When a fan asked what the backstage environment was like after CM Punk's 2011 pipe bomb promo on WWE Raw, Laurinaitis said he, Vince McMahon, and the producers were not nervous. He added that conversations did take place behind the scenes at the time.

There [were] discussions about what happened and how [we] could not have stuff like that happen going forward.

Laurinaitis was not yet an on-screen character in WWE when Punk cut the promo, though Punk referenced him directly. Punk said Laurinaitis would tell then-chairman McMahon everything he wanted to hear, and called Laurinaitis a glad-handing, nonsensical, d*****bag yes-man.

Following the promo, Laurinaitis began appearing on-screen alongside McMahon. He later attempted to recreate the Montreal Screwjob in Punk's WWE Championship match against John Cena at Money in the Bank, though Cena did not allow it to happen. Laurinaitis then became a consistent presence on the show and was named Raw General Manager by McMahon in October.

Laurinaitis had been named, then dropped, from the civil lawsuit accusing Vince McMahon of sex trafficking at the beginning of 2024.