John Laurinaitis- What's the goal, here?

[Nate DaMac]

Whenever the WWE introduces an authority figure, it usually becomes rapidly apparent which superstar they are trying to get over by association. With Sgt. Slaughter, they were trying to get Shawn Michaels and Triple H over as "degenerates." Vince McMahon was used to get Steve Austin over as a rebel. More recently, Vickie Guerrero was used to get Edge over as a top heel. Teddy Long has been used with Drew McIntyre (though it failed.)

What I'm getting at here; who exactly is getting over by association with Johnny Ace? Punk was being used in a feud with him, but that ended nearly 4 months ago. He's semi-involved with the John Cena/Brock Lesnar feud, but neither one of them are in need of any help with getting over. He seems to be buddy buddy with a lot of the heels, but he's never more than mildly involved in any of their programs.

He's working alongside David Otunga and Eve and yeah, I suppose they're getting over by association. However, the point of anointing an authority figure is to make a new star. Otunga may be a potential upper mid card sort of guy and Eve... I don't know, she'll just be another Diva no matter they do with her. So, is it Teddy Long? He's the only person who seems to be consistently interacting with Johnny Ace... But what the hell is the payoff there?

So what I'm asking: Who is getting over by being associated with JL? Is there someone I'm just blatantly overlooking? What should they be doing with him?

Keep in mind that 99% of the time when you have a heel authority figure, the ultimate payoff is seeing them removed from power. They've had the opportunity with Ace twice now and they didn't pull the trigger. They probably think that they can still get some more out of him, but in the current situation they're in, I don't see it going anywhere.

 

[MizMark11]

Johnny Ace is getting heat. Regardless if it sounds like he sucks on the mic or if the fans hate him because of what he does, he's getting heat which can be transferred into cheers for a face. I think John is being used for almost everybody that you listed. Will Teddy be stuck working for Laurinaitis forever? Probably not. I think he'll get revenge on him somehow and the crowd might cheer for Teddy more. Otunga definitely would not be getting as much heat as he is now if he wasn't with the GM. I suppose Eve would get heat either way because of what she did for Ryder.

Obviously Punk is the number one guy who has had problems with Laurinaitis and I could see Punk getting more over as a rebel much like Austin did. There's not a lot yet between Cena and Ace, but I also don't think Brock will be aligned forever because he seems like a monster that could get over by himself(or more over if Paul Heyman was brought back).

I just see Ace trying to get multiple people over and it could work. Otunga is his right hand man, Eve is the hot diva, Brock is the monster main eventer, Ziggler and Swagger could even be officially added as the henchmen tag team. Maybe even throw in Miz. All of those guys can get (more) over, I believe. Also any face who Laurinaitis keeps on putting down and screwing can get over too by rebelling against him.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Will Teddy be stuck working for Laurinaitis forever? Probably not. I think he'll get revenge on him somehow and the crowd might cheer for Teddy more.

That just might be so. In many ways, Laurinaitis is the "Anonymous General Manager" we suffered with on Raw. He's no one. By himself, he hardly has a personality at all.....think of his bland appearance, bland delivery and usually bland pronouncements.

As an authority figure, Johnny is less like the obnoxious, overbearing Vickie Guerrero.....and more like Gene Tunney. Both of them come out and issue edicts, some of which are noteworthy, others not. The difference is that we're supposed to dislike Johnny while Tunney was a strictly neutral figure. That's a function of today's world: nobody is neutral, everyone in WWE has some type of agenda.

Neither Tunney nor Laurinaitis are looking to put over any other performers; they are there to make matches and enforce policy. The interesting thing with Laurinaitis is that he's been looking to establish power since he was named Interim G.M., right? He put together a group of fighters to go to war on his behalf at Wrestlemania, where he succeeded in getting the power he wanted. But now that he's achieved it, the question is where he goes from here.

Johnny L. isn't here to put over other performers, although some will attain prominence because of their association with him. He surrounds himself with syncophants and flunkies; allowing himself to be fawned over as he issues proclamations to further his own agenda. His character is there to put himself over....no one else.

 

[Cabana]

I love Ace's character. He's a dipsh*t boss who worked his way up from being Vince's yes man. He's a toadie and a lackey and a little over his head as GM. But, he's genuinely trying to do a good job, mostly because he's really insecure. It's a good change of pace character as a boss - he's de rigeur in sitcoms, but notsomuch in WWE.

