Report: NXT Personnel "Stunned" By This WWE Release
Imagine Vince McMahon cutting a wrestler who looks like THIS ten years ago...
People within WWE were "stunned" to learn that the company had let EJ Nduka go as part of yesterday's NXT releases.
This is according to Dave Meltzer, who reported on today's episode of Wrestling Observer Radio that Nduka's release was "a surprise to everybody" on account of his impressive physical gifts.
Referencing John Bradshaw Layfield's famous comment on Randy Orton ("If you could build a wrestling superstar from the ground-up, he would look like Randy Orton"), Meltzer compared Nduka and his physique to prime Lex Luger. In terms of size, body, and look, he noted that WWE couldn't have asked for more from the former national bodybuilding champion and didn't know why the company had let him go.
Nduka, whose WWE ring name was Ezra Judge, was one of eight NXT talents let go yesterday, joining Drake Wuertz, Jessamyn Duke, Alexander Wolfe, and others.
Nduka, 32, tweeted the following in the wake of his WWE departure:-
I may be down but never OUT...Bent but not DESTROYED...
The GRIND continues. #BUILTFORTHIS I didn’t come this far .. JUST TO COME THIS FAR. Until next time.Thank you all.Love you all. I’ll be back.
Advertisement— Ezra Judge (@Ezra_Judge) May 19, 2021
Though he stands at 6'8" and looks like he is sculpted from marble, Nduka never debuted on NXT television, working only on the pre-pandemic house show loop. He had been with WWE since August 2019. The former college football player was a professional bodybuilder prior to entering wrestling.