Ultimately, a meeting with former WWE executive Canyon Ceman would open the door for Strickland to have more interaction with WWE higher-ups like Shawn Michaels, making Strickland realize he could be more open about approaching management. That led to more frustrations regarding Strickland’s interactions with Paul “Triple H” Levesque (something Strickland has spoken about in the past) and how his constant approaches of “The Game” to be “one of your guys” seemingly fell on deaf ears.

“By that time I was already doing the ‘NXT’ Takeovers, and like the Worlds Collide, I was already being on everything and weekly TV,” Strickland said. “But I always told Triple H at the time, first two months there [I] was like, ‘Hey, thank you. I appreciate everything that you’ve given me. I’m happy to be here. What can I do to be one of your guys?’ Then three months later, ‘I appreciate everything. Thank you. This has been awesome to experience, appreciate you having me here. What would I have to do to be one of those guys?’

“Three months after that, like a year now? I’m like, ‘What’s stopping you from making me one of your guys?’ Now it’s like I’m putting the pressure on him. Because now the equity has grown. Now, he knows I’m serious. I know what I have to offer … It could be taken as disrespectful, like ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re not seeing me here.’ But that’s those risks I gotta take, you know, like, giving me the chance to fail.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription