Trevor Lee, formerly known as Cameron Grimes in WWE, has signed with Major League Wrestling (MLW).
Lee told Fox News about his signing with MLW and that he looks forward to the opportunities the promotion can provide especially with their association with CMLL and NJPW.
“I’m just excited to be able to really kinda do anything. These past couple of years I’ve just been kinda waiting on a good opportunity and I feel like MLW is kind of presenting that opportunity. I really like the ability to be able to work with CMLL, to be able to work with New Japan. So, it’s really cool to see what what’s going to come out of this.”
Lee discussed the promotion’s efforts towards crowd engagement influencing his decision to sign with them.
“I think what really entices me to want to work with MLW is they do have a great production. When you watch the product, it looks good, the crowds are big, the crowds are loud. You know that’s really what you’re asking for, when you take a kind of a step down, MLW isn’t WWE but they’re not an indie either, you know what I mean? They’re right there. So, it’s nice to be able to be in a place that can represent you well, show you well and also give you a good batch of talent to work with as well with so many different companies that can come through there.”
Lee emphasized his goals for MLW is to have elite tier matches while proving he’s more than a comedy act.
“My goals for MLW is just to keep showing what I’m good at, right. 32-years-old with still a lot of time left on the clock, hopefully. So, with MLW I want to be able to show that I’m more than just a comedy promo act. I can have these elite tier matches.”
Lee has been competing on MLW since 2024 not long after his WWE release. He was mostly associated with NXT before being drafted to SmackDown in 2023 for barely a year before his exit.
MLW has announced a change to one of its matches planned for Slaughterhouse 2024.
After announcing yesterday that Donovan Dijak vs. TJP would be taking place at the event, MLW shared an update today revealing that it will now be Dijak vs. Trevor Lee at Slaughterhouse. The show is taking place from The Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Florida on October 4 and will air for free live on MLW’s YouTube channel.
“In a shocking twist ahead of MLW Slaughterhouse on October 4 at the Coliseum, Trevor Lee has stepped up to face the unstoppable force known as Donovan Dijak. Following TJP’s unexpected withdrawal from the match, MLW’s roster was notified of an open contract to fight Dijak,” the promotion wrote. “Wasting no time, a fearless Trevor Lee raced to sign his name, setting the stage for an electrifying debut.”
Dijak and Lee both departed WWE earlier this year. Dijak left the company in June when his contract was not renewed, while Lee (formerly known as Cameron Grimes) was released by WWE back in April.
Lee is making his MLW debut at Slaughterhouse. Dijak arrived in the promotion last month at MLW Summer of the Beasts.
Here’s the updated card for Slaughterhouse:
MLW Slaughterhouse 2024 (Friday, October 4) —
MLW World Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima defends against Ultimo Guerrero
MLW Tag Team Champions Minoru Suzuki & Ikuro Kwon defend against Bomaye Fight Club (Alex Kane & Mr. Thomas)
Weapons of Mass Destruction match: Mads Krule Krugger vs. AKIRA
Trevor Lee — the former Cameron Grimes in WWE — is coming to MLW soon.
Lee will debut for MLW at Slaughterhouse 2024, the promotion announced today. The event is taking place from the Coliseum in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday, October 4. An opponent for Lee has not been announced.
This April, the 30-year-old Lee was released from his WWE contract. He was let go around the same time that Jinder Mahal, Xia Li, Veer, Sanga, Xyon Quinn, and Von Wagner were also released from the company. Lee had a successful NXT run while with WWE but was never heavily featured after being called up to the main roster. He has been competing on the indies since his release and is still a free agent.
Former WWE wrestler Donovan Dijak also recently arrived in MLW. Dijak departed WWE in June when his contract was not renewed.
No matches have been made official for Slaughterhouse 2024 yet. The show will air live for free on MLW’s YouTube channel.
Trevor Lee, FKA Cameron Grimes, is headed to Germany this summer.
wXw has announced Lee will return to the promotion for the first time since 2016 at Shortcut to the Top on August 10. The show is scheduled for the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Erster Teilnehmer für wXw Shortcut to the Top – Trevor Lee!
Wir starten mit einem Paukenschlag! Nach dem WWE-Aus kehrt @CGrimesWWE bei #wXwSttT am 10. August erstmals wieder nach Deutschland zurück. Zuletzt stand er 2016 bei #wXw16Carat im wXw-Ring.
Lee was released from WWE in April after having been with the company since 2019. Shortly after, he’d tell Busted Open Radio that “a pretty high executive” in WWE told him he didn’t need to worry about losing his job.
