Ellsworth comments on his future after this week’s SmackDown


Following an angle where he seemed to be written off television, James Ellsworth posted a statement yesterday about his status with WWE.
Ellsworth took part in a segment on this Tuesday’s SmackDown where he interrupted Paige while she was announcing Samoa Joe as AJ Styles’ WWE Championship challenger for SummerSlam. It led to Paige firing Ellsworth and having him taken out of the building.
In his statement, Ellsworth reflected on his time with WWE, wrote that he doesn’t know what’s next for him, and noted that he’ll never give up on his dream. He returned last month and was paired back with Carmella to be part of her feud with Asuka, which included Ellsworth being involved in their matches at Money in the Bank and Extreme Rules and facing Asuka twice on TV.
Dave Meltzer reported that Ellsworth wasn’t under contract for his most recent run with WWE and was working on a per-date basis. His first stint with the company began after a memorable squash match loss against Braun Strowman in 2016, with him eventually being signed by WWE before being released in November 2017.
Ellsworth has also been using the hashtag “#RehireEllsworth” since the angle on SmackDown. His full statement is posted below:
Two years ago today I went to Pittsburgh PA for Raw to be an extra talent for WWE.
Little did I know I would be facing Braun Strowman that night. I was picked by Arn Anderson who was the agent for the match to be the one that got to be apart of raw against the Monster Among Men..
Before the match started I got to cut a promo as Braun made his way down to the ring, talking on a microphone in a WWE ring is a moment I’d dreamed about my whole life. During the promo, I said the most important words of my life, words I’ll always live by, ‘Any Man With Two Hands Has A Fighting Chance’ I believe those words, the beating I took from Braun and my lack of Chin of course is all what caught the WWE Universes eye about me.
These past 2 years has been the best years of my life! I’ve been able to support my daughters by doing what I love to do for a living! I’ve been on WWE television the last two years more often than not, got to travel the world more then once, wrestled in my opinion the best wrestler in the world AJ Styles, even shared the ring with the #1 guy in the business John Cena! Not to mention I got to be apart of WrestleMania!
Smackdown Live has been my home for the majority of the past two years, and that show along with every writer, producer agent, camera man, and all other staff will always have a place in my heart! Last but certainly not least spent a lot of time on tv with my home girl Carmella! She’s an amazing person, and so fun to work with, Can’t say enough good things about her.
What an amazing ride the last 2 years have been!! The fans have been great, WWE has taught me so much and giving me opportunity’s I woulda never dreamed I would get.
In closing, I’m not sure what’s next for me, but I promise you this, I will keep fighting, never give up on my dream, if anything when people look back at James Ellsworth I want them to be inspired by the fact that I refused to give up on my dream, even after accomplishing so much, because there’s so much more left to do, and to prove, I’ll continue to show the world ‘Any Man With Two Hands Has A Fighting Chance’
Thank you all – James Ellsworth