John Morrison Suspended?
John Morrison's ECW Heavyweight Championship reign has ended, and it has more to do with things happening outside of the ring than inside of the ring.
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Unintended Champion
When the year started, there weren't too many people in the WWE front office that had plans of putting the ECW Heavyweight Championship belt around John Morrison's waist for a few months.
Those plans were barely an afterthought when he was drafted over to ECW from Monday Night Raw.
Even when John Morrison won the ECW Heavyweight Championship that fateful night in Houston, Texas, the plan wasn't to make him a long term champion.
You see, John Morrison replaced Chris Benoit in the match at Vengeance to determine the new champion after Bobby Lashley was forced to vacate the title. That now infamous weekend was the Rabid Wolverine's last weekend on earth.
Most fans expected the WWE to put the ECW Heavyweight Championship on fan favorite CM Punk. However, at the time of the pay per view, the writers were not aware that Chris Benoit had died. The reported plan at the time was to temporarily put the belt on John Morrison before having him drop it to Chris Benoit.
Unfortunately, that would never happen, and John Morrison would carry the strap for the next few months.
He would also carry the burden of being labelled an "undeserving champion". |
Busted
When word spread that the WWE had suspended at least a dozen wrestlers for being involved in a federal drug probe, several people were quick to point to John Morrison. Hard to blame those people because the former Tough Enough winner has one of the most impressive physiques in the entire industry.
It didn't take long before John Morrison's name surfaced on reports implicating his involvement. It was revealed that he had purchased several different types of drugs (Anastrozole, HCG, Somatropin, Stanazolol, Testosterone) from Signature Pharmacy as recent as February of 2007.
The WWE was already facing pressure from the media and the government since Chris Benoit's untimely death. They knew they had to take actions to avoid further negativity towards the company. Suspensions were dished out.
The Effects
John Morrison, the reigning ECW Heavyweight Champion at the time of the announcement, appears to be one of the wrestlers suspended.
The writers have been forced to put the title on CM Punk. For some reason, they were hesitant to pull the trigger on a title switch the past few months.
When John Morrison returns, there's a good chance that the writers will keep him out of the main event scene for fear of negativity. They can still do well with the Shaman of Sexy having hardcore feuds with ECW Originals like Tommy Dreamer and Balls Mahoney.
Closing Thoughts
The only good that has come out of this is that the fans finally get to see CM Punk as champion. |
