My Recent Trip to The Palace of Wisdom

[Dudebuster420]

Hello Folks, recently I was contemplating the landscape of the WWE to the point of deep meditation. During that trip to the Palace of Wisdom I no doubt got to thinking about The Monday Night Delight, The Shaman of Sexy himself John Morrison. A lot of us would say that Mr. Morrison has not lived up to expectation or potential. A lot of us thought that Mr. Morrison would probably be where his former partner The Miz is at right now or higher by now but no such success has materialized.

Now I know this has been discussed, and I know what the general feeling is in regards to Mr. Morrison with the IWC for the most part. The feeling seems to be that JoMo has missed the boat and is stuck on dry land. He seems to lack the mic skills and natural charisma to go to the next level according to most which may or may not be true, I think the jury is still out on this one really. I don't think it's too late for him or that he's really missed anything or really lacks anything to a detrimental degree. After my trip to The Palace of Wisdom I came to another conclusion though.

Maybe John Morrison is right where he wants to be? Maybe he hasn't went all the way to the top where a lot of us have wanted him to go and expected him to go because he's comfortable right where he's at. It's not unheard of. Kane is one of those guys, and at one time I'd heard Matt Hardy was one of those guys. Maybe that's all there really is to it? Maybe he sees John Cena and guys like that and all the extra work they do to be champion and just doesn't really want to do all that? Can you blame him? I guess in some ways you can because who doesn't want to be the biggest star in the company right? Well, apparently some people are a little more realistic about that and just come to terms with their role and become very comfortable with it.

It becomes a relationship of convenience, you get to go out and wrestle and still get cheered, you still have the lifestyle and the money, but you don't have to carry as much weight as some of the other guys in the company, it keeps you active and motivated to stay in shape, etc.... In some ways it makes a lot of sense. Maybe John Hennigan is kind of a slacker and just doesn't have the drive and ambition of guys like Randy Orton and John Cena, and if he doesn't so what? Big deal. If the guy is happy where he's at so be it. I would like to see more of him and I'd like to see him be the next Shawn Michaels like he's supposed to, but that's my own selfish ambition for him not his, and that's the one that actually matters most. I think that might be it as it pertains to his situation.

The Soap Box Is Now Yours: What do you think?

 

[TheHammerMan]

I think if JoMo put half the effort Cena does, he'd be up there and be an upper-mid card or main eventer. I think he has the charisma to do it. He isn't lacking in that department. I think people would take him more seriously if he had a better finisher. Don't get me wrong Starship Pain is a good move but I don't see it getting him a victory over Orton, Cena, or Shaemus, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Ferbian]

You could be on to something there. Of course there is always the chance that John doesn't want to proceed from there. But it does however sound highly unlikely. He's not at the accomplished level or age where it's normal to do that. Chris Jericho is accomplished but not completely the age. And Triple H is nearing the age as well as accomplished.

I do believe that John wants to get places. But it is obvious that his microphone skills and lacking charisma drags him down no matter what. Vince build his company on great talkers. He is sports entertainment so if you can't entertain on the microphone. Then you're only bringing half the thing to the table.

John has potential to get to the main event scene. He just needs better charisma. But right now he doesn't have it.

But I could definitely see him just wanting to be in the position of someone to put talent over. It's just doubtful I would say.

 

[TRoN]

Great points.
It reminds me of Kane's situation, people want him to succeed and get another shot at the title. But Glenn Jacobs seems content on keeping his position and helping other guys get over. Not everyone wants to be the top guy at their profession, alot of people are happy where they are in life. I don't see how it would be any different with WWE superstars.

 

[The Decrypter]

I dunno, I'm sure John Morrison wants to get to the top. At one point on his twitter, he said "The current main event scene is gettin' boring" or somethin, implying "he" would make it better. I think he wants to make it to the top, but like most here have said, he clearly lacks charisma and mic skills.

