Where Exactlly Are They Going With Johnny Ace?

[Harthan]

Ever since he debuted, Johnny Ace has been a heel, through and through. He was Vince's stoogey, trying to get involved in the MITB title match. Then he was HHH's toady, sneaking away power when he could, booking matches, inciting the heels subtly against HHH, convening with Miz, Truth, and Nash about all manner of sordid affairs. His fiendish manipulation behind the scenes maneuvered him right into the Raw GM spot, and he picked up in that role as would be expected, making dick heel moves like rehiring Miz & Truth, firing Jim Ross, and so on. On Monday, he was all over TV. He played heel to Triple H's face, he played villain to Punk's anti hero...and then, the main event happened. Johnny Ace has been on Mi & Truth's side since they got together. They sucked up to him, he hired them back as soon as he got power...and yet, when they took advantage of John Cena in a handicap match and beat him down, it was John Laurinaitis who made the save, calling off the dogs, and giving John Cena a rematch and choice of partner at Survivor Series.

This is such a 180 move for John that it baffled me when I really thought about it. One would have expected him to let his men do the dirty work and claim innocence later. Now, I understand that the WWE needs a mechanism by which to get the tag match on the card, and their schedule may not have permitted to wait another week to put out a challenge, so this might have been a one time move, only for the sake of logistics. There are also plausible heel explanations - Johnny might have known full well that Cena would pick the Rock, hoping the Rock will destroy Cena for him.

But still, there's a seed of doubt in my mind about where they're taking Johnny, most importantly because this character has to have some kind of resolution. Johnny is on TV and in the middle of storylines constantly. They've put too much into him not to properly resolve his storyline at some point. The problem is, if they're turning him into a neutral arbiter of justice, as we saw the slight shadow of on Monday, what kind of resolution can we have? If he doesn't stay a heel GM, what good will it be when he's inevitably displaced? For the sake of the storyline, I hope that Monday night isn't a sign of things to come. I don't have much reason to believe that it will be - but there's the seed of doubt, at the least.

If there's no conclusion to the saga of Johnny Ace, I think it will be an extremely disappointing end to a character in whom they've invested a lot of screen time. Here's hoping that he continues to be the heel that we love to hate, and reaching a satisfying end, rather than fading away as a neutral authority figure.

 

[Lion Orphenoc]

My opinion is pretty short and sweet, Johnny Ace is motivated by two things in character his ego (hense him demanding CM Punk "admits" he respect him and why he liked Miz and R-Truth sucking up to him), and probably a higher power guiding him somewhat in his decisions.

On the ego front in this case Johnny was the one creating the unsafe working environment to begin with and he was most likely blinded by his ego for the first few weeks of the job. However this week he most realised how bad it made him look when the unsafe working environment carried on into his tenure, as with Zack Rider being taken out earlier on leading to a handicap match for Cena was what he wanted. Cena on the other hand being taken completely out would cause issues for the company another motivating factor for him considering how he tried to sell HHH embarassing the WWE as a bad thing.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Personally I think Johnny Ace is still Vince's stooge, they just haven't got to that point in the story yet and from a story line standpoint it makes perfect sense that he is still Vince's stooge.

We have already seen Johnny Ace try to screw HHH out of his COO position at Night Of Champions, he hired Miz and R-Truth back, and he fired Jim Ross (although JR is back), that all sounds like something a Vince McMahon would do.

Personally I think down the road you will find out that Johnny Ace is just doing what Vince is telling him to do and the day that happens he is just gonna go back to being Vince's second hand man like he was at the beginning of the story line.

My guess is its gonna be HHH vs. Vince for the company at some point (maybe WM28) with Johnny Ace in Vince's corner. That would be my guess at this point.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's ultimately too early to know where they're going with JL. They might not even be certain themselves. There are several directions, however, and they could all be interesting.

JL comes across as a soulless executive that covets power and the respect that comes with it. He might come across like a spaz but he could always be painted as someone that's trying to do the "right thing", with the "right thing" not always being popular. That's a scenario that could fit as it seems WWE is trying to keep fans guessing as to whether or not JL is heel or is just misunderstood.

There's also the possibility that JL is still playing the part of a stooge to Vince McMahon, or maybe even Stephanie for all anyone knows. It makes sense as the role of a soulless corporate stooge is another heel position that JL can do quite well in. He might stay as the interim Raw GM for a while before ultimately being revealed as a puppet put into play to undermine Triple H.

Yet another possibility involves JL simply being every bit the soulless asshole he seems to be and basically have him fill the role of Vince McMahon in a feud with CM Punk. Austin vs. McMahon was huge back in the late 90s and JL & CM Punk seem to be polar opposite characters that can have some fun interaction. Punk playing the rebel suits him well and JL is the guy that stands for the status quo, while always making certain that the status quo involves him ultimately having the power to generally do what he wants.

WWE could also just decide to just take JL out of his position as interim Raw GM and assign it to someone else. We've all read articles online that've said Mick Foley's return to WWE isn't too far off and having him installed as the lovable, beloved face Raw GM could work. Such a move could lead to the big power struggle storyline that I think we've all sensed is just kind of lurking under the surface with JL and those that support him on one side and Foley's boys on the other.

