Big Johnny out as Exec VP of Talent

[LittleJimmy]

As reported on WZ.com, Johhny Ace is no longer listed on corporate site as the Exec VP of Talent Relations. Here is how the article goes:

"It appears as if John Laurinaitis is no longer the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations in WWE, as his name has been removed from the company's corporate website's list of executive officers.

Paul "Triple H" Levesque's name has been added to the corporate site, and it appears as if he will be taking over for Laurinaitis as his job title is now Executive Vice President, Talent and Live Events.

With Laurinaitis being removed as WWE's Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, that makes Big Johnny only an on-air performer for WWE. For story line purposes, Laurinaitis' WWE.com profile is still billing him as the EVP of Talent Relations, and it's likely he will still refer to himself as such on TV."

It does appear that he will keep the title on TV only and HHH is stepping in to take over the job. Personally I am not sure what I think about this but time will tell.

Your thoughts?

 

[pepentorresHHH]

WOW..... I knew HHH was in charge of development but I didnt imagine he would get the job so soon!.... there is a good thing and a bad thing about this.

Good thing....Triple was actually a succesful superstar and knows what it takes to be a big game player, he knows and worked with some of the most succesful superstars of all times, so his eye for talent must be better than Lauranaitis, on top of that H is close to Jim Ross so they may have some similarities as to how they see talent, and we all remember the greay job Ross did while in that position!

bad thing is Triple H may be quite extreme in his job.... lets not forget this is the guy who didnt belive john cena was going to be a big time player, but he brought in Sin Cara and has pushed Sheamus, randy orton and batista..... so take that as you will....

Finally Lauranaitis isnt in charge.... i mean what big talent did he really get?

 

[Ol'Canucklehead]

It's more then likely due to the TNA law suit and his implications, unless there are more things we do not know. WWE is just protecting their asses and if he needs to be in court he may not have the time to do both, go to court and be EVP of Talent Relations.

 

[LittleJimmy]

Finally Lauranaitis isnt in charge.... i mean what big talent did he really get?

Without doing any research, I really cannot think of anyone big. He took over the role from Good Ol' JR in 2004 when guys like Cena, Orton, Lesner and Batista were either on the main roster or already down in OVW. We all know Sheamus coming in was all HHH's deal so honestly I cannot think of any big star he has brought in. Maybe that is what led to him being demoted.

Also, I have a hard time believing that they will even keep him in the role on-air for too long since most fans will know by tonight that he isnt in that position anymore. Maybe VKM does (kayfabe) fire him tonight.

 

[akathelaw]

With all the work done in the last year to establish Big Johnny as an on-screen authority figure, it seems like a bad idea to take him off the shows so soon. Teddy Long got to be Smackdown GM for years, and he wasn't exactly exceptional at it.

Now that we know Triple H is taking over his old job, do we really believe that Laurinaitis is going to get fired publicly on Raw? If anything I think this is confirmation that JL will be continuing his role as an on-screen authority figure on at least one of the shows.

 

[The mind]

As bad as Ace is on the mic...his live promo botches (He's had big one three weeks running, including spoiling the job evulation gimmick last week) should keep the WWE editing staff busy and employed for years to come.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Finally Lauranaitis isnt in charge.... i mean what big talent did he really get?

CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Sheamus, Evan Bourne, had to have had a hand in the Sin Cara signing, Wade Barrett, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth's second run, Kharma, had to have had a hand in the signings of Rhodes and DiBiase; and a lot more of the current young guys who are appearing on the show today. "Big" is an adjective subjective to how one views "big".

As well as that, being the Executive Vice President, contracts would go to him, and he'd sign off. So that would be contractual renewels such as the one for CM Punk, he'd have had to sign off on The Rock's deal, he'd have had to even sign off on Brock Lesnar's deal, not to mention he is the person whose job it is to advise scouts to go to places such as Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and other promotions in the world to find talent such as Justin Gabriel and those in development such as Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Chris Hero.

I guess John did nothing, huh?

 

[scott212]

really jl is responsible for putting him over punk has been around for what 5 or 6 years until he finally got a huge push and its jl's credit i dont think so i think someone finally helped punk figure out how to be a player in the wwe or get stuck with the mid to low card bums sorry i mean talent

 

[pepentorresHHH]

I guess you could say the only big superstars Lauranaitis has brought in his 8 year tenure that started in late 04 would be: (after doing some research and actually counting former world champions) CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, The Miz?,Del Rio, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Great Khali and on the womens side..... who really cares?

