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Post-ECW, Rotten worked for a number of independent promotions and in the aftermath of ECW and WCW closing, WWE did have interest in hiring him and Mahoney as an underneath tag team. For some reason, it never happened. Rotten was brought back to ECW when WWE resurrected it for their One Night Stand events. WWE wanted to hire him in 2006 when they resurrected the ECW brand and Rotten signed the deal. He would never appear for the brand and at the time, sources indicated that Rotten never followed through with necessary blood and medical testing that was needed to clear him to wrestle internationally. There were theories as to why this happened, but no one knew for sure.

Rotten, in conversations I had with him over the years, would never directly respond to questioning that asked him why, in the face of getting exactly what he always wanted, a chance to make big money in wrestling, he didn't do what was necessary. Once again, sadly, he was his own worst enemy. He had the chance to work for WWE as a contracted talent, where chances are, his vastly underrated mic skills would have caught someone's eye, but it was not to be.