Johnny Impact, Johnny Mundo, John Morrison, whatever you call him, if you’re a wrestling fan, you know him. Even outside of wrestling, John Hennigan is building a name for himself in acting. He was the titular character in both 2004’s Hercules Reborn and 2017’s Boone: The Bounty Hunter. He also played the role of Salty “The Sack” Johnson in the critically acclaimed Netflix series GLOW. The Impact Wrestling star is an ever-improving wrestler, who, by his own admission, looks at the world just a bit differently than others.
On how he comes up with his constantly changing and innovating moves, he says “it’s something that I’ve just always done. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve thought about weird (expletive deleted) and looked at things a little bit differently. I’m applying a lot of the concepts of parkour to wrestling, using the environment… Looking at every side, every piece of backstage apparatus, and thinking what if this, what if that. Going through all of those scenarios like a crazy outline in your head before the match and during the match. And through that match, you come up with a bunch of weird, cool, outside the box, stuff.”
Since 2002, Johnny Impact’s career has resembled parkour. His perpetual motion has lead to a busy, and successful, fifteen years. After finding a role as Eric Bischoff’s apprentice on Raw, he was sent back to OVW. There, he was paired up with Joey Mercury and Melina. This is where people began to take notice. During the remainder of his time in the WWE, Johnny Nitro, and later Morrison, would win several tag team titles with Mercury and The Miz, three Intercontinental Championships, and the ECW World Championship.
After his tenure with the WWE, things didn’t slow down for the Mayor of Slamtown. The following two years were spent working for independent promotions all over the globe. During that period, he took on the likes of Too Cold Scorpio, Shelton Benjamin, Sami Callihan, and Jushin Thunder Liger. During this period, Lucha Underground was developed.
From the very first episode, Johnny Mundo was one of the main focal points of the series. While Lucha Underground did a good job of developing other characters, it was clear that he was the true star. He was, after all, The Face of Lucha Underground. He was the second triple crown champion in company history. His success there, allowed him to begin working with AAA. In his brief time with AAA, Johnny Mundo won the Latin American Championship, World Cruiserweight Championship, and AAA Mega Championship. While he is still being promoted for shows with AAA, he has made no qualms about his position with the company, along with his disdain for Vampiro. “I think Vampiro means well, but sometimes, once a turd cutter, always a turd cutter.”
Upon arriving at Impact Wrestling, Johnny Impact was immediately thrust into the main event scene. He was also put in a rivalry with his fellow guest on the most recent Impact media teleconference, Eli Drake. Though he has wrestled all over the world, Johnny Impact is still chasing the Global Championship. “2018 is going to be Impact ’18. The one title that has eluded me, the Impact Global Championship is going to be sitting on my mantle, next to two hand-painted portraits of my dog, Presley.” Having held his own against the champ at Bound For Glory and several acting credits slated for this year, it looks like 2018 might truly be Impact 18.