Pairing Ace with Otunga + now Eve helps them get spotlight and that's a good thing. The goal, as always, is to have a someone the fans want to watch. I like watching Ace's bumbling boss character. FANTASY BOOKING AHOY:

What I'd love to see is this: now that Ace is officially in Brock's pocket, WWE needs to bring back Paul Heyman or JR and establish Brock as being in *his* pocket. Then, Ace will really get a chance to shine. He becomes a figurehead GM with some power, but he's also beholden to Brock (and thus JR/Heyman), so wrestlers don't *really* have to listen to him. They can always appeal to Brock.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I think the goal with Lauranitis is currently something a little bit different. I think it has been his job to very quickly fully establish Brock as someone to boo. It may also be part of the plan to use him to help win Cena some of the audience back. Critics can praise the dynamic of the conflicting audience but in the long run it is much easier to produce a show with a thick giant wall between heels and faces.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

Gotta keep this brief because I'm going now, but you missed something. Obviously David Otunga is a large part of the target but otherwise...

It is possible to get somewhere over by opposing him like CM Punk did previously. If you have a guy(s) try to foil the efforts of our now uni general manager, that's a very effective way to get them over, although who they are is beyond my comprehension at this time.

 

[#heel420]

At Wrestlemania when JL won control and had that pre-match confrontation with Punk disqualifying his Champion's advantage I expected him to become the catalyst to bringing CM Punk to another level. Like with McMahon-Austin you have the rebel hero fighting the authority figure and everybody loves watching the prick in charge getting his ass kicked. It's only a matter of time before we see these two in the ring. I can see Ace screwing Punk over for the title against Lesnar. Leading to Punk seeking revenge on Laryngitis.

 

[whoopin' ass]

think of Vince and his stooges back in the attitude era - same sort of thing here. Johnny will be the indirect heel for all the babyfaces(Punk, Cena, etc) and the guy who the heels kiss up to but in the end, he will throw anyone to the wolves if he wants to. Even when Vince and Austin were feuding, Vince was the feel for everyone - people just remember Austin the most since it was the biggest one. i think they figured out that you need someone like him in charge instead of HHH because a face GM makes it tougher for storylines. could you imagine HHH bringing in Brock the way that Johnny did?

 

[Yokosuka046]

Sup everyone, kinda new.

Anyway, I kinda hope this goes on for a bit with Ace, he gets awesome heat despite being actually terrible. I just pray for a decent pay off, so far most of the GM angles end very poorly.

 

[daddyJ_t]

this bugs me. its jack tunny. he was the neutral boss head figure not gene. sorry had to get that out of the way. now as for the subject on hand. its otunga. is and always will be. hes not developing as fast as he shouldve, but hes got the coffee gimmick right now, and he is starting to do a little something. he is slated(from what i hear) to take the us title from santino which will solidify him as a major heel for santino is waaaaay over with the crowd. he can further use a title victory to start a program on how he surpassed wade barrett as the second most successful member of nexus and how he will win the world title making him better then bryan. hes not, but thats how it could play out with an eventual push of david otunga. its obvious theyve already dropped the hes mr jennifer hudson in order to make him seem legit

 

[JPLioneye]

hopefully it ends in a 4 way ladder match for WWE Control with the rest having to retire

HHH vs Johnny Ace vs Teddy Long Vs VKM

VKM wins obviously

I could honestly see something like this coming out of the storyline in the future. Mind you I'd expect to see something more like the match from WrestleMania 2000 (McMahon in every corner) where every "authority" has their hand picked superstar in the match.

Obviously I want to see exactly how this is going to all pan out over the next little while, Johnny Ace is starting to grow on me. Hopefully they'll play into the thing with Punk after he's done with Jericho and that, to me, seems like the most logical step for both of them with no viable contenders for the WWE championship at the moment. Ace needs to just keep feeding heels to Punk until he can eventually screw him out of the title. The choice everyone seems to be going for is Lesnar, but I think someone like Ziggler would benefit a lot more in that position.

Lesnar needs to keep being the self important asshole he has been for a while before Johnny is forced to bring in another big guy to try and take Lesnar out.

 

[Mustang Sally]

its jack tunny. he was the neutral boss head figure not gene.

You're right! I stand corrected. Gene Tunney was a boxer who fought Jack Dempsey.

Well, it goes to show how nondescript a personality Jack Tunney was. I can't even remember the guy's name.

