One of the biggest surprises last year was when WWE decided to move on from James Ellsworth and terminate his contract after signing him back in 2014.

I’m sure many people are wondering what Ellsworth is up to now that he's no longer on the big stage, and thanks to Rolling Stone, we now know that he’s been managing an indie wrestling company that he started in 2009 called Adrenaline Championship Wrestling. He’s also been busy selling his own merchandise as well as making appearances along the indie circuit.

The good news for Ellsworth is that despite the fact that he was mostly a character for WWE and not a wrestler, he says that his stardom has helped him continue to make money and not struggle financially. It's also helped him book more indie gigs.

One thing that’s interesting is that Ellsworth had a feeling he wouldn’t last very long with WWE and that he wasn't surprised. He knew that his gimmick with Carmella was running out after Money in the Bank, so it's not like he was in shock when he let go by WWE.

“I feel like I understand the business, and when I signed, I said I'm going to enjoy every moment,” he said, via Rolling Stone. “I was hoping and praying it was going to be five or 10 years, but I was like, ‘This is probably going to have a short shelf life, so I'm going to do the best I can to stay here as long as I can.’ But I felt I was looked at as short shelf life from the beginning, which I'm not bitter about.”

james ellsworth
Photo from Wrestling Edge

There was a rumor going around that WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon was thinking about having Ellsworth play a transgender wrestler, so he could compete in the women's division. He addressed those rumors during the interview.

"All I can say is Vince never talked to me about it. If that was an idea, I surely didn't know, and Vince and I never had a conversation about it, so I have no idea. [Laughs] Being in WWE, I can tell you a lot of the dirt sheets is just people guessing. I'm not saying that was, but it's people guessing and hoping they're right, and it gives their dirt sheet a reason to pay attention to it I guess."

So we don't really know whether or not McMahon wanted to have Ellsworth play a transgender wrestler. He's either lying or really doesn't know.

RELATED: ORIGINAL PLANS CALLED FOR A JAMES ELLSWORTH TITLE SHOT AT WRESTLEMANIA

Ellsworth is only 33 years-old and has time to work on his skills as a wrestler while bulking up and making sure that he looks more of the part of a pro wrestler because it was hard to take him seriously with his gimmick with WWE. He looked like a regular guy on the street.

Ellsworth did admit during the interview that he doesn't mind that people will mostly remember him as a "jobber" during his time with WWE.

Comment below and give us your thoughts on WWE moving on from Ellsworth. Also do you believe he can become a really good wrestler and return to WWE down the road.