John Laurinaitis

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For other persons named Johnny Ace, see Johnny Ace (disambiguation).
John Laurinaitis
An image of John Laurinaitis.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Johnny Ace
Billed height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Billed weight 250 lb (110 kg/18 st)
Born July 31, 1965 (1965-07-31) (age 42)
San Bernardino, California, U.S.
Trained by Nelson Royal
Debut 1986
Retired 2000

John Laurinaitis (born July 31, 1965) is an executive with World Wrestling Entertainment. He was previously a professional wrestler known as Johnny Ace, and is credited as the inventor of the "cutter" maneuver.

Contents

Career

John Laurinaitis started wrestling in 1986 as Johnny Ace. At first, while wrestling in Florida Championship Wrestling Ace frequently teamed with his brother The Terminator. Later, when he wrestled for NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions he formed a tag team with Shane Douglas called "The Dynamic Dudes".[1] They were managed by Jim Cornette until Cornette turned on them for Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane's version of The Midnight Express. Prior to entering the competition as one of The Dynamic Dudes at the NWA, he already appeared as a valet (a flagbearer) for the team of The Sheepherders.

As All Japan Pro Wrestling was cutting its ties with the NWA in 1990, Laurinaitis chose to stay in it, thus becoming a permanent foreign fixture on the roster. In AJPW, he found a lot of success, teaming with Kenta Kobashi, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams and Mike Barton.

Laurinaitis retired from wrestling in 2000 after the split between All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH. He soon joined World Championship Wrestling where he replaced Vince Russo as head booker. He became a road agent in the World Wrestling Federation after the sale of WCW to the WWF in 2001. Laurinaitis worked his way up to become Vice President of Talent Relations for WWE in 2004 (replacing Jim Ross), which put him in charge of talent scouting and contracts for the company.[2] In May 2007, Laurinaitis was promoted to Senior Vice President of Talent Relations.

Booking style

Laurinaitis has been credited for changing the match style of WCW, and later WWF, to emphasize greater ring psychology. This is often attributed to his experience in All Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he wrestled and was head foreign booker. The AJPW-style, perfected during the 1990s, emphasized among other things clean finishes, gradual build-up of "heat" (viewer tension), and multiple false finishes (when a wrestler, much to audience surprise, kicks out of what is usually a finishing move). All of these stylistic elements have increasingly been utilized in WCW/WWE matches.

Criticism

Ace was known by smarks to be the favorite foreign booker of Shohei Baba's wife Motoko.[1] However, following the Pro Wrestling NOAH split by Mitsuharu Misawa, Ace announced his retirement and chose to return to the U.S., and not support Motoko in her quest to rebuild the company.

Although he is close to the McMahons, Ace has been known to anger them such as when Ace's secretary revealed a list of possible WWE Hall of Fame inductees for 2007 to Hulk Hogan on the phone while he was on the Bubba the Love Sponge radio show on Sirius Satellite radio channel Howard 101.[3]

SmackDown! commentator John Layfield has also made jokes on the show at the expense of Ace such as when Deuce 'N Domino debuted (he claimed that if Cherry was carrying a skateboard instead of wearing roller blades then she could be Head of Talent Relations). Matt Hardy has also been on the wrong side of Ace, claiming on an episode of WWE's Internet show Byte This! that his release in 2005 was due to Ace "having something against him".

In wrestling

  • Finishing and signature moves

Championships and accomplishments

  • International Championship Wrestling Alliance
  • ICWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Oregon Wrestling Federation
  • OWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • PWI ranked him # 203 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003[4]

Personal life

John Laurinaitis' brothers are or have both been involved in professional wrestling: Joseph, also known as Road Warrior Animal; and former wrestler Marcus, mainly known as one half of the tag team The Wrecking Crew (Terminator / Fury). John's nephew, James (Joseph's son) is a linebacker for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Notes

Professional wrestling
Portal
  1. ^ a b Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (p.187)
  2. ^ John Laurinaitis' corporate Bio. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.
  3. ^ John Laurinaitis backstage heat.
  4. ^ Pro-Wrestling Illustrated 500 of the PWI Years. Pro-Wrestling Edge. Retrieved on 2008-06-02.

References

  • Mick Foley (2000). Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. HarperCollins, 511. ISBN 0061031011. 
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