Bull ‘Dempsey’ James Discusses His WWE Release, The Bull-Fit Gimmick, More

– Bull ‘Dempsey’ James recently appeared on Sam Roberts’ Wrestling Podcast (transcript credit wrestlinginc.com), here are the highlights…

On The Bull-Fit Gimmick: “I think just with Kevin Owens coming in and the buzz that he had and the tear they were going to put him on, and, then, plus I had just finished up a program with [Baron] Corbin, he was being elevated. And it was just one of those things, I think, where I had done my job. I was a locker room guy. Everything was by the book and it was one of those things where I was well liked, so ‘let’s find something for him.’ And everybody had kind of known that I had done some comedy stuff on the indies. I don’t know how far up that knowledge went, but it was one of those things, like, ‘hey, this is where we’re going to go with you if you’re cool with it’ and, ‘yeah, I’m cool with it. My check is clearing.’

I knew what we would get at those live events and the reactions it was getting. Everywhere we went on the road shows, even in Florida, everywhere, it was getting a reaction. It was pretty much ‘making chicken salad out of chicken s–t’, as the old expression goes. Yeah, there was frustration on my end because I wanted it to be as good as it could be and I heard the reactions.” James added, “when that backlash started to happen, because of the world we live in and how quick people are to jump on things, you have to be, as a publicly traded company, you have to step back and go, ‘before this becomes a wildfire, let’s just put it out.'”

On His WWE Release: “Maybe in time, I can look back and try to pinpoint when I could see the writing on the wall, but, to me, there was none. And even in talking to some of the coaches, everybody I talked to was like, ‘this came out of left field’, so they had no idea. So why? I don’t know. But, at the same time, I don’t care because I have to look forward. I have to put it behind me and I have to stick it to them in a professional, respectful way.”

On Tough Enough Winner Josh Bredi Getting Heat For Calling The Social Outcasts jobbers: “Obviously, there’s a big investment in that kind of guy and the whole point is, if he gets the opportunity to go the main roster, and main roster, I know there has been, like, a thing about throwing that around because NXT has grown to a point where it’s the RAW roster, SmackDown roster, NXT roster.” James continued, “but to go to that RAW roster, let’s say, and he gets the opportunity to go, and they want to do something with him, well, if you look at the roster, there [are] certain guys that are going to be the ones to get him elevated. So why would you disrespect those guys? And that’s kind of the mindset of having to explain that to him. He got it. He understands. I mean, it’s hard to not understand it at that point. Yeah, and he does work hard. I’ve seen him. I’ve been in class with him. And he’s going to be fine. I think he’s going to be fine. As long as he keeps his mouth shut, works hard, and shows people, ‘hey, I want to be here. This is my passion now. This is what I want to do.’, I think he’ll be fine.”