SmackDown Wrestler Was In Talks With AEW Before WWE Return, Wants To Finish His Career In WWE

By AG

Posted on September 21, 2020

• ON THIS DAY IN WCW HISTORY (September 21, 1996) – WCW Saturday Night

On this day in 1996, Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling aired an episode of their weekly TV show ‘WCW Saturday Night’.

This episode was pre-taped from the Civic Center in Albany, Georgia and featured matches & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WCW Halloween Havoc 1996’ PPV.

The match-card of the show can be found here:

1. Jacques Rougeau & Carl Oulette vs. Scott & Steve Armstrong

2. Jim Powers vs. Disco Inferno

3. Diamond Dallas Page vs. Super Calo

4. Kevin Sullivan & Konnan vs. JL & Joe Gomez

5. Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera

• SmackDown Wrestler Was In Talks With AEW Before WWE Return, Wants To Finish His Career In WWE

WWE SmackDown’s John Morrison was a guest on the latest edition of the Chris Van Vliet show, where he revealed that he was in talks with AEW last year and also discussed wanting to hang up his boots as a WWE wrestler.

Below is what he said:

“I mean, yeah, my final run – let me explain what a run is. I mean, I’m still on like a 17-year run from when I started. So, this final run could mean 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, who knows? 17 more years? That’s what I mean. Whatever happens, I’d like to finish out at WWE.

The, ‘maybe I should have stayed’ moment usually doesn’t come for a year or two. When you leave and you’re glad to be gone, the world is there. You can take whatever you want, you’re free, your time is your own. It’s not having a paycheck for a couple of years. Then, you kind of start thinking like, ‘Oh, shoot. Maybe I should have stayed’.

WWE is the biggest and the best organization of them all. It always will be, and I love wrestling. I clearly never stopped, but I guess to your point and to answer that question, I didn’t feel that way. I never really did, actually, because I just felt like as far as wrestling went, there were so many opportunities and I was having fun. Like AAA, Lucha Underground, Impact Wrestling, 5 Star Wrestling in the UK – all these little independent wrestling promotions that were really good, I got to wrestle for and I’m glad I did it.

A lot of guys from the roster came up from the independent scene. They were there. I never was because I was from Tough Enough, but being able to see what that is, all those people hustling, trying so hard, wrestling in small buildings with tough crowds, wrestling in small buildings with no crowds. That, to me, as far as my wrestling experience, was missing, and it would have always been missing if I didn’t leave.

So when season four of Lucha ended, they have some stuff on their contracts where there’s a tail, and the tail doesn’t start until the episodes stop airing. So, I signed with Impact, and when everything was free and clear, I decided, ‘I’m a free agent again, completely free, no ties anywhere. I’m going to figure out where do I want to go?’ So, I talked to WWE and I talked to AEW, and I had a really good conversation with Vince, and they made me a really nice offer, and I ended up taking it.”