WWE Place John Laurinaitis On Administrative Leave - Bruce Prichard Named Interim Replacement

More major internal changes within WWE following misconduct allegations.

Vince McMahon John Laurinaitis
WWE.com

WWE have placed John Laurinaitis on “administrative leave”, with Bruce Prichard named as Interim Head of Talent Relations during his absence.

PWInsider confirmed that the change was passed around to staff and talent via internal memo on Monday ahead of the evening's edition of Raw.

The news marks the latest change in WWE's internal structure following misconduct allegations that were reported by the Wall Street Journal last week. Upon news breaking, WWE confirmed that Vince McMahon was to step down as CEO, with Stephanie McMahon taking up the role as interim CEO and Chairwoman.

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Both Laurinaitis and McMahon were named as part of WSJ's story. Though the investigation was initially focused on McMahon’s alleged financial agreement with a 41-year-old woman who he allegedly "passed like a toy" to Laurinaitis, the story also noted historic non-disclosure agreements including additional misconduct claims made by other former female WWE employees about McMahon and Laurinaitis.

Prichard will assume his new duties along with his existing tasks as WWE's Head of Creative. The former Brother Love returned to WWE in 2018 having previously worked for the organisation between 1987-1991 and 1992-2008.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett