Cameron Grimes has addressed his WWE release.
On April 19th, multiple reports revealed that WWE had released Jinder Mahal, Indus Sher, Xia Li, and Xyon Quinn, with Von Wagner and Cameron Grimes later confirmed to have also been let go by the company.
In a recent appearance on Busted Open Radio, Trevor Lee, formerly known as Cameron Grimes, touched on his recent WWE release, where he revealed that a “high executive” told him he’d always have a job with the company just five days before he was cut.
“Literally the last time I was at TV, I had a pretty high executive tell me — because, you know, I was worried. Starting this stock market gimmick, it made me see businesses in a different light, you know what I mean? Following these companies and playing with stocks, I would see things in a different light. So I knew that I haven’t worked in over a year and I’m making a decent salary. So I knew that if someone was to look at the books, I’m going to be the first person that’s going to be cut. If you’re looking at it strictly as money-wise. But if you’re looking at it as like, ‘Ok, well if this is a talent that can do something for us.’ You know what I mean, they’re going to keep me. So I was told by a high executive last week on Friday that I would always have a job here. I would never have to worry about losing my job here, after expressing my concerns like that to him. And then five days later, they called me and told that I do lose the job. So I don’t know.”
-Trevor Lee
During his stint in NXT, Grimes reigned as both the Million Dollar Champion and NXT North American Champion, with his gimmick of becoming the “richest man in NXT” after investing into GameStop making him one of the brand’s most popular acts, although he was little more than a bit part player once drafted to SmackDown in May of last year.
Lee went on to discuss his frustrations at his lack of opportunities in WWE, noting that the success he found with his character in NXT was unlikely to be replicated on the main roster due to Baron Corbin having already tried something similar.
“I was just always told that they just didn’t really have an idea for me at the moment. I pitched a bunch of different ideas. I pitched a bunch of different character ideas, because I had a feeling that the money thing just wasn’t going to work up there. They had already kind of tried it with [Baron] Corbin before I had got up there with the JBL thing. I feel like that was very much because of the success that I had with the character of Cameron Grimes in NXT. I think that’s why they kind of went with that storyline… Over the past few months I had been going to writers and stuff and saying like, ‘Hey, I just want to work. At the end of the day, I just want to work. I just want to work.’ And I would hear that that would make me kind of sound bitter. I don’t understand that process. I don’t understand how I came off as being kind of bitter. I guess every week when you’re asking to work, I guess it starts to start annoying people, you know? I mean, I guess I could see that.”
-Trevor Lee
Elsewhere during the episode, Lee revealed that he always joked with the locker room that he would be the next person gone, adding that with the WWE Draft coming up, he had joked that he would be drafted to Thursdays, implying that he was bound for TNA Impact.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the future of Trevor Lee and his fellow ex-colleagues following their WWE releases.
