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John Laurinaitis once told Robbie McAllister to stop turning up at WWE venues after he had already been fired.
McAllister, real name Derek Graham-Couch, famously attended a TNA Impact! episode while under contract with WWE in March 2008. TNA showed footage of the former Highlanders member in the crowd, and he got backstage heat for his attendance.
Speaking on the Insiders Edge Podcast, McAllister explained that he initially wanted to return after being fired in August 2008. He repeatedly showed up at arenas until Laurinaitis made it clear he would never be rehired.
“It was a dumb move because I think it actually buried me to ever get back to the company,” McAllister said. “I tried a bunch of times after to try and go back, and finally at one point John Laurinaitis pulled me aside and said, ‘Derek, you can’t sneak in here anymore. We’re done.’” [54:02-54:20]
Contrary to reports, McAllister clarified that his TNA Impact! attendance did not cause him to lose out on a WrestleMania 24 paycheck. However, he did get kicked out of the WrestleMania hotel.
Why Robbie McAllister did not care about upsetting WWE
The Highlanders (Robbie and Rory McAllister) appeared on the main roster between July 2006 and August 2008. The storyline cousins received Tag Team Championship opportunities against The Spirit Squad and Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch, but they failed to capture the titles.
In hindsight, Robbie McAllister thinks he had a bad attitude around the time he appeared on the rival company’s programming.
“I had the F it attitude, ‘I don’t care anymore.’” McAllister continued, “And when you get to that point, you don’t wanna be there, you don’t wanna be around the people. It doesn’t really matter what you do and what the consequences are if you’re at that place in life when you don’t like your life, you don’t like working for the company.” [54:51-55:12]
The Highlanders’ final WWE match ended in defeat against Cryme Tyme on the August 11, 2008, episode of RAW.
Please credit the Insiders Edge Podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
