On a recent episode of Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru, Jim Cornette and co-host Brian Last discussed the news of John Laurinaitis being booked for his first wrestling-related appearance since his exit from WWE. Laurinaitis is scheduled to appear for World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling this month.
During the segment, Cornette analyzed a recent interview Laurinaitis gave to the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling, where the former executive discussed his future in the industry and his past role within WWE.
One of the primary points of contention involved Laurinaitis’ claim regarding his time managing WWE’s developmental system. In the interview, Laurinaitis stated, “I ran the WWE developmental system for 20 years”. Cornette immediately challenged the accuracy of this timeline, noting that Laurinaitis did not take over the role until 2004, following the departure of Jim Ross.
“20 years? He didn’t take over for Jim Ross until 2004,” Cornette stated. “That was only 22 years ago, and he’s had numerous interruptions”.
Cornette commented on Laurinaitis’ choice of words when describing his passion for developing new wrestlers. Laurinaitis stated, “So my one love is to help and develop and groom young talent and that’s what I think the strategy is for Big Time Wrestling. It’s now to find young talent and develop them into the stars of tomorrow”.
Cornette criticized the use of the word “grooming,” given the current public perception of the term and Laurinaitis’ specific professional history.
“It’s either complete stunning cluelessness or the stunning balls to use the word ‘grooming,'” Cornette remarked. “Mama Cornette, that used to be a compliment when she would say, ‘Well, he’s a very well-groomed young man.’ It meant you were tidy, you were neat, you were clean. That’s not what it means to most people anymore”.
Cornette also addressed Laurinaitis’ suggestions that he might take on a promotional or executive with Big Time Wrestling. Laurinaitis indicated in the interview that he hoped to be a part of the promotion “whether it’s behind the scenes or help them with promoting and stuff like that”.
Cornette dismissed the idea that Laurinaitis would be assuming an actual executive position, noting that the promotion does not have a formal developmental school or international travel budget.
“He’s not going to be running their developmental because they don’t have one,” Cornette explained. “He’s not going to be training at their wrestling school because they don’t have one of those either. If they bring in any international talent, it will probably be because said international talent is already on a goddamn American holiday. They don’t expect to be drastically increasing their goddamn international air travel bill”.
Cornette concluded by suggesting that Laurinaitis’ statements were an attempt to maintain a sense of professional relevance. “He’s just making sh*t up because he doesn’t know, I guess, what the f**k they’re even doing. He’s delusional. I guess he’s trying to make himself sound somewhat important still”.
Brian Last referred to Laurinaitis as “Defendant C,” a reference to the legal proceedings surrounding Laurinaitis and his previous tenure in WWE. Last noted that Laurinaitis had “switched sides a few times in that case” and argued that his overall impact on the wrestling industry was significantly negative.
“This guy was horrible for wrestling. This guy made awful decisions,” Last stated. “This guy had no instincts. Literally, couldn’t pick the right one-legged wrestler. He couldn’t pick talent. He picked talent out of a lingerie catalog”.
Last was highly skeptical of Laurinaitis’ interview comments, particularly his aspirations to help develop “the stars of tomorrow” with Bobby Fulton’s promotion. He argued that Laurinaitis’ presence brought the “wrong kind of attention” to the event and questioned the strategy of promoting him so heavily.
Last also dismissed Laurinaitis’ self-professed passion for “grooming” talent:
“He couldn’t work, and he couldn’t do promos, and eventually they made him another one of their characters on air at the same time that apparently he was lovers with Vince McMahon in whatever twisted fking st they had going on”.
While Last expressed personal fondness for Bobby Fulton, describing him as a “really good guy” with a “good heart,” he concluded that booking Laurinaitis was a professional error. He noted that a previous attempt to book Laurinaitis a few years ago was canceled due to heavy public outcry and suggested that current demand for a “John Laurinaitis reclamation project” remains non-existent.
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