Not every independent standout make it to WWE, whether that’s former Steve Corino, Abyss Adam Pearce, and Jimmy Jacobs.
All four names have worked for the company, but not in an in-ring way. Instead, Abyss, Pearce, and Corino have behind the scene roles while Jacobs was on the WWE creative team at one point.
Jacobs made a name for himself in Ring of Honor, where he had memorable matches with the likes of Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and Roderick Strong. Jacobs would put his in-ring career on pause in 2015 to join WWE.
However, his tenure ended when Jacobs was fired in October 2017 for posting a photo with then-Bullet Club members The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, and Marty Scurll, who were leading an "invasion" of Raw outside the arena that day.
While doing an interview on AdFreeShows, Jacobs reflected on his WWE firing.
"I knew it wasn't going to be received well, that's for sure," Jacobs said. I was in the arena and I think Kevin Owens texted me, 'Are the Bucks there?' I hadn't heard anything about it from inside the arena. He goes, 'I think they're outside shooting something.' I went out there, 'Holy crap, the Bucks are here.' I saw them, we exchanged pleasantries, it was good to see them. Right as I was leaving, 'hey guys, let's take a picture.'"
Jacobs stated that 25 minutes after taking the photo, he spoke with Michael Hayes, Road Dogg, and Dave Kapoor
"'I wasn't thinking.' 'Hunter [Triple H] is pissed about it.' I went to Hunter's office and talked to Hunter. He was cool about it. He wasn't happy about it, but he was cool about it. Hunter is a reasonable guy."
Jacobs received his walking papers one week later. Now, looking back, he sees it as child-like behavior of acting out and he knew he needed to expand and not feel confined so he was acting out as it wasn't for him anymore. By the end of his tenure, he said he couldn't speak in front of Vince McMahon or pitch in front of him.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription
More must-reads: