WWE Releases Bronson Reed And 12 Other NXT Stars

Friday night brought WWE's latest round of releases; NXT gets hit hard.

Bobby Fish
WWE.com

WWE released Bronson Reed, Bobby Fish and a whole host of other NXT stars late on Friday night.

Social media is stunned this morning. Reactions are flooding in about WWE's decision to terminate deals with Reed, Fish, Asher Hale, Ari Sterling, Giant Zanjeer, Jake Atlas, Kona Reeves, Leon Ruff, Mercedes Martinez, Tyler Rust, Zechariah Smith and Denzel Dejournette.

Referee Stephon Smith has also been released from his contract.

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PWInsider Elite broke the news. The site also claimed that sources told them WWE fancied trying out a new format on NXT going forwards - "major changes" will include a brand new logo, fresh lighting for TV, a focus on younger talent overall and a vague "new format for the show" generally.

Reed and Fish must be considered the biggest surprises on the latest list. Bronson looked like the sky was the limit during his all-too-brief reign as North American Champion, and Bobby was once part of the insanely-popular Undisputed Era faction.

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Neither man will find it difficult to get work once their reported 30-day non-compete clauses end. That, you may notice, is different to the standard 90-day clause.

Stay tuned for more on this when it breaks.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.