News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Johnny Impact has the chance to capture the Impact Global Championship from Eli Drake at Bound for Glory on Sunday night.

The man formerly known as John Morrison left WWE six years ago and is now one of the most decorated independent wrestlers in the world.

The 38-year-old, from Los Angeles, California, spearheaded the groundbreaking Lucha Underground and earned Triple Crown Champion status.

He then joined Mexico's Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide, where he became the first man to hold the promotion's three top titles simultaneously.

Debuting in Impact Wrestling in August, he set his sights on seizing the company's world title from Drake and his ally Chris Adonis.

After a failed attempt at Victory Road, he now has another shot at Impact Wrestling's biggest show of the year in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

He spoke to the Mirror about Impact, a possible WWE return, the lucha style, Drake, Grado and his film Boone: The Bounty Hunter.

(Image: © Impact Wrestling)

You've been working on the independent scene for six years since leaving WWE. What brought you to Impact Wrestling at this time?

I had a couple of conversations before with people in the past, from John Gaburick [creative consultant on Impact] to Dixie Carter [former Impact chairman] and Billy Corgan [ex-Impact president], but this time it just so happened... I was offered the opportunity that I would be one of the first crossover stars, working with two major television promotions simultaneously. So I'm currently the AAA Mega Champion, on TV in Mexico, on TV every Wednesday on the El Rey Network in the United States, and I'm also now on TV on Thursdays with Impact. I had never been offered the chance to go to Impact under these circumstances before. It seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up.

You've been able to work for three major promotions at the same time - Impact Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide and Lucha Underground.

Right. I was kind of ruminating on this today. This is an overstatement, but when WWE, WWF at the time, came into power and Vince McMahon put all the other territories out of business, everything went really mainstream and New York was the number one show. Now I feel like independent wrestling is so hot, it's almost like the territories have started to re-emerge. And you've got major companies like Lucha Underground, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, AAA, CMLL [Mexico's Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre] that have got TV deals in place... 5 Star Wrestling also in the UK... then you've got these really hot independent wrestling promotions in the States: Pacific Coast Wrestling, DEFY Wrestling, All American Wrestling, WrestleCircus and then PROGRESS, ICW in the UK... I'm leaving out a ton.

In my opinion the cutting edge of professional wrestling, the coolest stuff is happening on the edge, on the fringes, at independent wrestling shows. People are lifelong fans of WWE because they grew up on it. I grew up on it. I want my kids to watch it and I'm going to take them to shows. But the product feels watered down. It doesn't feel as cool as it does to wrestle for DEFY in Seattle. Because at that show, it feels like a smarter audience that expects more and there's no creative limitations. I don't feel there's any limits to the story I can tell. That's cool man.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

Are you hoping that same kind of vibe is something that can be developed within the revamped Impact Wrestling?

Absolutely. I feel like IMPACT was in that position before. Since I've got there, I feel like a lot of things have started happening again. The company has started to look at different talents and the talent that we have there are really upping their game. I've felt really at home with the Impact locker room since day one. Guys like Bobby Lashley, I met him on his first day in WWE. Chris Adonis - Chris Masters - and I, we went to the same elementary school. EC3, I knew him from WWE. I knew him and I could have epic matches. Then there's new people that I'm getting the chance to work with too, like LAX. Everyone who works there is working hard and I feel like the whole company is undergoing a re-branding if you will. I'm hoping that I can be at the forefront of that and push it into a new Impact era. Impact was hot and it was cutting edge, when they had AJ Styles, Samoa Joe... then they fell into that kind of WCW trap, where they said 'we've got money, let's get the biggest stars'... but the biggest stars aren't cutting edge usually.

Sometimes the 'biggest stars' are not the hungriest for success, because they have already proved themselves.

Exactly. And I think they fell into that trap. Now they have come out the other side of that and it feels like the people there are hungry again. The people running it, Big John Gaburick. Scott D'Amore, Ed Nordholm, those guys are ready to prove people wrong about Impact and do something different. They have just launched the Total Access IMPACT Wrestling network app, amalgamating a lot of content and providing a platform for people who are wrestling fans to watch all kinds of stuff in one place. It's an exciting time and it's cool to be a part of it.

(Image: © Impact Wrestling)

There is a library of classic matches on that app - bouts involving the likes of Styles, Joe and Christopher Daniels - and it opens up the possibility of Impact being seen by more fans globally.

