WWE SVP James Kimball Reportedly Fired Due To 'HR Violation'

James Kimball, who had been WWE's Senior Vice President of Talent Operations and Strategy, has reportedly been released from the company. Fightful reports that Kimball was let go immediately following an undisclosed HR violation last week. He had done work on the Next In Line (NIL) program. Kimball had been with WWE since 2020, when he served as Vice President of Business Operations. He was brought into WWE after working for UFC. Before jumping ship, Kimball was the Vice President of Operations for the UFC Performance Institute. The following year, Kimball became the Senior Vice President of Global Talent Strategy and Development for WWE. In 2022, he became the SVP of Talent Operations and Strategy.

Over the past few months, Kimball gave insight into WWE's recruitment and release protocols. Kimball previously appeared on WrestleRant, and told Bleacher Report's Graham Matthews that developmental talent in the WWE Performance Center is given six-month review intervals and a two-year mark. If the talent improves, their spot on the roster is likely secure, but if not, then they're out of the company.

Kimball also said that if a talent improves enough to make it to the two-year mark but still isn't ready for "WWE NXT," they're likely to be canned. Kimball made it clear that he was content with the window given to developmental talent, telling Matthews that by doing six-month evaluations, WWE is able to avoid "bottlenecks," since the company knows not to sign too many athletes of similar height, weight, and build.