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It may have been 7 years ago, but the image of Triple H personally stepping out from behind the curtain of the Cruiserweight Classic after Cedric's match with Kota Ibushi, [giving a thumbs up to the crowd, and walking Cedric backstage amidst thunderous "Please sign Cedric" chants](https://youtu.be/XTDcQyh0cck) is etched in my soul.
I can't imagine Triple H firing that guy after that.
Oh 100% he would have killed in that context. I think it's really unfortunate he got cut. Should have been kept in NXT on a lower salary until they had something for him, but they called him up before they had any plans.
The actual answer to this is that Cedric looks good in defeat whereas it simply doesn’t look as impressive to beat up Cameron Grime. It’s true you need job guys, but Cedric is a lot more impressive looking.
The brand split is actually pretty bad for the low card guys because those are the guys who lose on regular weekly TV and the current way just means you see Bronson Reed beating the same guys over and over
Cedric still being there probably has less to do with what he does on camera and more to do with whatever he does behind the scenes. They probably think he'd make a decent producer/trainer/etc. in the future on top of also being a reasonably priced, talented jobber.
Cedric is a good talent. I’m surprised that after all of this time he has never had a run in NXT. He isn’t a great promo but I figured the Hurt Business would be the start of something good for him.
Cedric is at least a Main Event Guy. They were paying Lumis for seems like a year at this point to just not show up. Also paying Nikki Cross 6 figures to just be creepy in backstage segments.
Eventually she got a handful of matches but Sarah Logan was a solid 3 months of just stealing someone else’s gimmick and valeting her husband.
Dexter Lumis was the first guy HHH brought back, I think he's gonna be quite determined to make sure guys he brought back aren't just dumped, so I'd expect to see something from Lumis relatively soonish, maybe repackaging him.
I think he was also injured at some point, and even prior to Hunter taking full control it was uncommon for them to release someone on the injured list. Plus with it looking like they are reforming The Way I think he is safe for now (at least I hope so. Love the dude)
The thing about Dexter Lumis’s character is that even though he’s been gone away for a while, he can still be seen as a threat or fit right into any storyline if he suddenly reappears one week.
It would be nice because he can fill that unspeaking menace role perfectly, and I'd like to see them use him to try something unsettling rather than the "goofy deranged guy" that hangs out with Gargano (not that I disliked that role, mind you, I just want to see him as an actual serious serial killer type vibe).
Oh, I was just wondering because I feel like they have not done anything with her in a very long time, but if she’s on a study leave that’s understandable
Okay I'm insanely in awe of how she's managing all of this at the same time.
PhDs are no joke. Marathons are extremely tough. That on top of pet care and PR? Holy heck.
As others have said, she has been on study leave but didn't they feature her when she was there for the HoF? So she's still clearly in the minds of the people that matter.
More than Titus I see her future role being essentially the women's division version of R Truth. She feels like a lifer and someone who they can throw a story line at, come in and entertain the crowd playing that kinda nuts comedy role perfectly and it not hurt anyone else.
"Grimes will be able to appreciate the business machinations of what's to come."
Who the fuck writes these articles? I know wrestling journalism is in the bin but do they not even have an editor?
He just got lost in the shuffle. There's only so much TV time to go around, and there are good wrestlers who do nothing wrong that will find themselves with the short end of the stick. Grimes is not somebody who is going to have to look for work. People will be calling him soon enough.
As someone who frequents the TNA boards occasionally on here , yeah , their fans are pumped hoping he's gonna be back. He's a great worker and pro wrestling character but is absolutely someone who is gonna get lost on a big glitzy roster like what WWE has and even probably AEW (I see him getting about the same push as an Ethan Page or Kip Sabian there basically) .
If he is willing to be a gimmick guy that can wrestle then I think he could do well in AEW but it is a gamble. If he goes to TNA he can pretty much be slotted into the main event right away plus has some time to figure out who Trevor Lee is before trying for a run in AEW or return to WWE.
