Backstage Reaction To Recent WWE NXT Releases

Several NXT names were released by WWE earlier this month.

by Andrew Pollard
Dijak Trey Bearhill
WWE

With WWE having made several NXT cuts earlier this month, there's now some further details on those releases.

Via Fightful Select, the WWE Performance Center was closed on Friday 3 May - the day of most of these releases - and talent had previously been made aware that cuts were coming. As for those cuts, Gable Steveson, Valentina Feroz, Trey Bearhill, Boa, Darrell Mason, Vlad Pavlenko, Ezekiel Balogun, Kiyah Saint, Emma Diaz, Keyshawn Leflore, and Julian Baldi were the names let go by WWE.

Some of these names were NXT Next Gen recruits, with Fightful noting how those talents were signed to the promotion before the taping of that show, but that the signings were not allowed to be announced until the show aired.

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For Feroz and Boa, they were both unfortunately hindered by injuries during their time in NXT, with certain talent who Fightful spoke to believing the two didn't get a consistent opportunity to show their abilities due to those injury issues.

The biggest name of this group, Gable Steveson's release came as no real surprise to those within NXT, with it being a case of Steveson simply not progressing as the company had hoped. It was also highlighted how different Gable's development had been in comparison to that of his brother, Damon Kemp. While some had speculated that the Olympian's previous issues with the law played a part in his release, that is said to have not been the case.

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Having had a small amount of TV time and a mini-feud with Lexis King, the release of Trey Bearhill is one that maybe caught some fans off-guard. On that front, this release is said to have also surprised talent and production crew in NXT.

For those wondering, Drew Gulak is still under a WWE contract. As noted by Paul Levesque during the post-Backlash media scrum, Gulak has not been released but his existing WWE deal will not be renewed. As of now, that existing deal has yet to expire, although Gulak has been informed that this contract won't be extended.

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Finally, it was said to be "no accident" that these releases took place as an episode of SmackDown was taking place.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.