One former WWE star believes money was left on the table when a cross-promotional pitch was scrapped.
The real life Sidney Bateman underwent a number of identity changes since signing with WWE in 2020. The star first debuted as Carmella’s sommelier named Reginald, who played a large part in Carmella’s feud with Sasha Banks. Reginald even faced Banks in rare intergender action on SmackDown.
After being fired by Carmella in March of 2021, he began an unlikely alliance with Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler, though that also proved to be short-lived as the team turned on him the following July.
Renamed Reggie, the star went on to become the longest-reigning 24/7 Champion in WWE history, holding the belt for 112 days in a single reign. The former Cirque du Soleil performer had plenty of ups and downs when it comes to the 24/7 Title, with his aspirations leading to a chaotic wedding and then divorce from Dana Brooke.
In October of 2022, mysterious vignettes featuring a masked performer named Scrypts began airing in NXT, and months later, it was revealed that the former Reggie was the man behind the Scrypts mask.
In recent months, Scrypts formed an alliance with Bronco Lima and Lucien Price of Out The Mud (OTM). However, it was reported in late April that the star’s contract would not be renewed when it expired on June 1st, and the former Reggie was set to become a free agent. Now going by the named Sidney Akeem, the star posted a video on social media to confirm the news, and he made his GCW debut shortly after leaving WWE.
Reggie Wanted A Cross-Promotional Story Between WWE And Progressive Insurance
Speaking in a recent interview with MuscleManMalcolm, the former Reggie opened up about pitching creative ideas that were ultimately shot down. He included a pitch for cross-promotion with Progressive Insurance, calling it a missed opportunity that it never came to pass.
“There was a lot of things left unturned. I had an idea about making a crossover with the WWE 24/7 Title with Progressive and their 24/7 coverage. Essentially, it’ll be me escaping the mob, but the mob gets me, and I say, ‘Like a good neighbor…’ No, not that one. It was Flo from Progressive. I call her like, ‘Hey, I need help.’ then, she comes and helps me make the trampoline appear. I bounce over the guys or whatever. I could be like, ‘I’m the longest reigning 24/7 Champion because I have 24/7 coverage with Progressive.’
“So that would have been dope; missed opportunity. Also, I’m a writer as well. I also wrote a 24/7 cartoon. It basically would have been everything we were doing but animated.”
In recent news, former WWE Superstar Sidney Akeem made his ROH debut.
h/t Fightful