In the mid-2000s, "The Emo Warrior" Jimmy Jacobs became one of the most well-known faces on the U.S. independent scene. Teaming with BJ Whitmer, Jacobs became just as obsessed with his manager, Lacey, as he did with the pursuit of the ROH World Tag Team Championship. The diminutive Jacobs continued to win praise for his matches and character for the next several years, with many speculating that only his size was holding him back from a shot in WWE. Still, he kept maintaining a presence in ROH, helping found the Age of the Fall stable with Necro Butcher and Tyler Black (Seth Rollins) and later, The Decade with Whitmer and Roderick Strong. Jacobs did wrestle a single match for WWE - a Smackdown! squash against Eddie Guerrero in 2005 which Jacobs would later describe as a dream come true. Ten years later, he was hired by the company to work as a writer.