Cameron Grimes Credits His Time In Pro Wrestling Guerrilla With Getting Him To WWE

Two months ago, legendary southern California independent promotion Pro Wrestling Guerilla got an unexpected spotlight when, during the WrestleMania Saturday main event, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn wore the PWG logo on their gear as a salute to the promotion that put them on the map in the United States. 

They're not the only WWE stars who PWG did that for, though. Cameron Grimes is another who wrestled in PWG, and on the latest episode of "Out of Character with Ryan Satin," he laid out exactly how that happened.

"I was a guy trying to make my name on the indies," Grimes recalled, explaining that he was an 18-year-old trying to make his name on the indies and had the good fortune to wrestle Cedric Alexander at a show in Charlotte, North Carolina in front of Kevin Owens, who felt both wrestlers would be good fits for PWG. 

"That made my life, you know what I mean? I was watching PWG tapes at the time, and that's ultimately what I wanted to do. But I didn't think that was a possibility, because at the time, to wrestle for PWG, you had to be one of those 'super indie' guys. You had to be already traveling the world. You don't just get brought out to PWG," said Grimes. 

Nothing happened for a year, but then Cedric asked for his email address because he thought they might be booked for PWG on the other side of the country a few days later. "Sure enough, I get flight information for a flight to Los Angeles, so I'm like 'This is insane! What is happening?'" exclaimed Grimes.

It was one of PWG's "Mystery Vortex" shows where no wrestlers, much less matches are announced, with Grimes (as Trevor Lee), Alexander, and Andrew Everett opening the show in a three-way match. The goal was to get them all booked in the Battle of Los Angeles tournament, but it got Grimes even more, as from that point on, he was booked all over the country every weekend.

Cameron Grimes, real name Trevor Lee Caddell, is a second-generation wrestler, the son of Tracy Caddell, who came up in the Carolinas as T.C. Brimstone alongside the Hardys and their friends like Shannon Moore, Shane Helms, and Caprice Coleman.

It turned out there was more to the story of Grimes's journey to PWG though. When he was 16, he went to a seminar that Paul London and Brian Kendrick were teaching in North Carolina, where he presented Kendrick with a manila envelope that contained his resume, promo photos, and a DVD with highlights of some of his matches with Everett, requesting that he give it to the PWG promoters.

Three years after he started in PWG, the main PWG promoter, Super Dragon, told him that he found the packet in the trunk of his car. "So Brian Kendrick flew all the way from North Carolina to California and gave a 16-year-old's resume to the promoter of PWG, and somehow that kid ended up working for PWG," he said. "It's wild. I just really wanted to share that story." Grimes also added that Kendrick was a big help in his getting signed by WWE.

Grimes signed with WWE in early 2019 after a few years in Impact Wrestling, where he held both the X Division and World Tag Team Titles. Grimes has been undefeated since being brought to the "SmackDown" roster earlier this year, although he hasn't had a match on television in about a month.