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Jimmy Jacobs, who had wrestled for years on the independent scene and Ring of Honor before joining World Wrestling Entertainment's creative team in March 2015, was let go by the company last week.
The firing became known after ProWrestlingSheet.com reported that Jacobs was gone due to heat stemming from him posing for a photo with Bullet Club members The Young Bucks when they did their "invasion" episode of their YouTube series "Being the Elite" a few weeks back outside Raw in Ontario, California.
Jacobs had posted the photo on his personal Instagram account and if that was indeed the only reason for his firing, it can't be seen as anything but petty, especially since Kevin Owens, AJ Styles and Sami Zayn had all appeared, in person, on the actual YouTube series and lots of WWE talents have posed for photos with talents contracted to others companies on social media.
The difference is those talents are stars, while Jacobs was "just" a writer and there is a culture behind the scenes where if you are seen as trying to get yourself over, when that isn't your role, it backfires on you, even if that wasn't what you were trying to do. I have had a number of WWE sources swear to me that a major reason Brooklyn Brawler was let go after decades of service to the company was his social media usage and other things that put him in the sights of the wrong people in the company who didn't like it, because "that wasn't his role."
Since Jacobs could understand things from a wrestler's perspective and was seen as "one of the boys", he was well liked among the talents in the company. He had suggested a number of ideas that had clicked, most notable Chris Jericho's list, which was sort of a revamped version of the list that Steve Corino used to do for ring announcements in ROH.
However, there was also a feeling from WWE sources that by going outside during an active TV taping when he was supposed to be working as a writer,Jacobs was seen as "ignoring his job" to get himself and his friends over. One WWE source believed that the while the photo was being used as the reason to fire Jacobs, it wasn't the only issue, noting that he had taken some time off to deal with a personal issue before returning to work this past summer, and that may have put a target on his back.
The Bullet Club YouTube angle also led to WWE firing off a cease and desist to the Young Bucks regarding their usage of the "Too Sweet" Clique hand symbol, which remains interesting as WWE doesn't own the rights to it. So, the angle led to the Bucks being in WWE's legal crosshairs, WWE paying far more attention to what Bullet Club is doing and letting Jimmy Jacobs go. While it was a cool idea, it remains to be seen if the positives will outweigh the fallout.
Nonplussed, the Bucks went on Twitter snarking that Daniel Bryan should take a photo with them, so he can be fired too, as Bryan intends to return as an active pro wrestler when his WWE deal finally expires in September 2018.
Jacobs, always a smart one when it comes to perception, quickly released an official t-shirt on ProWrestlingTees.com, showcasing his photo with the Bucks with the tag "Unprofessional." You can see and order the shirt by clicking here.
WWE doesn't traditionally comment on employees leaving the company.
Thanks to Paul Jordan.
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