on-screen performer in 2012, Laurinaitis was relieved of his backstage executive duties and returned to his original role as a road agent. On the March 29, 2013 episode of SmackDown, Laurinaitis offered The Rock his services as manager for his match at WrestleMania 29 against John Cena. Rock responded by giving Laurinaitis a Spinebuster and a People's Elbow. Laurinaitis appeared at Survivor Series, alongside Los Matadores, R-Truth, Santino Marella and Fandango, and at the 2013 Slammy Awards, presenting the Rookie of the Year award to The Shield. On SmackDown's 15th Anniversary Special on October 10, 2014, Laurinaitis formed a team to face Teddy Long's team to be determined as the greatest GM in SmackDown history. The match was won by Teddy Long's team. He appeared at the Slammy Awards in December and, on March 28, 2015, he inducted The Bushwhackers into the WWE Hall of Fame. Preceding the return of the brand split, Laurinaitis was one of several former authority figures to unsuccessfully apply for the general manager positions of either Raw or SmackDown. He made his appearance during the June 20, 2016 episode of Raw but was escorted off the stage by Shane McMahon. On January 22, 2018, Laurinaitis was one of the guests that appeared on stage during the 25th Anniversary episode of Raw. At Money in the Bank on May 10, 2020, Laurinaitis made a cameo appearance during the Men and Women's Money in the Bank match, which was filmed inside the WWE headquarters. Return to Head of Talent Relations (2021–2022) In March 2021, Laurinaitis was re-hired by WWE as Head of Talent Relations. In April 2022, the WWE board began investigating nondisclosure agreements related to misconduct claims by women in the company against Laurinaitis and Vince McMahon. On June 21, Laurinaitis was removed from his post and replaced by Bruce Prichard. Laurinaitis was officially let go by WWE on August 8, ending his 21-year employment with the company. Professional wrestling style Laurinaitis is the innovator of the cutter maneuver, which he dubbed the Ace Crusher. He created the move while training with Barry Windham in 1987 and began using it a year later in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Later practitioners of the cutter include Diamond Dallas Page (who called it the Diamond Cutter) and Randy Orton (who called it the RKO). Personal life Laurinaitis' brothers Joe, who was Animal of The Road Warriors, and Marcus were