When John Morrison left World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), he originally said he did so to heal his banged up body (which never had the proper time to recover from his neck surgery) and "get refreshed."
Now, he's giving another reason -- he wanted to improve his promos. From his interview with Colt Cabana on the Art of Wrestling podcast:
"I left on good terms. I think one of my biggest drawbacks, or weaknesses, in wrestling -- whether it was true or not -- was always my ability to deliver a good promo. That was what was holding me back according to the powers that be. So part of the reason that I left was to take care of that issue. And sometimes wrestling is all about positioning. Whether or not I could cut a good promo really doesn't matter as much as whether or not the powers that be think that I can cut a good promo. ... There's something to be said about actually cutting good promos. That's definitely something that I need to improve on. I left partly to work on that and partly to try to reposition myself to gain a little bit of leverage so that when I go back, I'll be worth more than I was when I left."
Since he left WWE, Morrison has been working like crazy doing things like improvisational comedy and acting. Apparently, he believes doing so will help him on the microphone once he makes his way back to the squared circle.
If this video is any indication, he's doing well for himself.
That said, "the powers that be" were right on the money in their assessment of Morrison's shortcomings. Some would argue the bigger issue was his lack of credibility in regards to his offense, as the Parkour style they were trying to get over looked fancy enough but didn't lend itself to a higher level of talent. Which is to say, that's simply not something you're going to see out of a main event star in WWE.
While that may be silly, it's the status quo and it's not going to change. Even if Morrison drastically improves on the microphone, he'll still face an uphill battle due to his size and reputation. But so did a guy like Shawn Michaels before he broke through as a headliner and, eventually, one of the greatest of all time.
Anyone think Morrison can get anywhere close to that?