John Morrison as Marty Jannetty

Jannetty
Photo Credit: Online World of Wrestling

TWB superfan therick711 suggested that in the wake of this celebration of the Miz, that I officially declare John Morrison to be the Marty Jannetty of their tag team. Since I was on this bandwagon from jump, I'll gladly oblige although I still think that they fit more the Edge and Christian mold than Rockers one, I think it's worthwhile to explore the comparison, although not in a way of saying that Morrison will be an abject failure like Jannetty, but in what the WWE might see in Morrison's future. (Yes, I know I whiffed on that thinking that the WWE was going to call Morrison's number faster than Miz's, but hey, I'm not always right, y'know?)

Once upon a time, the Rockers were a team with two budding potential singles stars. Unlike the Hart Foundation, who had one breakout star in Bret Hart and a clear supporting player in Jim Neidhart, both Shawn Michaels and Jannetty had athleticism, good looks and a good sense of how to go in the ring. Michaels got the fire lit under his ass first, but if you remember correctly, Jannetty got a singles push too, at one point even beating Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship. However, what really sabotaged him wasn't lack of faith by WWE or even a lack of initial crowd reaction. The guy loved his drugs.

He could never get a consistent run going because he kept getting fired for various reasons. The first couple of times were due to drugs. The last time before his final regular reappearance in the company was more of a scapegoat situation. In 1990, a jobber named Charles Austin was paralyzed taking the Rocker Dropper wrong. Since taking personal responsibility for not taking the move correctly doesn't pay the bills, Austin sued the WWF, Michaels and Jannetty. The case went to settlement in 1994, and Austin was awarded $26.7 million. Around that time, Jannetty mysteriously disappeared from the company. It was very curious timing, but while everyone admits that it didn't have any bearing on his disappearance, you have to believe someone had to take the fall for the settlement. It wasn't going to be Michaels, who was in the midst of his rise to the top, so why not Jannetty, whose push kept getting started and stopped due to his own personal demons.

When Jannetty came back after everything blew over, but it really wasn't the same. The WWE was in the midst of changing its direction, and guys like Jannetty who weren't established before the new crop of stars came in really didn't have a chance to latch on without a serious reboot. Being given the New Rockers gimmick and teaming with a guy with an out-of-date name (even if it was the more-than-capable Al Snow in the gimmick). His lack of stardom was a mix of his own doing plus very unfortunate circumstances, not really because of his own lack of starpower. If things were different a little, no doubt Jannetty could have been a star.

So yeah, Morrison may get there sooner or later, but the fact that he still has a chance doesn't make him not the Jannetty of the team. He's not the Marty Jannetty that was actualized, but maybe he's the Jannetty who actually cashed in on his potential rather than pissed it away thanks to drugs or circumstance.

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