Search Results: "laurinaitis"

NEWS

John Laurinaitis Threatened To Fire A WWE Trainer Over Wearing Sweatpants

November 4, 2022

It’s a corporate thing. WWE is a rather large company and the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. They have their headquarters at Titan Towers in Stamford, Connecticut, which is run like any othe corporate office would be. This can make for some slightly strange issues though and now a former WWE star is explaining how serious things got for him at one point. During an appearance on Story Time With Dutch Mantell, former WWE coach Tom Prichard told a story about wearing workout gear to WWE headquarters. Prichard said that he felt it was appropriate since he was an in-ring coach. However, former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis said that he needed Prichard to dress more professionally. Knowing that Laurinaitis would be out of the office the following Monday, Prichard showed up in his workout clothes again. Laurinaitis even called in to check on what Prichard was wearing and threatened to fire him for not dressing appropriately, resulting in Prichard changing. Opinion..

NEWS

Former Impact Knockouts Champion Says John Laurinaitis Suggested She Lose Weight

October 5, 2022

That’s not the great way to go. Women’s wrestling has come a very long way in the last few years. After spending so much time as little more than a sideshow attraction, women’s wrestling eventually became a major part of WWE programming. The previous years were mainly focused on their appearances though, and now a former star is explaining just how bad things were. During an appearance on the Cafe de Rene podcast, former WWE developmental star Angelina Love spoke about some things former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis said to her. This included suggesting that Love lose weight, by asking how she felt her height/weight ratio worked at 5’5 and 130lbs. Love said that she was too terrified to respond to anything Laurinaitis said to her. Love wrestled in WWE’s developmental system from 2004-2007 before moving on to Impact Wrestling. Opinion: This is the kind of thing that happens far too often in wrestling and it seems to have happened to Love as well. While there are certa..

NEWS

Sasha Banks Changes Twitter Handle; No Longer Includes WWE

September 29, 2022

She’s The Boss of something different. Sasha Banks caused a buzz on social media earlier today when she abruptly changed her Twitter handle. She is now using her real name, with no mention of WWE in the handle. She went from “SashaBanksWWE” to “MercedesVarnado”. You can see the change below: Tweets by MercedesVarnado Banks has been away from WWE programming since her and Naomi walked out of the company on May 16 of this year. They were the Women’s Tag Team Champions at the time, but were unhappy with the direction that the company was going. On that day, they walked into WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis’ office with their suitcases in hand, placed their tag team championship belts on his desk, and walked out. It had been previously reported that WWE was trying to mend fences with the two following the transition of power from Vince McMahon to Triple H, but nothing had been solidified. We will continue to monitor the story and provide updates as they become available. ..

NEWS

John Laurinaitis Has Been Fired From WWE

August 8, 2022

It had been previously reported that John Laurinaitis had been placed on administrative leave following his involvement with the scandal that led to Vince McMahon retiring from WWE. According to a report from PWInsider, the company has now officially terminated Laurinaitis. According to the report, the decision to fire Laurinaitis was kept very quiet beyond a very small circle, and the termination happened within the last week. WWE has not publicly announced the dismissal as of this notice. McMahon is currently being investigated for an alleged $3 million payment to a WWE employee due to a sexual relationship between the two. The investigation also includes a variety of other possible claims of misconduct against McMahon and Laurinaitis. McMahon is said to have used his own personal money to make the payments. Laurinaitis first joined WWE in 2001 following the demise of WCW. He was promoted to Senior Vice President of Talent Relations in 2007 and resigned in 2012. However, he return..

NEWS

Update On What Vince McMahon Has/Has Not Been Doing Since WWE Retirement

August 8, 2022

It still doesn’t feel real. Vince McMahon retired from WWE last month, ending nearly forty years of him in control as the company. It seems that retired might be the nice version of what really happened, as McMahon left amid an investigation into sexual misconduct with various employees. As a result, McMahon did not leave on the best of terms, but what has he been doing since? According to PWInsider.com, McMahon has had no official contact with WWE since retiring. McMahon has not been at Titan Towers, including not even going to the building’s gym. McMahon is not legally allowed to run the company in any capacity due to his retirement and could face legal issues if he did something behind the scenes. In addition, John Laurinaitis is officially still part of WWE but is likely to leave as soon as the investigation into him ends. Opinion: I know it has been a few weeks now but this is still hard to actually accept. McMahon did not get to leave on his own terms (at least in theory) but h..

