Every WWE Release Of 2021 - Where Are They Now? (Five Years Later)
39. Jake Atlas
Then: The ever-smiling Jake Atlas looked like a true promising prospect when he burst onto NXT in 2020, but it wasn't long before things started to dip for him. By the turn of 2021, he'd lost out in a Cruiserweight Title war with Santos Escobar, and his tag-team with Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott didn't really go anywhere either.
Atlas was cut from the roster on 6 August.
Now: A win over Serpentico on the 3 January 2022 episode of AEW Dark led to a higher profile (much higher profile) match vs. Adam Cole on the 7 Jan edition of Rampage. Again, things went south for Jake pretty swiftly - he suffered a knee injury whilst working with Cole, and that'd be it for this All Elite career.
By May, Atlas was being charged for domestic battery and he was let go by Tony Khan. It's worth saying that the charges were later dropped the following month, but Jake hasn't returned to the wrestling biz despite that clearance.
His last match is still that Rampage effort vs. Cole. It might always be that way, who knows? A once-promising career was blighted by real-life drama, legal action and nasty injuries. All of that combined to prevent Atlas from turning into the star some thought he'd be for sure when he first walked out on the NXT stage.
At 31 years old, there's clearly ample time for Jake to launch a comeback and work some more bouts. That's really up to him though. Maybe he's just happy being a fan of the industry again.