Jim Cornette recently reacted to news that John Laurinaitis is scheduled to make his first wrestling-related appearance since leaving WWE.
During a recent episode of Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru, Cornette and co-host Brian Last discussed Laurinaitis being advertised for an appearance with World Classic Professional Big Time Wrestling, a promotion connected to veteran wrestler Bobby Fulton.
The discussion centered around comments Laurinaitis made in a recent interview where he claimed that he ran WWE’s developmental system for “20 years.” Cornette immediately disputed that timeline.
“20 years? He didn’t take over for Jim Ross until 2004,” Cornette said, referencing Jim Ross. “That was only 22 years ago, and he’s had numerous interruptions.”
Cornette also criticized Laurinaitis’ phrasing when discussing his passion for helping develop new talent. In the interview, Laurinaitis stated that he wanted to “help and develop and groom young talent,” which Cornette argued was an unfortunate choice of words given the controversies surrounding Laurinaitis’ career.
“It’s either complete stunning cluelessness or the stunning balls to use the word ‘grooming,’” Cornette remarked.
The former manager further dismissed Laurinaitis’ suggestion that he could take on a meaningful role behind the scenes with the promotion. According to Cornette, the structure of the company does not support the type of developmental system Laurinaitis described.
“He’s not going to be running their developmental because they don’t have one,” Cornette said. “He’s not going to be training at their wrestling school because they don’t have one either.”
Cornette concluded by suggesting that Laurinaitis’ comments were an attempt to remain relevant within the industry.
“He’s just making sh*t up because he doesn’t know what they’re even doing,” Cornette said.
Brian Last echoed those criticisms, referring to Laurinaitis as “Defendant C,” a reference to the legal issues tied to Laurinaitis’ past tenure in WWE. Last argued that Laurinaitis’ influence in wrestling had been largely negative and questioned the decision to promote his appearance so heavily.
Despite those concerns, Last acknowledged that he has personal respect for Bobby Fulton but believes the decision to bring Laurinaitis into the promotion will draw unwanted attention.
The appearance marks Laurinaitis’ first publicly advertised wrestling-related event since his departure from WWE amid ongoing legal controversies connected to former WWE chairman Vince McMahon.