If people think of all the talent that has been through Impact down the years, from Kurt Angle, to Christian, AJ, Daniels, Joe... I'm crediting everyone now, the Briscoes... to the likes of Lashley and EC3, Nigel McGuinness, there has been so much good wrestling that maybe people forgot about or never got a chance to see, that is now going to be available.

You are now also working with new opponents, such as Drake, heading into the main event Bound For Glory 2017.

Yeah, I've known Eli Drake for years because we both live in Los Angeles, but I had never worked with him prior to coming to Impact. I was really impressed. It's going to sound like a backhanded compliment, but he really exceeded my expectations. He's really stepped up his game. That's the exact thing that Impact needs right now. Unfortunately for him, I can take even bigger steps, so when my game gets stepped up, he's in trouble!

He's somebody who initially made his name because of his charisma and his work on the microphone. Do you think his work in the ring is perhaps underrated?

That's the exact word, underrated. He has levelled up his ring work, that's really what I was mentioning just then. He's always been heralded for his mic skills and they are still there, but he's really stepped up his ring work, which is cool, because that's what I feel the champion of a promotion needs to do.

(Image: © Impact Wrestling)

What stage do you think you are at now in your career? A lot of people when they leave WWE pine for a return, but you have travelled your own path. In the UK you appeared for the likes of Preston City Wrestling, having classic matches with WWE 205 Live talent Noam Dar, and you have been part of the groundbreaking Lucha Underground, with its cinematic backstage plots and innovative action. Have you learned a lot yourself, in the ring and on the microphone?

Absolutely, my mic work has levelled up exponentially. It's funny that you bring up PCW, because that was my first exposure to a lot of the UK talent when [PCW owner] Steven Fludder brought me over there. I got to wrestle Will Ospreay and we had a really cool match, this was five years ago and he's much bigger now but he was still great back then, and I got to wrestle Noam Dar twice for PCW. When we were doing the tapings for Impact in Orlando we had a cool night when we went out and I saw Noam and a bunch of the cruiserweights and 205 Live guys. We hung out and had a cool night. That's one of the best things about wrestling, the camaraderie of making all these friends all over the world. It's strong and every once in a while you have a wild night when everyone is in the same city!

With Lucha Underground and AAA, you have also been exposed to a different style of wrestling, the luchador style. Despite previously incorporating elements of that in your own work, it must be fascinating learning from the original practitioners.

I feel like the territories have been coming back - going back to that point - look at Mexico as a territory that is really coming into its own. AAA is on Televisa, that's a huge television network in Mexico. Lucha Underground has got the roots of lucha libre from Mexico, from the originators, combined with really fast-paced, hard-hitting independent wrestling, brought by guys like Shane Strickland, Sami Callahan, Ricochet, Brian Cage... it's this crazy melting pot, that in my opinion is one of the most difficult styles to learn and compete in, what's happening in Lucha Underground. But for me, to be able to bounce from AAA, to Lucha Underground, to Impact Wrestling, which is a little more old school, to doing stuff in the UK, which can be anything - old school or high flying - I feel like a more complete wrestler now than I ever have been.

That's why I think what's happening in independent wrestling is so much cooler than what's happening in WWE. It's this blend of people that are constantly wrestling all over the world. One weekend for example I wrestle Rey Horus on Friday, Richochet on Saturday, then Pete Dunne on Sunday in Toronto. Three completely different opponent in three different cities and three of the best in the world. That's what I'm doing every weekend. It's really forcing me to stay in the best shape of my life and with regard to my wrestling, to keep evolving, keep figuring out what to do to stay competitive with these young lions man.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

As we said, people like Pete Dunne are young and they are hungry - his WWE UK colleague Tyler Bate at 20 is so young it's unbelievable! You were a young competitor when we first saw you in WWE [aged 24 in 2004].

Yeah. I'm a big fan of Pete Dunne and his work in the WWE UK Championship Tournament. It is crazy how good he is at such a young age and it's really important in a way for to me to bring it and prove that as good as he is, I'm still a little bit better!

A global influence of different scenes and styles, from Mexico to Japan and the UK, is something which Impact has tried to harness in the last year. Anthem, Impact's owners, have signed partnerships with AAA and Japan's Pro Wrestling Noah and there has been an influx of foreign talents. Looking at Bound for Glory, there is Team AAA competing in a six-man tag match and workers from across North America battling for the X Division Championship.