And @dudebuster420, Matt Hardy was never content with the mid-card. If you follow him behind the scenes on social networks, and even in recent promos on SD!, you can see that he is DESPERATE for the main event scene.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I don't buy into the whole Morrison is content with where he is mentality. WWE has put out a DVD on him, he had two clean pinfall victories over CM Punk while he was the World Heavyweight Champion(he also pinned Swagger while he was the champion by the way), and WWE put him on the cover of their magazine which featured "future world champions". He had a pretty lengthy reign as IC champion when he defeated Mysterio a while back, and he's a pro on NXT, so it's obvious that WWE is at least trying to push him. Also, he was ECW champion, and he did have a pretty nice feud with CM Punk.

Morrison really can't be a heel, because when he's on the mic, he just comes off as being very goofy. He's just not a good heel, that's probably why WWE still has him as a face. Morrison has the perfect look, but he's severely lacking when it comes to charisma, mic skills, and I can't remember the last time he's put on a good or great match. It's been a while.

Morrison has been pretty irrelevant on Raw ever since Wrestlemania. R-Truth, Orton, and Miz have all been pushed over Morrison ever since the big show, and you know what, they deserve it. As far as the Kane and Matt Hardy comparisons go, Matt Hardy always seems to have a drive to be in the main event. Now of course it's highly unlikely Matt will be world heavyweight champion...ever, but at least he has that drive. kane is a veteran in WWE, and he's at the age where being a world title contender isn't a priority. He was WWF champion a long time ago, but it's too bad he had to win the title during the time of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

WWE has been trying to push Morrison, but he still needs a lot of work, and things are pretty stacked on Raw right now, so I don't see him getting near the US title or WWE title anytime soon.

 

[The Vintage One]

John Morrison, how the tides have turned.

Everybody thought he was truly the next big thing in the WWE, and the WWE tried to give it to him, but when it was his time to shine, JoMo failed to deliver. His mic skills and charisma is clearly lacking, and the WWE needs him to go back to being a heel and switched back to Smackdown.

JoMo was much better as a heel as he is a cocky young man, and has a face he just doesn't get over as his gimmick just doesn't fit being a heel. Morrison is now lost in the shuffle ever since the draft over stacked Raw to originally compete with TNA, and now JoMo is the one ultimately hurt by all of this.

 

[CorkscrewBackElbowDrop]

John Morrison, i love him so much, but he needs a complete gimmick change from head to toe, or the E needs to do something to instantly boost him to main event status
The options
1. his gimmick should be a rick rude gimmick, he already has most of that in his current gimmick, he just needs to drop the rockstar portion and become a cocky heel with a new finisher, we all agree starship pain looks weak, here's my thought, this may be impossible, because it would hurt to much, but on starship pain, instead of making contact with the chest, make contact with the legs, that, is something that would legitimately hurt because the momentum is going to the legs, not the chest

2. HBK diesel redux with Eli Cottonwood
simple enough, wouldn't have to change much, besides turn him heel, could work well and give Morrison the oomph he needs to finish off a match well, i could see some good feuds in the tag division with hart dynasty and Usos

3. Bring back MNM only rename it MMM, Joey mercury could get out of CM punks grasps at about the same time Melina would return, and they could work in either the singles division or the tag division, you wouldn't have to necessarily turn them heel, either way could work

4. pair him with HBK when(or if) he returns
if this happened, i would cream my pants
do what TNA is doing with rick flair and AJ styles, only this time it would make more sense
It would let JoMo use the Superkick without making it seem like he was stealing HBK's gimmick, also would instantly shoot him to main event, HBK would manage and fill the mic skill space that the miz left vacant for JoMo,
JoMo wouldn't have to change his gimmick at all, and it would make legit

of all these, as you can see, i would enjoy the last one the best for obvious reasons

 

[Sora/roxas]

As you can tell from my user name i am a John morrison fan.

