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Bill DeMott

Bill DeMott
Formerly known as Hugh Morrus

For years, fans only knew Bill DeMott as the fun-but-dangerous Hugh Morrus. In 2002, the former United States Champion's career took a serious turn when he began training the WWE Superstars of tomorrow on Tough Enough. Under his given name, DeMott used fear as his chief teaching technique. His most noteworthy pupils were Matt Cappotelli and John Morrison.

DeMott's in-ring success paled in comparison to the heights he reached as Hugh Morrus. After tearing through many of SmackDown's Superstars, as well as Rikishi, in early 2003, he found himself most often appearing on Velocity. After several months, he transitioned from the ring to the announce booth, calling Velocity action alongside Tough Enough alum Josh Mathews. When Tough Enough 4 completed production, DeMott left WWE programming to be a full-time trainer in WWE's developmental system.

After a four-year hiatus from WWE, DeMott returned in 2011 as the head trainer for the revival of Tough Enough. Hand-picked by WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, the WWE hopefuls quickly learned that training under DeMott was no laughing matter.

Bill DeMott Steps Down As Head Trainer Of NXT

Bill DeMott
Bill DeMott

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In a stunning turn of events, Bill DeMott has stepped down from his duties as head trainer of NXT developmental effective immediately.

DeMott sent out the following tweet on his official Twitter account Friday afternoon: “I deny the recent allegations made about me, however, to avoid any embarrassment or damage to the WWE, I’ve decided to step down from my role effective immediately.”

He had openly been accused of being physically and verbally abusive during his time with the company by several past workers who had been with developmental.

This includes former talent Austin Matelson, who worked under the name Judas Devlin.

WWE investigated the matter and was unable to prove Matelson’s claims, though.

“WWE took the accusations made two years ago by Austin Matelson very seriously, conducted a full investigation and was unable to validate the claims. Regardless, WWE continues to reinforce policies and procedures to ensure a positive training environment.”

Anonymous Female Wrestler Alleges Sexual Harassment At Performance Center

Bill DeMott
Bill DeMott

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Shortly before Bill DeMott announced his resignation as head trainer of NXT on Friday, another story emerged on Reddit from an anonymous female wrestler who participated in WWE's developmental program. Posting under the username divajanedoe, she alleges several instances of sexual harassment from Matt Wichlinkski, the head strength and conditioning coach for the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and the consequences of trying to report it. Her claims include:

* Female talent who have spoken out against the instances of sexual harassment have been punished, up to and including being fired in a demonstration of the power Bill DeMott had.

* When their only female advocate in WWE's Talent Relations department spoke out in their defense, she was removed from the position and sent to work in an office. This individual is Jane Geddes, who was appointed Vice President of Talent Relations in 2011 shortly after John Laurinaitis was removed from the position. In November 2013, she was assigned Senior Vice President of Operations for Talent and Live Events. It was reported this week in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that she is no longer with WWE.

* Former NXT performer Austin Matelson (Judas Devlin) made note of a sexual harassment complaint against Wichlinkski from Paige during an interview with Vendetta Pro Radio (listen here). According to the anonymous Diva, Wichlinkski was caught filming video and taking photos of the backsides of female performers. When evidence was presented to Bill DeMott, he made it "very clear that [Wichlinkski] was not going anywhere, and any further complaints would result in dismissal because there are a million girls ready to step in and take our place."

Here is her post in its entirety:

"First, please understand that it is of the utmost importance that I maintain my anonymity, and hopefully by the end of this you will understand why. I have told some of my story to a reporter, but it seems that unfortunately they were yet another outlet who has been told not to touch this story. Please bear with me as I've never used reddit before.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure where to start. In developmental, Bill scared us so much that it made us ashamed and scared to speak up about anything. The abusive environment was so hard to operate within, but that fear is very hard to leave behind. The few people who have come forward have alluded to some of what I want to talk about, but understand that this is a harder story to tell.

"The former divas who have spoken out against the instances of sexual harassment have been punished, up to and including being fired in a demonstration of the power Bill has. When our only female advocate in talent relations tried to speak up, she was removed from the position and sent to work in the office. Now that the conversation has been restarted, it's been made known that she is no longer with the company. At any level, women who speak up for themselves are disposable. When rumors about their departures make it out, they're immediately buried and become yesterday's news, but believe me - it's true.

"One such instance that has been mentioned by Judas Devlin (Austin Matelson) is the complaint of harassment against Matt Wichlinkski, the current Strength and Conditioning coach. I have attached screencaps of one such photo that he posted alongside his WWE contract. When he was caught filming/taking photos of talent's backsides, it was brought to their attention. Some of the male talent attempted to stick up for the developmental divas and help catch him in the act (again, the fear instilled into us made it very hard to say anything), but when it was presented to Bill it was made very clear that he was not going anywhere, and any further complaints would result in dismissal because there a million girls ready to step in and take our place. In all instances of complaining about sexual harassment (including those outside of this incident), women have been forced out of the company. After one of the talents' dismissal, when we couldn't figure out where she went, we were told “if you go over my head, ask HER how well that works.”

"This isn't to specifically go after Wichlinski, but rather to make sure that people understand that Bill DeMott is a problem, and everything else trickles down from there. It's been made very clear, from the removal Rob McIntyre and to the firing of at least two divas (I won't name names as theirs is their own story to tell, but if you've paid attention to rumors it's very easy to put two and two together) to numerous male talents, some of whom will not come forward, that if you use your voice against Bill you will be removed. The day after Rob told all of us in a group setting that if we had any concerns about Bill we should call the office, he was fired.

"The fact is that anyone who has spoken out, including myself, are only exposing what is the tip of the iceberg. Bill has been guilty of gay-shaming, physical, mental, and racial abuse for far too long, and something needs to come to light. The stories coming out are heartbreaking, but what's worse is that we all knew about them. Bill would openly mock Judas during training sessions for writing and going above his head, and would encourage other “chosen” talent to do so as well. His patterns of abuse are well established, and I can only hope that more can come forward so people see that this isn't just a vendetta from “bitter” wrestlers. Bill DeMott is a monster, and we need to start asking why he's being protected when the evidence has been piling up against him for so long.

"Thank you for taking the time to listen to my story. Again, I can only hope this inspires more people to come forward. Hopefully I can provide more information in the future.

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