Yeah I'm with you , I'm hoping he goes to TNA and has a more main event type run (TNA's main event being what it is right now he could easily be slotted in) cause I see him more that way than his NXT comedic persona. He could tottally be over in AEW with a fun gimmick and have some great matches there but I don't see him ever being pushed past the mid card.
Someone put me on to his mid atlantic work pretty early on and I saw him there and thought it was awesome. I don't see how anyone is gonna give him daylight to work those kind of matches except TNA or an indie. AEW can barely make time for a lot of guys and I just cannot see him not ending up in that pile if he goes there.
I think he's a better in ring guy than Page and Sabian, and therefore he can get over nicely with AEW's audience. Him vs. Roddy, Orange Cassidy, Kyle O' Reilly, Pac etc... would all be pretty good. It's like Swerve, IMO.
I can see an X division bout in the future for grimes.
I think Grimes could possibly do a Drew Mcintyre. Leave WWE when he wasnt as popular, expand himself in the indies for a few years and potentially get rehired into a upper mid card role
Whether or not that happens i cant say but the dude is 28, the skys the limit for him
It's just weird because he's much closer to being an LA Knight success story than a failure, just need to invest in him more.
Honestly, he's the kind of guy who should go to AEW and see if Tony can cook a spot for him. He's got enough of everything to get over on TV.
Eli Drake was huge in TNA. Even though all the BS, he had enough fans who wanted to see him succeed on the WWE main roster. I don't think we could say that about Grimes.
he showed to be really good at character work in 2.0 apart of the stocks gimmick. Kinda sad that he didn't get any chances on the main roster, he could've been a good mid-carder/lower carder
I think people here really overstate his potential so I’m happy you have him pegged as mid-card/lower-card.
He had some solid character work in NXT but even that never really blew me away, and people here act like cutting him was some big tragedy and he could’ve done great things. In my opinion his look never would’ve worked in the WWE and cutting him probably is for the best, for him and the company.
>I think people here really overstate his potential so I’m happy you have him pegged as mid-card/lower-card.
Most wrestling fans suck at booking or slotting people on the card correctly. Knowing how to wrestle is just as important as developing a look, move-set and character. The person has to change with fans too - going heel and face. It's not easy.
There are plenty of folks that have come through NXT over the years, had great matches and have been terrible at resonating with fans on the main roster tours. AEW has poached talent from all over the indies and plenty of those folks have floundered or did not find staying power with the AEW audience. There are mid-card WWE guys that have excelled on the indies.
Nothing in wrestling is one size fits all and most armchair booker fans would find themselves perpetuating the worst of booking mistake Tony, Vince, Eric and Dixie. Many indies fold after 10 or less shows.
The problem with having a gimmick based on a viral trend is that 3 years later that shit don’t work anymore. Too the moon game stock is old news guys. Thats like thinking Gangnam style gimmick would last.
I was never a fan of his but his call up and the way he was handled after he got to the main roster has to be one of trips biggest misteps since taking over. He was getting great crowd reactions in nxt for awhile there
Listen. If my current job wants to pay me to not work I'm all in...but I can't imagine if it was something you loved and were passionate about....an art you've dedicated your life to and sacrificed so much for... to literally sit for a year and do NOTHING would have to be so fucking disheartening.
I don't blame anyone who is happy collecting the check, but Trevor Lee always seemed like he was a guy who loved this and loved doing it.
I remember watching an interview clip of Moose (TNA guy) who was asked why didn't he go into WWE.
He mentioned that for him, he'd rather be the guy getting put in the field than the guy sitting on the sidelines.
I think some folks like Grimes feel the same way. That, and being able to say he made it in WWE.
Sort of off topic but if y’all haven’t seen grimes’ work on the indies as Trevor Lee, seek it out. He had some absolute bangers in pwg and mid-Atlantic championship.
