James Ellsworth on His WWE Career, the ‘Transgender’ Gimmick Rumor and if He Wants to Be Known as a Jobber

Former WWE superstar James Ellsworth was interviewed by Rolling Stone where he talked about his WWE career, the ‘transgender’ gimmick rumors and his thoughts on being a jobber in the company.

Here are the highlights:

Was your contract status with WWE always tenuous?

“I feel like I understand the business, and when I signed, I said I’m going to enjoy every moment. I was hoping and praying it was going to be five or 10 years, but I was like, “This is probably going to have a short shelf life, so I’m going to do the best I can to stay here as long as I can.” But I felt I was looked at as short shelf life from the beginning, which I’m not bitter about.”

Did it feel like the gimmick with Carmella was running out of steam?

“With the briefcase, I felt like we were biding time until she cashes in, which she still hasn’t. Which is understandable. It got a little weird at the end, but they were just trying anything to keep it going. Right after Money in the Bank, we were at the height of what we were doing together. We had a lot of heat. And then they did the angle where I got suspended for 30 days. You come back, that heat we had was not there and then we went in a different direction.”

 

In your last WWE match against Becky Lynch you finally got to show you know how to fundamentally wrestle.

“The funny thing about that is I hadn’t wrestled a real match in a while. Even the A.J. stuff, I didn’t get to show what I had. But with Becky, yeah, I had the nice takedown on her. I mean, I’ve been wrestling a while. I just never got the opportunity there to show it, because that wasn’t my job there. But hopefully, in the future, if I do get back there, I can show that I can go in the ring a little bit.”

You can watch that match here:

Becky Lynch vs. James Ellsworth: SmackDown LIVE, Nov. 7, 2017

 

One rumor that swirled upon your exit was that Vince mulled having you compete in the women’s division as a transgender wrestler. Any truth to that?

“All I can say is Vince never talked to me about it. If that was an idea, I surely didn’t know, and Vince and I never had a conversation about it, so I have no idea. [Laughs] Being in WWE, I can tell you a lot of the dirt sheets is just people guessing. I’m not saying that was, but it’s people guessing and hoping they’re right, and it gives their dirt sheet a reason to pay attention to it I guess.”

 

Are you at least making ends meet post-WWE more smoothly than before?

“Oh, of course. WWE television is a powerful thing. I do signings at stores, I get recognized, so it makes your independent bookings easier. They released me at a point where people were still paying attention to the character. If the fans and the promoters look at you and it brings back memories, it helps.”

For the record, despite your beginnings with WWE, would you rather not be ultimately categorized as a jobber?

“The thing with that is when I wrestled Braun Strowman, I was 100 percent a jobber. First impressions are everything. That doesn’t bother me. Now do I want to prove I can wrestle a little more? Yeah. But I don’t mind being remembered as a character either. I want to be remembered as somebody who entertained them, no matter what I was doing.”

If Ellsworth came back to the company, would you rather see him as a heel or babyface? Who would Ellsworth face?

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