Former WWE star James Ellsworth recently spoke with Rolling Stone and below are some interview highlights:
Was your contract status with WWE always tenuous?
I feel like I understand the business, and when I signed, I said I’m going to enjoy every moment. I was hoping and praying it was going to be five or 10 years, but I was like, “This is probably going to have a short shelf life, so I’m going to do the best I can to stay here as long as I can.” But I felt I was looked at as short shelf life from the beginning, which I’m not bitter about.
In retrospect, would you have been better off remaining a fan favorite?
Yes. When they turned me heel, I thought, “Whoa, that’s happened quickly, but now I’ll get to show what I’ve got as a heel.” I feel like the opportunities I got to speak on the microphone as a heel, I really showed I can do it. I thought after the Carmella thing, I would go back to being that underdog babyface. I thought there was still something left with that. I was only a babyface for three months, so I thought we’d get back to that, but I guess it wasn’t in the cards. I have fun doing either/or. I just like using the art form of professional wrestling to entertain people.
One rumor that swirled upon your exit was that Vince mulled having you compete in the women’s division as a transgender wrestler. Any truth to that?
All I can say is Vince never talked to me about it. If that was an idea, I surely didn’t know, and Vince and I never had a conversation about it, so I have no idea. [Laughs] Being in WWE, I can tell you a lot of the dirt sheets is just people guessing. I’m not saying that was, but it’s people guessing and hoping they’re right, and it gives their dirt sheet a reason to pay attention to it I guess.
Rolling Stone