John Laurinaitis allegedly told 51-year-old his name was "worthless" to WWE

John Laurinaitis was never afraid to say what he really felt during his 21-year tenure as a WWE executive. In a recent interview, former WWE Superstar Stevie Richards recalled how the company's former Head of Talent Relations once told him how "worthless" he was.

Richards worked for WWE between 1999 and 2008. The 51-year-old is arguably best remembered for his spell with the villainous Right to Censor group in 2000 and 2001. He also won the Hardcore Championship 21 times and the European Championship once.

Reflecting on his WWE career, Richards told WSI's James Romero that he wanted the company to let him keep his ring name after he left. The former ECW star negotiated the deal with John Laurinaitis, who gave a brutally honest assessment of his importance to WWE:

"He said something that was a harsh truth, and he goes, 'I know they're gonna say yes to that because your name is worthless here. Your character is worthless. You're just not part of anybody's plans,'" Richards said. "I could have very easily said, 'How could you say that?' but to me, I was like, 'I'm gonna get what I want, so go ahead.' I was like, 'Yeah, yeah, you're right, I'm a piece of s**t.'" [5:24 – 5:48]

Richards' final WWE match came at a Summerfest event on August 9, 2008. He teamed up with Tommy Dreamer in a losing effort against The Miz and John Morrison.

---

Another reason why John Laurinaitis allowed Stevie Richards to keep his name

Many WWE Superstars are forced to undergo name changes after leaving the company. For example, Aleister Black and Buddy Murphy are known as Malakai Black and Buddy Matthews, respectively, in AEW.

In Stevie Richards' case, the former Right to Censor leader felt he earned the right to continue making money off his name after leaving WWE:

"They probably wouldn't have bothered me about using Stevie Richards. Once again, they don't and shouldn't care. At the level I was at, I was a good hand, I put people over, I worked my a** off, but nobody owes anything after that thing was over." [5:53 – 6:08]

In the same interview, Richards revealed that WWE's higher-ups considered adding him to two legendary factions.

Should John Laurinaitis have allowed more wrestlers to keep their names? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

---

Please credit WSI and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.