Amid numerous allegations of perceived professional improprieties, on March 6, 2015, Bill DeMott officially resigned from his position as head trainer at WWE's Performance Center. From allegations of racist and homophobic statements plus physically abusing his students, DeMott's alleged behaviour was so bad that him staying in his position could've easily led to more harm than good for now wholly corporate WWE. Bill DeMott is a 25-year wrestling veteran who comes from another time in the industry, his career starting in 1990 making him one of the last of the top wrestlers broken in during wrestling's "territory" era. If anything, the territory era wasn't exactly known for being politically correct, kind, or pleasant in most any way for those who were doing the wrestling itself. From angles being booked that sensationalised issues of race, gender and sexual orientation, to needing the perception of being "tough" in order to be able to be considered a top star, it was a different time. Of the trainers employed by WWE, it's entirely possible that being "old school" in the ring was DeMott's job. Simply put, in-ring trainers in Florida like Norman Smiley, Robbie Brookside and Sara Amato represent a whole other era of wrestling that's decidedly different than North America's classic tradition. Thus, possibly in doing his job, DeMott was simply a relic of an era that's now dead and gone. Likely aware of (but staunchly against) where wrestling is headed, what lessons can we learn about wrestling's newly "corporate" era.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
