10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About John Morrison

7. The Real Reason He Changed From Nitro To Morrison

John Morrison
WWE.com

At some point in 2007, WWE changed Johnny Nitro's name, shortened the affectionate-sounding forename to John and ditched Nitro in favour of Morrison. The reason was simple: Hennigan looked like The Doors lead singer Jim Morrison, and someone in creative had been listening to 'Light My Fire' on repeat. Probably.

His striking resemblance to rock royalty wasn't the only reason for the switch.

During an interview with MultiMediaMouth in 2017, Morrison served up a story that makes total sense. It's so obvious that it's surprising fans didn't reject the doppelgänger bit and lean on this instead. Vince McMahon demanded the name change because he was sick to the back teeth of Johnny Nitro casting up talk of WCW.

Johnny Nitro wasn't repackaged to John Morrison 'cause the boss fancied something fresh that'd give him some nostalgic flavour. No, he wanted the change so he didn't have to hear anyone dig up old competition he'd buried six years prior. WCW was dead to Vince, and so was the word Nitro.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.