Jamie Noble's Run With WWE
WWE's initial brand extension consisted of splitting the roster in half, with RAW and SmackDown having their own separate identities. SmackDown needed something different to separate themselves from the WWE flagship Monday Night program RAW, so they decided to introduce a Cruiserweight division as one of its main attractions. One of the top cruiserweights to emerge was Jamie Noble. Noble would go on to create a significant career in WWE that shifted from the Cruiserweight division to the tag team division, then become one of the most respected producers of WWE television today.
In 2001, WWE bought their competition and main rival WCW and, in doing so, brought over some of WCW's younger talent. Noble, one of them, sat out the Invasion angle and didn’t get a chance to impact WWE television until June of 2002. Attacking the Hurricane on an episode of Smackdown, Noble debuted his new trailer park gimmick along with his girlfriend, WWE Tough Enough winner Nidia. Both wearing denim shorts, Nidia would frequently chew gum, take it out to kiss Noble and put the gum back in her mouth. Attacking Noble, the Hurricane immediately set up a Cruiserweight championship match at King of the Ring. Jamie Noble won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship by pinning The Hurricane.
After winning the Cruiserweight championship, Noble and Nidia began bragging about how much income they were now making and said they would buy a double-wide caravan. WWE began producing highly entertaining vignettes focused on their lives at the trailer park. Noble feuded with Billy Kidman, The Hurricane and Tajiri and put the Cruiserweight division at the forefront of SmackDown. He would hold the championship until Survivor Series 2002 when he would drop the championship to Billy Kidman in a fun match.
In 2003, Jamie and Nidia were told they had inherited money from a long-lost relative. With plenty of money, Nidia splashed out on new clothes, and Noble and Nidia befriended Billy Gunn and Torrie Wilson. The four would be involved in a storyline that included Noble offering Wilson money for a sexual relationship, like in the movie Indecent Proposal. Their storyline turned the pair from heels to babyfaces, but it wouldn’t last long as Nidia would be sprayed in the eyes by Tajiri with the black mist.
Blind, Nidia needed Noble assistance, but seeing an advantage, Noble put his girlfriend in harm’s way to protect himself. Of course, Nidia had no idea that Noble himself put her there. Soon, Nidia realized Noble was putting her in harm’s way and broke up with Noble. Seeking revenge, Nidia faced Jamie Noble in a blindfold match at No Way Out in a highly entertaining match. Noble would later wrestle Mysterio and compete in the Cruiserweight open at Wrestlemania XX but by September 2004, Noble left WWE.
During his absence from WWE, Noble wrestled on the independent scene. His most memorable run was with Ring of Honorr, where he won the ROH World Championship, eventually losing it to Bryan Danielson. After a 2-year absence, Noble returned to WWE as a tag team wrestler. Teaming with Kid Kash, they were known as the Pitbulls. The Great American Bash 2006 saw The Pitbulls challenge the WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick unsuccessfully. Shortly afterwards, Kash would be released from his WWE contract ending their run as a fun tag team on the Smackdown brand.
Kid Kash spoke about what Vince McMahon wanted out of the tag team with Jamie Noble as the Pitbulls.
“From the time Vince McMahon put us together as a tag team, his very words were like, ‘You two remind me of two f***ing dogs, and that’s the way I want you to wrestle, He goes, ‘I want you to beat the s**t out of everybody you work, and if they have a problem with it, they can come see me.’ Those were his exact words.”
Noble fell back into the Cruiserweight division, facing different opposition in Psychosis, and Super Crazy, among others. Noble then found himself in another love angle, this time with Michelle McCool. McCool, at the time, was the valet of Chuck Palumbo, who was a controlling boyfriend. Noble was drafted to Raw before suffering a neck injury leading to his retirement from in-ring action.
After his wrestling career ended, Noble still managed to keep his employment with WWE by becoming a producer within the company. Jon Moxley spoke very highly of Noble as a producer.
“He’s probably the best producer at putting together matches. He can see it from a wrestler’s perspective because he’s had so many amazing matches."
He would later become part of the Authority stable, led by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, with the likes of Randy Orton and Seth Rollins. Noble and fellow WWE producer Joey Mercury became known as J&J security, accompanying Seth Rollins to ringside and becoming his security team.
They would help Rollins in his WWE Championship run, and Noble would come out of retirement for some handicap matches, teaming with Seth Rollins. Noble would also fall at the hands of Brock Lesnar when helping Seth Rollins in his feud with the beast over the WWE Championship.
Seth would tell Bleacher Report that Jamie played a significant role in the 2020 Royal Rumble:
"I give a lot of credit personally to [producer] Jamie Noble. He has been instrumental in really kind of laying groundwork for these things and being the guy that everyone goes to to make sure that the things are sorted. He's one of those guys who's always been real crafty when it comes to seeing things before they happen in the ring. He's been one of the guys in charge of the Rumble matches for as long as I've been up here."
While Jamie Noble never reached the top of the wrestling profession in WWE or WCW, he is one of the most respected wrestlers of his generation and his work inside the ring in the Cruiserweight division and his work outside of the ring help today's wrestlers put together their matches as a producer are highly respected by his peers. Noble is a WWE character that will not be forgotten and is one of the highlights of WWE's early brand extension.