NEWS

It Might Help: WWE Talent Meeting Held Before Monday Night Raw, Changes Coming

July 26, 2022

It might be in order. There have been a lot of changes to WWE in the last few weeks and those changes are likely to continue for the time being. The company has undergone a series of major shakeups behind the scenes which could cause a lot of changes in front of the camera. That meant that an explanation was in order and that was the case this week before Monday Night Raw. According to Fightful Select, there was a talent meeting held before this week’s Monday Night Raw with Triple H in charge. Triple H announced that he wanted to have a new level of transparency in WWE and for work to be more fun than it was before. The meeting was said to have been positive, as it looked to reverse the issues of wrestlers having to wait a long time to meet with Vince McMahon if necessary. Triple H took over as head of creative and Head Of Talent Relations in the last few days following the departures of John Laurinaitis and Vince McMahon. Opinion: This is one of those things where it sounds great on..

NEWS

BREAKING: Triple H Returns As EVP of Talent Relations

July 22, 2022

The Game is back. WWE issued the following press release today, regarding Triple H and his executive role within the company: WWE today announced that effective immediately, Paul Levesque will resume his executive position as EVP, Talent Relations. “I look forward to returning to my prior position as head of Talent Relations. I’m healthy, fired up, and ready to take charge,” said Levesque. Triple H replaces John Laurinaitis, who has been on administrative leave since June 21 due to his involvement in the recent scandal involving Vince McMahon. McMahon currently under investigation for paying several million dollars in hush money to cover up inappropriate relationships that he had with women in the past. It had been reported that several members of the WWE roster were “very happy” when Laurinaitis was placed on his administrative leave. The Game has been battling several health issues recently, including a cardiac event last year that forced him to step away from his duties within ..

NEWS

Say Goodbye: WWE Executive Said To Be “Done” Due To Role In Vince McMahon Scandal

July 9, 2022

He should be fine. WWE continues to be shaken by the allegations against Vince McMahon and the investigations that have followed. McMahon is accused of sexual misconduct with several women, as well as paying them to sign non-disclosure agreements. This is one of the biggest scandals in years in WWE, but McMahon is not the only person accused in the situation. In addition to McMahon being implicated in the scandal, John Laurinaitis was mentioned as well, with the first woman mentioned said to have been “passed” to Laurinaitis “like a toy”. According to Fightful Select, Laurinaitis is considered done in WWE, but is said to have a golden parachute financial package. Female wrestlers were said to be upset that he was named Head of Talent Relations again last year. Opinion: Laurinaitis being gone from the company is not exactly a surprise as he did not seem to be the most popular name in the place. At the same time, he is someone who is a bit more replaceable in WWE and that might have ha..

NEWS

WRESTLING RUMORS: WWE Trying To Mend Fences With Sasha Banks

June 30, 2022

Call it a hope spot. There are a lot of people in WWE and several of them have been around the company for a long time. At some point though, everyone is going to have to leave for one reason or another, with some of them not getting to leave on their own terms. Unfortunately some of these splits can be a bit nasty, but WWE seems to want to fix up a recent issue. Last month, Naomi and Sasha Banks walked out on WWE, taking the Women’s Tag Team Titles with them. As a result, the titles have been vacated and neither Banks nor Naomi have been seen since. However, according to Wrestlinginc.com’s Raj Giri, while Banks was released on June 10, it has not been announced by WWE. The release was handled by the Vice President of Business And Legal Affairs for Talent rather than then Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. The company is also said to be trying to smooth things over, but it is not clear what this would mean for either Banks or Naomi. I deleted the original tweet since there wa..

NEWS

Negative Backstage Reaction To Major WWE Shakeup

June 25, 2022

Talent doesn’t relate well to him. WWE has been shaken up in a lot of ways in recent weeks and there is a chance that several of those changes are going to continue. This includes several backstage moves related to the Vince McMahon affair scandal. One of the moves involved a new boss in charge of a pretty important department and some wrestlers are not happy about the change. As a result of his involvement in the McMahon investigation, John Laurinaitis has been placed on administrative leave from his role as Head of Talent Relations and Bruce Prichard has taken the position According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the backstage reaction to the change has been mostly negative, as Prichard is seen as a quiet person who does not interact with the wrestlers. Laurinaitis was seen as more approachable and willing to talk. Opinion: The more I hear about all of these changes, the more worried I am about how the whole thing is going to do. At the end of the day, it seems there are peo..

