John Laurinaitis Likely Done With WWE Following Fresh Harassment Allegations

[ad_1]

Fresh allegations against Vince McMahon surfaced this week courtesy of the Wall Street Journal. On top of the $3 million payoff McMahon had previously been accused of, WSJ’s second report details three other occasions on which the WWE boss allegedly paid women under his employ to stay quiet about sexual interactions. The payoffs listed total more than $12 million.

John Laurinatis May Be Done

McMahon isn’t the only WWE employee who has been accused of some incredibly shady things in these reports. Head of talent relations John Laurinatis has also been accused of sexual misconduct and paying off women to stay quiet about it after the fact. The latest report briefly mentions Laurinaitis, claiming $1.5 million was paid to an unnamed employee in exchange for her silence.

THESPORTSTER VIDEO OF THE DAY

RELATED: WWE Superstars Unhappy About Bruce Prichard Replacing John Laurinaitis

While McMahon reacted to the initial news by strutting out in front of fans on SmackDown and Raw as if it was business as usual, Laurinaitis hasn’t been since. Neither on TV nor behind the scenes, and according to Fightful Select (via Sportskeeda) that may well be a permanent change moving forward. Fightful has spoken with a number of sources backstage in WWE who believe his time with the company is done, but that he will receive a “golden parachute” package of some sort to ensure he doesn’t suffer financially.

Golden Parachute Payment

In the same report from Fightful, the outlet revealed a number of female WWE talent had reached out last year when Laurinaitis was reappointed to the talent relations role. A number of people were frustrated, which is somewhat unsurprising when you consider many people have traced the Mickie James trashbag situation back to Laurinaitis.

As for who is filling his shoes right now, Bruce Prichard has been named head of talent relations pending the result of the investigation by WWE’s board of directors. Except, unlike McMahon, it doesn’t appear as if the company will be waiting until the board’s findings have been published. We may have seen the last of Laurinaitis in WWE, and many fans and wrestlers will likely be happy to hear that if it sticks.

TheSportster Podcast has returned! Check out the latest episodes of the show where Jim Parsons and Norman Quarrinton cover the latest news and events happening in the worlds of WWE, AEW and more!

[ad_2]