Despite oozing charisma, Aiden English failed to make it in WWE before his April 2020 release – and Road Dogg thinks he knows exactly why!
Aiden English, who at the time was providing commentary for WWE 205 Live, was among those names cut from the sports entertainment giant on 15 April 2020, ending an eight-year run with the company that amassed a sole run as NXT Tag Team Champions alongside Vaudevillains partner Simon Gotch.
Though he possessed natural charisma unlike no one else, was a good hand between the ropes, and was proven to work in whatever role he was thrust into, ‘The Artiste’ failed to get over to a level sustainable of a memorable WWE act. Road Dogg, WWE’s current Senior Vice President, Live Events, believes this was all down to his looks.
Speaking on his Oh…You Didn’t Know? podcast, the WWE Hall of Famer alleged this was the reason that ultimately led to his WWE departure:
“Yeah, look, I don’t know. To tell you the truth, I don’t think a lot of people [backstage personnel] were behind Aiden English from the get-go, and I think it was totally about his looks. Because if it was about anything else, you would know. He’s extremely talented, great on the mic. He works now with IMPACT as a commentator and is really good at it, did that at NXT for a while. So look, I think it was just the only, the only thing I can think of was like something political or something personal, and that shouldn’t surprise anybody, that shouldn’t anger anybody.
Stuff happens behind the scenes where people change their perception of you. I’m not saying that happened in this situation, but I’m saying it does happen. And it does happen a lot in every company where all [of] the sudden you were in and now you ain’t in no more, and that happens sometimes. And it can happen for any reason, and I’m afraid that’s what was happening here. And that look, so that’s the deepest I’m going to dig into it.
But I do, I tried to normalise it because I do think it’s normal. I do think it’s very normal in every job. If Dunkin Donuts, the manager Richard Hertz doesn’t like the morning shift guy, he ain’t gonna put him on no shift with him. You know what I mean? And so that’s just how it works. And so right, wrong or indifferent, I believe that’s what was going on here.”
Aiden English first signed with WWE in early 2012, remaining in developmental until a 2016 debut on the main roster alongside his Vaudevillains partner Simon Gotch. When Gotch was let go, a partnership with Rusev kept English relevant before he transitioned into commentary.
Now going by his real name Matthew Rehwoldt, ‘The Drama King’ provides colour commentary for IMPACT Wrestling, having officially retired from in-ring competition after finding himself adapting naturally to the headset.
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit Oh…You Didn’t Know? and link back to this article with a H/T to Inside The Ropes.