WWE's Releases Are Neither "Apologetic" Nor "Respectful"
Cameron Grimes' WWE release came days after the promise of a job for life.
The former Cameron Grimes has claimed that his recent WWE release came five days after a "high executive" told him he'd always have a job with the promotion.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Trevor Lee stated that as somebody who "hadn't worked in over a year" and was on a "decent salary", he believed that if WWE was to make cuts based on finances, he might be in the firing line.
According to Lee (h/t Wrestling Observer):
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.
When Lee expressed these concerns to a WWE executive, he was told not to worry about his job - only for the company to let him go less than a week later:
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.
Lee confirmed his WWE release on Tuesday (23 April), using social media to publish an emotional video in which he stated that he loved working for the market-leading promotion, thanking everybody who'd helped him.
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Signed by WWE in January 2019, Lee's usage rate dropped significantly upon moving from NXT to SmackDown in the 2023 Draft. His last televised bout had been an 81-second loss to Bron Breakker on SmackDown's 12 April episode.
Let's assume Lee's account of his conversation with a WWE executive is accurate. In that case, it flies in the face of a recent report stating that the promotion had adopted a new, more "respectful" approach when conducting talent releases.
Reported PWInsider on 20 April:
The word among talents is that the calls to those who were cut were very different from the past. We are told that the calls were far less curt and more apologetic and respectful towards the talents than they had been under previous Talent Relations regimes.
Perhaps whoever made the call to Lee uttered a "sorry" or two to the former Grimes during the phone conversation in which it was revealed that the 30-year-old had lost his dream job, despite reassurances to the contrary. Nonetheless, if your dictionary's entry for "respectful" can reasonably by applied to a job-for-life promise being shattered within just five days, you should probably take it back to the store.
WWE's PR guru and company President Nick Khan's right-hand man, Chris Legentil, became the promotion's Talent Relations lead earlier this month.