Wrestling fans rejoiced on May 18th as wrestling star, Johnny Nitro, Johnny Mundo and or Johnny Impact, however, you may know him made his AEW debut, to now be known as Johnny Elite.
The former WWE Superstar known as John Morrison debuted as the mystery opponent also known as the Joker in AEW for the men’s Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.
Johnny Elite Takes On Samoa Joe On AEW Dynamite
Starting off the night on All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite program on TBS, Johnny Elite made his debut against someone that might actually win the entire Owen Hart Foundation Tournament all by himself, that being Ring Of Honor World TV Champion, Samoa Joe. And though Elite gave it his all in his debut, it wasn’t enough as it seemed that Joe had all the right answers and was just that much better as Joe was able to defeat Elite with his patented Muscle Buster finishing maneuver. Allowing Joe to advance in the tournament to take on Kyle O’Reilly in the semi-finals, and after the winner of that match is determined, O’Reilly or Joe will end up meeting Adam Cole at AEW’s upcoming PPV, Double or Nothing, live from Las Vegas on May 29th.
And #TheJoker is….. #JohnnyElite!!!
Watch #AEWDynamite LIVE on @TBSNetwork right now! pic.twitter.com/u7R8sp0udn
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) May 19, 2022
John Morrison Was Released From WWE In November Of 2021
New beginnings didn’t lead to a win against Joe but it led to new opportunities for Elite and a likely great future in AEW as that wasn’t the case for his career in the WWE since in November of 2021 was not a great month for John Morrison as the WWE released him from his contract and his wife and fellow professional wrestler Taya Valkyrie.
But as he took to his Instagram, he appeared to be thankful as he shared his thoughts to all his fans saying:
“Aquaholics, JoMo-sapiens, John-tourage, Slamtonians, I want you all to know how grateful I am for the support you gave me during this past run with WWE. I also want you to know that I did in fact receive a phone call from John Laurinaitis during which he told me that my services as a talent were no longer required by WWE. I didn’t even get a, ‘Best of luck on your future endeavors.’ I mean, if you’re gonna let me go, at least hit your catchphrase, right? I don’t know if it’s something that draws people to professional wrestling or something that happens to people when they’ve been in the business for a long enough time but my mind always races towards ways to pop the crowd, even at my own expense. The whole idea of making yourself look bad to make someone else look good is a strange thing. But for me, it’s such an important part of what I do, and it’s a foreign concept to so many people. I think that’s why this past run with WWE meant so much to me. I saw and spoke to people I hadn’t seen in ten years.”
Morrison would add:
“The chance to reconnect with old friends, make new friends, work with some of the best production people in the business, some of the best professional wrestlers in the business. I mean, just — the whole thing was… nostalgic. It brought me back to how I felt when I was brand new to the business. I was always just so nervous. I just wanted to do everything right, you know? I would do things like I would get to the arena super early all the time, which actually just gave me more time to be nervous but, there was one time in particular, I remember I was standing there in the ring hours before doors, looking out at all the empty seats thinking, ‘In a couple of hours, this place is gonna be packed and there is gonna be a person in every one of those seats, all staring at me, expecting me to do stuff. I gotta get better at stuff,’ and I think maybe the most important thing I learned during my first run with WWE is it’s not the stuff that people go to see wrestling for, it’s the stories. We’re storytellers. Now, I happen to be a storyteller who takes a lot of pride in being able to do the flips, the tricks, the kicks and the hair whips but, those are just tools. The moves, the ropes, the ring, the mic, they are all just tools used by those who practice the art of professional wrestling to tell stories, and the great thing about being a storyteller is that when one chapter ends, another one begins.”
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Now Elite has found his footing and a new opportunity and we will all have to follow what will happen in the squared circle for him. Based on the reaction he got for his debut, the future looks to be very bright.