 

[JaylisJayP]

There is no plan, there is nobody to get over. The WWE has been spiraling down the storytelling/angle-planning toilet for a year now. They don't finish any angles anymore, they don't care. They stick with whatever is getting the most claps and hollers. Johnny Ace is currently all they have because they have no other ideas.

I think it's funny how much Stephanie and Shane made fun of Adamle for his stuttering on the mic yet you've got Johnny unable to get through a single sentence without messing up.

 

[robbo316]

Could this not be a way of Undertaker coming back as the American Badass? During his run with that persona, he was often referred to as the "conscience of the WWE". Could this not be a reasonably convoluted way of setting up Lesnar vs Undertaker at next years WM? JL running roughshod over everyone, and the Taker comes back back to put a stop to it. Just an idea......

 

[mrfantastic111]

Does he need to be putting anyone over right now? He's fine for now until the right opportunity comes along. He's already had his feud with Punk, and they still have their run ins so who knows, they could go at it again. If not Punk, maybe Cena. Cena doesn't need to get over, but not every feud has to be made accordingly to pushing new talents. If not Punk or Cena, maybe Orton (Could be a mistake though unless Orton became insane again).

Maybe a Miz face turn? He loses to Santino and JL gets upset and starts putting loads of trouble and heat on Miz, who might eventually lash out and help Teddy fight JL. It's not like we'd be damaging Miz, as he's already performing on Superstars, so why not throw the dog a bone and see if he can make a come back? Most of us have liked Miz at some point, so clearly he could have something to give. A JL feud might be alright, have Miz take on all-comers like Ziggler, Swagger, Henry, and then as he gets closer to JL he could take on Otunga and JL towards the end. Miz was at his best when he was kinda funny, and as we saw from Punk's efforts last year, there is alot of humour to gain from insulting 'the bland one' JL.

Maybe Zack Ryder? He could cut a promo about the brass censoring his youtube show. JL has Eve on his side now, so could be interesting.

 

[DirtyD79]

Ideally they're hoping to catch lightning in a bottle and recreate the Stone Cold Steve Austin Versus Vince McMahon feud. The problem is that John Lauranaitis really isn't that entertaining and we've been there, done that too many times already with the evil authority figure gimmick.

 

[steven87gill]

I think the goal with Lauranitis is currently something a little bit different. I think it has been his job to very quickly fully establish Brock as someone to boo. It may also be part of the plan to use him to help win Cena some of the audience back. Critics can praise the dynamic of the conflicting audience but in the long run it is much easier to produce a show with a thick giant wall between heels and faces.

It might be an 'easier show to produce', but I guarantee it would be a 'less interesting show to watch'.

He (Cena) is at his most interesting when WWE go with the 50/50 reaction he gets, rather than trying to fight against it, and if that's what they're doing here, then they'll fail.

Face it, Cena will never get over as a face. They're way past being able to do anything about that at this stage, It's embedded into the fans perception of Cena now, and nothing WWE can do will change that.

 

[radec]

Johnny is not her to just put a single guy over but to be here for the long run. He will be a steady authroity figure heel and if his stable happens(i wish) then that will be his dedication. John seems like his grudge with Cm punk will continue till one of them steps out of wrestling or w/e.

 

[SD619]

I doubt that as of now, they have any plans of him in a feud with a face. He will favor the heels more, but not be in a direct feud with any face. Currently, the main motive with JL seems to have some of his heat rub off on a few heels (similar to Vickie) . It is working with Otunga and Eve (I doubt that they could get such reactions on their own).

Eventually they will have him feud with a group of faces (led by Cena or Punk) which will lead to his eventual ouster. Ideally, that would be at Survivor Series, but creative may have other plans.

 

[Mr. Book This Section]

I like Johnny Ace however if he is going to get anyone over it's David Otunga. Since Otunga has been with Johnny Ace...

- Coffee cup sales have gone up at all good retailers.
- United States Championship Match.
- US Championship #1 Contender.
- Main evented RAW.
- Apart of Wrestlemania 28
- Beaten former World Champions.
- Owned Theadore Long

 

[Danger Burger]

You know what id like?? Stephanie McMahon incharge of RAW and Trips in charge of smackdown! I know the other way around would make more sense but it could help draw for smackdown!

As for a relevant answer... Does it need a clear end? Whats wrong with what he's doing? And dont you guys think that they could hold him off until someone DOES need it? Not just lumping it to Punk who is waaay too busy already??