his wife is more important to him than John Morrison in the WWE.

-John says he has been waiting months to see when he was going to start and for what brand. He found out yesterday he had 4 voice mails telling him they needed him at TV today. He had to get from LA to Memphis and he is pretty tired, but is also nervous. At catering he mentions this is his favorite thing about working for the WWE. He meets up with Miz and they pick up like old friends. They joke about Morrison being 40 and Miz on his heels at 39. Morrison calls this a family and it feels good to be back. Miz is amazed it has been 8 years as he thought it was only 6. Morrison talks about his last match which was with The Miz in a Falls Count Anywhere Match. He had so much crazy stuff planned and then he injured his ankle. They had to change things on the fly and with Morrison limited, The Miz just hit him in the ankle and beat him up to turf him from the company. They say it was a good thing they didn’t try the crazy stuff as John’s ankle was wrecked and it would have been horrible.

-Morrison talks about seeing his friends reach the top of the mountain in the WWE and in the business. At first he was always bitter and jealous, but now his perspective is one of being happy for them, and that feels so much better.

-They show the SmackDown where Morrison makes his debut by walking out of Miz’s dressing room. After the moment he gets a high five from Dolph who tells him great debut. He says SmackDown is the show he wanted to return and talks about catching up with Miz and Ziggler and meeting new friends. It feels great to be back in the mix and no matter what’s next he is going to do it real good.

-Back to Morrison in LA and he talks about how he could do whatever he wanted the last 8 years. He did movies, wrote scripts, got married and he spent a lot of time thinking about himself. As he thought of new ideas, he got more invested in wrestling again. He has ideas for promos, what he would do at Mania and The Rumble. All this was driving him nuts and that’s why he knew he needed to get back in the WWE. He knows being in the WWE can help you leave a mark on the world and the longer he was away, the more he missed it. He wants to pour his energy into the 3% of things that only he can do and he says nobody else can have a John Morrison match.

-Now to SmackDown where he will be making his return in front of the fans for the first time. Ziggler is marking out as he wants to hear the music again and Morrison runs through his entrance. He returns on Miz TV and the crowd is happy to see him. Morrison talks about how people say you get goosebumps with a return and it happened to him as well. He could feel the people and the adrenaline and it felt great to be back. They show Morrison’s return promo and how nothing was more important than being there for his friend, The Miz. Morrison does commentary later for the Miz/Kofi match and he gets involved by taking out Big E which leads to a Miz victory.

-Morrison says he got an overwhelming sense of nostalgia and he was glad he made the decision to return. He is happy to work with Mike again and while they are the same, he has figured things out compared to their first run together. He jokes that he is still immature, but they have both grown and he still can’t believe Mike has a wife and kids. He never would have thought that back in the day.

-Back to LA with Morrison doing his workout on the outdoor ring we saw at the start of the show. He talks about walking the line between ambition and happiness in the building. He says there is some truth to the advice you get from other wrestlers, family, and even fans online. In the end you have to find a spot where you are happy and the best version of yourself.

-Jan 17, 2020: SmackDown: Greensboro: We are up to the SmackDown where Morrison makes his in ring return. He is looking forward to it and thinks people with be surprised with what he is bringing. He says this match with Big E is the most important match he has had in quite some time. He has so much he wants to do, but knows you only have so much time with TV matches. He is a bit nervous as he knows the perfect image he sees in his head, won’t match what happens. He knows his ability and knows the hard work he has put into this.

-Morrison tries on his old ring jacket and is happy to see that it still fits. He takes a deep breath and tells the camera that he is nervous. He knows a lot of the guys and fans have never seen him wrestle and those that have are probably wondering if he lost a step. He is going to show them that he has gained a few steps. Early in his career he thought the guys who said they were doing shows for the fans was a cliché, but now he gets it. They are beating the crap out of each other for the fans.

-In Gorilla, The Miz does a great job of being a hype man as he pumps Morrison up. They show high lights from the match as Morrison talks about what he wants to do with this run. He hits Starship Pain for the win and then gets props from people in the back. The Miz looks thrilled to see his friend back and doing well. Morrison says he looks at pro-wrestling as medicine as you never get it down, but you keep improving. He got winded more than he thought, but in his mind he nailed everything. For him it is about the imperfections and that’s why robots will never replace people fighting.

-He talks about how being in the WWE is like being in the 99.9% and that in itself makes you a success even if he didn’t realize that his first run. He still thinks about being the Main Event of WrestleMania and even if he did that, he still doesn’t know if he would wake up the next morning thinking he did everything he could.

-He catches up with The Usos and talks about his second match being against Kofi. He hypes himself up again at Gorilla and before the match The Miz announces they will both be in the Rumble. I am curious what Morrison has planned as he was doing the Kofi stuff before Kofi and my guess is he will have something crazy planned. Morrison wins the match and then talks about how important it is for him to have a good showing at The Rumble. He knows he set the bar high in 2011 and knows the fans are expecting something crazy from him on Sunday.

-Back on the mountain in LA and Morrison talks about things he achieved while he was away. You will never achieve everything you want, but he has changed his thinking. Now it’s more about achieving enough that makes him happy. He now looks back knowing he wants to be happy with what he is doing in life and who he has in his life. That mindset is what he is coming back with this time. What will make this run a success is not letting a moment go by where he’s not having fun. He talks about the difference between taking yourself too seriously vs taking your job and the business too seriously.

-He closes by saying with the nickname, The Friday Night Delight, he has a lot to live up to, but that’s the way he likes it.

-I always enjoy these shows as seeing the guys and girls behind the scenes has always been fascinating to me. This one was enjoyable as it was great to see Morrison in a good place and having a strong perspective of life and the business. The episode was fine even if it dragged a bit as I think they stretched things out too long and we got a lot of Morrison talking about the same things. I think they could have waited until after the Rumble to get some more material to make the run time work better, but that’s a minor thing. As mentioned this was fun, but on the lower end of the WWE Chronicle scale. As always thanks for reading and I’ll be back tomorrow night with WWE 24: WrestleMania XXXV.