Steveson adds that he’ll be venturing into acting on top of continuing to wrestle.
For three years, Bobby Steveson a.k.a. Damon Kemp wrestled for WWE. His time with the company came to an end over the summer when they opted not to renew his deal. He detailed the lead-up to his exit while speaking to Monte & The Pharaoh.
Steveson was a member of the No Quarter Catch Crew faction in NXT. Towards the backend of his time in WWE, members of the group went to TNA Wrestling as a part of the partnership between the two companies. Steveson was not told why he was not included. One week later, he announced that his time with WWE was coming to an end.
Before he found out his deal was not being renewed, he spoke to a person with a high amount of influence and inquired about his status and the person told him N.Q.C.C. would be getting the Heritage Cup back. Charlie Dempsey won the trophy on the 8/13 NXT.
Steveson said the individual made him feel reassured about his spot. As far as a new deal, he never was able to speak to someone in that department because people were off to Toronto for Heatwave/Money in the Bank. Steveson soon received a call from Talent Relations that his deal was not being renewed. He closed by saying he has no regrets and would go back to the company.
There was the other three members (of No Quarter Catch Crew), the guy that they added (Tavion Heights), so they went to TNA to do the pre-taped shows… about two weeks before (I was told I was being let go) and I was left off of it and there was really no, hey Damon, you’re being left off because of this and this and this. It was more so, one of the guys came up to me, he was like, ‘Hey, did you get the text?’ And I was like, ‘No, I didn’t’ and then they went over to TNA, and I was like, alright, this is getting a little weird. It’s just the timing of things too. My contract was coming up that following month. So I was like, alright, what are we doing?… And so then I had a talk with a guy that was highly influenced and I was like, ‘Hey man. What are we doing here? Am I still part of the group? Are we still working towards something that we talked about?’ He just gave me a bunch of ideas. He goes, ‘Aw yeah. Two, three months down the road, Heritage Cup’s gonna come back to you guys. You guys are gonna be champions. All you guys are gonna defend it. We got this, we got that, we got this, we got that’ and I was like, ‘Oh, okay, cool. You mentioned two or three months down the road.’ He was like, ‘You got a great connection with the crowd, you’re doing this. You’re a great in-ring worker, great promo,’ all this stuff, all this stuff and I was like, ‘Cool. Okay, cool’ so it was reassuring for me the week before and then, I knew that my contract was coming up so I briefly just touched on it. I was like, ‘Hey, I love WWE. I’d love to be here. I’d love to be here as long as I can. It’s a great job and real fun’ and I was like, ‘Who do I talk to when it comes to contract re-signing? Is there anyone I can talk to about that? Because I’d like to be here and it’s coming up in a few weeks’ and then, ‘Oh yeah, talk to’ so-and-so about this, about that… During that time, everyone was gone to Toronto for that pay-per-view (NXT Heatwave/Money in the Bank). So I never got the opportunity to ask that person face-to-face. Like, hey, my deal’s up. Is there something that we can talk about? I wanna be here, I love it here. I wanna be here and so that Monday came and I was looking to talk to that person and they never came and they never came in to — because I guess they landed Sunday and then everyone had Monday off and stuff like that so, I never got to talk to anyone and so, that Monday night, this was a week after I had that great talk with the highly influenced person, and so I’m just sitting on my couch and then I get a call from Talent Relations and then I was like, oh, okay, cool. This might be the call that I’m getting my renewal. We’re moving forward and stuff like that. They’re like, ‘Hey Damon. We appreciate everything but we decided that we are not gonna renew you,’ and I was taken aback for a second and I was kind of processing and I was like, didn’t we just — I just talked to — I didn’t say it but this was like, brain just spinning, and I was like, I just had a great talk with so-and-so last week about all these great things and stuff and what was gonna happen and stuff like that and I was baffled in my brain. I was almost stunned a little bit… And I was like, ‘Uh, okay,’ and then, they were, ‘Oh yeah, no need to show up to the TV or P.C. anymore. You got 30 days’ and it’s crazy because I was actually — I was booked for TV that Tuesday. The next day. I was booked and I was completely caught off guard so I was like, I have a notification to go into work tomorrow and then you guys just tell me the day before that you’re not re-signing me. It’s like, completely caught off guard and I mentioned the great conversation a week before and I was like, woah. I was just stunned. I was like, alright. So I was really taken back and really caught off guard. But, there’s no regrets. No regrets being there. I loved it. I’d go back.
In May 2024, Bobby’s brother, Gable Steveson was released from WWE. Damon hopes his exit is not related to Gable’s exit.
I hope not (that my release is not connected to my brother’s departure). I hope not. Like I mentioned, it was real fun and it was great for me so, I just hope not it wasn’t one of those things, you know? So, that’s all I really have to say on that one.
Speaking about his future, the former Damon Kemp wants to continue wrestling and said he’s aiming to sign somewhere soon. He has an interest in acting and said he has things lined up.
Yeah, I think so, I know so (there’s a future for me in pro wrestling) because I dedicated three years of my life to this. So I think it’d be pretty stupid just to throw all that talent away just to walk onto something else. But, I would like to keep wrestling. I would like to sign somewhere else pretty soon. I’m hungry to work. I’ve got my eyes on a few companies. I’m excited, so I’m just really hoping that whatever big opportunity comes — I’ve also got plans to go Hollywood. I got some great things going in that direction so, you might see me on your TV screen, not taking bumps, you know? Maybe just doing a little acting, a little something. So that’s something to look forward to.
Kemp is 25 years of age and his last televised match for WWE was on 6/25 against Tavion Heights. Heights defeated Kemp to get into No Quarter Catch Crew.
He was written off of television when his group members disposed of a sheet-covered body and put it into a car trunk.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Monte & The Pharaoh with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
