As reported yesterday, WWE developmental wrestler Patrick Brink (a.k.a. Kaleb O’Neal) was let go. He posted the following blog on his MySpace account yesterday (www.myspace.com/patrick928), but pulled it a short while later:

So I wanted to post this myself so that everyone can hear the truth from me. I was released from the WWE today March 7, 2009 after 6 months and 22 days of being in the developmental program FCW. It did come as a shock to me.

Things were going really well. I have learned so much in the last 6 months that I am light years ahead of where I was when I got here. I can only say thank you to Steve Keirn, Tom Prichard, Dusty Rhodes, Billy Kidman and Norman Smiley for everything they have taught me. If you factor in my time with Team 3D, my time in developmental and all the trials and tribulations that 2008 dealt me, the leaps and bounds I have grown as a person and a wrestler are immeasureable.

Although I find the reasons I was released to be complete B.S. I am still thankful for this door closing for now because I know that ten will open. Most of you know I showed up here out of shape and had to get back in shape. From April of last year until August I lost my 15 year old sister, my grandmother and 3 of my friends. I even lost one of my best friends since the age of 14 a week before Christmas. All this after losing my father in 2007 as well. I never made an excuse to them and I got back in shape losing 47lbs in 3 months and still changing my body to be one of the best in the entire WWE. I received praise from my peers, but more importantly my superiors for working so hard. However I guess that was still a strike against me despite my personal issues.

So with all that said this past December while in the midst of one of my best friends passing, I had my family members decide they wanted to pay for some tattoos to be added to my forearms. Let me point out I already had tattoos on my forearms and I just wanted to add detail to them. Well as a WWE employee you are not allowed to get tattoos without permission. I spent 12 days trying to get permission only to find out the person who needed to give me permission was out of the country and wouldn’t be back til I’d no longer be able to get them. So I got my tattoos anyway figuring I would get permission because of what they were. Well when my bosses got back I immediately told them I had already got them. I was told that I probably would’ve gotten permission but since I didn’t wait I was suspended for 6 days and fined 1000$. Let me tell you when you make 500$ a week and can barely get by, that kinda fine will cripple you.

After that issue blew over I went back to training and applied myself as hard as I possibly could. I was getting alot of positive feedback from all my trainers and from my superiors. After looking at some recent pictures of myself in comparison to 6 months ago I decided to ask my bosses for permission to seek a supplement endorsement to help me out financially. This past tuesday I strained my right quad at practice and am currently being treated for it. It’s not that big of a deal and I’ll be better in 14 days or so. I actually left the emergency room on tuesday evening, drove an hour and a half in rush hour traffic home and went to the gym for 3 hours. I spoke to my bosses on wednesday and was told that I was being given a pay raise to 750$ a week. They told me to heal my injury, get better and get back to training safely. I was scheduled to start rehab the follwing day which was yesterday.

I got up yesterday morning and went to the gym so that I could get that out of the way before going to rehab since we had a show last night. I used mapquest to get directions to the place where I would be doing rehab. When I got to the exit on the highway my directions told me to take, it was closed because of construction. I had to drive 7 miles down the road to get off on the next exit and there was no return for the highway I was on. I have been here for 6 months but still do not know my way around here completely. I don’t have time for anything but wrestling so why would I? It was ten minutes before I was due in to rehab so I called them and told them the situation. I was told to get there as soon as I could and they would see me. I ended up being 30 minutes late.

I got up this morning once again to go to the gym before I went to rehab. I got a phone call from my bosses right as I finished working out. I was aksed why I was late to rehab yesterday and I told them what you just read in the last paragraph. I was told it was an excuse and it was unacceptable. I was told that I have now been given too many chances and that I’m unprofessional. I was told that I have all the potential in the world and they know I will be a star some day. Then they told they were letting me go until I can be more professional.

So there you have it. I was let go for a combination of showing up out of shape back in August when I went through what most people wouldn’t have come back from. I got tattoos added to my arms where I already had tattoos back in December that made the tattoos I had better. And top it off with me being late to rehab for physical therapy due to traffic. I am truly grateful for the opportunily I received with the WWE. I can only thank them for allowing me to finish rehab on my quad and taking care of it. And they are gonna pay me for the next 90 days which is a blessing. I am going to take the next 90 days to clear my head and spend some time with my family and girlfriend. I am going to move back to Orlando and resume training with Team 3D as soon as I’m allowed to. I have made numerous friends and connections in the business in the last 14 months. I will have several doors open to me. I will figure out what the best one for me to take is.

I promise all of you this is just a small bump in the road and not the end of the world. I’m not upset and I respect the WWE and their decision. I love you guys from the bottom of my heart and I’ll be kicking ass again in 90 days.

The one and only
~PATRICK BRINK~

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