Lee will also return to Elevation Pro Wrestling in Lexington, Kentucky this summer. He’s been announced for their show on July 26.
wXw has not announced a lineup for Shortcut to the Top as of yet. Lee is the first talent confirmed for the show. It will be his first time working for the promotion since entering the 16-carat Gold tournament in March 2016. He was eliminated by Angelico in the first round. Zack Sabre Jr. won the tournament that year, defeating Ludwig Kaiser in the finals. Other participants in the single-elimination tournament in 2016 included Will Ospreay, Gunther, Drew McIntyre, Sami Callihan, Timothy Thatcher, Ilja Dragunov, Mike Bailey, and Swerve Strickland. Lee wrestled two more dates on the tour after being eliminated. He dropped a four-way match and then teamed with Marty Scurll to beat Ospreay and Bailey to close out the tour.
Elevation Pro Wrestling announced that Grimes, reverting to his Trevor Lee name, will appear for their Homecoming event that will take place on July 27.
🚨SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT🚨
Elevation Pro Wrestling presents:
“HOMECOMING ”
Join us as we WELCOME HOME former WWE superstar TREVOR LEE!
🗓️: Saturday JULY 27, 2024
📍: Elevation Pro Wrestling Arena 599 S. Railroad St. Lexington, NC 27292
— Elevation Pro Wrestling (@TheElevationPro) May 5, 2024
Grimes was part of a wave of releases that took place at the end of April, before the WWE Draft. As part of last year’s Draft, Grimes was part of the SmackDown brand but only appeared a few times on the main roster. His last match in WWE was on the April 12 edition of SmackDown when he lost quickly to Bron Breakker.
In an interview with Busted Open Radio, Grimes said a “high executive” told him just days before his release that he’d always have a job in WWE.
“So I was told by a high executive last week on Friday that I would always have a job here. I would never have to worry about losing my job here, after expressing my concerns like that to him. And then five days later, they called me and told that I do lose the job. So I don’t know.”
Other main roster stars that were released that week include Jinder Mahal, Veer, Sanga, Xyon Quinn, and Von Wagner. NXT releases took place this past week, with Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson being the biggest name.
Just days before being released by WWE, Trevor Lee was told that he didn’t need to worry about losing his job.
The former Cameron Grimes was released from his WWE contract this Tuesday. During an appearance on Busted Open Radio today, Lee said a “pretty high executive” told him last Friday that he would always have a job in WWE:
Literally the last time I was at TV, I had a pretty high executive tell me — because, you know, I was worried. Starting this stock market gimmick, it made me see businesses in a different light, you know what I mean? Following these companies and playing with stocks, I would see things in a different light. So I knew that I haven’t worked in over a year and I’m making a decent salary. So I knew that if someone was to look at the books, I’m going to be the first person that’s going to be cut. If you’re looking at it strictly as money-wise. But if you’re looking at it as like, ‘Ok, well if this is a talent that can do something for us.’ You know what I mean, they’re going to keep me.
So I was told by a high executive last week on Friday that I would always have a job here. I would never have to worry about losing my job here, after expressing my concerns like that to him.
And then five days later, they called me and told that I do lose the job. So I don’t know.
Lee said he always joked with the locker room that he would be the next person gone. With the WWE Draft coming up, he had joked that he would be drafted to Thursdays when TNA Impact comes on television.
Jinder Mahal, Xia Li, Veer, Sanga, Xyon Quinn, and Von Wagner were also released by WWE in advance of the draft.
Though being released sucks, it’s something that Lee says he kind of knew was coming. He knew the only way he would get a chance in WWE is by getting released and then proving himself elsewhere. Lee loved working for WWE, and it’s the only thing he’s ever wanted to do.
Lee had a successful stint in NXT but was never heavily used after being called up to the main roster. He was always told that WWE didn’t really have an idea for him at the moment:
I was just always told that they just didn’t really have an idea for me at the moment. I pitched a bunch of different ideas. I pitched a bunch of different character ideas, because I had a feeling that the money thing just wasn’t going to work up there. They had already kind of tried it with [Baron] Corbin before I had got up there with the JBL thing. I feel like that was very much because of the success that I had with the character of Cameron Grimes in NXT. I think that’s why they kind of went with that storyline…
Over the past few months I had been going to writers and stuff and saying like, ‘Hey, I just want to work. At the end of the day, I just want to work. I just want to work.’ And I would hear that that would make me kind of sound bitter. I don’t understand that process. I don’t understand how I came off as being kind of bitter. I guess every week when you’re asking to work, I guess it starts to start annoying people, you know? I mean, I guess I could see that.
