John Laurinaitis allegedly threatened to fire ex-WWE star "every other week"

John Laurinaitis joined WWE in 2001.
John Laurinaitis joined WWE in 2001.

Rene Dupree has explained how John Laurinaitis deliberately attempted to make him fear for his job in WWE.

Dupree performed on the main roster between 2003 and 2007. During that time, Laurinaitis regularly interacted with superstars in his role as the Head of Talent Relations. The long-time WWE executive is currently on administrative leave following allegations of misconduct.

Speaking on his “Cafe de Rene” podcast, Dupree claimed Laurinaitis threatened to release him from his contract multiple times.

“Johnny was always a pain in my a**, man, threatening to fire me every other week, ‘I could fire you, Rene. I could fire you, Rene,’ and then the next week he’d be cool, and then the next week he’d be a p***k,” Dupree said. “I just got so sick of f**king even looking at the guy.” [11:22-11:37]
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Dupree left WWE in 2007 after requesting his release. The 38-year-old agreed to return in 2010, but Laurinaitis allegedly stopped answering his calls without providing an explanation.


Paul London also disliked John Laurinaitis

The latest episode of Rene Dupree’s podcast featured a guest appearance from former WWE Superstar Paul London.

London, a three-time Tag Team Champion, disliked John Laurinaitis’ style of communication. He also felt that the executive politicked backstage to make himself look good to Vince McMahon.

“Just a master manipulator,” London said. “I think that’s unfortunately what you think of when you think of Talent Relations, just somebody who continuously throws these kind of, I don’t know if they’re empty threats, but it’s a power game.” [11:38-11:54]

WWE announced on Friday that NXT founder and 14-time world champion Triple H is returning to the Talent Relations position. What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.


Please credit “Cafe de Rene” and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.

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