They say that you never know when an opportunity may present itself, and when it came to WWE and Vince McMahon that really could be at any moment. Just ask Jimmy Wang Yang.
Following the demise of WCW in March 2001, Jimmy Wang Yang’s contract was picked up by WWE, but after a stint in developmental he was released early the following year. After spells with All Japan Pro Wrestling and TNA, the star returned to WWE in 2003. This led to a two year stint with the company, before being released and then rehired in May 2006.
Vince McMahon Rehired Jimmy Wany Yang In Unusual Circumstances
Appearing on the Ten Count with Steve Fall, Jimmy Wang Yang recalled being rehired by Vince McMahon in 2006. The utterly surreal tale began with McMahon seemingly forgetting that he had fired the star. For his part, Wang Yang wasn’t even looking to get his job back, he just wanted to get laid.
“That’s the impression I got when he rehired me because like, this is a crazy story. I was just trying to get laid one night and there was a pay-per-view close by and this girl I was trying to get tickets and do the whole thing. This is after I got fired. The chick was really hot. You know, they’re close by, get awesome tickets and everything, and when I showed up, you know, me and Vince crossed paths and he’s like, ‘Jimmy. Where the hell have you been?’ I was like, ‘You fired me.’ He said, ‘What? I did.’ It got busy. He said I will come back and talk to you and then the day’s going by.”
Wang Yang went on to explain that he was quickly called into action to help Shawn Michaels, which in turn led to a chance to feature for the company on a more regular basis.
“Shawn Michaels was wrestling against The Spirit Squad. The spot that they did was Shawn Michaels when The Spirit Squad came out there, lifted him up, went through the table, Shawn was like, ‘I’m not sure if I want to do that.’ They said, ‘Oh, well, let’s do it to make him feel comfortable doing it.’ I was sitting at catering texting this hot chick, like, ‘Hey, I got tickets or whatever.’ They came running to me and they said, ‘Jimmy, Jimmy, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m eating in catering.’ They said, ‘Can we use you real quick?’ I was like, ‘Sure.’”
“I go to the ring, and the Spirit Squad, Shawn Michaels, Vince, and Michael P.S. Hayes was there. They said, ‘Jimmy, do you mind if we just throw you up and put you through this table?’ I’m like, ‘Okay.’ So I’m getting ready. I get in the ring and then Michael Hayes tells Vince, ‘Hey Vince, do think Jimmy should do it? He’s not under contract.’ He said, ‘He should be under contract. Let him do it.’ They threw me up 20 feet in the air, went through the table, and Shawn asked me how it felt. I said, ‘It wasn’t too bad.’ Then he did that spot.”
“I went back to catering, you know, lining things up for the night. Then they came to me again. ‘Hey Jimmy, can you come to Columbus tomorrow for RAW?’ In my mind, what I was going to do that night, be up all night and do whatever, I was like, ‘Yeah, I guess. I’ll come to RAW’, so plans got changed. I went to RAW. I showed up and they said ‘Hey, do you mind doing a match on Sunday Heat with Charlie Haas?’ I’m like, ‘Sure.’ Then we did the match and we had a really good match, in my opinion.”
“After that, they were like, ‘Hey, can you come to Cincinnati tomorrow for SmackDown.’ I’m like, ‘I want to get laid’, but I was like whatever. That was my hometown for a long time, so I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll come down.’ When I walked in, they said ‘Hey, come with me’, and they offered me my job back.”
Jimmy Wang Yang remained with WWE for a further four years before being released in 2010, although he briefly returned as a producer in 2021.
H/t to WrestlingNewsCo