NEWS

KB’s Review: Nothing Changes

June 24, 2022

I picked a heck of a week to do a column in advance last week because everything went haywire. Ignoring the whole Jeff Hardy fiasco (which seems like something that is far from over), there was the crazy shakeup at WWE. There were changed made in the last week or so that would have seemed unthinkable not so long ago but now have come to be a reality. That’s what we are going to be looking at this week (shocking I know), plus one bit of fallout that might make things all the worse, at least for fans. So as you probably know, WWE is officially investigating Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis for an affair with a WWE employee. McMahon reportedly paid to keep her quiet, as well as raised her salary when the affair began before passing her to Laurinaitis “like a toy”. I’ll let your skin crawl for a bit after that thought before moving on to what this has already meant. The initial fallout from these shenanigans has already started, with McMahon taking a step back from his roles as CEO and..

NEWS

WRESTLING RUMORS: Triple H Returning To Old Position

June 23, 2022

Welcome back! To say there has been a lot of upheaval behind the scenes in WWE in recent months would be a huge understatement. The company’s front office has been turned upside down in a lot of ways and that is probably going to be continuing in the near future. It can be interesting to see how things shake out, and now another big change seems to be putting things back to how they were before. According to John Pollock of Post Wrestling, Triple H is reportedly back at the WWE Performance Center and has said that he is “back”. This comes after Triple H has been away from NXT since August of 2021 when he suffered a cardiac event. There is no word on what Triple H will be doing or if he is going to have anywhere near the authority that he had before. This change follows John Laurinaitis being placed on administrative leave and Bruce Prichard being named the new Head of Talent Relations. According to multiple sources, Paul Levesque was in Orlando today and spoke at the Performance Cent..

NEWS

Backstage Reaction To John Laurinaitis’ Removal As Head Of WWE Talent Relations

June 21, 2022

He might not be back. WWE has a lot of people who come together to make the promotion work. This includes the wrestlers in front of the camera, but also several people who stay backstage. There are a lot of names that fans might recognize for their previous or current efforts, but now one of those names very well might not be around any longer after a scandal has taken place. Earlier this week, John Laurinaitis was placed on administrative leave from his role as heat of talent relations in WWE due to his investigation in a scandal involving an affair with a WWE employee. Bruce Prichard has taken Laurinaitis’ place while still being part of WWE creative. According to Fightful Select, several backstage in WWE believe that Laurinaitis is “as good as gone”, with many of them being happy that Laurinaitis is gone. There is however a worry about Prichard holding both roles, as it could become an issue in regards to working with the two departments. Opinion: This whole ordeal has turned into..

NEWS

BREAKING: John Laurinaitis Placed On Administrative Leave

June 21, 2022

The saga continues. According to a report from Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, John Laurinaitis has been placed on administrative leave from WWE. This is due to his potential involvement in the current scandal involving Vince McMahon and an inappropriate relationship with an employee within the company. The report also states that Bruce Pritchard will serve as the Interim Head of Talent Relations. Fightful can confirm that talent were informed that Bruce Prichard is now interim Head of Talent Relations. John Laurinaitis was placed on administrative leave. — Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 21, 2022 The WWE board presented a report stating that McMahon passed the employee over to John Laurinaitis “like a toy”. It is unknown what that is referring to at this current time. McMahon is currently being investigated for an alleged $3 million payment to a WWE employee due to a sexual relationship between the two. The investigation also includes a variety of other possible c..

NEWS

Update On John Laurinaitis’ Status During WWE Scandal

June 19, 2022

What about him? The biggest wrestling story of the year, and also perhaps the biggest in several years, has been that of Vince McMahon stepping back from his role as WWE CEO and Chairman of the Board. This comes after McMahon was investigated for an alleged affair with a WWE employee, but McMahon was not the only name mentioned. So what about the other person? The story on the investigation into McMahon included a statement saying that he passed the employee over to John Laurinaitis “like a toy”. According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Laurinaitis was not present at this week’s SmackDown, but he was never scheduled to be in the first place. Should he not appear as scheduled next week on Monday Night Raw, it would be seen as a very bad sign for his future. Opinion: Laurinaitis has been a bit of a wild card in this whole thing as McMahon has gotten the attention, as he should have. However, Laurinaitis is likely going to be in some very hot water of his own and I’m really not sure if he..

