More On Recent WWE SVP Departure, Talent Surprised

Fightful has learned that WWE SVP of Talent Operations & Strategy James Kimball is no longer with the company.

We’re told it was an HR violation terminated immediately a couple of weeks ago.

Kimball had been with the company for two years, working on the NIL program, among other things. He’d also spent ten years with UFC

In a follow up on this story, it was noted to us that “HR violation” is fairly broad and could mean that no one else was directly affected, however that wasn’t confirmed to us beyond noting that it could mean a variety of things.

There were several WWE wrestlers, and actually UFC fighters who contacted Fightful and noted that they were surprised by the move. Kimball was well known in UFC circles for his decade of work, but one wrestler also stated that Kimball at one time looked to be a major name associated with WWE for years, if not decades to come.

One talent said that they were “shocked” that Kimball was out, while several others inquired about the details behind the move. We’ve heard that Kimball had worked closely with Triple H during his run, and actually spoke with free agent talent fairly recently about possibly coming in to the company. For those asking, this wasn’t a case of Vince McMahon making a firing upon his return to the company.

Another source that had worked closely with Kimball noted they believed Kimball had the “keys to the kingdom.”

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