By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Former TNA, WCW, and ECW manager Jim Mitchell says he wasn't treated professionally during a recent attempt to try-out for a role as a WWE manager. Mitchell went to WWE's developmental territory in Tampa, Fla. in May, but he was denied entry for not paying a $1,000 "try-out fee."

Mitchell says he wasn't told by FCW head trainer Steve Keirn beforehand that he needed to pay an entry fee. He was also told when he arrived that managerial try-outs were done in January and he missed the date. Mitchell says he emailed Keirn in February, but Keirn told him to come to Tampa for a managerial try-out anyways.

"I was politely shown the door," Mitchell told Mike Mooneyham about what happened when he talked to Keirn for his scheduled May try-out. "I walked out of there after all of two minutes, shaking my head and asking myself, 'Did that really just happen?'"

Mitchell says he doesn't understand why Keirn told him to come to the try-out when WWE said in the past they didn't want to use his services. Mitchell reasons that perhaps Keirn didn't know who he was when they exchanged emails before the try-out.

"WWE has told me in the past they didn’t have a spot for me, so I don't understand why Steve Keirn didn't just say so when I first contacted him instead of wasting my time," Mitchell said. "I don't expect that everybody on earth should know who I am. The other people who work with him there - Dusty Rhodes, Norman Smiley, Tom Prichard, Billy Kidman - they all know me. Had I gotten past the lobby I would have said 'hello' to them."

Mitchell hasn't worked for WWE before other than an appearance at the ECW One Night Stand PPV in 2005. Mitchell says the experience was completely different from dealing with WWE's developmental staff this year.

"When I did the One Night Stand pay-per-view for WWE in Manhattan back in 2005, I couldn’t have asked for more courteous and professional treatment," Mitchell said. "WWE may not be manager-friendly creatively, but personally and professionally they treated me with total respect."

Mitchell says he could be valuable to WWE as a mouthpiece for some wrestlers, despite WWE shifting away from male managers in recent year.

Link: Mike Mooneyham column in the Charleston Post-Courier on Mitchell.

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