10 Awful WWE Backstage Hazing Stories
7. Palmer Canon Gets Bullied Into Resignation
Palmer Canon is an oft-forgotten relic of the Ruthless Aggression era. Introduced in August 2005, he was a squeaky clean “network representative” reminiscent of the Right to Censor, and a heelish foil for babyface GM Teddy Long. His run was short-lived, however, and it was all down to WWE’s backstage environment
In April 2006, Palmer suddenly flew himself home from WWE’s tour of Europe and gave WWE his notice, citing harassment stemming from “Wrestler’s Court". The culprits? The rosy old cherub JBL and his pal Chris Benoit, who had an unsavoury reputation himself. Canon was so infuriated that he and Bradshaw reportedly almost came to blows, and he was never seen again.
WWE made several attempts to convince Canon to come back, but he rebuffed them all. He was officially released from his WWE contract one week after flying home, and eventually retired from wrestling following a handful of independent appearances later that year. Fair play to Palmer for sticking to his guns and standing up for himself, but it says a lot about WWE’s environment at the time that even an unassuming authority figure could be driven to such measures.