10 Most Despised Men In Wrestling History

7. John Laurinaitis

JBL Snarl
WWE

John Laurinaitis was and is hated by so many wrestlers because he acted as Vince McMahon's hatchet man before Triple H seized his position as head of Talent Relations. He was the scapegoat - the man despatched to bring down the ax swung from above.

Laurinaitis wasn't so much directly evil as utterly and obliviously incompetent. He was aware that Cowboy Bob Orton suffered from Hepatitis C, and still wasn't compelled to interject when he was scheduled to blade in the main event of Armageddon 2005. The Undertaker, incensed, almost had him fired for the unnecessary risk. If only he had; the complexion of WWE might look completely different today.

Laurinaitis also enjoys the curious distinction of being loathed indirectly. CM Punk wasn't lying when he referred to him as a lying, nonsensical douchebag yes-man; Laurinaitis steered the rudderless development ship with such a poor and detached vision that the product became damn near intolerable at the turn of the decade.

If you were and are bored and disenchanted by the samey likes of Ezekiel Jackson and Titus O'Neil, and to this day are aghast that WWE still relies on part-time nostalgia acts and positions them as the real WWE stars, John Laurinaitis deserves your scorn. Laurinaitis oversaw WWE's developmental system for a decade, during which time he:

- Alienated Jim Cornette, the one man who had the acumen and passion to make the system work, even in its rudimentary format.

- Allowed and practically encouraged the hilariously catastrophic sh*tshow that was Deep South Wrestling to take place under his watch.

- Repeated those same mistakes like the lunatic he was in FCW, ostensibly so he could party near a beach.

- Singularly failed to manage an environment from which the next fleet of stars would emerge, and recruit so terribly that he managed to sign the wrong one-legged wrestler.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!