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Former WCW and WWE writer Vince Russo recently revealed his thoughts about John Laurinaitis when they worked together.
On January 25, former WWE employee Janel Grant alleged in a lawsuit that Laurinaitis and Vince McMahon sexually assaulted her. Laurinaitis' lawyer responded to the accusations by claiming his client was also a victim of McMahon, not a predator.
Russo was a WCW creative team member when Laurinaitis began working for the company backstage in 2000. On Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws show with Dr. Chris Featherstone and EC3, Russo recalled how former WCW President Eric Bischoff hired Laurinaitis:
"I worked with Laurinaitis at WCW. I'll tell you this, Chris, Eric Bischoff brought in Johnny Laurinaitis. Me and Bischoff were always like this [butting heads], so that would have kinda made Laurinaitis Bischoff's guy, but I never had a problem with Johnny Laurinaitis, and I would bet a large amount that Eric Bischoff and John Laurinaitis would never be accused of what Vince McMahon and John Laurinaitis was accused of." [6:59 – 7:43]
Watch the video above to hear more from Russo on what Laurinaitis might know about McMahon.
Vince Russo on John Laurinaitis' treatment of women
Janel Grant's 67-page lawsuit alleges she was ordered to have sex with John Laurinaitis in his hotel room before work. It also states that Vince McMahon "constantly reinforced the expectation" that she sexually perform for him and Laurinaitis.
Vince Russo added that he never suspected anything about Laurinaitis' behavior during their WCW days:
"If Laurinaitis was working at WCW and Eric hired him, like I said, I never had an issue with the guy. I watched him around females, you know what I'm saying? So, now you've gotta look at the situation. Now you've got that same guy working for Vince McMahon. Why was it different?" [7:44 – 8:05]
The Wrestling Outlaws host, Dr. Chris Featherstone, speculated that Laurinaitis may have developed a "God complex" as he progressed through the executive ranks:
"Coming to WCW, that was his really first prominent executive position, so he's not trying to ruffle any feathers at all. And then he goes to WWE being Vince's left-hand man, essentially, and so the more he ascends in that power position, the more it starts to make his head bigger. People act as if this is anything different than corporate America. This is corporate America 101. You start to go up the chain, and the more you go up the chain the bigger your head becomes, and then you get a God complex." [8:28 – 9:07]
Laurinaitis left WWE in 2022, shortly after the misconduct allegations first emerged. The 61-year-old is married to Kathy Colace, the mother of WWE Hall of Famers Brie and Nikki Garcia, formerly known as The Bella Twins.
Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
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