WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long did not hold back his feelings regarding former WWE executive John Laurinaitis, who was recently dismissed as a defendant in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon and WWE after agreeing to cooperate. Speaking on the “Road Trip After Hours” podcast, Long labeled Laurinaitis a “coward” for his actions and alleged that Laurinaitis abused his power during his tenure in WWE, with Long himself being a victim.
The discussion arose following news that Laurinaitis would provide evidence in Grant’s case, where she alleges years of sexual abuse and trafficking involving Vince McMahon. When asked if he was surprised by Laurinaitis’s decision to cooperate, Long was emphatic. “Does it sound like the John Laurinaitis you know?” co-host Mac Davis asked, to which Long replied, “Exactly. Yeah, yeah.”
Long then directly addressed Laurinaitis’s character and past actions: “If what we just heard, if all this is true, okay, he just turned on the man that made him somebody. He wasn’t nothing until he came to work for Vince. Vince put him in charge of talent relations, gave him a bunch of power and stuff, and he abused that power because I was there, and I was one of the guys that he abused.” Long stated he wouldn’t say too much to avoid involvement but affirmed, “what I’m saying is the truth.”
He further criticized Laurinaitis’s perceived disloyalty. “If you don’t care nothing about the man that that he worked for and made him what he is today, then you know damn well he didn’t care nothing about me,” Long asserted.
When Davis suggested Laurinaitis was taking a deal to get out of trouble, Long agreed, calling it the act of a “coward.” “That’s our that’s what you call a coward. Yeah. I mean, okay, if you was in, if you was in there with the man, and if it’s true, you know what I mean, just tell the truth or whatever and be done with it.” Long dismissed the idea that cooperating would ultimately benefit Laurinaitis’s conscience: “That by him copping out and stooge it, or whatever you want to call it, that ain’t gonna that… he may get off, may have, may get free, or may not get convicted… but he’s got to live with that for the rest of his life.”
Mac Davis added that the situation, with its various characters and unfolding drama, “is real life playing out that is absolutely incredible,” comparing it to a crime documentary. A commenter on the show, Pretty Classy Lady, also stated, “Laurinaitis has been full of it for decades,” a sentiment Mac Davis acknowledged hearing from others long before.
Teddy Long concluded his thoughts on the matter by saying that while such behavior isn’t unusual in wrestling, “a lot of it just hasn’t been been exposed and brought out.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Road Trip After Hours with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
