Vince McMahon turned 2-time Champion into a "jobber" after negative backstage interaction in WWE
Rene Dupree says Vince McMahon booked him to lose a series of matches after they had an awkward conversation during his time in WWE ECW.
Dupree originally made his name in WWE as part of the La Resistance tag team with Rob Conway and Sylvain Grenier. He then became a singles competitor on SmackDown before moving to WWE’s revamped ECW brand in 2006.
Speaking on his Cafe de Rene podcast, Dupree recalled how McMahon promised “great things” for him in ECW. The two-time Tag Team Champion responded negatively, which prompted the WWE Chairman to drastically alter his booking.
“Vince tapped me on the shoulder saying, ‘Great things are gonna happen for you, kid,’” Dupree said. “I looked at him and go, ‘Yeah, right,’ and I walked away. That’s why I started jobbing every single night. I had heard it so many times before but, like I said, I just hated being there and my pay was the sh**s.” [45:35-46:02]
Dupree left WWE in July 2007 after requesting his release from the company. He cites Chris Benoit’s double-murder and suicide, which occurred in June 2007, as a key reason behind his decision to leave.
How Vince McMahon booked Rene Dupree in WWE ECW
#OnThisDay in 2006: ECW on Sci-Fi: M̶M̶A̶ ̶S̶u̶p̶e̶r̶s̶t̶a̶r̶ [redacted] C.M. Punk defeated Rene Dupree by Submission. https://t.co/HZ5lDU0SVn
Rene Dupree did not specify exactly when his conversation with Vince McMahon occurred. However, judging by his match results on wrestling stats database Cagematch.net, it is easy to see where the shift in his booking took place.
Including live events, Dupree lost 34 out of his 35 singles matches between August 2006 and December 2006. His only victory during that time was filmed on September 11, 2006, when he defeated Balls Mahoney on ECW.
Dupree’s final WWE match came on February 20, 2007 when he joined forces with Sylvain Grenier to defeat Los Luchas. The 38-year-old then went to rehab before asking for his release later that year.
Please credit Cafe de Rene and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.