But yeah, I think it's too soon to know. It might even be some combination of any of those scenarios or maybe none.

 

[Skinsley]

He is a Puppet for Vince to controll.
Via text Vince Mcmahon makes decisions for Ace to follow through.... if this is not the case....I dont know what to think.

 

[ramblinroy682]

I'm fully expecting a major heel turn/swerve at Survivor Series. My hope is we finally get the Cena Heel Turn. Although, it would be tough to explain away the beatings that were dished out at Hell in the Cell. I could see the Rock joining up with Miz/Truth and being the anonymous raw GM all along. Don't know exactly how I would bring in Nash except for the Rock's hollywood movie connections and money. In the beginning, I thought Punk would turn, but don't see that happening anymore.

However, my expectations have gone unanswered before. I really hope it isn't just Vince McMahon. That is the easiest explanation and would be the biggest let down. Hell, maybe it's Kermit the Frog and it we'll all be revealed next week.

No matter what happens, I think WWE took what could have been the biggest storyline since the NWO, with CM Punk's promo and leaving the WWE with the title and have turned it into a mess. How did we go from the PROMO to wondering where Johnny Ace fit's in? I wish they would have kept Punk away. Have him crash Raws and eventually bring him back to face Cena. Then have Cena turn ala Hogan back in the day.

 

[silverbullet]

I think they may be leading towards a HHH heel turn or a title run, first jon is going to get complete control some how, so when HHH does win it, it would look more legit than "oh you just won because your a mcmahon", if it leads to a heel turn, jon and hhh will be on the conspiracy and some how get the title because he has more stroke, it could also lead to another miz run if you think about it..

 

[a7xfan93]

CENA ISN'T GOING TO TURN HEEL, AND DOESN'T NEED TO. STFU WITH ALL THAT.

as for the thread. I really don't know where they're going with JL. It's hard to predict at the moment. Maybe he is the one pulling strings in the back. Maybe he was the Anonymous Raw General Manger, hell, we always see him texting.

 

[Dagger Dias]

It seems like they are just going the typical "evil boss" route with Laurinaitis so far. He is hated by fans and already doing well as a heel GM. I don't think he will ever be as good as Bischoff or Vince in the authority figure role but it's good to see someone new in the "evil boss" role since they insist on always having one. Where all of this is going depends on who he is texting. Stephanie? Vince? Nash? The Shockmaster? Ok probably not The Shockmaster. It could be just about anybody else though and when that person decides to reveal themselves, we will see where this may be going. I am interested in seeing how it plays out because it will likely answer a lot of questions about the conspiracy angle too.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I think it's just a temporary program, albeit one that lasts longer than most. The company needed a foil to play an authority figure, a man who acts as a transition figure until Triple H is done being an executive......and until Vince McMahon returns (in whatever capacity that will be). In developing that authority figure, management found it didn't need to go outside the company to bring in someone; they had a guy already on the payroll who could step up.

John Laurinaitis has held a backstage role with WWE for ten years; I don't know why they would suddenly decide he's the second coming of Vince McMahon as a ruling force on-stage. As it is, he's only mildly effective in the role he's playing; he seems too low-key and diffident to play a "GM-as-tyrant."

But, what the heck.....he's a temporary fill-in who has a well defined part to play.....and he's doing it until they don't need him to do it anymore. At that time, he'll be dumped with great ceremony either by Vince, Triple H, Cena, Punk........or perhaps all of them at once.

It'll be: "Thanks John, don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out".....and he can return to his backstage role with the company.

 

[AmERicanEvil]

Well, I can see two scenarios:

The First One is the more likely one: The WWE has finally found a new GM for RAW (this will be around The Royal Rumble) and it is Mick Foley! The only problem is, John doesn't want to give up the job as GM. WWE tries to get him out, but he won't go away. This will eventually lead to a match... yes a match at Elimination Chamber (I can't see them carrying the feud all the way to WrestleMania) in which Mick Foley wins, and that is the end of Johnny Ace.

The second scenario: This one isn't well thought out, they just name John the permanent GM of RAW, probably not likely, but it wouldn't be the first time that the RAW GM spot made no sense.

 

[dansaun77]

WWE don't even know what they are doing with the storyline, and even worse, where is the identity of the Anonomys Raw General Manager??????
Kevin Nash pulling out of Night of Champions threw all their current booking plans for the eventual Punk vs HHH Survivor Series match out the window. Johhn Ace is obviously still working under Vince, this is the only thing that makes sense. Kevin Nash will be shown to be Vince;'s bodyguard but of course, the swerve will eventually come, probably at Wrestlemania when HHH vs Nash with HBK as special referee will all end up turning Vince and reuniting the clique. Waltman is on the WWE payroll now, he WILL be involved in this angle in due course. Pity Hall is a fucked up drug mess or they could even wheel him out. Anything for the them to try and take the focus of The Rock's return and subsequent Mania moment with No Sell Cena.