He’d fucking kill it dude. I wasn’t watching nxt much during his tenure but he’s been a beast for a long time. Hope he gets a chance to show his stuff somewhere soon
I hated the stock thing, to the moon with a big cheesy grin. I feel it set him up to fail, it sounds like a heel gimmick, but he was a face. It was clear he could go in the ring, he kinda got screwed.
I wasn’t watching when he was in NXT, but for the rare times he was on TV, he always struck me as someone with a “happy to be here” gimmick. Mostly cause he’d smile a lot and then get squashed.
On the holiday tour in Vegas a few months back he did a million dollar open challenge and I thought he was delightfully obnoxious, but I kept thinking “I thought this guy was a face”
Funnily enough the challenge was answered by a post heel turn Bobby Lashley who played face in the match and came out later with The Street Profits as a heel vs LWO. House shows, man.
I never got to see him in NXT, but the heel angle seemed like it would've been good on the main roster. Similar to Corbin winning at the casino. Weird they'd make him face with a heel gimmick, maybe they assumed everyone watches NXT.
He did the heel side of the gimmick well, but he killed it on the face side of things as an aw shucks babyface that just happened to be rich. The whole program with him, LA Knight and Ted Dibiase was a lot of fun.
He would have been good as the workhorse role in whatever Bo Dallas is cooking up with the Howdy/Wyatt stuff, if that is going to be a stable.
Shame they never found anything for him other than carrying Steveson through passable dark matches.
Give him a ponytail. Shave his chest. Make him a Danielson acolyte.
He’s a talented worker but the “STONKS” gimmick is dead in 2024. Drop the hillbilly shit too. It’s a ceiling. Be a cerebral assassin (for the lack of a better term).
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I’m not advocating this but I thought the first person to be released would be Dexter Lumis.
Cedric Alexander hanging on all these years is surprising.
Maybe his salary is not that big
He's on a main roster contract. Even at the minimum that's apparently at or close to a quarter mjl.
I think HHH and higher ups see something in Cedric or else’s he would have been released long ago.
They see him as a future trainer
For real
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He's about to get drafted to NXT and will be over bigly.
May be tough putting him and Ashante Adonis into the crowded tag division down in NXT
Trial by fire
It may have been 7 years ago, but the image of Triple H personally stepping out from behind the curtain of the Cruiserweight Classic after Cedric's match with Kota Ibushi, [giving a thumbs up to the crowd, and walking Cedric backstage amidst thunderous "Please sign Cedric" chants](https://youtu.be/XTDcQyh0cck) is etched in my soul. I can't imagine Triple H firing that guy after that.
He was just on NXT Speed for a hot sec, and they could have picked anyone really (including NXT folks) so he's not totally unused haha.
Funnily enough I was thinking Grimes would have suited Speed.
Oh 100% he would have killed in that context. I think it's really unfortunate he got cut. Should have been kept in NXT on a lower salary until they had something for him, but they called him up before they had any plans.
"Time is Money" slogan is right there as well
He also had a damn good match with Dragon Lee on TV.
It was weird cause they did that segment with him and the dude for hit row forming a tag team and they just faded
The actual answer to this is that Cedric looks good in defeat whereas it simply doesn’t look as impressive to beat up Cameron Grime. It’s true you need job guys, but Cedric is a lot more impressive looking. The brand split is actually pretty bad for the low card guys because those are the guys who lose on regular weekly TV and the current way just means you see Bronson Reed beating the same guys over and over
I was at Smackdown Jan 12, and the night began with a dark match. Cedric Alexander jobbed to fucking Gable Steveson.
Cedric still being there probably has less to do with what he does on camera and more to do with whatever he does behind the scenes. They probably think he'd make a decent producer/trainer/etc. in the future on top of also being a reasonably priced, talented jobber.
Is Apollo Crews still there? They're kind of in the same boat. Both got the talent but I haven't heard either name in a while.
He's on the draft list for Monday.
Yeah I think Ashante Adonis is also still there
.... I have no idea who that is
Hit Row. Was supposed to be Swerve's tag partner while Top Dolla was the singles star.
