page_title: John Laurinaitis
section_title: On-air authority figure (2011–2012)
hierarchical_section_title: John Laurinaitis / Professional wrestling career / World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment / WWE / On-air authority figure (2011–2012)
caption_attribution_description: English: (in the foreground) CM Punk as reigning WWE Champion. John Laurinaitis, the Raw Interim General Manager and Executive Vice President of Talent Relations for WWE, watches from the stage area. Taken December 6, 2011 during the WWE Raw telecast in Tampa, Florida.
context_page_description: John Hodger Laurinaitis, also known as Johnny Ace, is an American senior producer and retired professional wrestler, currently employed by WWE.
  He has wrestled for such promotions as World Championship Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and WWE. He is the brother of Joe and Marcus, and is also the uncle of James Laurinaitis, former National Football League player. In WWE, Laurinaitis worked in the talent relations office for eight years, and as occasional wrestler from 2011 until 2012. After his on screen firing, he stepped down from his corporate backstage role to being a producer. Prior to joining WWE, Laurinaitis worked as an executive for WCW.
context_section_description: On the June 27, 2011 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis was described by CM Punk during his infamous 'pipe bomb' promo as a "glad-handing, nonsensical, douchebag yes-man" who would "tell Vince McMahon everything he wants to hear". Laurinaitis subsequently made an appearance alongside McMahon as a corporate stooge during the main event of the Money in the Bank pay-per-view the following month. At the climax of the WWE Championship match, under McMahon's orders, Laurinaitis tried to duplicate the Montreal Screwjob, but defending WWE Champion John Cena then proceeded to knock Laurinaitis out, not wanting to win the match that way. This interference allowed CM Punk to win the match and the championship. The next night on Raw, Laurinaitis appeared alongside McMahon as McMahon announced an 8-man tournament to decide a new WWE Champion following Punk's departure from the company. On the August 1 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis interrupted Triple H, telling him to strip Cena of his WWE Championship, which led Cena to interrupt him and threaten to hit him again before Laurinaitis fled the ring. The following week on Raw, Laurinaitis helped Triple H officiate the contract signing between CM Punk and John Cena for their match at SummerSlam. After signing the contract, Cena flipped the table over and moved to go face to face with Punk, but was stopped by Laurinaitis. As Laurinaitis talked to Cena, Punk kicked Laurinaitis in the back of the head, causing Cena to accidentally hit Triple H instead of Punk.
  Following Summerslam, Laurinaitis began to make regular appearances on WWE programming as part of an angle in which Triple H attempted to find out who had sent a text message to the returning Kevin Nash telling him to attack CM Punk after his victory at Summerslam, causing him to lose the WWE Championship to Alberto Del Rio who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract immediately afterwards. On the August 15 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis asked Nash for a private meeting in his office, and on the September 5 episode of Raw, after Triple H fired Nash, Laurinaitis was seen entering Nash's limo with him, leaving the arena. During this period Laurinaitis was also regularly shown sending text messages backstage and at ringside. After Nash claimed that he had sent the text message to himself, it was implied that Laurinaitis was working to try and undermine Triple H in his new role as Chief Operating Officer, presumably because he wanted the job for himself. At Night of Champions, Laurinaitis interfered in the main event in an attempt to have Triple H removed from power but was stopped by The Miz and R-Truth, who attacked both Triple H and CM Punk, believing there to be a conspiracy. Nash also interfered in the match after Laurinaitis sent a text at ringside.
  On the September 26 episode of Raw, Laurinaitis acquired David Otunga, a Harvard Law School graduate, as his legal counsel and, as part of his kayfabe duties as Executive Vice President of Talent Relations, assigned Otunga to assemble Superstars that were disgruntled with Triple H's actions as COO. On that week's edition of SmackDown, Laurinaitis and Otunga sat down with Christian, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Vickie Guerrero to discuss the matter.
  On the October 10 edition of Raw, following a kayfabe strike by members of the WWE roster as a result of Triple H's management, Vince McMahon introduced Laurinaitis as the new Interim General Manager of Raw. That same night, Laurinaitis fired Jim Ross and reinstated The Miz and R-Truth, who had been suspended following repeated attacks. After a few weeks of impartiality during which he pledged that he would listen to the WWE fans using his slogan of "People Power", Laurinaitis began showing bias against WWE Champion CM Punk, who had repeatedly criticized Laurinaitis and questioned his integrity over the past few months. On the December 26 edition of Raw, Laurinaitis placed Punk in a gauntlet match against three opponents;  whoever pinned Punk would earn a shot at the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Punk agreed to the match under the 
caption: Laurinaitis, background, had a rivalry with WWE Champion, CM Punk, from late 2011 into early 2012.
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