Former WWE star Gangrel recently looked back at his short return to the company in 2006. He revealed WWE promised him a major role in the relaunched ECW brand.
Gangrel returned to WWE with plans to join Kevin Thorn and Shelly Martinez on ECW. However, those plans never happened. Instead, he remained under contract for months without appearing on television before eventually being released.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Gangrel was asked about the long-standing rumor that Vince McMahon released him after seeing his stomach. “I think the rumor was they said Vince saw my stomach and said, ‘Ah, he’s got to go.’ Like, I think that was the rumor.”
Gangrel recalls WWE’s canceled ECW plans
Gangrel said WWE had much bigger plans when they first brought him back.
“They hired me back. I got burnt. I sat home all that time. And then they let me go. Then they heard me back, told me I was going to be the Sci-Fi Channel. They said, ‘You’re going to be a big star on ECW.'”
“You’re going to come in. You’re going to have a group. Kevin Thorne, Shelley Martinez. I said, ‘Great.’ I went home, never heard from him. And I was signed back. Never heard from him. Never did an appearance on TV or anything.”
“Then I see Kevin Thorne comes on, and then Shellyley comes on with him, and I let go.” He later saw Kevin Thorn and Shelly Martinez debut without him. Soon after, he received a call from John Laurinaitis informing him his run was over.
“I get a call from Johnny Ace going, “You know, it never really took off. It didn’t work out. We’re sorry.’ I said, ‘Save it. I’m gonna go back to England next week.’ ‘Okay. Yeah. Go. Go.'” Gangrel also revealed he stayed under WWE contract for around six months despite never wrestling on television.
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