When Bull Dempsey first came to WWE, he was booked as a monster heel on a role. That was until Baron Corbin came around and leveled the field. After that, Dempsey then transitioned into a comedic role with the Bull Fit gimmick. It could be said that he was an underutilized talent. Dempsey himself revealed much earlier that the original intended role was for him to be what Kevin Owens turned out to be.
That is a huge twist in fate for Dempsey who ended up on a much different path. However, he is not too mad about it, as he is having a good run in the independent scene right now. He currently goes under the name Bull James, as WWE has trademark rights on the name “Bull Dempsey”
Bull James was recently on The Ross Report. When Jim Ross asked him if he was anticipating being released, he had the following to say:
"It's funny. I actually thought I was going in to get a raise, so that was a big turnaround. We had just been off of a UK tour that we did and I had gotten some really good reactions over there. And I thought, 'okay, this thing is finally taking off and we're going to do some good business with this'. And for whatever reason, the decision was made and no ill will towards them and it was obviously a business thing"
This clearly hasn’t left a bitter taste in James’ mouth, as he spoke about the experience he had in NXT with the opportunities he was given:
"Every coach, I had a good relationship with and I learned something for everybody. And I always told myself that no matter what happens, I'm going to walk away, I can look at myself in the mirror, that I didn't change as a person, and I can know that I took full advantage of every opportunity there."
Usually, such opportunities are good for talents like James. His former fellow NXT mate Sami Callihan, who went under the name Solomon Crowe in NXT had wanted to leave and asked for his release in order to go reinvent himself in the independent scene.
James now has the same opportunity as well. Sometimes things happen for a reason. Clearly, James did not leave on bad terms, so the door will surely be open some day down the line for a return.