Punk and Bryan were only hired by him because they were kings of the indies and I never read or saw any input from Lauranaitis into their respective pushes and rises.

The Miz, now he may be Ross' last hire or Johnny´s first but lets be honest the guy rose to the main event due to his passion for the business not because Lauranaitis saw something in him

Del Rio.... I dont really get why he hired him.... yes he is good in the ring but you got a lot of great wrestlers already, the thing this guy is BORING and isnt over despite what WWE wants you to believe....

Dolph Ziggler is technically a former world champion and one of Lauranaitis´ first hires, and this guy really is the ultimate package but we havent seen him break the glass ceiling and his mic skills arent as good as they could be...

Jack Swagger... I know they wanted to make their next kurt angle out of this guy but....IT FAILED

The Great Khali..... he should have been fired just for hiring this one.....

Sorry about the harsh comments about the women he hired, because he hired Beth, Nattie, Kharma, Mickie James among many other great ones but the last time women drew was 06.....

I believe they didnt drop him soon enough..........

 

[pepentorresHHH]

CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Sheamus, Evan Bourne, had to have had a hand in the Sin Cara signing, Wade Barrett, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth's second run, Kharma, had to have had a hand in the signings of Rhodes and DiBiase; and a lot more of the current young guys who are appearing on the show today. "Big" is an adjective subjective to how one views "big".

As well as that, being the Executive Vice President, contracts would go to him, and he'd sign off. So that would be contractual renewels such as the one for CM Punk, he'd have had to sign off on The Rock's deal, he'd have had to even sign off on Brock Lesnar's deal, not to mention he is the person whose job it is to advise scouts to go to places such as Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla and other promotions in the world to find talent such as Justin Gabriel and those in development such as Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Chris Hero.

I guess John did nothing, huh?

I already addressed most of the names... but lets see... out of your list i see punk and bryan... yes he hired them ill give you those 2.....then we have sheamus, a guy who was pushed by Triple H.... Sin Cara? Triple is the guy who is responsible for bringing him not Lauranaitis. Evan Bourne? Really? when he does something meaningful come back to me....

Ill give you barret and Kharma, but she may not even come back and whos to say she wont follow the bertha faye path....

Dibiase is a waste of space who really hasnt done anything....

Cody is one of the fastest rising superstars right now and he is young so he may be a big deal ...some day..

and yes some of those are big names but lets compare them to Jim Ross´ hires shall we: Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Edge, Kurt Angle, Jericho, Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Randy Orton, Batista, John Cena, Goldberg, Hulk Hogan 2002 run, among many others....

 

[ksudodger]

Um, Dolph Ziggler was NOT one of JL finds. Nick Nemeth was part of the Spirit Squad while JR was still EVP of TL. That is a JR guy all the way. And in fact, he is a HHH because he was the ONLY member of the SS that stayed around very long after the split.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I know some people dislike Big Johnny but, seriously, let's not try to pretend that he hasn't helped bring in some great talent during his time with this position. It's embarassing enough when Vince tries to revise history to suit his own purposes and it's certainly no better when internet fans try to. The Dragon Saga's post named some of the great talent to come to WWE since Johnny Ace has been Executive Vice President of Talent Relations. Just because he's not as universally beloved among fans and insiders like Jim Ross was doesn't mean that he hasn't done a good job. So get the fuck over it.

As for why he's removed, it's anybody's guess. The TNA lawsuit might have something to do with it. Maybe WWE has plans to feature Big Johnny on television so much, generally speaking, that he hasn't got the time to devote to his corporate job. After all, it's not at all uncommon for JL to make appearances at WWE house shows either these days. With all the traveling he's currently doing as an on-screen character and for live events, it's feesible that he just doesn't have the time. Triple H, on the other hand, makes only a handful of appearances a year now as he's legitimately become a WWE executive. Since he's no longer on the road often at all, he does have the time.

This will probably also play into the storyline tonight. Big Johnny will probably be "fired" from his job as Executive VP of Talent Relations but will be allowed to remain GM of Raw & SD!.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

Maybe WWE has plans to feature Big Johnny on television so much, generally speaking, that he hasn't got the time to devote to his corporate job. After all, it's not at all uncommon for JL to make appearances at WWE house shows either these days. With all the traveling he's currently doing as an on-screen character and for live events, it's feesible that he just doesn't have the time. Triple H, on the other hand, makes only a handful of appearances a year now as he's legitimately become a WWE executive. Since he's no longer on the road often at all, he does have the time.

