James Ellsworth went from being destroyed by Braun Strowman to becoming a regular on WWE SmackDown — but he has now revealed that WWE had absolutely no creative plans for him after Vince McMahon decided to hire him.
Speaking on Developmentally Speaking, Ellsworth explained that his WWE career began in the most unusual way. After impressing McMahon during his 2016 match against Strowman, he was offered a contract and brought straight to SmackDown, skipping NXT entirely.
James Ellsworth (Credits: Ringside News)
James Ellsworth WWE: No Creative Plans After Vince McMahon Hired Him
Ellsworth admitted he assumed he would be heading to WWE’s developmental system, as almost everyone does. Instead, he was told: “No, man. Vince wants you. Vince wants you on SmackDown.” The catch was that nobody seemed to know what would happen next. “We don’t know what the future holds,” he recalled being told.
The problem was timing. WWE already had months of television planned when McMahon suddenly decided Ellsworth needed to be part of the show. That meant writers had to make room for someone who was never supposed to be there, rewriting plans and, as Ellsworth put it, taking television time from somebody else to give it to him.
Ellsworth even suspected his sudden arrival annoyed some people behind the scenes. WWE had invested time and money in wrestlers coming through NXT, while he was getting television time simply because McMahon personally wanted him there. “It probably got on their nerves at first,” he said. “I get that. I understand it.”
Winging It Week to Week on SmackDown
Things did not get any less confusing once Ellsworth started appearing on SmackDown. He recalled being told he would work with The Miz, only for that plan to change to AJ Styles. The switch left him nervous: facing The Miz felt manageable, but facing Styles — one of the best in-ring performers in the world — was, in his words, scary.
“Every week I’m like, ‘What’s going on? I’m wrestling The Miz? Oh, that’s easy. Oh, I’m wrestling AJ? I’m scared to death because he’s so awesome I don’t know what to do,’” he said.
Ellsworth said WWE continued figuring things out as his character developed, with no real plan beyond whatever the company wanted to do that particular week. “They were winging me the whole time because they had nothing planned for me at all ever,” he said. “They just had to plan week to week with me and get to know me and see what I could really do on the microphone and everything.”
Despite the lack of direction, Ellsworth’s run became one of SmackDown’s most memorable underdog stories. He worked with Styles, became a regular on television, and eventually joined Carmella as her on-screen ally. He enjoyed a few months as a babyface before spending the rest of his run as a heel.
“It was a great run. I had a great time,” Ellsworth said. “I got to be a babyface there for a couple of months. Then I got to be a heel the rest of the years I was there with Carmella and stuff. So it was awesome, man. I have no regrets.”
Ellsworth’s story is another example of how quickly things could change in WWE when McMahon decided he wanted someone on television. The company might not have had a plan when he arrived, but his unexpected run still turned into one of the most unlikely success stories of that SmackDown era — proof that sometimes, in wrestling, having no plan at all can work out just fine.
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Source: Ringside News — read the full story there.