And let's also bring up Grado. Grado is a huge star in Scotland. I don't think a lot of people in America realise how big that guy is in his home country. I love that guy, it's fun having him around. What he brings to the table is different from a lot of other people. He's just f***ing entertaining. He's so entertaining. His place in professional wrestling is really important and the way he things about his craft and what he does is really refined, in it's own right. When you talk about this melting pot of Impact, I feel it's coming back to that time when it's getting really interesting. With LAX, the guys from AAA like El Hijo del Fantasma, Pagano, Texano, Drago... who have been wrestling in AAA for 15 to 20 years.

Texano and Fantasma are both juniors and they grew up in wrestling families. At Triplemania I was watching the Titantron, I was in the ring standing next to Texano. They were doing the RIP honouring all the wrestlers who have passed on, which is really sad and it's quite a few. Texano pointed up and he said 'Johnny, that's my dad'. They showed his dad's highlights. Then I walked backstage and Fantasma's dad is one of the commissioners in Mexico City and they all wore the same mask in that family. I got very emotional out there. It's kind of hard to articulate how important tradition is to people in Mexico and to luchadores. It's really cool to be a part of it and it's hard to describe how cool it is to someone on the outside.

I think fans can appreciate how special that wrestling lineage is. You're in a position now, approaching 40... I say that carefully...

Are you kidding me? I'm 38! Ha ha.

...you're in a position now where you have so much experience, do you see yourself as something of a teacher? Someone who can help elevate younger talents?

Absolutely. That's one of the cool things about being involved in the business. As many ideas as I have for myself as time goes on - I have too many ideas - there's a lot of ideas that might fit better for somebody else. When I'm in a situation where I can give people ideas for themselves, for characters, for promos, it's really rewarding.

It seems like you're in a really good place in your career. I imagine you get tired of people asking 'do you ever intend on returning to WWE?' or 'would you like to be a part of NXT?' But it does sound like, for the moment at least, you're very content with the space within the business you have created for yourself.

Yeah, it's kind of tough to answer that question. Because wrestling is wrestling and you can never say never in wrestling. You never know what is going to happen in the next six months. There's a ton of people in WWE who I haven't had the chance to wrestle, who I would love to have matches with. But there's still a ton of people outside of WWE who I haven't had the chance to wrestle, who I would love to have matches with. I would love to see Lucha Underground continue to grow and become something bigger than what it is - the same for Impact. It feels rewarding to be a part of something from day one like Lucha Underground and see it grow to what it is now. We had a screening party to celebrate the season finale and we were celebrating that at the same time as building up for Bound for Glory. Then at the same time I had a huge title defence against Dr Wagner for AAA. So it's a really good time and it's a fun time and I don't think I've ever been in this business where it felt there was a better time to be an independent wrestler than right now.

(Image: © Impact Wrestling)

Also, have you heard of my movie, Boone: The Bounty Hunter? This is a movie I wrote, produced - I sold my house to pay for this thing. It's out now in the United States and Canada, it took about five years. It's an action comedy, the action is a blend of parkour, pro wresting, martial arts tricks and MMA. The hero is a self-deprecating, reluctant hero, who is a reality show bounty hunter, who decides to start going after real criminals to save his show from being cancelled. It's this goofy character in real world stakes, so the danger is real. There's a couple of big film conferences coming up, where we're looking to get the movie released in the UK. It's currently available on Digital on Demand and DVD in the US and Canada and we've got deals in place already with Poland, the Middle East, South Africa and Korea.

We've had a couple of offers from the UK and I get tons of questions all the time from the UK about this movie, because I talk about it all the time and people want to be able to watch it. The answer is hopefully soon. I don't know, but I'm really excited for it to be out in the UK. I think wrestling fans in general really like this movie and respond to it. I did crazier stuff stunt-wise in this movie then I get to do in wrestling matches, just because of what the gist of a movie is, there's no limit to the craziness. I'm really excited. So follow me at Boone the Bounty Hunter on Facebook , @TheRealMorrison on Twitter and johnhennigan on Instagram for more information about Boone: The Bounty Hunter.

Bound for Glory airs exclusively in the UK on 5 Spike on Monday, November 6 at 9pm.