THIS Former NXT Star Debuts For AEW

This ex-NXT star competed at last night's AEW tapings.

by Andrew Pollard
Jake Atlas WWE NXT
WWE.com

Via WrestlingHeadlines, former NXT superstar Jake Atlas made his AEW debut at last night's Dark and Dark: Elevation tapings.

Taking place from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, AEW taped several episodes of its two YouTube shows, with Atlas competing against Serpentico as part of the Dark: Elevation element.

Post-match, AEW President Tony Khan came out onto the stage and gave Atlas a congratulatory handshake. While the 27-year-old has yet to formally be announced as becoming #AllElite, such a move from Khan has usually tended to mean a talent has signed with (or soon will sign with) AEW.

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Having been released by WWE on 6 August 2021 as part of one of the company's many rounds of mass cuts across the past 18 months or so, Atlas competed against Effy at GCW's Effy's Big Gay Brunch Chicago the following month, before that was quickly followed up by a match against Taylor Rust at ROH's Death Before Dishonor XVII.

Shortly after that ROH contest, Atlas announced he was stepping away from the squared circle to focus on his mental health. His AEW Dark: Elevation outing will mark his first wrestling appearance since then.

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Given how AEW taped multiple episodes of Dark and Dark: Elevation yesterday, it's now known which episode Atlas' debut will take place on - but expect to see him on AEW programming at some point within the next few weeks.

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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.