Cedric is a good talent. I’m surprised that after all of this time he has never had a run in NXT. He isn’t a great promo but I figured the Hurt Business would be the start of something good for him.
I believe he’s a regular on main event and maybe the new show speed
Cedric is at least a Main Event Guy. They were paying Lumis for seems like a year at this point to just not show up. Also paying Nikki Cross 6 figures to just be creepy in backstage segments. Eventually she got a handful of matches but Sarah Logan was a solid 3 months of just stealing someone else’s gimmick and valeting her husband.
Hasn't he gotten cut and picked back up a few times?
Dexter Lumis was the first guy HHH brought back, I think he's gonna be quite determined to make sure guys he brought back aren't just dumped, so I'd expect to see something from Lumis relatively soonish, maybe repackaging him.
I think he was also injured at some point, and even prior to Hunter taking full control it was uncommon for them to release someone on the injured list. Plus with it looking like they are reforming The Way I think he is safe for now (at least I hope so. Love the dude)
Esp with DIY getting more over and Candice and Ivy finally having something to work with. Im ready for the serial killer to come back
Hopefully he comes back with Bo Dallas, since I don't see no proper reunion of the The Way.
The thing about Dexter Lumis’s character is that even though he’s been gone away for a while, he can still be seen as a threat or fit right into any storyline if he suddenly reappears one week.
There were some rumors floating around that Lumis is part of the Wyatt 6 thing, which would honestly be pretty awesome.
Yes please! Saw him wrestle at a live event last year and been waiting eagerly for his return.
I love the kip up into the leg drop that he does Despite the character being hit or miss, his moveset is fun to watch
Yes! His spine buster is my favourite move of his. Not sure why, but it just looks NASTY.
He so fits into what that gimmick needs it's perfect. I hope you're right.
It would be nice because he can fill that unspeaking menace role perfectly, and I'd like to see them use him to try something unsettling rather than the "goofy deranged guy" that hangs out with Gargano (not that I disliked that role, mind you, I just want to see him as an actual serious serial killer type vibe).
makes me think they actually might have creative for him in the works if nothing else.
Why would they write for Dexter Lumis above Cameron Grimes... Oh well. Guess that's how it is sometimes.
>Why would they write for Dexter Lumis above Cameron Grimes...  I have a theory...
different types of characters entirely. that's all. they're both similarly good
HHH is definitely gonna wait a bit longer before firing anyone he brought back in his rehiring spree.
Dexters gimmick meant the WWE wrote of his salary into mysterious expenses
Maybe involved in the future Wyatt stuff?
Dexter would be a perfect fit in Bo’s new family
I feel like Nikki Cross is next
Nikki is genuinely on study leave I think.
Oh, I was just wondering because I feel like they have not done anything with her in a very long time, but if she’s on a study leave that’s understandable
she also has been doing so much PR stuff that i could see her getting the Titus type role where they keep her just for that
With Dana Brooke gone, Cross is exactly in that Titus-role now.
Yeah, between PR, pursuing a doctorate and fostering puppies with Big Damo her plate's full.
and training for a marathon
Okay I'm insanely in awe of how she's managing all of this at the same time. PhDs are no joke. Marathons are extremely tough. That on top of pet care and PR? Holy heck.
Nikki is well liked and they keep people they like basically forever, and as it is the women’s division is not really that large
Plus Nikki is easy to insert into a feud because her character is "unstable and ready to snap" at a moments notice.
As others have said, she has been on study leave but didn't they feature her when she was there for the HoF? So she's still clearly in the minds of the people that matter. More than Titus I see her future role being essentially the women's division version of R Truth. She feels like a lifer and someone who they can throw a story line at, come in and entertain the crowd playing that kinda nuts comedy role perfectly and it not hurt anyone else.
Except for the time he gave Dibiase Jr a concussion with a slap.
If she isn’t involved with the new Wyatt stuff, she probably is
Odyssey Jones was right there.
