Former WWE Superstar Reportedly Enters Free Agency After Wrapping Up Stint With Impact Wrestling
He’s had just about as many ring names as he’s had stopovers in the world of professional wrestling, but the wrestler most recently known as Johnny Impact is now a free agent after reportedly finishing his current run with Impact Wrestling.
On Monday, PWInsider‘s Mike Johnson reported that John Hennigan — who also wrestled under the ring names Johnny Nitro and John Morrison in WWE and Johnny Mundo in Lucha Underground — wrapped up his Impact stint on Sunday night, where he lost to X-Division Champion and fellow WWE alumnus Rich Swann at the Slamniversary pay-per-view. According to Johnson, Hennigan’s contract with Impact had actually expired “several weeks ago,” but both sides were able to work out an agreement where he would stay with the company until Slamniversary and complete his storyline rivalry against Swann.
Citing unnamed sources at Impact Wrestling, Johnson added that Hennigan is still in talks with the company about potentially signing a new contract. However, the 39-year-old veteran wrestler is free to negotiate with other promotions and sign with them, which could allow him to return to WWE after eight years away from the company, or possibly sign with the newly formed All Elite Wrestling and become the latest ex-WWE talent to join the upstart promotion.
As recalled by PWInsider, Hennigan first got major exposure in the pro wrestling industry when he won the third season of WWE’s Tough Enough rookie search in 2002 while billed under his real name. After teaming with Joey Mercury and Melina Perez in the MNM stable, Hennigan broke out in the singles ranks as John Morrison, winning several titles under that ring name, including three Intercontinental Championships, per Sportskeeda. He remained with WWE until 2011 and went on to star for companies such as Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling in the following years.
Johnny Impact Reportedly Done With Impact Wrestling https://t.co/RBlWKyPScM pic.twitter.com/7sEBBu0mef
— WrestlingINC.com (@WrestlingInc) July 8, 2019
During his two-year stint as Johnny Impact, Hennigan won one Impact Wrestling World Championship and, as noted by PWInsider, got over with fans thanks to the “Mayor of Slamtown” gimmick he used until the end of his run with the promotion. He also starred in a number of independent films and TV series in recent years, including the Netflix series GLOW, where he was one of several real-life pro wrestlers to make guest appearances in the show’s first season.
At the moment, Hennigan’s wife, Taya Valkyrie, is still under contract with Impact Wrestling as the company’s Knockouts Champion. According to PWInsider, her contract is believed to expire by the end of 2019.
