Booker T Says John Laurinaitis Made Him a Better Performer, ‘Sad’ To See Him Exit WWE

Booker T says that he is sad to see John Laurinaitis go from WWE, saying that the fired executive made him a better performer. As was noted earlier this week, Laurinaitis was reportedly fired by WWE sometime last week following his being named in the investigation being done by the WWE Board of Directors into Vince McMahon’s alleged hush payments to keep affairs and sexual misconduct allegations quiet. Laurinaitis was named in a report by the Wall Street Journal as being involved with the alleged $3 million payment to a former employee who had a relationship with McMahon that kicked off the investigation.

Booker T discussed Laurinaitis on the latest episode of his Hall of Fame podcast, noting that the former Johnny Ace had a big impact on his career and that his exit marked a “sad day” for Booker.

“Laurinaitis, I give the dude a whole lot of credit for making me a much better performer,” the WWE Hall of Famer said (per Wrestling Inc). “He was very, very instrumental in my career and making me challenge myself to think a whole lot more and to be better. So, yeah man, sad day for me. I’m sad to see Laurinaitis step down. I really am.”

While Booker T may be sad to see Laurinaitis go, that doesn’t appear to be the case with most others as a report soon after word of Laurinaitis’ exit broke said that several talent and staff were excited to see him exit, with one top name calling him “the biggest snake in the business.”