NEWS

Vince McMahon Accused Of Affair With And Payment To WWE Employee, Investigation Underway

June 16, 2022

This could be big. There is no one in the wrestling world more powerful than Vince McMahon. The owner and Chairman of the Board of WWE, McMahon is able to change the wrestling industry in the blink of an eye. A decision made by McMahon can shake things up in a huge way, but now a decision being made about McMahon might be making quite the wave of its own. According to the Wall Street Journal, the WWE Board Of Directors is investigating an alleged $3 million payment from McMahon to a WWE employee due to a sexual relationship between the two. The investigation also includes a variety of other possible claims of misconduct against McMahon and John Laurinaitis. McMahon is said to have used his own personal money to make the payments. The woman was hired as a paralegal in WWE at a salary of $100,000 a year, which was reportedly doubled when her relationship with McMahon began. McMahon then was said to have given her to Laurinaitis “like a toy”. There is no word on what could happen to McM..

NEWS

It’s Not You, It’s Us: More On Paige’s Upcoming WWE Departure

June 14, 2022

There’s your reason. Several wrestlers have left WWE over the last few years and it can cause quite the set of issues in the company. Losing that much on-screen talent in so little time can be a big loss, but there are several other names leaving the company without being on screen in a long time. That was the case with a rather prominent name and now we know more about what happened. Earlier this week, Paige announced that she is leaving WWE after a ten plus year run with the company. During a recent Twitch stream, Paige opened up on her departure from the company, saying that WWE decided not to renew her contract rather than her choosing to leave. Paige also said that WWE was respectful and that Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis said they would keep the doors open, though Paige said “that’s usually what companies say.” As a result of her contract not being renewed, Paige does not have a no compete clause, allowing her to debut anywhere she likes when her contract expires on July 7...

NEWS

BREAKING: Sasha Banks & Naomi Stripped Of Women’s Tag Team Championships

May 21, 2022

The biggest story of the week in professional wrestling has undoubtedly been the events that occurred on Raw this past week. Sasha Banks and Naomi were not happy with the creative direction of their characters that evening, left the Women’s Tag Team Championship belts on the desk of John Laurinaitis and left the arena before the show went on the air. WWE addressed the controversy on Smackdown this week. Right before the main event, Michael Cole said that Banks and Naomi “let us all down.” He would then explain what had happened on Monday night and said that the duo disappointed millions of fans and their fellow superstars. Cole concluded by saying that Banks and Naomi have been suspended indefinitely and that an upcoming tournament would determine the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. You can see the entire announcement below: Sasha Banks and Naomi have been suspended indefinitely. There will be a future tournament to crown the new WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. pic.twitter..

NEWS

WWE Issues Statement On Sasha Banks/Naomi Walkout

May 17, 2022

It has been previously reported that Sasha Banks and Naomi walked out of the Raw taping this evening due to their unhappiness with the creative direction of the show’s main event. As a result, the original 6-pack challenge match had to be changed. WWE has released a statement about the incident, which reads as follows: When Sasha Banks and Naomi arrived at the arena this afternoon, they were informed of their participation in the main event of tonight’s Monday Night Raw. During the broadcast, they walked into WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis’ office with their suitcases in hand, placed their tag team championship belts on his desk, and walked out. They claimed they weren’t respected enough as tag team champions. And even though they had eight hours to rehearse and construct their match, they claimed they were uncomfortable in the ring with two of their opponents – even though they’d had matches with those individuals in the past with no consequence. Monday Night Raw i..

NEWS

WATCH: John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis From Over the Limit 2012

May 2, 2022

Another heel turn. WWE has posted a new video to its YouTube channel, in which they show the full match between John Cena and John Laurinaitis from Over the Limit 2012. The Big Show made his return and turned on John Cena to give Laurinaitis the win. You can see the video in its entirety below: [This post contains video, click to play] From WWE.com: Clad in a sheen jumpsuit, emblazoned with the hollow words “People Power,” Laurinaitis sulked to the ring like a man headed down the green mile. From the get-go, the match unfolded like a televised mugging as the General Manager was relentlessly contorted and battered by Cena, who took slow pleasure in manhandling the General Manager—at one point dumping a garbage can full of arena swill over Big Johnny’s head and cooling off the shame-faced GM with a fire extinguisher. Throughout the main event humiliation, the Cenation leader toyed with his prey, finding unique ways to torture Big Johnny. Cena even locked Laurinaitis in the STF for ..