James Ellsworth On Carmella's Reaction To His WWE Release, Who His Friends Are In WWE, Women's MITB
As previously noted, former WWE Superstar James Ellsworth was recently a guest on Talk Is Jericho. Among many other things, Ellsworth talked about how he got paired with current Ms. Money In The Bank Carmella and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon's instructions for the duo. Additionally, Ellsworth speculated on the reason for his WWE release. Ellsworth named some of his friends in WWE and he discussed the WWE Universe's reaction to his interference in the first ever Women's Money In The Bank ladder match.
According to Ellsworth, being packaged with Carmella was her idea. Moreover, Ellsworth recalled that McMahon told him that WWE brass expected heat for 'The Princess Of Staten Island' from the union.
"When Carmella and I first got put together, which was totally her idea, she went to Vince [McMahon] and said, 'hey, I've got the idea of putting Ellsworth with me and I'm seducing him to help me win matches, like manipulating him.' That was her idea initially and he loved the idea. I think it was the week before WrestleMania, he pulled her and I aside and into the office and told us what he wanted out of it. And that was the first real, extended conversation I had with him. It was nerve-wracking. I was nervous. I try never to be scared." Ellsworth noted, "but once he told me what he needed out of me, I remember very confidently saying, 'I'm sure we're going to make this work.' He just wanted heat for Carmella and that's what he wanted. He wanted Carmella to be a heel in the women's division."
On the subject of Ellsworth's WWE release, 'The Chinless Wonder' admitted a few times that he "got too comfortable" in WWE and indicated that he raised concerns about wearing a dog leash on WWE programming. Ellsworth suggested that this may have resulted in his WWE departure.
"I think I got too comfortable, man. Like, when the dog leash thing happened, I mean, I don't mind doing anything on TV at all. I know it's a show, so when it first happened, I went to somebody and I was just like, 'I just don't know if it's going work because it's kind of weird. I don't think people will look at it and go, 'she's treating him like crap' because I turned into a big heel after Money In The Bank.'" Ellsworth explained, "it's supposed to get her heat, like she's walking me around on a leash, but, to me, by then I was a heel and people were like, 'he's getting what he deserves.' Like, I think I got too comfortable and I was like, 'I don't know if it's going to work' and I don't know if it's my place to tell them that. That's what I'm thinking. I have no clue what happened."
During the interview, Ellsworth indicated that he became friends WWE Superstars including Dolph Ziggler and Carmella.
"Guys in the locker room were super fun to be around, like, Luke Harper, super funny, and Daniel Bryan, and, like, just talking everyday to Fandango about baseball, and, like, Dolph Ziggler and I, towards the end, became close. And, Carmella and I, we became good friends. We spend 11 months on TV together and doing house shows every week."
Also, 'The Hog' talked about Carmella calling to check in on him shortly after his release from WWE.
"She called me right away, literally. Maybe a minute-and-a-half after I got off the phone with [Mark] Carrano, I'm sitting in the basement of my house, I haven't even told [anybody anything]." Ellsworth continued, "I'm sitting there and I'm, like, balling, and I'm like, 'what the hell?' The phone rings and it's her. I'm like, 'she must know. Crap.' And she was like, 'James, oh my God, I can't believe this. I'm so sorry. I hope you're okay?', like, just being the sweet girl that she is and I was like, 'I'll be alright.' I was like, 'I was okay before WWE. I'll be okay after it.' I said, 'it hurts. It stings. But it's life. Life's not fair sometimes and I get that.' And she stayed on the phone with me until I was ready to get off [the phone call]. That's how very cool of a person she is. And we text almost every day."
With respect to the inaugural Women's Money In The Bank ladder match, Ellsworth stated that the whole point of the finish was to get heat and it worked.
"I ruined the first Women's Money In The Bank match. I loved it. Absolutely. I loved having the heat because my job was to be a heel and right there I had the heat and I was like, 'man, I just want to run with this!'" Ellsworth added, "when the Money In The Bank stuff happened, everyone hated me! It worked. It was like, 'man, you just took away that moment from the girls and you don't do that!' And to me, that's why you do do that. You create the buzz and then you have to do the second Money In The Bank, which, obviously, she won on her own."
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Source: Talk Is Jericho