John Morrison and The Miz

John Morrison (right) and The Miz (left)

Before they formed a partnership, John Morrison and The Miz were opponents, competing for the ECW Championship in October 2007.[1][2][3][4] On the November 16, 2007, episode of SmackDown!, then-rivals Morrison and The Miz were paired together to face Matt Hardy and MVP in a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship, which they subsequently won after MVP turned on Hardy.[5][6] After winning the title, Morrison and The Miz brought the title to the ECW brand. Soon after winning the WWE Tag Team Championship, the two were no longer portrayed as enemies, but rather as trusting friends. They would defend the title on numerous occasions on both ECW and SmackDown as well as multiple pay-per-views against opponents like Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang,[7][8] Jesse and Festus,[9] and Tommy Dreamer and Colin Delaney.[10][11] In February 2008, Morrison and Miz were given a streaming segment on WWE.com named The Dirt Sheet in which they mocked other wrestlers and facets of pop culture. Morrison and Miz co-wrote each episode of The Dirt Sheet each week, and Morrison credits his time in college studying film with contributing to the success of the show.[12] At WrestleMania XXIV, Morrison competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match, which was won by CM Punk. Despite being unsuccessful, Morrison had a standout performance in the match, in which he performed a moonsault from the top rope to the outside of the ring while holding onto a ladder.[13]

During the sixth annual WWE Draft on June 23, 2008, on Raw, the duo defeated the Hardys (Matt and Jeff) which earned ECW its only draft pick, which turned out to be Matt Hardy.[14] At The Great American Bash in July, Morrison and The Miz lost the titles in a four team tag match to Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder, ending their reign at 250 days; however, neither The Miz nor Morrison were pinned during the match.[15][16]

After losing the tag team title, Morrison and The Miz entered a feud with ECW newcomers Evan Bourne and Ricky Ortiz, who they had previously mocked (and continued to do so) on the Dirt Sheet.[17][18] They also had an Internet-centered feud with Raw's Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG) based on which WWE.com online show was better: the Dirt Sheet or Cryme Tyme's Word Up.[19][20][21][22] Morrison and The Miz won a match between the two teams at Cyber Sunday, which was voted for by fans over a World Tag Team Championship match.[23]

Morrison and Miz as World Tag Team Champions

Throughout October, the team mocked D-Generation X (DX) (Triple H and Shawn Michaels), using phrases such as "Are you 50?" instead of DX's usual catchphrase "Are you Ready?" to mock their ages due to DX being formed in 1997, when both Morrison and Miz were in high school.[24][25][26][27] On the October 28 episode of ECW, their feud with DX continued as they mocked them after a live Dirt Sheet and then proceeded to attack two impostors playing Michaels and Triple H.[26] On the 800th episode celebration of Raw, Morrison and The Miz competed in a match against DX, and were defeated.[27] During the match, they mocked DX's signature moves, with Morrison successfully performing a superkick (mocking Michaels' Sweet Chin Music) on Triple H as well as The Miz attempting a Pedigree on Triple H.[27] Following their feud with DX, they continued to feud with Cryme Tyme.[28] Morrison and The Miz were part of John "Bradshaw" Layfield's team at the annual Survivor Series but they lost to the team of Shawn Michaels.[29][30]

On the December 8 episode of Raw, Morrison and The Miz won the 2008 Slammy Award for Tag Team of the Year and also for the Best WWE.com exclusive, for their show, The Dirt Sheet.[31][32] On December 13, at a house show in Hamilton, Ontario, Morrison and The Miz won the World Tag Team Championship for the first time, defeating Kofi Kingston and CM Punk. The duo then engaged themselves in a feud with The Colóns (Carlito and Primo). They later defended their titles against the Colóns but lost in a match for The Colón's Tag Team Championships. On the pre-show of WrestleMania XXV, Morrison and the Miz lost the World Tag Team title to The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) in a Lumberjack match to unify the World Tag Team and the WWE Tag Team Championships.[33]

Morrison wrestling Miz in December 2009

On the April 13 episode of Raw, The Miz lost a match to Kofi Kingston after Morrison accidentally got Miz disqualified, which gave Raw a draft pick in the 2009 WWE draft. The pick was then revealed to be The Miz, and he subsequently attacked Morrison, ending their partnership.[34] Two days later on April 15, Morrison was drafted to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft.[35]