When asked about people who reached out after his release, Lee said that Logan Paul was one of them.
Lee mentioned wrestling in Japan as something that he’d really love to do. Impact Wrestling and PWG are among the promotions he wrestled for before signing with WWE in 2019.
It appears that a handful of NXT wrestlers have gotten their new WWE names.
The WWE Performance Center’s website lists new names for Trevor Lee, Jessie Elaban, Eric Bugenhagen, Adrian Jaoude, and Luke Menzies. Lee is now listed as Cameron Grimes, Elaban is Jessi Kamea, Bugenhagen is Rik Bugez, Jaoude is Arturo Ruas, and Menzies is Ridge Holland.
Lee reported to the WWE Performance Center this February. He’s been wrestling at NXT house shows in Florida but has yet to make his television debut for the brand.
Elaban made her WWE TV debut in last year’s Mae Young Classic, losing to Taynara Conti in the first round.
Bugenhagen has gotten over on NXT house shows with his rock star/air guitar gimmick. He’s also appeared on one NXT TV episode and took part in a battle royal at Worlds Collide as part of WrestleMania Axxess this April.
In addition to wrestling for NXT, Jaoude has become a regular for EVOLVE over the past few months.
Menzies is a former rugby player who transitioned to professional wrestling. He joined WWE in 2018.
From the Midtown Cultural and Educational Center in front of an estimated 250
Brennan Williams defeated Samuel Shaw
Brennan connected with a spinning kick to put away the “creepy weirdo” as the Florida crowds call him.
Jessamyn Duke defeated Lacey Lane
Duke had Lane on her knees and delivered a quick kick.
Mansoor defeated Adrian Jaoude
We got some pre-match mic work from the multiple black belt holder Jaoude saying how he likes to ruin people’s good times. Mansoor scored the win via roll up.
Rinku Singh defeated Cezar Bononi
A big lefty lariat by the million dollar arm gave him the win.
KUSHIDA defeated Brendan Vink
A hoverboard lock got the win for KUSHIDA
Jermaine Haley (w/ Malcolm Bivens) defeated Eric Bugenhagen
Haley hit a splash off the top for the pin and win.
Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner defeated Team 3.0
A double team assisted DDT by the European Union got them the win.
Matthew Riddle defeated Trevor Lee
A powerbomb and final flash knee strike by the Original Bro sent everyone home happy.
The night after ACH made his NXT debut, another new addition to the WWE Performance Center had their first match for the company.
Trevor Lee made his WWE debut at Friday night’s NXT house show in Dade City, Florida. He lost to Luke Menzies at the show.
Lee and ACH were both introduced as part of last month’s group of Performance Center signees. ACH (who used his real name, Albert Hardie) lost to Raul Mendoza at Thursday’s NXT house show in Largo, Florida.
Lee departed Impact Wrestling in November and said farewell to PWG and AAW in January. His last match for CWF Mid-Atlantic was in February.
Here are the results from NXT’s house show in Dade City (estimated attendance: 200 people):
After reporting to the Performance Center last week, NXT’s Trevor Lee will be appearing in May for a promotion WWE has a working relationship with.
PROGRESS Wrestling announced on Monday that Lee will be making his debut for the promotion as an entrant in this year’s Super Strong Style 16 tournament. The tournament is taking place at Alexandra Palace in London, England from May 4-6.
Travis Banks and Ilja Dragunov have also been announced for this year’s Super Strong Style 16. Banks won the tournament in 2017. The tournament winner receives a future title shot.
Zack Sabre Jr. won Super Strong Style 16 last year, defeating NXT’s Kassius Ohno.
Lee said farewell to CWF Mid-Atlantic over the weekend. He defeated Cain Justice in a match that went more than 75 minutes, with Lee vacating the CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship as he departed the promotion.
Lee was part of the group of WWE signees that reported to the Performance Center last Monday. ACH, Rachael Ellering, Karen Q, Samuel Shaw, Jonah Rock, Elliot Sexton, 3.0 (Scott Parker & Shane Matthews), Nick Comoroto, and former college football players Omari Palmer and Ricardo Miller also arrived at the Performance Center.
The latest group of WWE signees have officially reported to the Performance Center.
WWE announced this month’s Performance Center class via Twitter today, which features wrestlers Trevor Lee, ACH, Rachael Ellering, Karen Q, Samuel Shaw, Jonah Rock, Elliot Sexton, Team 3.0 (Scott Parker & Shane Matthews), and Nick Comoroto.
Former college football players Omari Palmer and Ricardo Miller, who had WWE tryouts last summer, are the two other members of the new Performance Center class.
