"Not a good fit" - Bruce Prichard on WWE Superstar quitting after JBL confrontation

WWE Executive Director Bruce Prichard believes former WWE Superstar Palmer Canon (real name Brian Mailhot) was “not a good fit” for the company.

Canon, a former wrestler who performed as an on-screen network executive, quit WWE after flying home early from a European tour in April 2006. PW Torch’s Wade Keller reported at the time that Canon “grew upset with the ribbing he was a target of.”

Speaking on his Something to Wrestle podcast, Prichard was asked about reports that Canon’s decision to quit came following a confrontation with JBL.

“He was brought in, was not a good fit,” Prichard said. “JBL gets a lot of heat and gets blamed for a lot of things, maybe just because he’s the loudest, but John was not the only one who had issues with Mr. Canon. And, again, it just isn’t a fit.”

Oh my… God?! A BRAND NEW #STW is available, NOW!Backlash 2006 is on deck, wherever you find your podcasts! pic.twitter.com/gZzRiiSfNQ

— Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard (@PrichardShow) May 7, 2021

Palmer Canon lost his final WWE match against Funaki at a live event in Italy on April 19, 2006. One day later, he flew home from the tour and never appeared in WWE again.

Bruce Prichard explains Palmer Canon’s WWE gimmick

Palmer Canon and Jillian Hall backstage on WWE SmackDown

Although Palmer Canon worked as a backstage official on WWE television, he was also an up-and-coming wrestler in WWE’s Deep South Wrestling developmental system.

Bruce Prichard explained that WWE’s decision-makers wanted a network executive character in 2005. They felt Canon had the right appearance and personality for the role.

“The whole Palmer Canon thing was this guy looked like a network executive,” he said. “That’s how he got the gig. He was a guy that was in developmental and looked like, ‘Ah, I can see him in a boardroom of a network,’ so that’s why he was chosen. He had a look. Coming in, we figured we could teach him what he lacked in the working department inside the ring, and his personality was dry, kind of that of a network executive as well.”

January 6th, 2005: Kurt Angle locks local talent Brian Black in the Ankle Lock during the Angle Invitational. pic.twitter.com/EjeHKBZewn

— Old School SmackDown (@OldSchoolSD) January 6, 2014

The man behind Palmer Canon's character, Brian Mailhot, also wrestled as Brian Black. He lost a 26-second match against Kurt Angle on the January 6, 2005 episode of SmackDown.

Please credit Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.