10 Ways WWE Has Changed Since John Morrison Left
9. Indie Darlings
During John Morrison's 2002-2011 run, WWE presented itself as the only game in town following the demise of both WCW and ECW, but the reality was different different for those willing to follow the fringes.
Ring Of Honor had launched just months before WWE “got the F out” in May 2002, whilst NWA: TNA’s weekly pay-per-views kicked off just weeks later. It was wild to imply that either could touch an organisation that had only just swallowed up another billion dollar wrestling enterprise, but the internal scorn for the scene masked the benefit they all could have been to somebody just like the 'Shamen Of Sexy'.
Though Vince McMahon had once profited on the territorial experience of his 1980s signees, he had little interest in those that made their names on the independent circuit two decades later. It appeared an active strike against a talent - internet favourites were renamed and retrained as per the system, regardless of seemingly blatant detrimental effect. By already being inside the monster, Morrison errantly assumed he wouldn't be consumed by it.
CM Punk and Daniel Bryan were outliers amongst many of their former colleagues until the aforementioned NXT revolution opened the doors to a world outside the “Universe”. The scene subsequently flourished further as talent took back a bit of agency - the likes of Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling were suddenly viable options for the likes of Morrison to sharpen himself after years trapped in the system.