There were some wrestlers advertised for SmackDown 1000 who didn’t make an appearance during the live broadcast and then there were those who were reportedly going to be there but nothing was announced beforehand. James Ellsworth fell in the latter category, but he wasn’t on the show.
He was there, though, so they shot the above video where he explains what happened and, I’ll be damned, it actually makes sense:
“That’s all great but you just said the word legend and I’m a SmackDown Live legend. I should have been on this show. I showed up, ready to go, I brought my gear bag, and Paige said ‘what are you doing here, James? I fired you!’ Well, that’s SmackDown episode 988, it’s not fair. I should have been on SmackDown 1000. As a matter of fact, I should be on SmackDown 1001, 1002, 1003, SmackDown 1004, SmackDown 1005, SmackDown 1006, SmackDown 1007, SmackDown 1008, SmackDown 1009, 1010, 1011, 1012, 1013, 1014, 1015, 1016.”
He was fired! He was not rehired. Easy peasy.
Hey, he was just at Bound for Glory for Impact Wrestling, so it’s not like he’s struggling to find work, right?