A lot of it depends on what Triple H intends to do; I'm not talking about the storyline, but rather how he plans to spend his time with the company now that he's coming back.
When Trips first showed up dressed to the hilt (looking like a refrigerator wearing a suit), I thought he was going to function permanently as an on-air authority figure, climbing into the ring only when he felt that someone needed to be taught a lesson (C.M. Punk). But after the short program with Kevin Nash, we no longer know what Triple H will be doing.....and what he plans for himself will also dictate what happens with John Laurinaitis.
As far as I can see, Johnny Ace's on-air role was intended from the beginning to be of short duration. They needed someone to act as an authority figure while Triple H recovered from his injuries at the hands of Nash, so they picked someone who already worked for the company in an administrative capacity (in real life). This way, they didn't have to hire an outsider to come in and play GM for awhile. Really, the plan was terrific because when it ended, Laurinaitis could just go back to his off-stage job.
Now, though, I wonder if the whole GM angle has played out better than Vince McMahon thought it would. Perhaps they'll keep Laurinaitis in the role, or find some other on-air part for him to play. We'll see.
Of course, if this were 10 years ago and WWE wanted to go in-house to find someone to portray the GM, they probably would have used Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson in the role. If that's the case, I'm glad they didn't think of this whole idea until 2011.