This will probably also play into the storyline tonight. Big Johnny will probably be "fired" from his job as Executive VP of Talent Relations but will be allowed to remain GM of Raw & SD!.

I think you're exactly right about the logistics of Johnny L being removed from this position. We have to remember that at the end of the day WWE is a publicly traded, multi-billion dollar corporation. This plays into every decision that is made, in terms of employees and specifically executives within the company. They are going to write it into the storyline but there's most likely a corporate/business reason for this.

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Punk and Bryan were only hired by him because they were kings of the indies and I never read or saw any input from Lauranaitis into their respective pushes and rises.

CM Punk wasn't technically "King of the Indies" when Laurinaitis signed him, that term wasn't really common until Danielson blew up majorly in 2006. Punk signed straight away, but you may want to explain why he signed Evan Bourne off the indies? He wasn't a "king" by any means.

Danielson rejected a contract offer from Jim Ross before, so techically Lauriniatis signed one guy Jim Ross wasn't able to, and that guy just so happens to be one of the most supported and respected guys currently on the WWE roster.

The Miz, now he may be Ross' last hire or Johnny´s first but lets be honest the guy rose to the main event due to his passion for the business not because Lauranaitis saw something in him.

Despite my defense of John, this is incorrect. Mike was a contestant on Tough Enough and Al Snow vouched that he should gain a contract. The Miz talked about it in an edition with Powerslam magazine. He was hired by Jim Ross, because he met with Jim Ross.

Also, you didn't do very good research, because Jim Ross' final act as acting EVP of Talent Relations was to re-hire Brian Christopher as a favor for Jerry Lawler; Google Kane vs. Grandmaster 2 Sexy, they even went as far as to elude to it on-air.

Del Rio.... I dont really get why he hired him.... yes he is good in the ring but you got a lot of great wrestlers already, the thing this guy is BORING and isnt over despite what WWE wants you to believe....

But Del Rio was still a big signing for them due to his reputation as Dos Caras Jr, over in Mexico. So what John signed was a guy with pretty good wrestling ability, pretty good talking ability, who appeals to the hispanic market; you did get the fact he is boring right, but again, much like "big" boring is a subjective adjective, it is a persons opinion on whether Del Rio is boring or not and there are quite a few people who enjoy Alberto on this forum.

Dolph Ziggler is technically a former world champion and one of Lauranaitis´ first hires, and this guy really is the ultimate package but we havent seen him break the glass ceiling and his mic skills arent as good as they could be...

Since when was moronic over-selling and the ability to draw no reaction without the aid of a heat magnet such as Vickie Guerrero "the total package." Now despite what the poster below your post says, Lauriniatis did indeed sign Dolph Ziggler. But Dolph has been a decent signing at best. His many pushes to the top have failed, and despite me liking his look and some of his in-ring work, he still needs improvement in certain departments.

Jack Swagger... I know they wanted to make their next kurt angle out of this guy but....IT FAILED

Former ECW Champion, former Money in the Bank winner, former World Heavyweight Champion, former United States Champion; you call Dolph Ziggler the total package yet the guy who can draw heat by himself a failure? Pretty flawed logic there my man. Swagger has been a good mid-card signing, off the back of John Laurinaitis.

The Great Khali..... he should have been fired just for hiring this one.....

Again, former World Heavyweight Champion, headlined a couple Pay-Per-Views. Sure, he is very bad in the ring, nobody really cares about him, but he had his moments.

Sorry about the harsh comments about the women he hired, because he hired Beth, Nattie, Kharma, Mickie James among many other great ones but the last time women drew was 06.....

He didn't hire Mickie James, Ross did, she said in an interview around the time she signed for TNA that Jim Ross was her biggest inspiration during her time in WWE. The others, he had a hand in signing.

But you're also forgetting the current World Heavyweight Champion, the likes of Cody Rhodes, he reigned the current Intercontinental Champion Christian, Wade Barrett, Ryback, Damien Sandow's second go in the company was him, hell he even signed John Morrison. He signed Kofi Kingston, R-Truth's second run; basically, half of the current roster were signed by John Laurinitais and he had to sign-off on EVERYBODY down in development. So, your research may need to be improved, a lot.

