Spoiler: Former WWE Star Returns And Aligns With QT Marshall On AEW Rampage
In the lead-up to Sunday's AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door, AEW taped the 6/23 episode of "AEW Rampage" immediately after last night's live "AEW Dynamite" at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. According to several reports, a former WWE star returned to AEW programming at the taping and aligned himself with QT Marshall's QTV stable.
** SPOILERS BELOW **
The returning WWE star was none other than Johnny Elite, AKA John Hennigan or John Morrison. According to spoilers shared by "F4Wonline," The Acclaimed and "Daddy Ass" Billy Gunn defeated a trio of enhancement talents at the "Rampage" taping, following which they wound up in a staredown with QT Marshall and the rest of QTV. Thereafter, Hennigan appeared out of nowhere and ambushed The Acclaimed to seemingly align himself with Marshsall's squad.
Johnny (Elite?) is here! #AEWRampage #AEWDynamite pic.twitter.com/NO1vnuXrzb
— That's Freakin' Wrestling Podcast (@ThatsFNW) June 22, 2023
It's unknown if Hennigan has returned to AEW on a full-time basis, or if his cameo was another one-time appearance. Since his dismissal from WWE in November 2021, Hennigan has wrestled three matches for AEW, with all three bouts taking place in 2022. He suffered losses to Samoa Joe and Miro on "AEW Dynamite" last year, but also wrestled on "AEW Dark" in a victorious effort against Marg Queen.
While his AEW appearances have been sporadic, Hennigan has remained an active competitor for promotions such as AAA, MLW, and PROGRESS over the past year or so. Earlier this year, he returned to MLW at the Blood and Thunder pay-per-view under the ring name Johnny Fusion and proceeded to win the National Openweight Championship from Davey Richards. He subsequently lost the title to Jacob Fatu at the April 6 War Chamber event.