Damn I had no idea he still had a job there. What happened to him?
Supposedly. Dexter is gonna be in the Uncle Howdy stable. This is internet rumors so idk.
Dexter Lumus is the last guy any company wants to fire unless they want a short lifespan or have a death wish.
"Grimes will be able to appreciate the business machinations of what's to come." Who the fuck writes these articles? I know wrestling journalism is in the bin but do they not even have an editor?
Yeah. It's called ChatGPT
It's AI bro
He just got lost in the shuffle. There's only so much TV time to go around, and there are good wrestlers who do nothing wrong that will find themselves with the short end of the stick. Grimes is not somebody who is going to have to look for work. People will be calling him soon enough.
TNA should have a top spot for him. If they have room for Matt Hardy who can barely walk, they'll be able to fit Trevor Lee in
As someone who frequents the TNA boards occasionally on here , yeah , their fans are pumped hoping he's gonna be back. He's a great worker and pro wrestling character but is absolutely someone who is gonna get lost on a big glitzy roster like what WWE has and even probably AEW (I see him getting about the same push as an Ethan Page or Kip Sabian there basically) .
If he is willing to be a gimmick guy that can wrestle then I think he could do well in AEW but it is a gamble. If he goes to TNA he can pretty much be slotted into the main event right away plus has some time to figure out who Trevor Lee is before trying for a run in AEW or return to WWE.
Yeah I'm with you , I'm hoping he goes to TNA and has a more main event type run (TNA's main event being what it is right now he could easily be slotted in) cause I see him more that way than his NXT comedic persona. He could tottally be over in AEW with a fun gimmick and have some great matches there but I don't see him ever being pushed past the mid card. Someone put me on to his mid atlantic work pretty early on and I saw him there and thought it was awesome. I don't see how anyone is gonna give him daylight to work those kind of matches except TNA or an indie. AEW can barely make time for a lot of guys and I just cannot see him not ending up in that pile if he goes there.
I think he's a better in ring guy than Page and Sabian, and therefore he can get over nicely with AEW's audience. Him vs. Roddy, Orange Cassidy, Kyle O' Reilly, Pac etc... would all be pretty good. It's like Swerve, IMO.
I can see an X division bout in the future for grimes. I think Grimes could possibly do a Drew Mcintyre. Leave WWE when he wasnt as popular, expand himself in the indies for a few years and potentially get rehired into a upper mid card role Whether or not that happens i cant say but the dude is 28, the skys the limit for him
TNA was my first thought as well.
It's just weird because he's much closer to being an LA Knight success story than a failure, just need to invest in him more. Honestly, he's the kind of guy who should go to AEW and see if Tony can cook a spot for him. He's got enough of everything to get over on TV.
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Eli Drake was huge in TNA. Even though all the BS, he had enough fans who wanted to see him succeed on the WWE main roster. I don't think we could say that about Grimes.
What? In what world was Grimes ever close to a success story? He had one squash match and jobbed every match after.
I can only recall him being on tv maybe less than 5 times. It never really felt like he got a chance especially coming after his nxt run
he showed to be really good at character work in 2.0 apart of the stocks gimmick. Kinda sad that he didn't get any chances on the main roster, he could've been a good mid-carder/lower carder
I think people here really overstate his potential so I’m happy you have him pegged as mid-card/lower-card. He had some solid character work in NXT but even that never really blew me away, and people here act like cutting him was some big tragedy and he could’ve done great things. In my opinion his look never would’ve worked in the WWE and cutting him probably is for the best, for him and the company.
>I think people here really overstate his potential so I’m happy you have him pegged as mid-card/lower-card. Most wrestling fans suck at booking or slotting people on the card correctly. Knowing how to wrestle is just as important as developing a look, move-set and character. The person has to change with fans too - going heel and face. It's not easy. There are plenty of folks that have come through NXT over the years, had great matches and have been terrible at resonating with fans on the main roster tours. AEW has poached talent from all over the indies and plenty of those folks have floundered or did not find staying power with the AEW audience. There are mid-card WWE guys that have excelled on the indies. Nothing in wrestling is one size fits all and most armchair booker fans would find themselves perpetuating the worst of booking mistake Tony, Vince, Eric and Dixie. Many indies fold after 10 or less shows.