Lee officially confirmed last month that he had signed with WWE. He finished up with Impact Wrestling in November and had farewells for PWG and AAW this January but still holds the CWF Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. ACH also said farewell to AAW last month.
As “Rachel Evers,” Ellering took part in the 2017 and 2018 Mae Young Classic tournaments. Karen Q was an entrant in last year’s Mae Young Classic as well.
Shaw formerly wrestled for Impact and was involved with the NWA before signing with WWE. Rock and Sexton are both from Australia, and Rock had been a regular for PWG.
3.0 are a tag team from Canada who have also made appearances as enhancement wrestlers for WWE. Comoroto is a graduate of the Monster Factory wrestling school.
PWG’s first show of 2019 took place at the Globe Theatre in Los Angeles, California on Friday night.
Overall, it was a fun show. It wasn’t a total blowaway like the classic PWG shows, but it was a fun night and there were a few very strong matches. I saw empty seats in the back, but it was still packed. If they never got to a true sellout, they definitely got close.
The promotion did not announce their next date, but Excalibur said that they would be back soon.
– Brody King defeated Jungle Boy
Jungle Boy was making his PWG debut and got a great reception. The match had a decent enough big guy vs. little guy dynamic. This was my second time seeing Jungle Boy live. i see the potential, but he’s still pretty green. A few of his arm drags were a little rough, and he and King had some awkward transitions. Most people are better by the time they debut in PWG, but the crowd seemed into the match.
King chopped the hell out of Jungle Boy throughout, leaving him with a very marked up chest. There were strong “please come back” chants for Jungle Boy after the loss.
– Puma King defeated DJZ
This result surprised me and made me wonder how long DJZ will be a free agent. The fan appreciation of this match is determined by how much one responds to the Puma King gimmick. I really like it, so I enjoyed the match. But I have friends who don’t like it and didn’t think much of it.
They did a bunch of cool reversals, arm drags, and pinning predicaments. It was a perfectly fine second match on a wrestling card.
They had a great, all-action tag match. The crowd loves LAX, and rightly so. Horus looked great, but he always does. Laredo Kid received a warm welcome and had some cool spots during the match.
Horus did his insane running dive from the ring over the corner post to the outside, cheating it slightly by going a little diagonal. There was a healthy “please come back” for Laredo Kid afterwards.
– Robbie Eagles defeated Jonathan Gresham
Great response for Gresham here. It was a really strong debut for him as all of his stuff looked great and he was over with the crowd. Eagles is just a guy. The crowd liked him more than me, but not a lot more.
Gresham worked the right arm the whole match, including chopping it, rather than the chest, during striking exchanges. Eagles won with his 450 onto the leg followed by his figure four variant. He didn’t even set up the leg submission throughout the match.
There was a very strong post-match “please come back” for Gresham, noticeably stronger than Jungle Boy or Laredo Kid.
– PWG Tag Team Champions The Rascalz (Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz) defeated Best Friends (Beretta & Chuck Taylor) to retain their titles
I really enjoyed the build up during this match. It had plenty of offense, but it was less of a spot fest and had a better story than other Rascalz PWG matches (though I love the Rascalz firefight and a million high spots matches as well)
The story of the match was Best Friends working their heavyweight advantages on the smaller Rascalz. The Rascalz outran Best Friends right away, but the match turned early when Taylor told Beretta to stop acting like a junior and do heavyweight stuff. Beretta got Xavier to do the running shoulder tackle spot, and then floored him.
There was another good story moment with a fun payoff later: Xavier was demolished in a chopping exchange with Beretta. Xavier switched tactics to quicker-paced offense and gained the upper hand. But after a series of tags in and out with Wentz, Beretta made a comeback by flooring Xavier with a hard chop.
The match built to some high flying and dives to the outside by the Rascalz, but the dives felt like they meant more. The Rascalz won with the Hot Fire Flame (assisted standing Shooting Star Press), with Xavier pushing Wentz mid-Shooting Star over a bent over Taylor and onto a recently laid out Beretta. The crowd loved the match and all four guys
– Bandido defeated ACH
This was my favorite match. Bandido is great and ACH is one of the most underrated guys in the business — he can really do everything. He worked heel here and did a great job as a cocky bastard. He worked the fans when he was in the crowd. He was smarmy and cocky, and he found moments to build chants for Bandido without making it obvious that he was doing it.
Here’s my favorite part: ACH did the chopping the outside ring post by mistake spot (after really working some vocal Bandido fans into a rage) and then sold the hand for the rest of the match. No one does that. Not even WALTER, who is good about that kind of thing. And ACH didn’t overdo it or make the entire match about his hand. He just made sure to sell that it was hard to grip when attempting a German suplex — or he became reluctant to have another chopping exchange.
