John Laurinaitis Looking For Allies Following Lawsuit Allegations
John Laurinaitis may have been an ally of Vince McMahon in the past, but now he’s doing his best to bury his former boss.
The lawsuit against Vince McMahon that was reported on January 25th by the Wall Street Journal is not going away any time soon. The lawsuit features claims by former WWE employee Janel Grant, who said that Vince sexually assaulted her, used her for sex trafficking and other awful things.
In addition to Vince being the main person implicated, former WWE VP of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis was also mentioned throughout the lawsuit. Vince McMahon said he would fight back against the claims against him.
It has since been reported that long-time employees that they expect McMahon to be hit with criminal charges. Those sources told Fightful Select that, “If the feds raided Vince and got his phone, they’ll almost surely find something.”
As for John Laurinaitis, he already has stated through a lawyer claiming that he is also a victim of Vince McMahon in this situation.
That story from Fightful Select went into more detail about Laurinaitis turning on Vince. A longtime former friend of Laurinaitis feels like it’s a case of “rats jumping off of the sinking ship.”
It was also added that Laurinaitis’ attorney reached out to several people in the pro wrestling business to try to find allies. It’s an attempt to gauge his best options moving forward.
What Role Did John Laurinaitis Have In WWE?
During his WWE career that started in 2001 when they bought WCW and he came over after the WCW purchase, Laurinaitis worked in many different roles including as a Producer and multiple runs as the Head of Talent Relations.
Laurinaitis was also the on-screen General Manager of Raw and briefly Smackdown as well in the early 2010s. Laurinaitis also wrestled for about 20 years before he was an executive and used the name Johnny Ace. He was most successful as a wrestler in Japan.
Nikki & Brie Garcia, who are WWE Hall of Famers The Bella Twins, issued a statement about the actions of Vince and Laurinaitis due to their association with WWE, but also because Laurinaitis was married to their mother.