Bull Dempsey Talks His WWE Release, Being Relegated To A Comedic Role, Tough Enough Josh's WWE Heat

On episode 72 of Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast, Bull James, formerly Bull Dempsey in NXT, talked about Josh Bredl's Twitter controversy, being relegated to a comedic role in NXT, and his eventual release from WWE.

Bredl, who has assumed the name Bronson Mathews in NXT, got a lot of heat earlier this year when he called The Social Outcasts "jobbers" on Twitter. James, who spent time with Bredl in NXT, was outspoken on the subject along with the likes of Cody Rhodes, Kevin Owens, and others. During the podcast, James called Bredl's tweet "dumb" and "disrespectful" and went on to explain his position that Bredl should not burn bridges with the people who may be asked to put him over in the future.

"Obviously, there's a big investment in that kind of guy and the whole point is, if he gets the opportunity to go the main roster, and main roster, I know there has been, like, a thing about throwing that around because NXT has grown to a point where it's the RAW roster, SmackDown roster, NXT roster." James continued, "but to go to that RAW roster, let's say, and he gets the opportunity to go, and they want to do something with him, well, if you look at the roster, there [are] certain guys that are going to be the ones to get him elevated. So why would you disrespect those guys? And that's kind of the mindset of having to explain that to him. He got it. He understands. I mean, it's hard to not understand it at that point. Yeah, and he does work hard. I've seen him. I've been in class with him. And he's going to be fine."

James indicated that he does not believe the incident will be fatal to Bredl's WWE career.

"I think he's going to be fine. As long as he keeps his mouth shut, works hard, and shows people, 'hey, I want to be here. This is my passion now. This is what I want to do.', I think he'll be fine."

When asked why he thought he was relegated to a comedic role with his 'Bull-Fit' gimmick on NXT after debuting with a monster push, James suggested that there are only a handful of top spots on the NXT roster and it was his turn to take a lesser role.

"I think just with Kevin Owens coming in and the buzz that he had and the tear they were going to put him on, and, then, plus I had just finished up a program with [Baron] Corbin, he was being elevated. And it was just one of those things, I think, where I had done my job. I was a locker room guy. Everything was by the book and it was one of those things where I was well liked, so 'let's find something for him.' And everybody had kind of known that I had done some comedy stuff on the indies. I don't know how far up that knowledge went, but it was one of those things, like, 'hey, this is where we're going to go with you if you're cool with it' and, 'yeah, I'm cool with it. My check is clearing.'"

Although James parted ways with WWE on positive terms, his release came as a surprise.

"Maybe in time, I can look back and try to pinpoint when I could see the writing on the wall, but, to me, there was none. And even in talking to some of the coaches, everybody I talked to was like, 'this came out of left field', so they had no idea. So why? I don't know. But, at the same time, I don't care because I have to look forward. I have to put it behind me and I have to stick it to them in a professional, respectful way."

James admitted that he felt that the 'Bull-Fit' gimmick ended prematurely and acknowledged that the body acceptance movement may have played a role in its demise.

"I knew what we would get at those live events and the reactions it was getting. Everywhere we went on the road shows, even in Florida, everywhere, it was getting a reaction. It was pretty much 'making chicken salad out of chicken s–t', as the old expression goes. Yeah, there was frustration on my end because I wanted it to be as good as it could be and I heard the reactions." James added, "when that backlash started to happen, because of the world we live in and how quick people are to jump on things, you have to be, as a publicly traded company, you have to step back and go, 'before this becomes a wildfire, let's just put it out.'"

In addition to these topics, James discussed being trained by Taz, returning to the independent wrestling scene, and more. Click here to check out the podcast. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Source: Sam Roberts' Wrestling Podcast