During a recent podcast appearance with “In The Room”, Bill DeMott discussed his WWE departure, the WWE NXT brand, keeping Vince McMahon away from NXT and more. Here are a few highlights:
On WWE’s recent signings of independent wrestlers: “At the end of the day, Vince’s formula works. It’s a successful business. From my experience of being in those rooms is that, while everyone is well aware of who’s out there – look how long it took for AJ Styles – … [but] you just wait to when it fits … For me, the downside … is that they’ve been [punching] their “bump card” for the past 10 years, and now that they get to WWE or wherever they’re going, that the longevity is not going to be there. But I like to see the diversity … Batista is a big [guy], but we don’t have 14 Batistas standing by. But there’s 35 cats of every shape and size – and divas – that can do everything under the sun. I’m excited to see how that changes the product … While people get all pissed off on the Internet, look at how satisfied they are when it finally happens.”
On his WWE departure: “The running line around that company – and I guess a lot of companies – is that “Perception is Reality.” Everybody has this perception that it was a sour thing. I didn’t leave on bad terms with the company. I didn’t leave with any negativity … I’m not the most well-liked person on the Internet. 95% of it is by people who have no idea about me and just go by what they read or what they heard from somebody else, but there’s no sour grapes and there’s no negativity … If I could sum up the whole thing, I took the high road … I was very honored to start something with Triple-H [that’s] become the brand that is NXT. There’s no negativity. There’s [just] a couple individuals that are off my Christmas card list.”
On NXT: “I’m not a miserable person, contrary to popular opinion. I loved my job and I’m one of the best at it. I look at them every week and there’s nothing but pride. It felt good and I’m happy for them. The running joke is to be careful what you ask for, because you’re going to get it. Now they’re running … The fear is that it becomes the next brand and the next part of WWE. I think the thing that makes NXT different is that it’s still a different approach to the business … I never had a doubt it would grow.”
On Vince McMahon being “hands off” with NXT: “That’s an ever-growing conversation [regarding] how do we keep it from becoming Raw or Smackdown or ECW before they went away … I think it’s a fair assessment because people tend to look at it like because NXT is not under Vince, it can be different. Like it or not, it’s all under Vince. And the fact that he gave the reigns to Hunter and he’s running with it … that’s an ever-happening conversation. But I don’t think it has anything to do with whether it’s under Vince or not. I think that’s just peoples’ perception, [that] as long as Vince doesn’t put his hands on it, it will stay great.”
