Tony Nese Signs WWE Contract At EVOLVE Show
NXT GM William Regal makes the deal...
At Sunday evening's EVOLVE 73 show in Joppa, Maryland, part-time independent star and part-time WWE cruiserweight Tony Nese was presented with a WWE contract by NXT General Manager William Regal. Nese accepted the deal, signaling that he'll be a larger part of the cruiserweight division moving forward.
Nese's path to Raw was rocky, to say the least. When WWE began scouring the independent scene for stars to appear in the summer's Cruiserweight Classic, two men from EVOLVE qualified for the tournament - Drew Gulak and eventual winner T.J. Perkins. Nese, angry that he wasn't given a chance to get into the CWC, then entered himself into an exhibition match featuring Perkins, Gulak, Johnny Gargano, and Lince Dorado.
Nese won, getting a slot in the tournament, and he advanced to the second round before losing to Brian Kendrick. After the CWC concluded, he wasn't announced as one of the cruiserweights making the jump to Raw, but he ultimately started to make sporadic appearances on the show alongside Gulak.
With the announcement of the cruiserweight-centric WWE Network show 205 Live, the company has needed to pick up more talent. At the show, Regal teased that there would be more signings from EVOLVE coming.