In October 2009, WWE premiered a new pay-per-view event based around inter-brand matches. At the time, The Miz was the second-tier champion on Raw after winning the United States Champion and was subsequently booked against SmackDown's Intercontinental Champion, John Morrison.[36] In the build up to their first match since splitting, the two hosted a one-off edition of The Dirt Sheet on the October 16 episode of SmackDown where the two compared themselves to '80s tag team The Rockers, debating over which is more comparable to the successful Shawn Michaels and which was the less successful Marty Jannetty.[37] At Bragging Rights, Miz pinned Morrison to become the only member of the Raw roster to win an interpromotional match.[38] The following month at Survivor Series, Miz captained a team of five wrestlers against Team Morrison in a five-on-five Survivor Series elimination match and once again bested his former partner.[39] At the Tribute to the Troops in December, Miz rolled up Morrison for the win in a singles match. The two had another match the following March, when John Morrison and his new partner R-Truth challenged for the Unified Tag Team Championships held by The Miz and the Big Show. Morrison was finally able to defeat The Miz in a singles match, however Morrison could not pick up the victory for the titles at WrestleMania XXVI.[40]

In 2011, after The Miz won the WWE Championship, he retained the title against Morrison in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the January 3, 2011, episode of Raw. At May's Extreme Rules, Cena won the title in a triple threat steel cage match against The Miz and Morrison.[41] Later that year in November, The Miz and Morrison had another Falls Count Anywhere match, in which The Miz caused Morrison a scripted injury; this was used to write Morrison off WWE television as he decided not to renew his contract.[42][43]

On September 26, 2019, it was reported by Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Insider that Hennigan had re-signed with WWE, being confirmed on December 3 on WWE Backstage.[44][45][46] He made his return on the January 3, 2020 episode of SmackDown under his John Morrison ring name and was paired with The Miz.[47][48] On the January 31 episode of SmackDown, the duo teamed together for the first time in nearly 11 years, defeating Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker), Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado), and The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) in a fatal four-way tag team match, thus earning an opportunity to face The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Super ShowDown, winning the titles on February 27.[49]

On March 8, the duo had their first title defense against five other teams in the second-ever tag team Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber event, eliminating The New Day and The Usos themselves at the end of the match to retain the title.[50] At WrestleMania 36, after the Miz's absence due to illness, Morrison defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championships by himself in a ladder match against Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso, in which he was successful.[51][52] On the April 17 episode of SmackDown, the duo lost the titles back to The New Day after Miz unsuccessfully defended the titles by himself in a triple threat match against Big E and Jey Uso, ending their reign at 50 days.[53] At Money in the Bank the following month, Morrison and Miz unsuccessfully attempted to regain the championship in a fatal four-way tag team match also involving Lucha House Party (Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and The Forgotten Sons (Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake).[54]

After failing to regain the tag team championships, Morrison and Miz started a rivalry with Universal Champion Braun Strowman.[55][56] At Backlash, the duo competed for Strowman's title in a two-on-one handicap match, but lost.[57] They began a feud with Otis and Tucker of Heavy Machinery in pursuit of Otis' Money in the Bank contract. The Miz then convinced management to trade Otis' girlfriend Mandy Rose to Raw as a way to "help Otis" so he could focus on cashing in the contract, but after insults, Otis attacked Miz and Morrison.[58] The Miz then threatened to file a lawsuit against Otis if he did not forfeit the Money in the Bank contract. Otis, backed up by Tucker, said he would not forfeit the contract.[59] During the 2020 WWE Draft, Otis remained on SmackDown while Tucker, Miz, and Morrison were all drafted to Raw.[60][61] Despite being drafted to separate brands, the trial over the Money in the Bank contract commenced on the October 23 episode of SmackDown with WWE legend John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) serving as judge. After the hearing, JBL initially ruled in favor of Otis, but after Miz bribed JBL with a large sum of money, JBL changed his ruling in favor of Miz and ordered that Otis would defend his Money in the Bank contract against Miz at Hell in a Cell. At the pay-per-view, Tucker betrayed Otis by hitting him with the briefcase, allowing Miz to pin Otis and claim the briefcase for himself, thus making Miz the third wrestler to win the briefcase twice, and the second not to do so in the ladder match.[62][63]

Morrison and Miz then began a feud with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. Miz cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event during a TLC match match between McIntyre and AJ Styles, making the match a triple threat in the process, but was unsuccessful as McIntyre retained his title.[64] However, on the December 28 episode of Raw, Miz had the contract returned to him as the cash-in at TLC was ruled invalid due to Morrison cashing in the contract on his behalf (as only the contract holder himself can cash it in).[65]