The wave of layoffs after WrestleMania also hits Trevor Lee aka Cameron Grimes –
The WWE layoff wave between WrestleMania two weeks ago and the draft starting this weekend has hit another rather surprising victim: Trevor Lee aka Cameron Grimes also has to go.
The 30-year-old made his departure public on Tuesday with an emotional social media post: competing for WWE was his big and actually only lifelong dream, he says. But now he is taking on his new mission in life, “to prove to WWE that they missed something.”
Lee may fit the bill of competitor AEW more than any of the other terminated wrestlers (Jinder Mahal, Von Wagner, Veer Mahaan, Sanga, Xyon Quinn, Xia Li). His resignation is unexpected, as the signs seemed to be favorable for him at WWE as well
Cameron Grimes actually seemed well equipped for WWE
Lee had made a name for himself on the independent scene and in the smaller league Impact (now TNA again) before signing with WWE. WWE star Kevin Owens once gave him a career boost by having him win his last match for the popular indy league PWG before moving to WWE. Lee has also defeated other top stars such as Cody Rhodes and Adam Cole.
On the WWE developmental roster, Lee, rechristened Cameron Grimes, proved his entertainment talent with his character as the “Richest Man in NXT” who became wealthy through stocks and a storyline with shooting star LA Knight and legend “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.
He experienced an emotional career highlight in the run-up to WrestleMania 2022 when he won the North American Title, which he dedicated to his late father: Tracey Caddell, a local wrestler and promoter in Lee’s native North Carolina, died in 2018 shortly before his son’s WWE deal.
After a promising start, nothing came of SmackDown
In the 2023 WWE Draft, Grimes was then promoted to SmackDown, where he made a promising introduction: In a scenario reminiscent of the 1-2-3 Kid’s legendary surprise victory over Razor Ramon, he defeated Baron Corbin in a matter of seconds. Corbin had previously mocked Grimes as “Mr. Irrelevant” – which also made a reference to the NFL fairytale surrounding Brock Purdy.
During the same period, reports leaked that various WWE executives were very fond of Grimes. The portal Fightful also named “Triple H” Paul Levesque, the executive responsible for the program.
Despite the good starting conditions, the victory against Corbin was not followed by anything substantial: he lost almost all further matches and only served as a “set-up guy” for other stars during his appearances. Most recently, he lost to his newly promoted ex-NXT teammate Bron Breakker, almost as quickly as Corbin lost to him a year ago.
Instead of Grimes, other talents were in the spotlight last year, with more moving up with the new draft – including German-Russian gem Ilya Dragunov, who lost his NXT Title to the up-and-coming Trick Williams on the night.
Lee hasn’t found his niche in WWE, but at the same time received words of encouragement from a legend who hails from the same region: “I’m immensely proud of you, your father is too,” wrote Matt Hardy, a current free agent himself: “I see nothing but great things in your future. “