The main thing holding him back right now is Starship Pain. He cant hit it right. I dont even remember the last time i saw him hit it correctly. Hes needs to use Moonlight Drive more. Also, some work on mic skills as others have said, but lets do the easy part first and get rid of Starship Pain. Make it a rare signature move that he can hit more often once he figures out how to hit it right. Its a flashy move to help him get over.

Another thing would be a fued with Jericho. Anyone who fueds with jericho is almost automaticly over for e.g. Edge. One of the top heels in the company, fueds with Jericho, and is over imediately. A fued with Jericho would elevate him to the upper mid card.

 

[The Vintage One]

John Morrison, i love him so much, but he needs a complete gimmick change from head to toe, or the E needs to do something to instantly boost him to main event status
The options
1. his gimmick should be a rick rude gimmick, he already has most of that in his current gimmick, he just needs to drop the rockstar portion and become a cocky heel with a new finisher, we all agree starship pain looks weak, here's my thought, this may be impossible, because it would hurt to much, but on starship pain, instead of making contact with the chest, make contact with the legs, that, is something that would legitimately hurt because the momentum is going to the legs, not the chest

2. HBK diesel redux with Eli Cottonwood
simple enough, wouldn't have to change much, besides turn him heel, could work well and give Morrison the oomph he needs to finish off a match well, i could see some good feuds in the tag division with hart dynasty and Usos

3. Bring back MNM only rename it MMM, Joey mercury could get out of CM punks grasps at about the same time Melina would return, and they could work in either the singles division or the tag division, you wouldn't have to necessarily turn them heel, either way could work

4. pair him with HBK when(or if) he returns
if this happened, i would cream my pants
do what TNA is doing with rick flair and AJ styles, only this time it would make more sense
It would let JoMo use the Superkick without making it seem like he was stealing HBK's gimmick, also would instantly shoot him to main event, HBK would manage and fill the mic skill space that the miz left vacant for JoMo,
JoMo wouldn't have to change his gimmick at all, and it would make legit

of all these, as you can see, i would enjoy the last one the best for obvious reasons

This is just terrible really. I mean he doesn't need a gimmick change overhaul, he simply needs to go back to being the cocky heel. He did well in that gimmick, and since is gimmick is being cocky, and now that he is a face, he isn't all too cocky anymore and has nothing to work with.

His mic skills have been abysal as a face, and he really needs to head back to Smackdown as he needs more tv time to work on these things and with the Raw roster, and him struggling, he won't be going far any time soon.

 

[CorkscrewBackElbowDrop]

This is just terrible really. I mean he doesn't need a gimmick change overhaul, he simply needs to go back to being the cocky heel. He did well in that gimmick, and since is gimmick is being cocky, and now that he is a face, he isn't all too cocky anymore and has nothing to work with.

His mic skills have been abysal as a face, and he really needs to head back to Smackdown as he needs more tv time to work on these things and with the Raw roster, and him struggling, he won't be going far any time soon.

first off i assume your reading my 1 suggestion, and in that i clearly say COCKY HEEL, but i do agree with you, if hes going to do any of my first 3 suggestions, he needs to go to smackdown, now, if he was on smackdown it would be easy for a push because they're is so much room, but seriously, read the entire thing if your going to quote the entire thing

 

[Hawkeye]

First off no one will EVER work as hard for WWE as God Cena has.Now on to JoMo.The whole thing about being comfortable,I think that's the case with some of the roster,but not Johnny.I think he and creative realized that he needs more time to accustomed to being that over face that they need,because you'll be hard pressed to find a mid card face that is even remotely over with anyone.But he's found something unique to work with,his entrance,his attire,they all make the crowd jump.He just needs the mic skills and charisma to bring it all together.I think the best main eventers are the ones that make a slow crawl to the top,not the ones that get pushed to the moon on entry(Not to speak ill of Sheamus,who is doing VERY well with his push)but some people are ready,other aren't.