We’ve heard a lot about John Laurinaitis’ people skills in his role as WWE Head of Talent Relations over the years but Stevie Richards has shared a new story. As we know, John Laurinaitis—known in-ring as Johnny Ace—was known for his time as a road agent for WCW and later WWE. He would later take the position after first succeeding current AEW announcer Jim Ross as VP of Talent Relations.
Stevie Richards Says Former WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis Called Him Worthless to the Company
Richards was with WWE from 1999 until 2008 and won the WWE Hardcore Championship 21-times. While he wasn’t in WWE as long as Laurinaitis, he was there before him. Of course, a wrestler’s presence on-screen might become less and less necessary over time.
Then again, in 2008 Stevie Richards could’ve been a contributing part of WWE television. However, 2008 was the time to move on for Richards and said that he spoke with Laurinaitis about keeping the name he had before his WWE career.
At this point, Richards had been with WWE for roughly nine years and knew that anything involving the company and name rights can be like pulling teeth depending on the name’s value. Obviously, he would keep his name but not without John Laurinaitis letting him know what the deal is with his creative while being unnecessarily brutal.
As Stevie Richards told James Romero of WSI:
“He said something that was a harsh truth, and he goes, ‘I know they’re gonna say yes to that because your name is worthless here. Your character is worthless. You’re just not part of anybody’s plans.’ I could have very easily said, ‘How could you say that?’ but to me, I was like, ‘I’m gonna get what I want, so go ahead.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, you’re right, I’m a piece of s**t.'”
Richards finished up with WWE in August 2008 following a period of the company just having him on the roster–a long cry from the earlier in the decade when Richards was regularly featured to some degree. Since then, Laurinaitis moved up the ladder in his role but was eventually fired in 2022 because as a result of sexual misconduct related to Vince McMahon’s allegations. His firing came almost 14 years to the date of Richards’ final WWE bout.
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