10 Things We Learned From James Ellsworth On Talk Is Jericho

3. Was Penciled In To Wrestle Heath Slater At SummerSlam 2016

Heath Slater
WWE

Though he did appear in featured spots at shows like Survivor Series and TLC (along with working his first ever Royal Rumble in 2017), Ellsworth was never given that big one-on-one match on pay-per-view. Things would have been different had Heath Slater not started getting babyface sympathy in the summer of 2016.

One of the initial plans penciled in for SummerSlam that year was Heath Slater vs. James Ellsworth, but WWE changed their minds when Heath's begging segments alongside Daniel Bryan/Shane McMahon and "I Got Kids' catchphrase had fans rooting for him. People now wanted to see Slater win a contract with SmackDown, and that ruined Ellsworth's PPV chance.

As WWE wanted James to come in as a babyface too, it didn't make much sense to book them against one another at SummerSlam, so the plan was scrapped. Believe it or not, Ellsworth was the one who was going to go over and win the SmackDown deal, not Slater.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.