John Hennigan has come to appreciate the campiness of his name-changing gimmick.
Hennigan has wrestled as John Morrison, Johnny Elite, Johnny Game Changer, Johnny Fusion, Johnny Revolver, Johnny Warrior, Johnny IMPACT, Johnny Caballero, Johnny WrestleCade, Johnny Showcase, and Johnny Downunder. He continues to add more names to the list as he keeps working for various promotions.
Speaking with Lars Frederiksen and Dennis Farrell on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Hennigan was asked whether he rolls his eyes when he comes to a new company and they suggest another name change.
“You know what, I did for a little while, but now it’s gone on so long that it’s kind of taken on this campy, weird factor that I enjoy a little bit. When you first start wrestling, or when I did at least, I made this huge list of all these cool names, like Ulysses Laserbolt, whatever, all this crap. You think about all the puns and all the stuff that you can make out of your names, and then after you do it for a while, you realize, that’s very superficial, scratching the surface. No one really cares what your name is. They want you, the story you’re gonna tell, how you’re gonna move, what you’re gonna do.
“So Johnny Podcast, Johnny Fusion, Johnny Underground, John Hennigan, my real name is what I’m doing in MLW for the first time in a long time, it doesn’t bother me at all. There’s sometimes when some promoters [are] like, ‘I think you should be Johnny Promoter’ because that’s the name of our promotion. What do you think?’ I’m always like, ‘That’s a great idea. Glad you thought of that. Let’s do that. That’s why you’re a promoter. Man, you’re smart.'”
Hennigan recently won the MLW National Openweight Championship, and he will defend the title against Jacob Fatu at MLW War Chamber.
