Johnny Ace pre-TV and BTS

[@TenaciousBe]

(Behind The Scenes)

I'm just going to say this - I don't get the Laurinaitis love. Prior to him becoming an on-screen regular, wasn't he pretty much universally hated as a "McMahon stooge / yes-man" and as someone who came across as horribly sexist to the female wrestlers? I could be completely wrong, and it's hard to google anything about him right now without getting results about his on-screen character. But I just remember his name being a downright dirty word to a lot of smart fans, and don't understand why him coming on to play a bumbling idiot on TV all of a sudden makes it okay to dig him.

Maybe it's just the kind of fan I am, but I have a hard time separating the man from the character.

[Cam]

Dec 28, 2011 14:42:25 GMT -5 @TenaciousBe said:

Maybe it's just the kind of fan I am, but I have a hard time separating the man from the character.

That's the thing, right there.

People are showing love for John Laurinaitis, TV character. None of us know him outside of what we've seen on Raw, so that's all we can judge him on despite all the stories.

And he's pretty damn entertaining on screen.

[PKO]

He's disliked by A LOT of guys and girls who have worked there, especially considering he replaced JR who is almost universally respected. Many people consider him to be lucky (and undeserving) of the position he has.

[Turd Ferguson]

He also booked AJPW after Baba died because Mrs Baba LOOOOOOOOOVED Johnny Ace. Ace was a really good wrestler, and booked the terrible last weeks of WCW. There's a lot to like, and a lot to hate. By all accounts, he's always been horrible to the females (but a lot of wrestlers are anyway), he's been callous about terminating people, he's not really scouted a whole heck of a lot of talent, and he took over for Jim Ross. Everyone loved JR as VPOTR

[moneyman20]

Dec 28, 2011 14:47:38 GMT -5 Turd Ferguson said:

He also booked AJPW after Baba died because Mrs Baba LOOOOOOOOOVED Johnny Ace. Ace was a really good wrestler, and booked the terrible last weeks of WCW. There's a lot to like, and a lot to hate. By all accounts, he's always been horrible to the females (but a lot of wrestlers are anyway), he's been callous about terminating people, he's not really scouted a whole heck of a lot of talent, and he took over for Jim Ross. Everyone loved JR as VPOTR

Except Stephanie McMahon apparently. The only reason he has the jobs he does is because some female executive in a company thought he's a good looking man who looks good in a suit and smiles a lot.

After that, he proves that he has no clue what the hell he's doing.

[@TenaciousBe]

Cool, that's pretty much what I thought. I don't know if it's that "real-world" bias that won't let me like him, but I don't even find his character entertaining. He makes me want to change the channel. :\

[FUNK_US/BRODUS]

I enjoy watching the character. I get the impression that Paul Levesque is an insecure mark for himself, but I love watching HHH.

[Deleted]

Dec 28, 2011 16:56:37 GMT -5 FUNK_US/BRODUS said:

I enjoy watching the character. I get the impression that Paul Levesque is an insecure mark for himself, but I love watching HHH.

Kind of my take on Jericho. So long as he isn't being repetitive as all hell (something he has a bad habit of) I enjoy him, but the actual guy comes off like a complete asshole.

[Deleted]

I'm not going to comment on how well John Laurinaitis does his job because really Vince and his other superiors is the only people that can determine how well he is doing, but I will say that Johnny Ace is the best thing going on WWE TV. That guy is great.