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http://www.wwe.com/news/headlines/1254373

Lamont works hard, keeps positive attitude 

by Phil Speer
Feb. 4, 2003

Things haven't always worked out as planned for Demond Thompson. At
this point in his life, Thompson intended to own a business, possibly
a restaurant.

But Thompson grew frustrated with the corporate world and walked away
from it. Today, the expression "blessing in disguise" comes to mind
because if Thompson wouldn't have left the business world, he would
have never enrolled in wrestling school and never became WWE Superstar
Lamont.

But now the young man from Jeffersonville, Ind., finds himself
introducing Ernest "The Cat" Miller and acting as Miller's personal
assistant.

Lamont is a graduate of Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's developmental
territory in Louisville, Ky.

"He's hilarious," OVW trainer Jim Cornette said. "He's a great kid. He
went to the amateur class here, and he learned how to wrestle, and
he's really good. But he's so small – like 140 pounds – that it's not
his calling."

Lamont would politely disagree with Cornette's assessment, saying that
he does enjoy wrestling and hopes to get the opportunity to do so in
WWE. But for now, he's content with his role, a fact that many of his
peers respect. Sure, they say, Lamont probably would have preferred
wrestling in OVW, if not in WWE, but when he was given the opportunity
for an on-camera role, albeit in a non-wrestling capacity, he took it
and never complained.

"He went (to OVW) to be a wrestler, but Jimmy had an idea for him,"
RAW Superstar Rene Dupree said. "He was happy to be on TV even though
he wasn't wrestling."

Dupree is familiar with Lamont's ability because the two men were
aligned in OVW. Rene was the snobby aristocrat (sound familiar?) and
Lamont portrayed his butler, Morris.

Lamont's OVW experience is another example of a blessing in disguise.
He may have preferred wrestling, but because he was a butler – and
played the role so well, and maintained a positive attitude – he is
already on the WWE roster. There's certainly no guarantee that would
be the case if he were an active wrestler.

But when SmackDown! Superstar Bradshaw visited OVW, he saw Morris and
thought he was great. In essence, Bradshaw brought Morris to WWE
television, where he became Bruce the Butler. It was a short-lived
role, but it gave Thompson/Morris/Bruce a "foot in the door" in WWE,
and instead of returning to OVW, he became Lamont.

This was not part of Lamont's original plan. After graduating from
Jeffersonville High -- where he played soccer -- with a 3.8 grade
point average, he enrolled at Purdue University, earning a degree in
consumer and family sciences. He's two classes shy of a second degree,
in retail and small business management, "but I didn't want to stay an
extra semester for two classes," he said.

Instead, he moved with his parents to Memphis and accepted a job at a
local Electronics Boutique, where he became a manager. After
transferring to a store in Baton Rouge, La., he grew dissatisfied. "I
had had enough, so I left," he said.

A few months later, he was chatting online with an old friend, who
encouraged him to move back to Indiana. Soon after the move, he said,
"We were sitting around talking. The (OVW) school was not even a block
away. I said, ‘You know what? I'm going to become a professional
wrestler. I've gotten a degree. I've done everything everybody else
wanted me to do. Now I'm going to do what I want to do. And if it
doesn't work out, at least I tried.'"

In February 2001, he enrolled in the OVW amateur class, where he
learned the fundamentals. He was allowed into the invitation-only
advanced class in the summer of 2002, and eventually he became Morris
the butler. How did that happen?

"It was as simple as Jimmy coming up to me and saying, ‘I want you to
buy a tuxedo,'" he said.

Once he made his television debut, he appeared only as a non-wrestler,
although he did get in the ring during non-televised events. To obtain
more wrestling experience, he traveled to and competed on small,
independent promotions – in Cincinnati and in Cave City, Ky. – until
he earned a WWE developmental contract.

Lamont remembers well the time that Bradshaw came to OVW: "He said,
‘We need a butler.' I'm like, ‘Yes!'"

And Lamont became a WWE Superstar. One of these days, maybe he'll get
to wrestle.

"He's a good wrestler," Dupree said. "He can do all that high-flying
stuff."

As luck would have it, Lamont's on SmackDown!, the home of the
high-flying cruiserweights, so a potential opportunity is there for
him. But for now, he's ecstatic to have a prominent role on the
most-watched show on UPN. Lamont may have originally had other goals,
but everything worked out in the end. He certainly doesn't miss the
corporate world.


--- Internet Rex 2.29