"You're all fired" - Ex-WWE star on John Laurinaitis releasing several wrestlers on WrestleMania morning
Bill DeMott recently recalled how John Laurinaitis informed several WCW stars that they had been immediately fired by WWE.
DeMott was supposed to debut at WrestleMania 17 with 10 ex-WCW wrestlers in an in-ring segment with fictional WCW owner Shane McMahon. However, days before the event, one of the 10 wrestlers leaked details about the segment to a reporter in a media interview.
Speaking on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, DeMott revealed how WWE’s Head of Talent Relations broke the disappointing news:
“We got woken up six o’clock in the morning of ‘Mania, ‘You’re fired. Get everybody in the lobby. Be there in five minutes.’ It was Johnny Ace, ‘Billy, get everybody down there. You’re all fired.’ I’m trying to figure out what happened between the time I landed, and you’re trying to put it together.” [1:08:50-1:09:17]
DeMott, also known as Hugh Morrus in WCW, still made a brief on-screen appearance at WrestleMania 17 as part of a WCW skybox. Although he was fired that morning, he still ended up officially debuting in WWE two months later.
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As WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis is responsible for informing superstars about their release from the company.
Bill DeMott went on to explain how Laurinaitis told the WCW stars that Kevin Dunn, WWE’s Executive Vice President of Television Production, made the decision:
“Johnny comes down and says Kevin Dunn called him, ‘Send every one of them home. We got no use for them.’ Because someone went on the internet the night before and gave up the 10 names that were showing up in the ring.” [1:09:29-1:09:45]
Excluding WrestleMania 17, DeMott’s WWE debut took place on the June 4, 2002, episode of RAW when he attacked Edge and became a member of The Alliance. He later worked as the head trainer in WWE’s NXT developmental system before resigning from his role in 2015.
Please credit Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.