 

[pepentorresHHH]

@ The Dragon saga
you completely owned me in this argument cause your reseach IS MUCH better than mine and ill give you some of those names, CM Punk, Bryan, Sheamus; barret, cody, christian but all this new guys debuting and those in development you mentioned... we havent seen them so while we cant really say they are failures, we cant really say they were successes. so we cant judge them based on what they COULD bring them to the table....

you spoke on del rio, he was a big signing but does he draw? (im part of that hispanic market and he does nothing for me) . You could throw all those accomplishments at me that he has already after such short time but it wont mean anything if he doesnt deliver, which is what is happening.... he does not deliver what someone on his level and the expectations that wwe have in him should be delivering....

Ziggler is my favorite wrestler on raw today but i wont name him a success till he breaks the glass ceiling.... Swagger ,like del rio, has lot of accomplishments but what is he doing right now?...NOTHING.

The Great Khali had moment? WHAT MOMENTS?.....and you mention him being a world champion? vince mcmahon was a world champion.... multiple time world champion, royal rumble winner..... hell even david arquette was world champion....

You talk about half of the roster being hired by Lauranaitis... is that a good thing? compare this roster to the roster Ross put together in the late 90s, early 00s...... also, the signings that Ross had while he was in office were incredible.... Kurt Angle, Jericho, Edge, Randy Orton, Batista, John Cena, just to name a few....all bigger than anyone Lauranaitis has ever brought in.....

 

[The Dragon Saga]

you spoke on del rio, he was a big signing but does he draw? (im part of that hispanic market and he does nothing for me) . You could throw all those accomplishments at me that he has already after such short time but it wont mean anything if he doesnt deliver, which is what is happening.... he does not deliver what someone on his level and the expectations that wwe have in him should be delivering....

He was pretty over for the first few months. The most recent ratings for Mexico, report a 12.3, with Rey Mysterio gone, Del Rio last month had to have been doing something for some people because that is a pretty high rating. But he has done well, he is a good wrestler, whether he draws or not is irrelevant, are you a ratings fan or a wrestling fan? Chances are you're a wrestling fan.

Ziggler is my favorite wrestler on raw today but i wont name him a success till he breaks the glass ceiling.... Swagger ,like del rio, has lot of accomplishments but what is he doing right now?...NOTHING.

I think Swagger got a win on the latest edition of Superstars, didn't? He did. Plus he has appeared on the last few RAW's, the last three Pay-Per-View's in some capacity, he has an angle of sorts with Ziggler if WWE build on it. So Swagger is doing something and he has accomplishments, how much money he makes is irrelevant, because he has been a success of sorts.

The Great Khali had moment? WHAT MOMENTS?.....and you mention him being a world champion? vince mcmahon was a world champion.... multiple time world champion, royal rumble winner..... hell even david arquette was world champion....

Vince relinquished the WWE Championsip the following night. Royal Rumble was an angle to extend his feud with Austin. ECW Championship; hardly a World title in reality? Anyway, seeing as some credit it as such, it was for an angle to build Bobby Lashley. David Arquette was WCW World Heavyweight Champion. WCW, is now dead, so it is irrelevant. The Great Khali had a four month World Heavyweight title reign. He beat The Undertaker, Kane and Batista to name a few. Again, he may suck, but he has accolades.

You talk about half of the roster being hired by Lauranaitis... is that a good thing? compare this roster to the roster Ross put together in the late 90s, early 00s...... also, the signings that Ross had while he was in office were incredible.... Kurt Angle, Jericho, Edge, Randy Orton, Batista, John Cena, just to name a few....all bigger than anyone Lauranaitis has ever brought in.....

Wrestling is much different now as to what it was when Ross was in charge. Jim Ross was running Talent Relations at a time where professional wrestling was prospering, it was very big, it paid very well if you made it into the mainstream, territories were going when he started, very few were left when he'd finish. Lauriniatis didn't have that luxury.

Kurt Angle, was a former Olympic Gold Medalist; between the young Foorde kid in FCW and Jack Swagger, he has two NCAA Ameteur Wrestling Champions. Chris Jericho made it in Mexico, Canada, Japan, the American indies and then WCW, before he stood a foot in WWE. Randy Orton was the product of Cowboy Bob having connections. Batista was the product of him being told he'd never make it as a pro-wrestler in WCW Power Plant. He did well for himself though. John Cena was a part-time indy wrestler in 1999. Took him a couple years to make it.

