James Ellsworth On His Favorite Moment In WWE, His Interaction With The McMahons, Braun Strowman
Former WWE superstar James Ellsworth was recently interviewed by Andy Malnoske of Wrestling Inc. After getting his start as an enhancement talent, Ellsworth eventually found himself in a WWE Championship match against AJ Styles, which he said was his favorite moment of his tenure in the WWE.
"If you're asking what my favorite moment was, it was that, wrestling for the WWE title," Ellsworth said. "It's AJ Styles, who's the best wrestler in the world, in a main event match on SmackDown, favorite moment."
Ellsworth appeared on RAW as a jobber to Braun Strowman in 2016 and his unique look immediately endeared him to the WWE Universe. The fans' reaction to him convinced WWE officials to continue booking him and he eventually earned a contract. Ellsworth said everything came together for him at the right time and it all was thanks to the fans who reacted to him positively on that first night.
"Luckily for me, it was just lightning in a bottle," he said. "Right opponent, Braun Strowman, got 15 to 20 seconds of promo time, it just all came together so well. That performance that night with Braun Strowman, fans got behind it after that and I appreciate every fan that's ever helped me out because of that."
Ellsworth was also asked about his interactions with the McMahon family. He said each interaction with Vince, Shane and Stephanie McMahon was different, but all of them were positive.
"Vince is the boss, I've had a couple conversations with him up there. It's like any other job, he's the boss, so very employee-to-boss conversations," Ellsworth said. "Shane's more 'one of the boys,' so I'd talk to Shane. Stephanie, I didn't see her much because she was on RAW and I was on SmackDown, but when I did see her she was very sweet and always said hi. That's about it."
Since being released by the WWE this past November, Ellsworth said he's been working with the NWA, which is under new ownership with Smashing Pumpkins lead singer Billy Corgan at the helm. He also said he is steadily working the independent circuit and intends on making a return to the WWE somewhere down the line.
"I'm doing stuff with the NWA, Billy Corgan owns the NWA now... So I'm working with them a lot, I'm doing as many indies as possible," he said. "I get to travel the world still and do my thing, and then when the time is right, I think you'll see me back in WWE."