Another WWE Talent Released
NXT superstar also was among several company releases from last week.
An NXT cult favorite has been released from the company.
Late last week, WWE released several wrestlers, but another name was added to that list Sunday. Fightful Select reports that Von Wagner has been released after five years with the company.
The son of former wrestler Wayne Bloom -- who wrestled in WWE as Beau Beverly -- Von had been in a strange holding pattern for the past year, being declared as a free agent after last year's draft, but spending the vast majority of the past year in NXT, feuding with the likes of Bron Breakker, the Meta-Four and Lexis King.
Wagner had one televised main roster after last year's draft -- an Intercontinental Championship contender's battle royal in May 2023 -- but he was right back in NXT two weeks later.
Wagner endeared himself as something of a cult favorite to NXT fans with his stilted promo style and a bizarre character arc that saw manager Mr. Stone befriend him and pull a more vulnerable, human side out of the larger wrestler.
Fightful reported that there had been no main roster plans for Von during that time, at no fault of his own. Another NXT superstar who was listed as a free agent during the past year, Xyon Quinn, also was released last week. (Quinn, however, did not compete at all after that May battle royal until a March 2024 squash match against Breakker on SmackDown.)
Wagner, Fightful noted, had gotten looks ahead of Raw on Main Event several times in late 2023, but there were never "any significant creative plans on the main roster" for Von or Xyon. Sources indicated to Fightful that all of the recent releases -- the others were Jinder Mahal, Veer, Sanga and Xia Li -- were talent who had been with WWE for more than five years and the company felt their trajectory didn't match their experience level.