Hell, John Cena appears in the film Ready to Rumble as an extra. These were guys who were mostly established, asides from Orton and Batista when wrestling's climate was much different, quality talent would be popping out left, right and center, that isn't the case these days.

 

[pepentorresHHH]

He was pretty over for the first few months. The most recent ratings for Mexico, report a 12.3, with Rey Mysterio gone, Del Rio last month had to have been doing something for some people because that is a pretty high rating. But he has done well, he is a good wrestler, whether he draws or not is irrelevant, are you a ratings fan or a wrestling fan? Chances are you're a wrestling fan.

first few months was almost 2 years ago my man.... his reactions have decreased considerably since then... you speak of ratings, well was he in the most watch segment of the night? I went to a house show in my country where he was participating earlier in the year, John Cena was there too and CM Punk was there too..... John Cena and Punk had bigger reations..... and they were in south america....Im a wrestling fan not a ratings fan but whenever del rio comes on i just want to change the channel...but lets agree that ratings are important as well....

Ithink Swagger got a win on the latest edition of Superstars, didn't? He did. Plus he has appeared on the last few RAW's, the last three Pay-Per-View's in some capacity, he has an angle of sorts with Ziggler if WWE build on it. So Swagger is doing something and he has accomplishments, how much money he makes is irrelevant, because he has been a success of sorts.

just because you appear on the show doesnt mean youre a success and him winning on superstars? hell zack ryder wins on superstar and we know how much that helps.... Im just saying that a guy who was world champion for months, won MITB along with more accolades should be in a better position than where he is....

Vince relinquished the WWE Championsip the following night. Royal Rumble was an angle to extend his feud with Austin. ECW Championship; hardly a World title in reality? Anyway, seeing as some credit it as such, it was for an angle to build Bobby Lashley. David Arquette was WCW World Heavyweight Champion. WCW, is now dead, so it is irrelevant. The Great Khali had a four month World Heavyweight title reign. He beat The Undertaker, Kane and Batista to name a few. Again, he may suck, but he has accolades..

The fact that he sucks makes him a failure.... yes he got important victories but a year after his run in 07 he was completely irrelevant .... and where is he in 12.... still irrelevant, I dont even know how has he survived all these years!

Wrestling is much different now as to what it was when Ross was in charge. Jim Ross was running Talent Relations at a time where professional wrestling was prospering, it was very big, it paid very well if you made it into the mainstream, territories were going when he started, very few were left when he'd finish. Lauriniatis didn't have that luxury.

Kurt Angle, was a former Olympic Gold Medalist; between the young Foorde kid in FCW and Jack Swagger, he has two NCAA Ameteur Wrestling Champions. Chris Jericho made it in Mexico, Canada, Japan, the American indies and then WCW, before he stood a foot in WWE. Randy Orton was the product of Cowboy Bob having connections. Batista was the product of him being told he'd never make it as a pro-wrestler in WCW Power Plant. He did well for himself though. John Cena was a part-time indy wrestler in 1999. Took him a couple years to make it.

Hell, John Cena appears in the film Ready to Rumble as an extra. These were guys who were mostly established, asides from Orton and Batista when wrestling's climate was much different, quality talent would be popping out left, right and center, that isn't the case these days.

regardless of where they came from, it was Jim Ross who saw something in them, knew they were gonna be big and brought them to WWE, Lauranaitis hasnt been able to do that, plain and simple, he may have little successes in Punk, Bryan and Sheamus to a point but compared to Ross he just falls short...

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I think this links into the story AND the "angle that will blow your socks off" stuff as well as the lawsuit.

Tonight, Vince will come out and say Johnny is doing a great job as GM, but has dropped the ball as VPTR - Lesnar, missing out on Sting a couple of times, even the Christian/TNA appearance. While WWE allowed it, kayfabe JL will catch hell from Vince for it. Triple H comes out as new VPTR but Johnny says he decides the matches etc...

 

[justtxyank]

I want to respond to the "HHH has worked with better talent he'll have a better eye" comment.

Johnny Ace tagged with Kenta Kobashi. He had matches with Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada, Jun Akiyama, Steve Williams, Terry Gordy, etc. Mid 90s AJPW is some of the greatest wrestling in history and Ace was there and he wasn't a jobber. I'm not sure that working with great talent actually means anything in the EVP role, but if it does, HHH does have some huge leg up on Ace.