Derrick Bateman Talks His Release From WWE, Tough Enough & NXT Airing Simultaneously

The former Derrick Bateman, Michael Hutter, joined Inside The Ropes to discuss his career in WWE. Here are highlights from the interview:

Differences between developmental now and the territories: "I think every legend you speak to talks about how beneficial the territorial system was and how good it was to get to work with someone different every night, and every place you go there'd be a different style, so you'd be learning all the time. It's not the same now in developmental but I think they try their best to replicate it as much as possible, which is impossible."

His thoughts on WWE bringing back Tough Enough in 2011 while NXT was occurring: "First off any show that has Stone Cold on it, berating people is my kinda show. He's the man. In terms of Tough Enough being there, on one hand it's cool that it's exposure for WWE and television, but then another part of me is thinking, "Sweet, Silent Rage is on TV and I'm out here on NXT Redemption working so hard and this isn't seeing the light of television, probably not ever." That can be quite disheartening."

On his release earlier this month from WWE and if they didn't have creative plans for him: "Yeah, it was something like that. I don't really have a reason per say. But then again it's not anything that I was surprised about. I think it was the best thing for me. I was in a bad place mentally, physically. I need a break and they need a break from me so we'll see what happens."

Hutter delves further into his time in WWE and discusses NXT, his influences in developmental, plans for the USA Guy character and more. To listen to the audio interview, click here.