Bill DeMott has decided that the scrutiny that he has received by former WWE employees in recent weeks is making life difficult for him and the company, so he has decided to step down as WWE's head coach/trainer at their Performance Center in Orlando. He made the announcement on Twitter; https://twitter.com/BillDeMott/status/573925793857822720 He used the Twitlonger service because he couldn't fit it all in one tweet: "I deny the recent allegations made about me, however, to avoid any embarrassment or damage to the WWE, I've decided to step down from my role effective immediately." This is a story that our WWE editor Grahame Herbert has covered throughout the week first with the allegations from former wrestlers, then WWE and Chris Jericho defending DeMott and former WWE stars like Lance Storm and Hardcore Holly also offered up their opinions on the matter. It likely reached a point where DeMott has had enough. Notice that the first statement he made in that tweet was about denying the allegations about himself. He's not going to admit that he did anything wrong because in his mind he probably didn't. Some coaches are going to be tougher than others. The wrestling business isn't easy. He wants people to work hurt, so in his mind that could be something he enforces. If talents don't like it then they'll complain and apparently enough of that has happened to force his hand. DeMott, who wrestled most of his career as Hugh Morrus (humorous, get it?), earned a reputation as a tough coach since becoming the head trainer in 2012. He was also a trainer in Deep South Wrestling in the mid-2000s as well. He's been a big influence on a lot of people that are currently in WWE today as well as those that didn't make it and have been vocal about his treatment of wrestlers. The allegations range from using racial slurs, being sexist and forcing injured wrestlers to go in the ring even when they're not physically ready. At this point there hasn't been a statement by WWE regarding the situation although there's really not much they can do if DeMott is quitting. Triple H is the head of talent relations as well as developmental. He's currently in Ohio getting ready to be inducted in the Hall of Fame at the Arnold Classic this weekend while also running NXT shows there. There are a number of former wrestlers that regularly work at the Performance Center that could take over for DeMott. Some of them include Billy Gunn, Norman Smiley, Steve Keirn, Terry Taylor, Jason Albert (former A-Train/Tensai), Robbie Brookside and Sara Del Rey, who mostly just works with the divas. There's always a chance that somebody new could be brought in, but most likely they will promote somebody in house. According to PWInsider, DeMott has resigned completely from WWE. There was also a post on the Reddit wrestling forum from a former WWE developmental trainee diva that backs up a lot of the claims against DeMott. Here's some of what she wrote:
"In developmental, Bill scared us so much that it made us ashamed and scared to speak up about anything. The abusive environment was so hard to operate within, but that fear is very hard to leave behind. The few people who have come forward have alluded to some of what I want to talk about, but understand that this is a harder story to tell. The former divas who have spoken out against the instances of sexual harassment have been punished, up to and including being fired in a demonstration of the power Bill has. When our only female advocate in talent relations tried to speak up, she was removed from the position and sent to work in the office. Now that the conversation has been restarted, its been made known that she is no longer with the company. At any level, women who speak up for themselves are disposable. When rumors about their departures make it out, theyre immediately buried and become yesterdays news, but believe me - its true."
The woman she's referring to is likely Jane Geddes, who recently resigned. She was a former head of Talent Relations, then the assistant of Triple H and now she's gone. This diva told more stories about her time in WWE developmental too. This doesn't really affect the on screen WWE product too much. The head trainer is an important role in the company, but wrestlers are taught to work the WWE system and that isn't going to change whether they are some rookie taking their first bumps or an international star like Hideo Itami. Everybody has to go through it. There should be a lot more to this story in the coming days and weeks ahead, so we'll update you when there's anything significant.