Every WWE Release Of 2021 - Where Are They Now? (Five Years Later)
66. Ezra Judge
Then: Scouts were impressed by everything Ezra Judge (his WWE name) did on the football field and in bodybuilding before he inked a deal with the company in 2019. He'd also earned applause for his tryouts before a deal was struck, so it honestly seemed like WWE had got their man when they tied Ezra down.
He'd only make a couple of NXT house show appearances before being cast out in May 2021. The real meat of the story is what happened to Judge next.
Now: Ezra signed fresh terms with MLW and started properly building his wrestling career from the ground up. It surely didn't sit right that he'd been released by WWE without ever getting a proper chance, so Judge wanted to show the bigwigs what they'd be missing out on.
In MLW, he became one half of the tag champs alongside partner Calvin Tankman (which is one hell of a name). Then, in early-2023, the redubbed EJ Nduka started working some shots for AEW on their Dark tapings at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. Before long, Tony Khan was offering him a contract outright.
Nduka signed that happily, but frustratingly watched his career stall all over again before he left All Elite in May 2025. What is it with this dude signing contracts then struggling?! He can't take all of the blame, of course. AEW's roster is just far too bloated to gift many opportunities on the main shows like Dynamite or Collision, meaning the ex-Ezra Judge has watched history repeat itself in back to back majors over the past 7 years or so.
Ouch.