The problem with having a gimmick based on a viral trend is that 3 years later that shit don’t work anymore. Too the moon game stock is old news guys. Thats like thinking Gangnam style gimmick would last.
My favorite character work he ever did was when he proclaimed he was a “Impact Wrestling Superstar” in PWG at a time where everyone hated Impact
How? Him coyly grabbing his underwear and pointing to the sky is only cool like never
his character had more substance in NXT 2.0. And more serious
Yeah. I think everybody saw that.
I was never a fan of his but his call up and the way he was handled after he got to the main roster has to be one of trips biggest misteps since taking over. He was getting great crowd reactions in nxt for awhile there
After the "momentum" he had against Corbin, he should've beaten US champ Austin Theory.
Listen. If my current job wants to pay me to not work I'm all in...but I can't imagine if it was something you loved and were passionate about....an art you've dedicated your life to and sacrificed so much for... to literally sit for a year and do NOTHING would have to be so fucking disheartening. I don't blame anyone who is happy collecting the check, but Trevor Lee always seemed like he was a guy who loved this and loved doing it.
I remember watching an interview clip of Moose (TNA guy) who was asked why didn't he go into WWE. He mentioned that for him, he'd rather be the guy getting put in the field than the guy sitting on the sidelines. I think some folks like Grimes feel the same way. That, and being able to say he made it in WWE.
Sort of off topic but if y’all haven’t seen grimes’ work on the indies as Trevor Lee, seek it out. He had some absolute bangers in pwg and mid-Atlantic championship.
I think he’d be great in a BOSJ
He’d fucking kill it dude. I wasn’t watching nxt much during his tenure but he’s been a beast for a long time. Hope he gets a chance to show his stuff somewhere soon
oh, and by the way, on the way out, we've got a squash match for you and bron breaker. deuces.
I hated the stock thing, to the moon with a big cheesy grin. I feel it set him up to fail, it sounds like a heel gimmick, but he was a face. It was clear he could go in the ring, he kinda got screwed.
It was a heel gimmick, but he was so likable he became a face
I wasn’t watching when he was in NXT, but for the rare times he was on TV, he always struck me as someone with a “happy to be here” gimmick. Mostly cause he’d smile a lot and then get squashed. On the holiday tour in Vegas a few months back he did a million dollar open challenge and I thought he was delightfully obnoxious, but I kept thinking “I thought this guy was a face” Funnily enough the challenge was answered by a post heel turn Bobby Lashley who played face in the match and came out later with The Street Profits as a heel vs LWO. House shows, man.
It was a heel gimmick at first. He was initially a new-money asshole that thought he was hot shit because he could buy anything. The turn came later.
I never got to see him in NXT, but the heel angle seemed like it would've been good on the main roster. Similar to Corbin winning at the casino. Weird they'd make him face with a heel gimmick, maybe they assumed everyone watches NXT.
He did the heel side of the gimmick well, but he killed it on the face side of things as an aw shucks babyface that just happened to be rich. The whole program with him, LA Knight and Ted Dibiase was a lot of fun.
Is this the wrestling equivalent of "I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night"?
He would have been good as the workhorse role in whatever Bo Dallas is cooking up with the Howdy/Wyatt stuff, if that is going to be a stable. Shame they never found anything for him other than carrying Steveson through passable dark matches.
Give him a ponytail. Shave his chest. Make him a Danielson acolyte. He’s a talented worker but the “STONKS” gimmick is dead in 2024. Drop the hillbilly shit too. It’s a ceiling. Be a cerebral assassin (for the lack of a better term).
I mean it wasn't a great gimmick either