Former WWE NXT Tag Champs Officially Free Agents

By Scott Carlson / October 15, 2023

The Dyad is officially dead.

Former NXT wrestlers James Drake and Zack Gibson are officially free agents, with their non-compete period coming to a close this weekend. The duo allowed their contracts to expire last month, finishing up with the company.

Signed to NXT UK in 2018, the Grizzled Young Veterans captured tag team gold before joining the original NXT brand in 2020, where they would rack up acclaim for their matches but fall short in winning the tag titles. They lost in the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic twice as well.

But it was last year where things took a head-scratching turn. Drake and Gibson were repackaged as the Dyad, followers of Joe Gacy and joining the Schism. WWE's random name generator bestowed on them Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler, with Fowler (Gibson) shaving off his beard and both men wearing mismatched contact lenses to give them an eerie look.

The repackaging of a well-respected tag team was widely derided, and Schism as a stable was often mocked as a nonsensical cult that only seemed to exist to allow the writers to cram ridiculous prose into the stable's scripts. Gibson and Drake reportedly requested their release earlier this year, but it was denied.

The duo celebrated the closure of their tenure with the developmental brand by reintroducing themselves as GYV on Saturday and tearing into the lack of creativity in NXT, decrying "soulless wrestlers with heartless gimmicks."

❌ No production crew. ❌ No spooky lighting. ❌ No contact lenses.

Me @ZackGibsonGYV are proud ????????????? ?????????. We are the????????. ?????. ????????. pic.twitter.com/D9VeJo4WJw

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— ????? ????? (@JamesDrakePro) October 14, 2023

That barnburner promo pretty much laid out why they wanted out of NXT and set the tone for the next chapter for the Grizzled Young Veterans. Where they end up next is unknown, but it's a safe bet they won't be bringing spooky lighting or contact lenses with them.