John Laurinaitis back leading WWE talent relations department
Additional notes by Bryan Rose
The WWE has not yet announced this, but John Laurinaitis has been put back in the position of Head of Talent Relations, reporting to WWE Executive Vice President of Operations Brad Blum.
Laurinaitis replaced Jim Ross as head of talent relations in 2004, when Ross stepped down from his executive roles within the company. Laurinaitis remained in that position until 2012, when he resigned. He has since returned to working as a producer/road agent, the role he entered WWE with in 2001 when WCW went out of business.
The talent relations department is being split into talent management and talent branding. The latter of which will be the idea of a talent agency looking to book WWE talent for appearances, television commercials, movies, and other third party engagements.
Laurinatis’ new role will be General Manager, Talent, which he starts immediately.
Aside from his backstage role, Laurinaits was an on-air personality from 2011-12, and has made sporadic appearances on WWE television since then.
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.