Backstage Update On LONG Missing WWE Star (NXT News)

What's going on with WWE's Tony D'Angelo?

by Andrew Pollard
Tony D'Angelo NXT North American Title
WWE.com

Having not been seen on NXT TV since July, and amidst plentiful speculation that he could be set for a WWE main roster move, there's now a smidge of an update on Tony D'Angelo.

The last time we saw Tony D was on the 29 July episode of NXT, where, pulling heavy inspiration from the finale of The Sopranos, the former North American Champion was sitting in a restaurant when he was interrupted by an unseen, off-screen figure, before the scene faded to black. For those non-Sopranos fans, the end of that legendary show was a somewhat ambiguous one, with fans debating to this very day whether this fade-to-black meant that Tony Soprano - the show's mob boss lead character - had been killed.

As for Tony D'Angelo, the past few months have seen various reports that he was being discussed for a move to Raw or SmackDown, and, in the meantime, he's not been seen on any WWE programming for approaching four months now.

Advertisement

In an update on this, Fightful Select notes that if the Don of NXT had been at the WWE Performance Center in the last few months, nobody had seen him. However, that has now changed, as Tony was backstage at last week's NXT taping. Fightful was told that D'Angelo wasn't dressed "to train or film anything". There were no additional details on why Tony was there, bar it being a rarity these days, and that people were happy to see the 30-year-old Illinois native.

For those wondering, yes, Tony D'Angelo is still under contract to WWE.

Advertisement
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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.