John Laurinaitis likely took some satisfaction in firing Matt Hardy in 2005, according to the former WWE Superstar.
Hardy was infamously released in April 2005 after taking to social media to expose that his real-life girlfriend Lita was having an affair with Edge.
On-screen, Lita was ‘married’ to Kane, but was partnered with Edge shortly after.
During his “The Extreme Life” podcast, Hardy said Laurinaitis probably enjoyed releasing him over his unprofessional conduct. He said,
“John Laurinaitis and I, we had a lot of issues. I felt like whenever he called to release me in 2005, I felt like he was getting a little bit of enjoyment out of it because he’s like, ‘this guy clashed with me and he questioned my judgment.”
Matt explained that he and Laurinaitis often clashed after he and Jeff Hardy split in 2002, and the two had different ideas as to how Matt should be portrayed as a heel.
Despite these issues between them, Hardy explained why he has respect for the former General Manger of RAW and SmackDown. He said,
“He was ultimately the bad guy for Vince McMahon. Vince McMahon doesn’t need to give people the bad news… That’s John Laurinaitis’ job. So that’s a tough job. It’s a very thankless job in many ways, too. So at the end of the day, I’ve had my issues with John Laurinaitis, but I’m okay with John Lauriniatis now, and I’m fine with him. I have respect for him.”
Laurinaitis was himself released from WWE last year for his role in the Vince McMahon hush-money scandal.
