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Jimmy Smith On His Reaction To WWE Release, Triple H Accidentally Telling Him Before He Got Called

October 25, 2022 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Jimmy Smith WWE Image Credit: WWE

Jimmy Smith exited WWE earlier this month when WWE shook up their commentary teams, and the former Raw commentator talked about his reaction and finding out from Triple H before he got the official call. WWE announced early in October that they were changing up their commentary teams and Smith was released at that time.

On an episode of his Sirius XM MMA show Unlocking the Cage, Smith discussed his release and more, and you can check out some highlights below:

Jimmy Smith on enjoying his time in WWE: “Had a great time doing the WWE. It was a ton of fun, it was once again, working for the circus. It was bizarre, it was weird, I learned a lot in a very unique way in the most stressful environment possible. I did play-by-play for the first time, which I had never really done before.”

Jimmy Smith on his reaction to his release: “When people say, ‘Are you okay? Is everything alright?’ I didn’t expect to do this at all. At all, I had no idea that I would be doing professional wrestling at all. The call came out of the blue, the audition came out of the blue, getting on Raw came out of the blue. And me leaving is out of the blue. So I didn’t expect any of this. So to then lose it, everyone is asking me — I’m fine. I didn’t expect to be there at all. This is all kind of a goof. It all feels almost like a dream when you look back on it. Like, ‘Dude, I called WrestleMania? That’s weird.'”

On finding out before he got the call: “Triple H accidentally told me before the show on Monday. Did I tell you that? He screwed up and told me. He didn’t mean to… I was doing my prep for the show. And we had a production meeting, and on air Seth Rollins had cut a promo saying, ‘[Daniel Cormier] hates Riddle just as much as I do.’ And so everybody in the production meeting turns to me and goes, ‘What did he mean? Do they have some kind of personal problem?’ Because I’m the MMA guy, right? And I said, ‘Well, Riddle has been critical of fighter pay at the UFC, and Daniel Cormier is considered kind of a company guy. That could be what he’s talking about, it’s the only think I could think of.’

And so before the show, I go up to Riddle and say, ‘Do you and DC have any beef or problem?’ And he goes, ‘No, we’re cool. He might be upset that I out-wrestled Jon Jones and he couldn’t.’ Meaning, the famous photo of Riddle [on] first place of the podium at State… he beat Jon Jones at wrestling twice in New York. ‘He may be mad I out-wrestled Jon Jones twice.’ ‘Oh man, that’s a good line, I’m gonna use that.’ So I go to Triple H, who’s standing there. I go, ‘I just talked to Riddle and he gave me this line about how he out-wrestled Jon Jones twice.’ And Triple H goes, ‘Okay, cool, give that note to Cole.’ And I went…why would I have to give that note to Cole if I’m calling the match on Saturday. Oh, I’m not calling the match on Saturday. Oh, I’m probably fired. I immediately — in about two seconds my brain went, ‘That’s weir– ookay.’ So I knew basically the whole show Monday night that I wasn’t coming back. When I got the call Tuesday, I wasn’t surprised.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Unlocking the Cage with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.

article topics :

Jimmy Smith, Triple H, WWE, Jeremy Thomas