Details Regarding John Laurinaitis’ Role In Multiple Claims Against WWE Management
There are some more details on how WWE people are viewing John Laurinaitis’ role as more scandals come out against the company.
Ashley Massaro worked for WWE from 2005 to 2008 and was a very popular superstar while she was there. Sadly, Ashley passed away in 2019 just a few weeks before her 40th birthday.
The name of Ashley Massaro has been in the news recently because, in a sworn affidavit released by her lawyer in 2019, Massaro alleged that she was raped by someone representing himself as a United States Army doctor during a WWE tour of Kuwait in 2006.
It was stated by Massaro at the time that WWE management knew about the alleged incident. However, they told her not to talk about it to protect the company’s strong relationship with the military. This was denied by WWE.
Over the last few weeks, as more information has come out regarding former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon’s alleged sexual assault incidents, new claims have fought back against WWE’s denials. Meanwhile, a lawyer for John Laurinaitis stating that his client, Vince McMahon, and other management knew of the incident.
John Laurinaitis worked for WWE for over 20 years from 2001 until his 2022 firing. Most of that time saw Laurinaitis working as the Head of Talent Relations through most of the 2000s and again for a few years before he was fired.
In an interview with News Nation, a woman named Cara Pipia, who was a close friend of Massaro, said that Ashley spoke to Vince McMahon many times about the alleged 2006 incident. Pipia also noted that former WWE executive Stephanie McMahon also talked to Massaro about the incident and “there was no compassion and no sympathy.”
There is an update on the situation from Fightful Select, which reports that the unnamed executives are being speculated by people, but they are also a mystery to many people in WWE as well. A source high up in WWE told Fightful that one of them had “long been gone from WWE” although no names were given.
John Laurinaitis Has A Reason For Blaming Vince McMahon
It was in late January when the Wall Street Journal revealed a lawsuit by former WWE employee Janel Grant against former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. The name of John Laurinaitis appears throughout the lawsuit as somebody who participated in the sexual exploitation of Grant, which includes claims of sexual assault and sex trafficking.
John Laurinaitis has since claimed that he was a victim of McMahon just like Grant was, which has led to more anger towards Laurinaitis, who has been out of the public eye for two years since WWE fired him.
A source told Fightful that Laurinaitis was considered a “fall guy” of McMahon’s since the summer of 2022 while assuming he would be taken care of financially. The source added that the possibility of charges being filed against Johnny is what led to Laurinaitis turning on McMahon and blaming Vince for everything.
One source was quoted by Fightful saying this regarding Laurinaitis:
“I’m sure he thinks he’s doing himself favors by saying management knew and proper WWE protocols were followed, but too many things happened there under his watch.”
It was also added by Fightful that a former WWE talent is thinking about telling their story through the media, but they are also considering taking legal action as well. Fightful isn’t going to release that person’s name unless that person allows it.