There were a bunch of other great heel touches, and Bandido was great as always. He won with his handspring German suplex.
– PWG World Champion Jeff Cobb defeated Trevor Lee to retain his title
This match had a lot of trouble getting off the ground, but eventually built to a great peak and finish. The energy was very weird early.
Lee came out and started to do his typical heel promo. Right away, he noted that Cobb wouldn’t get him like he got him last time (Cobb pinned Lee in about 10 seconds in round two of BOLA 2018 by grabbing Lee during his promo) — only to have Cobb grab him and suplex him. But Lee escaped and got a small package for a two count. A lot of people, myself included, thought the flash pin could happen. However, after this moment, the match went flat for awhile.
The crowd did not boo Lee at all, which they normally would. I think this was because everyone knew this was Lee’s last PWG match, so they didn’t want to boo. But Lee also didn’t work heel. He conveyed that he earnestly wanted the title and was working hard to win. So, the crowd didn’t really know how to react.
Lee worked his ass off, doing a tope to one side and later a tope suicida to the other. Even with the dives, the crowd would die down quickly. However, the match really took off for the final 5-10 minutes. They worked a spot where Lee accidentally punted Justin the referee (the biggest heel in PWG), and the crowd came to life for that.
Lee then worked heel by hitting a low blow, but now the crowd was mainly pulling for him. He hit a running flip dive from the ring over the corner post to the outside. He hit his big standing double stomp for a near fall. Cobb came back with deadlift gutwrench suplexes and a bridging
German for two.
Cobb hit a release airplane spin, flinging Lee high into the air for a near fall. Lee escaped a top rope superplex attempt by rolling over into a powerbomb set up, carrying Cobb a few feet from the corner, and hitting a sit-out power bomb. That was another two count.
Everyone was on their feet for the final few minutes. The finish came when Cobb hit the Tour of the Islands, but Lee kicked out at one. The crowd lost it. Cobb hit a huge German (landing Lee on his face) and then another Tour of the Islands for the three count.
After the match, Lee cut a great, heartfelt promo. He said that he never thought he would main event in PWG when he debuted in 2014, calling it a company that he had dreamed about working for. He thanked the fans for tweeting after that debut to get him booked again. He said he read every message they sent to PWG and made sure that he worked his ass off to deliver for them.
Lee said that PWG helped make it so he could quit his job “selling frozen yogurt to sh*tty kids” and wrestle full time. And he said that he never won BOLA or the PWG title as he said he would, but the fans made it so he could get hired by WWE. Lee finished by saying he’d probably just get fired by WWE and come back and win the PWG title
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. At least not for me — I hope he makes a billion dollars.
Lee announced the news during a promo at the end of Saturday night’s CWF Mid-Atlantic show in Gibsonville, North Carolina. Lee mentioned that there were rumors this would be his last night in the promotion, and he said there was almost a little bit of truth to that. Lee said that he’s no longer a free agent as of this week because he’s signed a contract with WWE. The crowd chanted Lee’s name and “You deserve it.”
After that, Lee said this wasn’t going to be his final appearance for the promotion. He said he won’t leave until he loses the CWF Mid-Atlantic title. Lee announced that he’ll defend the championship in a six-pack scramble at CWF Stronger on February 2.
The main event of Saturday’s CWF Mid-Atlantic show was Lee, Shane “Hurricane” Helms & Cain Justice defeating Arik Royal, Roy Wilkins & Brad Attitude in a six-man tag match. The stipulation was that Lee’s title would change hands if Royal, Wilkins, or Attitude pinned anyone on Lee’s team.
Lee was a three-time X-Division Champion and a one-time Tag Team Champion for Impact. In addition to Impact and CWF Mid-Atlantic, he’s also been a regular for PWG and AAW.
PWG has released the card for their next show, Hand of Doom.
In the main event, Trevor Lee will challenge Jeff Cobb for the PWG World title. The PWG tag team titles will also be on the line, as Best Friends will make their return to the promotion challenging current champions The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz and Desmond Xavier).
There will also be a couple of debuts. Jonathan Gresham, who currently wrestles for ROH, will take on Robbie Eagles. Jungle Boy, the son of Beverly Hills 90210 star Luke Perry will also be on the card, taking on Brody King.
Here is the full card for next month’s show, which will take place January 18 at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles, California:
Jeff Cobb vs. Trevor Lee for the PWG title
The Rascalz vs. Best Friends for the PWG tag team titles
