John Laurinaitis is set to resurface publicly for the first time since being named in a high-profile lawsuit.
The former WWE executive will make his first public appearance since he was named in ex-WWE employee Janel Grant’s sex trafficking lawsuit. Laurinaitis was later dropped from the suit after agreeing to provide evidence in Grant’s case against Vince McMahon and WWE.
Now, Laurinaitis is scheduled to appear at Big Time Wrestling’s March 14 event in Ohio. The appearance coincides with a special honor for The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk), who will be posthumously inducted into the Ohio Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. Laurinaitis is the brother of the late Animal (Joe Laurinaitis).
During an appearance this week on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling, Laurinaitis explained the significance of the timing (see video below).
“March Madness is gonna be historic in a sense that it’s actually my first-ever public appearance for a company, and part of the (reason) I’m doing that is because of — it’s kind of just ironic that The Road Warriors are gonna be inducted into the Ohio Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, and actually there’s a match, a tribute to the Road Warriors so it’s kind of nice that my first appearance is gonna be actually something that is honoring my brother.”
It’s a full-circle moment for the Laurinaitis family.
In addition to the appearance, Laurinaitis noted that he has had discussions about potentially becoming involved with the promotion behind the scenes. He referenced conversations with Bobby Fulton and Dillon Hines about the company’s direction and ambitions.
“I think the way Big Time Wrestling — and I’ve had discussions with Bobby (Fulton) and Dillon (Hines), and you know, what they’re looking to do is make it a place to be, so to speak. In other words, there’s ideas of maybe having international talent come in, having more high-profile names come in, and I’m really looking forward to their future, and hoping that somehow I can be part of that, whether it’s behind the scenes or help them with promoting and stuff like that because I think the more places for talent to work, the better opportunity it is for the business and I don’t know if everybody realizes this but, I ran the developmental system for WWE for 20 years. So, my one love is to help and develop and groom young talent, and that’s what I think is the strategy for Big Time Wrestling now is to find younger talent and develop them into the stars of tomorrow.”
Laurinaitis emphasized his background running WWE’s developmental system for two decades, noting that his passion lies in helping cultivate young talent.
Whether that involvement materializes remains to be seen, but his March appearance will mark his first step back into the public wrestling sphere.
