Former WWE Referee Marty Elias: Mark Carrano Hated Me

WWE staff members have been fired following seemingly inoffensive acts over the years. Jimmy Jacobs was famously released by WWE after he posted a photo of him with Bullet Club members during the group's "invasion" of Monday Night Raw. RD Evans also quit his WWE producer role before he could be fired after Bret Hart mentioned Vince McMahon during The Hart Foundation's Hall Of Fame induction speech, something that is forbidden by the boss.

Former WWE referee Marty Elias can be added to the list of unusual firings as he has claimed in the past that WWE let him go after he wore a KISS t-shirt at work, which was a violation of the organisation's dress code.

Elias has elaborated on his firing during a chat with Wrestling Inc, though, and he noted Mark Carrano hating him contributed to his release.

"I'm in a different place with my life today, and I'm standing up for myself, and I want to be honest and really transparent with everybody, especially in the wrestling world because of the rumours and this and that. I just want to be transparent. With that being said, Mark Carrano hated me. Mark Carrano hated me with a passion, and the reason he hated me is because when I re-signed with WWE, April of 2009, I got an extension, and he was in that meeting with John Laurinaitis," Elias stated.

"And when John Laurinaitis asked me what I wanted to be doing in the next five years, I told him point-blank, 'I'm going to take your job, or I'm going to take Carrano’s job.' I'm ambitious. I got goals. Hell, I had a goal to main event WrestleMania with Shawn Michaels, and guess what? I did it. I'm goal-oriented like that. I know where I want to be, and I know where I'm going, but Mark Carrano just had this certain disdain for me, like he had for a lot of other folks as well, as we found out what he did to Mickie James, unfortunately.

"But when I had reached out to Triple H from time to time, and I have the emails to backup everything, and I got no problem forwarding them to you, but the reason why I wanted to get this out and talk to you and talk to other folks is because Mark Carrano blackballed me from WWE, and I was released on July 31, 2009, and I haven't done anything with WWE since then. And the reason I haven't is because I was a persona non grata, and it was all due to Mark Carrano."

Mark Carrano was previously the senior director of talent relations in WWE, but he was fired in April after Mickie James revealed she received her belongings in a garbage bag following her release from the company.