After releasing approximately 200 WWE Superstars over the course of 2020 & 2021, you’d think WWE would be done by now. But it looks like Spring Cleaning Season is back in effect, because the company has released 10 performers working for NXT 2.0; and we now have reactions from some of them.
WWE Superstars getting released is now an annual tradition
As grim as it sounds, it is true. The first warning bells sounded when WWE released The Good Brothers and FTR in following WrestleMania 36. The former was especially shocking, considering Gallows & Anderson were involved in The Boneyard Match; which would end up becoming The Undertaker’s last official match before his retirement.
Soon, other big names would follow them out of the door, including Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman & Jeff Hardy. Seeing these intense roster cuts taking place, The Undisputed Era jumped ship to AEW, and is now ruling that promotion as The Undisputed Elite. While many had assumed another such round of “budget cuts” wouldn’t take place in 2022, that has obviously changed.
Released WWE Superstars react to getting the sack from NXT 2.0
Several prominent faces from NXT 2.0 were released last night. This included prominent faces from the Women’s Division like Dakota Kai & Persia Pirotta, as well as Dexter Lumis & Malcolm Bivens. What makes it so shocking is that Bivens appeared on NXT 2.0 this week in a rather heated segment featuring The Diamond Mine.
Perhaps the most-impactful release, however, is that of Harland. Parker Boudreaux was signed to WWE with all the hype in the world, and an endorsement from Paul Heyman himself. But in less than a year, he is gone from the company, and has reacted to it by simply stating that “he’s back”.
PARKER BOUDREAUX…is back???? pic.twitter.com/LwRZ66W0cD
— PARKER BOUDREAUX (@harlandwwe) April 29, 2022
Lumis, who was known as Samuel Shaw on the independent circuit, has reverted to that name and tweeted this lovely portrait of Vince McMahon with his contact details.
@wwe @VinceMcMahon @TripleH @ShawnMichaels ???????? BookSamuelShaw@gmail.com pic.twitter.com/0zny7bLTnZ
— Samuel Shaw (@DexterLumis) April 29, 2022
Malcolm Bivens’ reaction was the best of the lot, however. Bivens, who was known as Stokely Hathaway outside of WWE, was the charismatic heart of Diamond Mine. But according to reports, his release wasn’t as much a release, as it was an exit, because he refused to re-sign with the company. This is what Malcolmvelli had to say;
— MALCOLM (@Malcolmvelli) April 29, 2022
Paige Prinzivalli, Vish Kanya, Draco Anthony & Raelyn Divine were amongst the WWE Superstars released as well. Dakota Kai, former 2x NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion, is the only major name from this batch yet to respond to her release. It will be interesting to see where she will end up. Both Boudreaux & Kai could soon be spotted in Tony Khan Land, if our intuition is correct. We’ll know in a month’s time.