As reported by reliable sources the WWE roster cleaning continued as several stars from WWE NXT have been released, as of last night. Reliable sources noted 13 WWE NXT talents were released late last night while WWE was still airing the SmackDown on FOX broadcast from the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. While WWE didn’t mention those releases on their official website, sources and the superstars themselves, informed about the releases via social media platforms.
The following names from WWE NXT were released – Bronson Reed, Tyler Rust, Bobby Fish, Leon Ruff, Mercedes Martinez, Jake Atlas, Ari Sterling, Asher Hale, Zechariah Smith, Giant Zanjeer, Kona Reeves, and referee Stephon Smith. In an update, Desmond Troy has also been released, as announced on his Twitter which makes the total count to 13 when it comes to releases from last night.
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Shocking releases continued through WWE NXT
It was first, reported by PWInsider that this is the complete list of cuts made this week, and no other releases from WWE NXT were made, last night (although the Desmond Troy release happened after this report was published). Fightful then reported that all of the releases were announced to the rest of the company via a message from WWE Talent Relations head John Laurinaitis. Just like the recent set of releases, the trimming decision was conducted by the WWE President Nick Khan, it appears.
All of these names are being sent within the company to talent by Johnny Ace
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) August 7, 2021
Regarding non-compete clauses for the released superstars, it was said that the majority of those WWE NXT talents are under standard 30-day non-competes, according to Fightful Select. This would make them free agents on Sunday, September 5. It was not confirmed that all the 13 releases are under 30-day non-compete clauses, however.
Top WWE NXT stars Dakota Kai and Io Shirai were both heartbroken after receiving the news that more than a dozen of their colleagues were released by the company. Cruiserweight Champion Kushida also reacted to the news of fellow cruiserweight Ari Sterling getting released. AEW star Joey Janela tweeted out about this tragedy that continues to occur with WWE talents, “Absolutely embarrassing…” He was presumably reacting to the WWE roster cuts.
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— 紫雷イオ、Io Shirai (@shirai_io) August 7, 2021
Just got released from @WWE
This monster is back on the loose … you don't know WHAT you've just done.#WWE
.@AEW .@IMPACTWRESTLING .@njpw1972 .@ringofhonor pic.twitter.com/9h5I2G4L1J
— JONAH (@JONAHISHERE) August 7, 2021
https://twitter.com/KUSHIDA_0904/status/1423846917130227716