Tha O Show has confirmed that James Laurinaitis has been formally offered a WWE developmental contract.James is the son of Joe Laurinaitis, better known to wrestling fans as Road Warrior Animal. His Uncle Marcus (a.k.a.The Terminator) was a Minnesota based wrestler and member of ‘The Wrecking Crew’. His other uncle, John was once a wrestler working under the name Johnny Ace. Today, he is the current WWE Vice President of Talent Relations (the guy in charge of signing everyone).
Needless to say, this kid has had his foot in the door from birth.
James Laurinaitis was a standout hockey player in high school, and was considered to be good enough to be drafted by the NHL in the second or third round. Pro teams avoided him however, knowing that he likely wouldn’t report, since his best sport, and first love, is football.
James is currently in his sophomore season at Ohio State University, where he is a starting linebacker. The 6’3”, 244 pound 20 year old was an NCAA All American this year and was awarded the 2006 Nagurski Trophy. He was also a finalist for The 2006 Butkus Award, given to College Football’s top linebacker.
James has been featured in magazines such as Sports Illustrated in the past and has always had to field questions about a future in professional wrestling. James has always appeared luke-warm on the topic, and seems to really be eyeing an NFL career right now.
There is a rumour floating around that some heat has surfaced within the Laurinaitis clan regarding the offer extended to James. Road Warrior Animal is adamant that James must finish school. He has even gone so far as to say, he doesn’t want his son in the business. Joe had a long prosperous career in the industry, but also had to endure many of the pitfalls. His Road Warrior team mate, Hawk (Michael Hegstrand) died in 2003, as a result of too much partying and way too much drug abuse during his career.
Animal knows what the business can do to a young, impressionable and competitive individual.
Apparently, Uncle John was not the one that extended the offer to James, and it came from McMahon himself. Many view this as a simple case of ‘right hand, left hand’. It’s very unlikely that McMahon would offer any young kid a contract without receiving advice from his head scout.
James is an outstanding athlete with a promising career ahead of him. It should be interesting to see how this story unfolds.
3 comments: on "Animal Jr. Offered A WWE Deal"
I met Animal several times, and he was always very cool with me. You might have caught him at a bad time.
Here's another guy, who we've seen do jack shit in the ring other than have lineage, and the day he signs on the dotted line, he's basically bagged his first championship. I won't get into "The" Ohio State University, since this is a wrestling site, but whatever. I hope he doesn't take the contract, it'd be another valuable roster spot filled, and another push taken from the ranks of the deserving.
Keep up the good work.
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