Earlier this week, James Ellsworth's one year stint with the WWE finally came to an end after he was released from his contract.

While the news hardly came as a surprise following the releases of Emma, Darren Young and several NXT talents, WWE fans took to social media to praise Ellsworth the run he's had inside of the squared circle.

RELEASED

A squash match against Braun Strowman on Monday Night RAW turned into a huge moment, with Ellsworth moving over to SmackDown LIVE and having several big moments, including a victory over current WWE Champion AJ Styles, and also hijacked the first ever Women's Money in the Bank ladder match to hand Carmella the victory.

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He lived his dream, something so many aren't able to do.

However, some shocking news has come out over the past 24 hours which suggests Vince McMahon had some absolutely crazy plans for Ellsworth at WrestleMania 34 before his release was announced.

According to Pro Wrestling Sheet's podcast, Ellsworth was in line to challenge Charlotte Flair in New Orleans next year at the Grandest Stage of Them All for the SmackDown Women's Championship.

STRANGE PLAN

The strange way this was going to come about was that WWE was going to develop him into a transgender character which would have given him a major push heading into WrestleMania.

Back in June, Ellsworth unhooked the Money in the Bank briefcase and the reported plan was for him to become the rightful holder of the briefcase once he came out and would go on to challenge Flair for the championship - and potentially win it too.

The idea came from Vince himself as a way to give him significant heat before the idea was scrapped and Ellsworth was subsequently released.

Thankfully, something like this didn't actually go ahead as the WWE already has a sketchy reputation for making silly decisions like this, and to have this at WrestleMania would certainly make this booking decision a laughing stock.

In fact, seeing this on an episode of SmackDown LIVE would be terrible enough, let alone on the WWE's biggest show of the year when there's, even more, media attention on them.

Plus, when you consider how talented Charlotte is, she'd deserve a lot better than having to take part in something like this.

What do you make of Vince McMahon's strange plan for James Ellsworth? Have YOUR say in the comments section below and the fourth episode of GiveMeSport’s WWE podcast is here! Check it out via this link: https://soundcloud.com/user-818579649/gms-wwe-podcast-money-in-the-bank-fallout

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