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Rene Dupree recently recalled how Shawn Michaels once complained to John Laurinaitis about a wrestler using one of his trademark taunts.
Ricky Banderas, better known as Mil Muertes, competed in a WWE tryout match against Dupree. At one stage during the untelevised encounter, the Puerto Rican performed a fired-up motion with his hands. Though it was unintentional, the action drew comparisons to D-Generation X’s crotch chop.
Speaking on his Cafe de Rene podcast, Dupree revealed that WWE’s Head of Talent Relations refused to hire Banderas following Michaels’ complaint.
“He [Michaels] went straight to John Laurinaitis and said, ‘Get this guy out of here,’” Dupree said. “As soon as he got to the back, John lectured him and said, ‘Did you do the DX crotch gimmick?’ The guy’s like, ‘What the f*** you talking about? I just fired up.’ He watched the tape back and then John pointed out that he did it, told him to get his bags, and get the f*** out of the building.” [20:01-20:33]
As the match was only a tryout, Dupree advised Banderas to use basic wrestling moves. The former La Resistance member liked his opponent and thought Michaels blew the incident out of proportion.
Rene Dupree on John Laurinaitis’ “cold-hearted” decision
As WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis is responsible for informing superstars about their departure from the company. He also has a say in which wrestlers WWE could potentially hire.
Elaborating on the Banderas situation, Dupree discussed how he felt about Laurinaitis’ decision not to sign his opponent.
“I felt so bad because this Banderas guy told me he just had a baby and he’d really like to have this job because he can make some money to take care of his family,” Dupree added. “It’s like, ‘Wow, f***. What a cold-hearted business.’” [20:39-20:55]
Banderas has used several names throughout his career, including El Mesias and Judas Mesias. He has performed as King Muertes in MLW since 2021.
Please credit Cafe de Rene and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
