Shannon Moore says he was so furious with John Laurinaitis during his WWE run that he wanted to jump across a table and get physical with him. The former WWE Superstar claims Johnny Ace deliberately sabotaged one of his matches, and Moore was ready to confront him before other wrestlers talked him out of it.
During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Moore recalled an incident during an ECW show at the Hammerstein Ballroom. He was wrestling C.W. Anderson when he claims Laurinaitis started messing with the match through the referee’s headset, leaving Moore furious over what was happening.
Moore explained that Laurinaitis kept changing instructions during the match, telling the referee to switch Moore between being a babyface and a heel. He believes Johnny Ace was deliberately trying to sabotage him because Moore had previously gone over his head to contact Vince McMahon about getting his WWE job back.
“Johnny played into that I think and that night in Hammerstein Ballroom he tried to sabotage my match uh, by switching the call back and forth on the headset to the ref going, like, hey, tell Shannon that he’s a baby face, tell Shannon he’s a heel, tell Shannon he’s a baby face, tell him he’s a heel now, he’s a baby face now.”
Moore wasn’t just upset about what happened to him. He had known Anderson since he was a teenager and wanted him to have a good match, which made the situation even worse. By the time Moore got backstage, he was ready to take things beyond a verbal argument.
“I was wanting to jump across the table and like make it physical cuz I was really upset about that like not only for me but for C.W. Anderson.”
Other wrestlers stepped in and convinced Moore that confronting Laurinaitis wasn’t worth it. He ultimately backed down, but he still believes the entire situation came down to Johnny Ace holding a grudge against him.
“I just I felt like it was just a shitty move to sabotage me just based on the fact that I went over his head to get my job back.”
Moore admitted that calling Vince McMahon directly wasn’t the proper way to handle his WWE return. However, he believes Laurinaitis took the move personally and made him pay for it.
“Was it the right thing to do whenever it comes to the corporate chain of command? No, it wasn’t because like I suffered, you know, the consequences later. Um, and I think Johnny Ace took it to heart that I went over his head.”
Moore isn’t the only former WWE personality to speak negatively about working with Laurinaitis. As Ringside News previously covered, Jim Ross also criticized Laurinaitis over how he treated him during their time together. Laurinaitis was eventually fired by WWE in August 2022.
Moore never ended up putting his hands on Laurinaitis, but the fact that he wanted to get physical shows just how angry he was that night. Years later, he still believes Johnny Ace intentionally interfered with his match, although that accusation has not been independently verified.
What do you think about Shannon Moore wanting to get physical with John Laurinaitis over the alleged match sabotage? Was Moore right to be furious, or did he make the right call by walking away? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
