John Morrison, Johnny Nitro, Johnny Impact, Johnny Mundo, John Hennigan... Johnny Survivor?
On this season's Survivor, a mainstay of professional wrestling appears on what Hennigan called a "mainstay of pop culture," as the show runs its "David vs. Goliath" season. When speaking to me ahead of Impact Wrestling Bound For Glory (available on FITE TV), I asked Hennigan if his prior experience on WWE's Tough Enough reality series helped prepare him at all.
"They're very different, fundamentally. I think my experience in wrestling and on Tough Enough helps as anyone's life experience helps on Survivor. Whether you're an engineer or police officer, everyone has a background and a set of skills that they bring to the table. For me, navigating the world of professional wrestling prepared me more than Tough Enough itself," Hennigan told me.
To film a show like Survivor, Hennigan ended up taking a three-months sabbatical from wrestling, which was his longest since 2014. Even though he had to ask for time off, Johnny said that Impact Wrestling in particular was in favor.
"I cleared my schedule and everyone was supportive, and seemed pretty happy I was doing something. There's a lot of people who watch Survivor and a lot of Survivor fans -- that's certainly true about the Impact office. Every time I come to work and everyone's asking me what happened and I can't say anything. It's cool to be a part of something like Survivor, that's a mainstay of pop culture. It's good to be on the other side and get to experience it," said Hennigan.
When joking with Hennigan that a Fightful producer of our own sought out Survivor scoops, he was quick to say that just doesn't happen.
"Nobody gets Survivor scoops!," Hennigan laughed. "There are some pretty iron-clad NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). I think you have to chop off your left arm if you give away a secret (laughs). They don't mess around at all. Hunting for Survivor scoops would be a very tough job."
Hennigan appeared under one of his personas, Johnny Impact, at last Sunday's IMPACT Wrestling Bound For Glory. You can see Impact Wrestling Thursday nights on Pop TV, and Survivor Wednesday nights on CBS.
