Full Career Retrospective and Greatest Moments for John Morrison

Throughout the long and illustrious history of World Wrestling Entertainment, there have been some truly exceptional athletes. For example, Kurt Angle, Ken Patera and Mark Henry were all Olympians. Ron Simmons and Ernie Ladd were stars on the gridiron before stepping foot inside the squared circle.

John Morrison, though, was an entirely different breed. Not a traditional athlete in any way, shape or form, he could do things between the ropes that no one could ever have imagined. Skilled in parkour, Morrison could scale the ropes, the sets and the guardrails as if he was Spider-Man, taking the audience by surprise and eliciting responses of shock and awe.

Over the course of his career, he also proved to be quite adaptable when it came to working as a face or heel.

As Johnny Nitro, one-half of the MNM team, he was a great villain. With the smoking-hot Melina by his side, Morrison would enter arenas to choruses of boos, all the while portraying the cocky and arrogant villain whom everyone longed to see get his comeuppance.

The Morrison character was really no different, but fans began to respect the performer for his hard work between the ropes. They marveled at his aforementioned athleticism and were compelled by the quality of the matches he wrestled against the likes of Rey Mysterio, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, R-Truth and even John Cena.

Yes, Tough Enough winner Morrison had all of the tools necessary to succeed at the top level in sports-entertainment. He had a marketable look and was superb between the ropes. Even his promo skills evolved and improved as he got older, leaving many to wonder why he never got a fair shot to really run with the proverbial ball.

Backstage politics related to his real-life relationship with Melina, herself a tremendous heat magnet behind the scenes, only hurt his standing with those in power and caused them to second-guess his position in the company, which is complete and utter nonsense.

In 2011, Morrison left WWE to pursue other avenues of interest, including acting. With his future in professional wrestling very much up in the air, here is a look back at some of the master of Starship Pain's most memorable matches and moments.

MNM and the WWE Tag Team Championships

Shortly after WrestleMania 21 in April 2005, Morrison and tag team partner Joey Mercury made their main roster debuts in WWE as MNM. Under the name Johnny Nitro, Morrison had tremendous chemistry with Mercury, and they established themselves as the future of tag team wrestling (at least initially).

Their very first night on the SmackDown brand, they captured the WWE Tag Team Championships from Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio. It was a huge win that let fans known just how major of players the team would prove to be.

With Melina guiding them, MNM would successfully retain their titles for months before dropping them to Heidenreich and Road Warrior Animal at the Great American Bash. Of course, they regained them later and worked the team of Mysterio and Batista in several stellar tag team main events on SmackDown, trading the gold back and forth.

Wins over the Mexicools and the team of Paul London and Brian Kendrick, arguably the top two contenders to the tag titles during that period, only helped solidify the team's handle on tag supremacy.

Unfortunately, Mercury's personal problems and addictions interrupted what could have been a decade-long reign of dominance, forcing Nitro to go it alone in singles competition.

Monday Night Raw and the Intercontinental Championship

By the time Johnny Nitro set out on his singles career, he had been fired from SmackDown by general manager Teddy Long for disrespecting him. He and Melina made their way to Monday Night Raw. He wasted little time in defeating Shelton Benjamin and Carlito in a Triple Threat match at the brand's exclusive Vengeance pay-per-view in June and reigned as the heel centerpiece of the midcard for months on end.

His series of matches against Jeff Hardy throughout the fall and winter months demonstrated the potential Nitro had to be one of the elite young stars in the industry, especially if he could stay focused and navigate the minefield behind the scenes.

While his feud with Hardy unfolded on Raw, Joey Mercury returned to television, and MNM made their long-awaited return. The reunion served only to instigate a feud with the Hardy Boyz, which led to three outstanding pay-per-view bouts and could have rejuvenated a tag team division desperately in need of it.

Again, however, Mercury's demons haunted him, and he was released from his contract in 2007.

After working the Raw brand for just under a year, Nitro was sent packing to the ECW brand, where he would undergo a character makeover and finally begin finding his feet as a singles star.

The John Morrison Experience

ECW could not have been a better experience for Nitro, who became John Morrison almost immediately and began making a name for himself without the constraints of former partner Mercury or manager Melina to stunt his growth.

