WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash offered a scathing assessment of former WWE executive John Laurinaitis’s methods during his time in talent relations, alleging Laurinaitis would actively seek ways to disadvantage wrestlers to impress WWE management. The comments came on the “Kliq This” podcast while discussing Laurinaitis’s recent dismissal as a defendant in the Janel Grant lawsuit after agreeing to cooperate.
When co-host Sean Oliver described Laurinaitis as a polarizing figure about whom many wrestlers had “a professional distaste,” questioning if he was an “asshole” to deal with, Nash elaborated on how Laurinaitis operated. “Depends on where you are [in] the f**king hierarchy,” Nash began. He then described what he perceived as Laurinaitis’s approach:
“He was one of those guys that would come in and to show his worth to the office. He would say, ‘Hey, I know how we can f**k these guys. We’ll put a time clock, and they got to sign it, and if they’re not in by a certain time, then we’ll fine them, and then that’s why we can get us all this, some of this f**king guaranteed money that we got all these guys, because they won’t show up at 11 o’clock.’”
Nash emphasized the problematic nature of such tactics for talent who were independent contractors. “[This is] not understanding that the number one thing that differentiates you from being an employee to being a fucking 1099, is f**king not having to show up to work on a certain time,” he stated. While Nash himself was never fined by Laurinaitis due to his own standing in the company (“By the time I had any kind of a relationship with him… it was nothing he was gonna do”), he acknowledged hearing stories of others being fined.
Nash also touched upon Laurinaitis’s current predicament following the lawsuit developments. “His life is f**ked, like he sees he’s f**ked,” Nash said. “I’m sure he’s at the point where he’s… I don’t see him at signings. I don’t know what he’s doing for money. I mean, I’m sure his life is destroyed by this.” Despite his criticisms of Laurinaitis’s professional conduct, Nash added, “So, I mean, I don’t believe in the pile-on f**king rule. His life is sh*t. So I’m not gonna sit here and f**king [pile on].” He did, however, suggest that being involved in such a situation implies Laurinaitis “obviously has continually made bad decisions.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Kliq This TV with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
