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Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell recently recalled why he thinks John Laurinaitis was disliked by some of the wrestlers in the company.
Laurinaitis was formerly known as Johnny Ace, who retired from wrestling in the early 2000's. After his retirement, he joined WWE and started working various backstage roles before becoming the head of talent and relations.
Laurinaitis quickly became Vince McMahon's favorite and made major decisions regarding talent on behalf of the chairman. In a recent episode of the Wrestling Shoot Interview, Dutch Mantell spoke about why Laurinaitis was disliked by his peers:
"Everybody liked Dave, nobody liked Laurinitis because he didn't hang around with the guys. He was too busy hanging around with thieves and I never knew anybody who would ride with Laurinaitis, when he would ride, he would ride by himself or referee maybe and he would fly with Vince. John Laurinaitis really wasn't a friend to the wrestlers. He was more like an enemy and nobody hung around him," Mantell said. (From 2:08 to 2:45)
John Laurinaitis feuded with John Cena and CM Punk
During the summer of Punk, Laurinaitis rose as an authority figure. He was originally revealed as an on-screen personality alongside Vince McMahon and Triple H and appeared regularly on WWE programming.
For a brief period, he feuded with CM Punk and created obstacles and challenges in the form of fellow wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler and The Miz. Later, Laurinaitis feuded with Teddy Long to become the general manager of both shows. At WrestleMania 28, Team Johnny defeated Team Teddy and gained control of RAW and SmackDown.
After the Show of Shows, Laurinaitis began feuding with John Cena. He fired The Big Show only to bring him back and interfere in his match with Cena. The Big Show feuded with Cena on his behalf for a while.
In June, Cena faced The Big Show in a steel cage match. The former picked up the win, and then carried John Laurinaitis to McMahon, getting him fired by WWE. He made several sporadic appearances but never rose to People Power again in WWE.
If you use quotes from this article, please credit WSI and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
