The WWE backstage and the office staff is not safe from being released or eliminated from the roles as Mark Carrano was removed from WWE amidst controversy. Mickie James tweeted an image showing her belongings which were left behind after her release was sent back to James in a trash bag.
To James, this one image summed up her past 3 years with the Company. This made wrestling fans super angry with WWE’s disrespect towards Mickie James and how her belongings were returned.
Stephanie McMahon quickly responded to the tweet apologizing for the disrespect and allowing her to know the man responsible no longer works for the WWE.
It’s now widely believed the person McMahon was referring to is Mark Carrano who was the previous head of talent relations in WWE.
I am afraid I’ve some bad news Mark Carrano and WWE
Mark Carrano is indeed no longer with the company with John Laurinaitis taking over as a WWE head of relations. John Laurinaitis has also been vocal about pointing the finger at Mark Carrano for his disrespectful treatment of Mickie James.
Though, what is not clear is if he was fired because of this incident, because it was the final straw or if Mark Carrano’s firing was unrelated to the incident.
A tweet by the new head of talent relations flat-out said the person responsible was fired for this. Though, it’s just really hard to believe that in one day: She tweeted, Mark was fired and John Laurinaitis was immediately given his job. It’s just so quick for all that to occur.
Particularly when some others who work backstage were let go or had responsibilities removed in a similar week.
WWE’s manager of publicity and Corporate Communication Joe Villa who had the task for almost ten years was let go. Dan Engler who you might recognize as a referee on RAW has been removed from his role as a senior manager in the WWE talent relations department. Though, he’ll stay with the organization solely as a referee.
John Cone has the same fate as Engler with him also no longer a senior manager in the talent relation department, but will also remain as a referee. Now former WWE director of talent relations Nicole Zeoli who had the position for 3 years and had been with the agency for twelve years was also let go for WWE.
Is the WWE talent relation department a problem?
Oddly, several who were in the talent relations department were all let go from the company or the department. And It almost makes it appear that the department had serious and required to be broken apart and have some fresh blood put in.
I think having Laurinaitis who’s a former wrestler, is a good person for this job when the talent is a wrestler. I do not believe Mark Carrano had any link to anything in-ring the. We’ll see if stories of his behavior come out in the next couple of weeks or stories of the department in general.
What did Mark Carrano do in WWE?
As the chief of talent relations in WWE, he was responsible for the communication among wrestlers and many departments in the company. The talent relations head was also tasked with contacting talent regarding signings, releases, payroll details, contract extensions, and other critical Company-wide mandates.
He was an influential figure behind all the scenes, but also made some on-screen appearances on WWE’s programming during his time in the WWE. He appeared on 6 episodes of Season of a Total Divas in segments featuring Natalya and other top lady starts.
He also showed up in season 3 of WWE’s well-known reality TV series and appeared in multiple episodes of WWE 24 and one of the A Future WWE – The FCW Story documentary.
He had a history of being disliked backstage
To hear ex-WWE talent, Mark Carrano deserved what he got and had it coming for a long time. Former women’s stars Maria Kanellis, Gali Kim, and Jillian Hall reported that after being released they received their belongings in the trash bags also.
Kim went so far as to say Mark Carrano was not a nice human being. Finding out that James was not the single one this happened to, Laurinaitis had to call more released talent to apologize to them also.
Kim was gone so far as to say Mark Carrano was not a nice man. Finding out that she was not only the single one this happened to, Laurinaitis had to call more released WWE talent to apologize to them also. It was not just women who had an issue with him.
Darren Young Tweeted, I was harassed by Carrano about losing my job and I just stayed quiet. Former, longtime referee Mike Chioda called him the worst head of talent relations in WWE and blamed him for his release.
Where are Mickie James and Mark Carrano now?
Carrano never gave an interview and sharing his side of the story. A few former WWE company talents believe that he will get his old post back one day because he knows where several bodies are buried but with the horrible PR WWE received over the James incident, it is difficult to believe they will ever want something to do with him again.
A happier ending to the all involves focusing on James. After her release from the company, she moved on, returning to impact wrestling, where she became the impact knockouts champion for the 4th time.
In a historic move, the forbidden door was knocked down at the Royal Rumble 2022, which saw Mickie James welcomed back to complete ion the Royal Rumble match. For a company to bring in stars from another organization spoke to how much Vince McMahon still respected James.
She was even allowed to come to the ring wearing her impact title championship. For Mickie James to say yes to the invitation said there were no harsh feelings. Mark Carrano lost his post, but she is doing better than ever.