IGN: Your new DVD only catalogs your WWE time under the name John Morrison and not your time as Johnny Nitro or your time in MNM. Do you know why that decision was made?
John Morrison: The usual Superstars DVD release is a 3-disc career retrospective and they wanted to try a new format. It's a one-disc engaging thing that someone can watch all in one sitting. I think they decided to have me be the experiment/prototype for it to see how the format would do. To see if it could be interesting or if it's going to sell. I think that was the thought behind it.
IGN: Did you have a hand in picking the matches that are featured on the DVD?
Morrison: It was collaboration. They had a list of matches. I went back and forth. The one in particular that I really had to lobby for is the opening match of the DVD, which is me vs. CM Punk. I had a lot of matches with CM Punk back in ECW when I was ECW Champion and they were pitching SummerSlam and a couple of other ones. They wanted to start the DVD with me as the ECW champion, winning. The match on the DVD though is the one where I lose the title to CM Punk in Cincinnati. I just thought it was by far the best match of the "me and CM Punk" feud from the ECW–era. So I fought really hard to get that on the DVD so I'm glad they went with it.
IGN: Yeah, actually I see that you lose the majority of the matches featured on the DVD. Is there something to be said there about the quality of the match not resting on whether or not you get your arm raised?
Morrison: It's important to win of course, but what I think is really cool about DVD is that it really is the best matches. The best matches that I've had regardless of the win or the loss. I think, like you said, the most important thing about Sports entertainment is to entertain and these matches on the DVD are the most entertaining matches that I've had over the past few years. So win, lose or draw - that's what's on there.
IGN: Did you have a lot of input on the between match segments on the DVD?
Morrison: Yeah. Specifically all the Parkour stuff was really my idea. I don't think anyone in the WWE really knew that I did Parkour. I mean some of the guys have seen me doing it backstage in arenas before and have always asked about it, but the office didn't know.
IGN: how long ago did you start the Parkour training?
Morrison: I started back in '08. It's been about 2 years now and it's something that's helped a lot as far as my in-ring coordination and they way I'm feeling when I'm doing stuff. It's really raised my confidence level. Double or tripled it when I'm going for any kind of complicated move.
More from John Morrison, including what he thinks of Miz mentoring Bryan Danielson, on page 2…
IGN: Aside from Parkour, what kind of athletic background do you have that's helped you in the ring?
Morrison: All through college I did a lot of break-dancing and all kinds of different Martial Arts. Kung Fu. Capoeira. Jujitsu. And Parkour's the art of movement. And when you get into movement, everything carries over from one discipline to the next. Martial Arts, break-dancing, gymnastics and Sports Entertainment – they all have a big crossover. And all that stuff is applicable to Parkour. And it's all applicable to Sports Entertainment also. So it's all in the same realm. Not too long ago I did a Kong Vault into a clothesline of Drew McIntyre. It was an Extreme Rules Match that we had about a month ago. So I've hit that. I've hit a Turn Vault a couple of times. A Palm Spin on the ropes – which is really difficult. [laughs] There are springboards too, which you can say is a wrestling move but it's also kind of in Parkour style.
IGN: As a former ECW Champion, what do you think about the ECW brand closing down?
Morrison: I think it's the end of an era. But the ECW that people fell in love with in the late '90s has been gone for a while already. What I think ECW presented was a big opportunity for a lot of WWE superstars. Definitely me. It revitalized my entire career when I moved to ECW. I became the ECW champion, and it's when I started tagging with The Miz. CM Punk debuted on ECW. That's where he started also. So I think it's going to be sad to see it go. But the show that's replacing it, the NXT show – I think hopefully it's going to do the same thing for a lot of people. It's going to give a lot of people an opportunity. I can't remember everyone on there, but I know that Bryan Danielson is on there. He's going to be one of the new guys on the show. So I hope it will give people the chance to make it big in WWE just like ECW did.
IGN: You mentioned Bryan Danielson there. A lot of eyebrows are being raised at the fact that Danielson is going to be on the show as a rookie and that The Miz will be his mentor, despite Danielson's vast experience.
Morrison: Yeah, when I saw that, I was at the ECW taping, and I actually saw Miz. He didn't know either until he saw the graphic on the screen. That he was the "Pro" and Bryan Danielson was the student. I walked by and said, "Pssh, he knows more that you do." And that's pretty much what everyone thinks. It's gonna be interesting and I think that's the point of it.
IGN: Seeing as how you got your gig in the WWE by winning the reality show Tough Enough, do you think it's strange to see that someone like yourself – even though you're not on NXT - can be a mentor on a wrestling reality show?
Morrison: Definitely. I think I'm right at the turning point where I've been around long enough that after matches people will ask what I thought of them. Like if I saw anything interesting or if I have anything to suggest. It's something where I give people advice now, but I still ask people for advice too. From other people. I haven't come full circle just yet from Tough Enough, but I'm getting there.
IGN: The title of your DVD is John Morrison: Rock Star. Being that you're modeled after Jim Morrison, do you actually listen to classic rock, or '60s psychedelic rock?
Morrison: I really do. When I grew up, my dad listened to all that stuff. Neil Young. Floyd. The Doors. The Beatles. Stones. So even now to this day it's the music I listen to a lot of the time. I'm into everything though. But on my iPod playlist I've got all that stuff. Doors. Grateful Dead. Pink Floyd. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
John Morrison: Rock Star is now available on DVD. Check out IGN's review of John Morrison: Rock Star here!