At Vengeance: Night of Champions in 2007, he defeated CM Punk to capture the ECW Championship. He would hold onto the gold for three months, wrestling a series of somewhat disappointing matches against The Second City Saint, but he never let that affect his development. Losing the title in September of that year may have actually been the best thing to happen to him since it freed him up to form a partnership with The Miz.

It was that partnership that allowed fans to begin getting a sneak peak at the charisma and entertainment value that Morrison possessed.

He and Miz quickly became tag team champions and the centerpiece of the division. Together, they delivered quality matches but even better entertainment value, particularly on the WWE.com exclusive The Dirt Sheet, an outlet for them to be funny, witty, sarcastic and greatly amusing.

"Hi, my name is John Morrison, and I once spent a night on a houseboat with Joan Rivers. She knew a lot of stuff," is only an example of the hilarious opening intro Morrison would greet viewers with. Their rendition of "Batmiz" was both ridiculous and outstanding all at the same time and a small sample of what one could expect when tuning into the show.

Unfortunately, as is the case with every great team, WWE Creative gets antsy and opts to split them up. Miz turned on Morrison, and the duo went its separate ways, leaving fans to wonder what would have happened had they been allowed to run rampant over the tag division for just a bit longer.

SmackDown and the Evolution of an In-Ring Performer

As good as Morrison had become in ECW and as part of the team with The Miz, there were still very real questions about his in-ring work. It was very spotty and, at times, disjointed. By the time he arrived on the SmackDown brand in 2009, it was clear that WWE saw potential in him as a singles babyface and wanted to put him in the best position to succeed.

They did just that, pairing him with the likes of Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, CM Punk and others, watching as he evolved into one of the best (and most popular) babyfaces on the roster.

Along the way, he not only had stellar matches with elite talent but captured the Intercontinental Championship and was allowed the opportunity to work young talent such as Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre in some highly competitive bouts.

With every passing week, it became more and more apparent that Morrison was not simply evolving as an in-ring performer—he was developing into one of the best workers in the entire company.

It was time to move him back to Raw.

Monday Night Raw and Championship Contention

WWE struck while the proverbial iron was hot with Morrison, sending him to Raw, where he instantly enjoyed success as one of the brand's most popular babyfaces.

At WrestleMania 26, he partnered with R-Truth to challenge former teammate The Miz and Big Show for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The match was short and ultimately meaningless. The champions retained, and Morrison was left disappointed.

Throughout the summer and fall of 2010, Morrison remained a visible part of Raw, working the likes of the Nexus in high-profile matches. Still, one couldn't help but notice that it felt very much like he was on a treadmill, neither advancing or heading backward. He was simply stuck in neutral and it had to be frustrating.

That frustration was relieved as the year came to an end, however, as Morrison worked Sheamus in a rivalry that culminated in a Ladder match at December's TLC pay-per-view. The two young stars stole the show on what was a very good night of action. Morrison, getting the biggest win of his career, earned a WWE Championship opportunity.

The champion? The Miz.

It set up a very personal, very dramatic Falls Count Anywhere title bout on Monday Night Raw between the former partners. It was an outstanding match that cemented Morrison's status as one of the best wrestlers on the entire roster while simultaneously setting Miz's young title reign off on the right foot.

For a brief moment, it looked like the company had two stars and a heated rivalry it could build upon for the future. Unfortunately, backstage politics and the return of The Rock brought that idea to a halt, leaving many to wonder what the company's plans were for Morrison.

He would partner with Trish Stratus and celebrity guest Snooki to defeat Dolph Ziggler, Michelle McCool and Layla at WrestleMania XXVII, but his attitude during that match, particularly toward Stratus, earned him the scorn of management and Internet fans alike, both of whom could not believe the disrespect shown to a future Hall of Famer.

Still, he managed to get a pay-per-view main event out of it. Morrison and John Cena challenged The Miz in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the WWE Championship at Extreme Rules. He lost when R-Truth interfered, ending his last real shot at achieving his lifelong dream.

Morrison would spend the rest of the year working R-Truth and other midcard acts, never really sniffing the top of the card. Floating aimlessly, he opted not to renew his contract and left WWE in November.

Today, he works as an actor, recently starring in a Hercules film that was released to coincide with the big-budget blockbuster featuring fellow former WWE star, The Rock.