This WWE Main Roster Call-Up Was Planned For Months

Many backstage in WWE had been pushing for this main roster call-up.

By Andrew Pollard / May 21, 2023

WWE

Nowadays a part of the SmackDown roster, the main roster call-up of Cameron Grimes had been in the works for a good while before the former NXT North American Champion formally landed on the main roster as part of this year's WWE Draft.

Via Fightful Select, several WWE higher-ups had been pushing for Grimes' main roster move for "quite some time", with Triple H amongst those who saw plentiful potential in the one-time Million Dollar Champion.

Prior to being drafted to SmackDown, there had been numerous reports across the previous several months noting how Grimes was on his way out of NXT, and that it was merely a case of finding suitable creative to debut him on Raw or SmackDown with.

In addition to Triple H having praise for the 29-year-old, several agents and producers also spoke highly of Grimes, with some of these having worked with the talent in the past. Likewise, Fightful was told by one long-time WWE employee that the North Carolina native was viewed as a "slam dunk" due to how he is able to work a number of styles.

Since arriving on SmackDown, Grimes has immediately become embroiled in a burgeoning rivalry with Baron Corbin, and the main roster newcomer picked up a record-setting victory over Corbin in his blue brand debut.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

Posted On: 21st May 2023

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Cameron Grimes