Former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis has once again started to make appearances following his departure from WWE in 2022, then initially being named, then dropped from, the civil lawsuit accusing Vince McMahon of sex trafficking at the beginning of 2024. Recently, "Johnny Ace" appeared during a live in-studio signing for Signed By Superstars, streamed to Facebook, where he answered questions from fans as he autographed photos from both his time in the ring, and as an authority figure in WWE.During the stream, fan asked Laurinaitis what the backstage environment was like following CM Punk's 2011 "pipe bomb" promo on "WWE Raw." Laurinaitis said that he, Vince McMahon, and the producers weren't nervous, but conversations were had behind-the-scenes at the time."There [were] discussions about what happened and how [we] could not have stuff like that happen going forward," he said.Laurinaitis was not yet an on-screen character in WWE at the time of the promo, but he was referenced by Punk. "The Voice of the Voiceless" said that Laurinaitis would tell then-chairman McMahon everything he wanted to hear, and Laurinaitis was a "glad-handing, nonsensical, d*****bag yes-man."Following the promo, Laurinaitis would start appearing on-screen alongside McMahon, and even attempted to recreate the Montreal Screwjob in Punk's WWE Championship match against John Cena at Money in the Bank, something Cena did not allow to happen. The backstage official began to appear consistently on the show, and was named "Raw" General Manager by McMahon in October.If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Signed By Superstars" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
