"Do you know who I am?" - Released WWE Superstar slams John Laurinaitis
Tino Sabbatelli has questioned whether WWE executive John Laurinaitis even knows who he is.
Laurinaitis, WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, called Sabbatelli in June 2021 to inform him of his release. The former NXT star was previously let go by the company in April 2020 before being rehired in October of the same year.
Speaking on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight podcast, Sabbatelli criticized the way in which Laurinaitis delivered the surprising news.
“It was very unsettling because I had a conversation with Johnny Laurinaitis,” he said. “I wanna be professional here. When he was done talking to me, I actually wanted to ask him, ‘Do you know who I am?’ because it was so generic. It was so like he was just talking to a script, and I’m like, ‘No disrespect but [I’m] Tino, do you know who you’re talking to?’” [29:37-30:09]
Sabbatelli signed with WWE in October 2014 after playing six years in the NFL for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, and Kansas City Chiefs. Although he was often told that Vince McMahon would like him, he never received an opportunity to perform in front of the WWE Chairman.
Why did John Laurinaitis release Tino Sabbatelli?
Yes everytime I step through those ropes, the spot light will always be on me..#lightwork #eliteathlete https://t.co/i10O9pquu6
In 2021, WWE released several superstars over the age of 35 and began focusing on younger talents. Vince McMahon even reportedly decided to no longer hire women over the age of 25.
Sabbatelli, aged 37 at the time of his second release, believes his age was the main reason why John Laurinaitis was told to let him go.
“He said something to me that I couldn’t fathom,” Sabbatelli added. “I didn’t wanna be disrespectful but he didn’t wanna say age because supposedly they can’t say age because that’s politically not correct. But I knew it [reason for release] was age.” [30:17-30:33]
Sabbatelli’s final televised WWE match came in April 2018 when he and Madcap Moss, then known as Riddick Moss, lost against Heavy Machinery. He also made a one-off appearance on AEW Dark in July 2020.
Please credit Chris Van Vliet and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.