Former WWE Star Sylvain Grenier Recalls Time As A 'F***ing Idiot' In OVW
Sylvain Grenier is best known in pro wrestling for his brief run with WWE, where he was a part of the La Résistance tag team alongside Rene Dupree. During a recent appearance on "Developmentally Speaking," Grenier looked back at his run in OVW before he was promoted to the WWE.
He revealed that he was a performer and entertainer before wrestling, and also had acting gigs, but was caught off guard by the rules and culture of pro wrestling.
"I nearly got killed. I was a f**king idiot," he said. "They don't teach you the respect thing, because I respect everybody, that's just me. I respect everybody, that's just me. I respect everybody, but there's a level of respect in wrestling."
Despite acknowledging the wrestling culture, he still described the situation as "some bulls**t, stupid s**t." Grenier then recalled his early experience in OVW and noted how it was filled to the brim with a variety of people.
"F**king monsters, and midgets, and f**king fat guy, and phenomenal girls, athletes, and I'm like, 'Wow, what is this?' And a lot of great wrestlers, a lot of phenomenal, technical wrestlers."
Having previously worked with the likes of Hulk Hogan and The Rock, Grenier considered himself to be one of "the boys," but he was in for a rude awakening. "No 'Big Show' it's not 'Big Show,' it's Paul. You know? So, in my head, it went that way, so I went there and I'm like, 'Yeah, Paul' because I said 'Paul' I got heat, 'No, it's not Paul, it's Big Show.'"
Sylvain Grenier claims the higher ups always planned to pair him with Rene Dupree
Due to the lack of action, Sylvain Grenier reached out to John Laurinaitis and complained to him, telling him that he felt like he wasn't learning anything at OVW.
"Johnny calls down, 'What the f**k, the guys don't work out?' Blah, blah, blah. So, they used to have class, two to three times a day, everybody's banged up, they had shows the weekend, I don't know any of that. I'm just thinking about me."
OVW then announced that practice was extended to eight-hour daily sessions, which got him a ton of heat. Grenier believes that this was one of the reasons why WWE quickly moved him through OVW and onto the main roster as they believed that he might not survive the experience after long. He claimed that his stay at OVW was only for a month but that WWE had already planned his next step.
"When I started there they knew they were going to put me and Rene [Dupree] together. They knew. Rene was the French Phenom, I think, with Kelly Bowman," said Grenier.
Unfortunately, Grenier's backstage experience didn't improve when he reached the main roster. Some time ago, Bully Ray boasted about putting his hands on the star, leading to Dupree burying the veteran on his podcast in retaliation.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Developmentally Speaking" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.