Jim Cornette has predicted that John Laurinaitis might not have such a bright future in WWE as he is engulfed by scandal alongside Vince McMahon.
On July 8th it was reported that Vince McMahon agreed to pay more than $12 million to four women who were affiliated with WWE over the course of 16 years. It’s alleged that the women also signed agreements which prohibited them from discussing their relationships with McMahon.
This is on top of an earlier claim that McMahon paid $3 million in “hush money” to a former employee with whom he had an affair.
However, Vince McMahon wasn’t alone in being accused, former Head of Talent John Laurinaitis has also been wrapped up in the scandal. The original report in June claimed that the paralegal and now former employee had been given to Laurinaitis by McMahon “like a toy,” as she moved from the legal department to become his assistant.
The report on July 8th noted that Laurinaitis was also being investigated over a “$1.5 million nondisclosure agreement reached in 2012 with an employee.” Laurinaitis stepped down from his role as Head of Talent Relations at around the same time that the deal with the employee was reached. It is alleged that Laurinaitis demoted the woman after she ended their affair.
John Laurinaitis joined WWE in 2001, working his way up the backstage ladder very quickly. After a run as an on-screen authority figure from 2011 until 2012, he was relieved of his executive duties, returning to being a road agent.
He generally remained out of the limelight until March 2021 when he became Head of Talent Relations for a second time. A move which didn’t go down well with a number of female talents. As a result of the allegations, Laurinatis has been placed on “administrative leave,” and it has been reported that while he’s “done” with WWE, he’ll receive a “golden parachute” payment on his way out.
Speaking exclusively to Inside The Ropes’ very own Kenny McIntosh, Jim Cornette commenting on the situation surrounding Laurinatis, suggesting there’s no way back for the former Johnny Ace.
“Laurinaitis is probably toast. They demoted him last time and promoted Triple H ten years ago in Talent Relations because they signed on another NDA on another pay-off for John Laurinaitis’ misconduct. And then, what, like eight years later, Vince brings him back and puts him in the same position and he does the same Goddam thing! The f*ck?!”
During the conversation, Cornette also recalled Laurinaitis telling him that he couldn’t yell at the trainee wrestlers because WWE were a publicly traded company.
“I know that there is security and exchange commissions, I was reminded many times by Mr. John Laurinaitis ‘Jim, you can’t yell at the wrestling trainees. We are a publicly traded company!’ But apparently you can f*ck the paralegals and pay them $3 million to go away but you can’t yell at the wrestlers in a publicly traded company.”
You can listen to the first part of Inside The Ropes’ exclusive chat with Jim Cornette in full here.
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