Backstage Rumor on Reaction to John Laurinaitis Return to WWE, Wrestlers Concerned

– As previously reported, John Laurinaitis has been rehired to the WWE to serve as the head of talent relations once again. Fightful Select has since released a report with more details on the backstage reaction to the news.

Several wrestlers who spoke to Fightful were reportedly concerned about Laurinaitis returning to the role. One anonymous wrestler was worried on the former Johnny Ace’s insistence on embracing the WWE Diva type of talents over solid in-ring wrestlers during his time in WWE, and there is concern he will utilize that line of thinking for his hiring methods again later on.

In the time since Laurinaitis has been out of the head of talent relations role, his duties were later filled by SVP of Talent Relations, Mark Carrano. Several wrestlers currently on the WWE roster stated that while Carrano was easy to work with on the surface, he was a hard person to trust, especially after the cuts WWE made to the talent roster last April. As a result of those pandemic related cuts from last year, a lot of trust within the company has reportedly “eroded.” Several wrestlers who were let go in 2020 were given long-term promises, which were previously made by Mark Carrano, hence why wrestlers are leery to trust him.

John Laurinaitis is expected to serve under the title of General Manager of Talent, and he will report to WWE Executive Vice President of Operations Brad Blum. WWE has not yet made the news official.