I watch other wrestlers. I watch movies with Jackie Chan and Jet Li and Tony Jaa. Then there's breakdancing and Capoeira - just anything I see that looks awesome that I think I could adapt in the ring. Just your typical Kung Fu, breakdancing, Capoeira moves.
John Morrison
I took Kira to a nice dinner at a place called Moonshadows in Malibu, which is by the ocean, and I organized it so a school of young dolphins swam by our table. I took her for a long walk on the beach after dinner, and I told her all the things I love about her. Then I asked her to marry me.
Out Of Your Mind Fitness is designed to train the human body to move.
I can't tell you how many spot shows little Johnny Nitro, like, pulled the chair out in the arena in Shelbyville Fair and did a moonsault only to get chewed out by Rip Rogers and Jim Cornette about it. I mean, I did years of it.
Miz & Morrison, 'The Greatest Tag Team of the 21st Century,' was fun because Miz and I have great comedic chemistry for backstage segments and our Internet show, 'The Dirt Sheet.'
Johnny Nitro was an homage to Eric Bischoff, who, I was his apprentice at the time. I liked that name. Basically, Vince McMahon thought that 'Nitro' reminded him of WCW, and when I became the ECW Champion, like, he had a couple times mentioned to me, 'If you're going to be a real star, you need a real name.'
I always liked 'Johnny Blaze,' but we announced it on TV, and it was under copyright by Marvel. Then I had 'Johnny Spade,' and that name sucked, then I had 'Johnny Nitro.' Johnny Nitro was one of my favourite names.
I think anytime you have an event for the first time ever, like a Super Bowl or WrestleMania or UFC, as the years go by, everything becomes more polished with promotion and bigger stars.
I'd love to teach Roman Reigns how to work. Just kidding.
I can't count how many times I've heard a wrestling fan say they don't have enough time to watch 'Raw.' Maybe it's less about not having the time to watch a three-hour show, but it's more about the time and the patience. You can usually sum up your three-hour 'Monday Night Raw' in a five-minute conversation.
Johnny Blaze was my character at OVW. I had all these fancy fire catchphrases: 'Call the fire department,' 'Get your fire extinguishers out, ladies.' 'By the time you hear the thunder, it's going to be too late because the lightning will have already struck.' That was all my thing.
I really like binge-watching 'Survivor.' Watching week to week is exciting, but it's difficult because I just want to see what happens.
I don't think anyone in the WWE really knew that I did parkour. I mean, some of the guys have seen me doing it backstage in arenas before and have always asked about it, but the office didn't know.
What I think ECW presented was a big opportunity for a lot of WWE superstars. Definitely me. It revitalized my entire career when I moved to ECW.
'Lucha Underground' really is the first episodic professional wrestling show. There are storylines in every promotion, but the way 'Lucha Underground' is crafted really is more of a TV show than your traditional wrestling show.
Everyone needs to move - if you're a pro athlete, a contortionist, a computer programmer, or just somebody who wants to play with their kids.
I guess when you play 'Survivor,' almost everyone gets got.
I remember when 'Stranger Things' came out, if I had to watch one episode a week, I wouldn't have been nearly as into it as I was when I just sat there and watched the whole thing in, like, two days.
WWE is so huge, and they have to crank out so many hours of television, so they don't have time to take the care and attention to detail for the entire roster.
When I grew up, my dad listened to all that stuff - Neil Young. Floyd. The Doors. The Beatles. Stones. So even now, to this day, it's the music I listen to a lot of the time.
I've been a fan of 'Survivor' for a long time. I even applied for a season. I made a really stupid audition tape. For some reason, I thought if I spoke in a German accent, whoever was casting would think it was funny and put me on the show. But that didn't work!
I can always improve in the ring; I can improve on the mic. I can consistently keep improving.
If all you are is a pro wrestler, on some level you eventually become, I feel like, a mindless drone. It's tough, man, if you're on the road and you're doing 200, 250 shows a year. It starts to take a toll on your personal life and who are you as a human.
I've been pushing and training for Lucha Underground and AAA, as well as parkour and stunt training for my movie, and I've blended those styles together for my wrestling.
One thing I really like about 'Lucha' is it breaks traditions. It's established it's own identity and a world where the character can be darker, multilayered, even supernatural at times.
Working with Lucha and Mexico and all the independent wrestling I've done has made me an exponentially better performer.
'Lucha Underground' is a combination of new psychology, new moves, and a new take on wrestling: an evolution of wrestling. In my opinion, it is entertaining. It is the kind of wrestling I want to watch. It is the kind of stories I want to tell, which is why I intend to be part of it.
If you can do a squat and a pushup, you can build up to becoming a fitness guru.
Prince Puma is one of the most talented people in the history of the business. He can do anything. He's so ridiculously talented. When you're in the ring with someone like him, that means that anything is possible.
I've been champion of every organization that I've worked for. I'm something extraordinary.
Anyone that's been with WWE, there's frustrations of feeling like you can only do so much. The women are told not to punch or to kick, to do power bombs and the power moves, and none of that exists in 'Lucha Underground.'
Sometimes with the WWE, you can get a little bit stale. Your traveling is usually with the same group, and you're generally working with the same person and the same type of match, and it's the same environment backstage.
Life is a pretty awesome ride.
Wrestling, for me, is always an awesome challenge because you have the opportunity to constantly create something new, your canvas is always the ring, and there are similarities to every match that you have and what you do.
Usually, every match in the WWE, I was the one with the stupid ideas. I'm trying to figure out how to jump off the stage or turn the logo into a weapon or obstacle.
The creative autonomy in 'Lucha Underground' is more than I felt in WWE. There is more willingness from the creative and production team to listen to input from the wrestlers in 'Lucha Underground.'
I love being able to perform in the ring in front of people, and that's the greatest feeling in the world.
I don't own any of these names. I don't own Johnny World, Johnny Mundo, John Morrison, Johnny Nitro, Johnny Blaze or Johnny Impact. None of it.
Character is everything. The reason people watch sports entertainment is to see people who are larger than life, but at the same time, there's something real about them.
When you leave WWE, like, when I left, I was thinking, 'Maybe I'll take, like, a year off, and in that year, I'll probably do a Marvel movie, maybe a couple of movies. I don't know.' And, obviously, completely unrealistic.
The thing that I didn't take into consideration is that acting, like wrestling, is a skill.
Lucha is faster paced, harder hitting, and more acrobatic than any other style of wrestling.
When I'm in the ring with somebody like Puma, it really forces me to level up and rise to the top of my game. It's sometimes just face-melting, the kind of stuff that he can do.
Hopefully, when people watch 'Lucha Underground' and WWE, Ring of Honor, New Japan, AAA, and any other promotion out there, they fall in love with pro wrestling. Pro wrestling, as it affects pop culture, is bigger than any one promotion.
I tried out for 'Tough Enough' season 2 originally and made it to the final casting episode and got cut by Kevin Dunn, who said all I wanted to do was run and flip and jump.
Johnny Nitro was like Johnny Hollywood, Johnny Danger, Johnny Blaze... it's just an obvious stage, Hollywood name. But John Morrison is more like a real person.
Football has an off-season. Basketball has an off-season. TV has an off-season. Everything has an off-season except wrestling.
Millions of wrestling fans know me as Johnny Mundo, the mayor of Slamtown.
It's easy to be the Mayor of Slamtown in the wrestling ring.
If your attitude is good and you want to have good matches and you want to be employed for the right reasons, then I think people start to see that and respect that and respect you as a person, and you can fit in anywhere.
