The continuation of former WWE developmental talent to not be members of the Bill DeMott Fan Club continued this past week. I’ve actually talked or corresponded with quite a few people on this subject and it’s not unanimous, but I’d say 80% are negative on DeMott.
Some were also proponents of Tom Prichard and it was not very popular overall when he was replaced. One person, not a fan of DeMott, noted that Derek Foore and Drew Donaldson (who wrestled as Chad Baxter and Chase Donovan) have spoken out with another former developmental wrestler, Kevin Matthews, regarding DeMott. Foore, a former NCAA Division II champion who was released in November, said the talent risks their lives for low pay. He claimed they treated him great at his tryout but he became the black sheep once he came in full-time. One of the problems with Foore is that before going to Florida, he contacted Teddy Hart to learn some wrestling moves, and WWE and Teddy Hart’s thinking on wrestling is very different, so he had to unlearn the very little bit he knew. On DeMott, he said, “If you messed up on a spot, he could break a yardstick over your back.” He said Rob MacIntyre (the trainer at Cena’s Hard Knocks South gym where a lot of the guys trained), who got heat because there were so many injuries, was unfairly blamed and replaced. He said the high number of injuries was due to DeMott’s training and said DeMott talked about his drug use during his days as a wrestler and felt he shouldn’t be in that position. WWE likes to bring in guys who had drug issues, such as Perry Saturn and Lex Luger, to talk with talent, to hopefully steer them away from that aspect.
As Baxter & Donovan, Foore said they came up with 13 different ideas and vignettes but none of them were used. He said a few weeks later he saw the Prime Time Players on Raw using an idea they suggested (the whistle) and claimed the Dr. Shelby psychiatrist idea that they did last year for Bryan & Kane was one of the ideas they used, as was the hugging it out after teasing breaking up (although that spot had been used in wrestling for years–the Midnight Express used to tease breaking up and end up hugging at the end as heels in the 80s). He also claimed DeMott had a gun in his office and used homophobic slurs daily, and was a bully.
One wrestler who was there and heard part of the podcast said about Foore and Donaldson: “
They’re idiots. Foore just didn’t get it and rubbed everyone wrong immediately. Over time he started to figure things out and became fun to be around. Still, he seemed to be a bit delusional about the wrestling world. Drew is a good guy but didn’t really have much to help him stand out. I always felt he was intelligent, but after hearing him give credence to certain rumors on that podcast, I don’t feel he has any credibility. There are genuine issues here but what they are touching on is either false or skewed. It’s disappointing.” Another person very familiar with the situation said Foore was a nice guy, but a meathead, but a lovable meathead.
Foore and Donaldson and Nick Rogers were said to be a very funny act on promos and at one time there was at least talk to maybe put them on Saturday Morning Slam as a goofy trio. But while one set of decision makers liked them, another set thought their ring work was lacking, so they went from being teased of being on TV, to being let go when cuts were made. They were all shocked and upset about being fired by Canyon Ceman, particularly since they saw him as not knowing wrestling and being an ex-volleyball star.
Foore after being fired, came back to the school and wanted to talk with DeMott, who very politely asked him to leave and said they could talk later, and Foore then screamed “Fuck you” at DeMott and made a scene. This all happened at the end of last year.
Regarding the charges, one person said he never heard DeMott use any hate speech, “
Not saying it didn’t happen, but I never heard it.” The person said DeMott did use a small stick for about a week, not a 2x4, but a stick that would hurt less than a kendo stick. He’d smack a guy in the boot or the back as they hit the ropes on occasion. But it wasn’t like he was beating people with the stick. Then the stick was gone. “I like to think I could gauge a problem when I see it and I’d not consider that a big issue. It was more isolated clowning around that nobody really seemed to take issue with till now. And again, it happened like one week and that was it.”
DeMott was loved by those in charge because he’s very organized,with charts, bulletins, notes e-mails, every day, all day. “ He’s a yes man, and that’s what they love,” noted one person. It was also noted when Ceman brought in Ryan Katz to take Rob Naylor’s spot, that even though DeMott and Naylor were said to be very close, DeMott didn’t argue it and accepted it. Still, there was a feeling that instead of going on the Internet and praising him publicly, he should have stood up for his friend or at least tried to fight for him to keep his job. Then again it was unlikely to make any difference because DeMott was hardly the only one praising Rob Naylor last week on Twitter from management, even though he was let go, right up to HHH who runs the division. And there is a good chance they’ll find a way to bring him back, but that whole situation last week was so weird with everyone talking about how great he was at his job, how much he knew, all the talent getting him to trend, etc., and yet, the company still let him go.
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Without mentioning DeMott’s name, Ivelisse Velez, who had a lot of potential because she had in-ring instincts that the other women didn’t have, plus looked the way they want their women to look, talked about her run there. Her release surprised me because people were always praising her and Paige. But she did get a reputation for having an attitude problem. Whether that’s why TNA hasn’t hired her after she got that huge reaction for her Gut Check match and the crowd hated that she was cut, I don’t know. In Mexico, the same things were said about how she was pretty and could work but her attitude was an issue.
“As soon as Dr. Tom was not there anymore, I saw something lurking,” she told Ringbelles. “I knew my days were limited. If you notice specifically in Tough Enough, there’s a certain person that didn’t really like me very much. So I knew I had to really get to the main roster as soon as I possibly can, because otherwise, I’d probably be out of there.”
Another charge made was that one of the trainers sexually harassed one of the younger women performers in developmental. There was a rumor going around, because Ryan Nemeth, immediately after he got cut, tweeted that same thing. The story was that someone harassed the woman, and DeMott then told her not to complain to human resources about it. Nemeth took down his tweets very quickly. It would have put heat on his brother (Ziggler) not to do so.
One person there said that there were things wrong and to complain about, but that story was not the way it happened and not one of the real issues. The WWE issued a statement on the latter charge by saying, “There have been no sexual harassment complaints filed against any employee at the WWE’s training facility in Orlando. Instead, there have been baseless allegations, made by disgruntled talent recently released by WWE." Regardless, WWE takes these issues seriously and investigated this matter, concluding there was no wrongdoing.
