WWE has released 10 people from its NXT roster today, and now a new report looks to clarify some of the realizes and bring in additional context. For those unaware, WWE released stars Dakota Kai, Malcolm Bivens, Raelyn Divine, Draco Anthony, Mila Malani, Persia Pirotta, Harland, Dexter Lumis, Santana George, and Paige Prinzivalli earlier today, and according to Fightful Select it was John Laurinaitis who made the cuts and said that budget cuts were the reason behind them.
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The report says that an internal email stated “Due to budgetary cuts, and with immediate effect as of today, 4/29/2022, we have come to the terms to release the following”, and that all of the stars released today have 30-day non compete clauses in their contracts, which has been traditionally been standard for NXT stars.
According to the report, Bivens didn’t plan on re-signing last year after not being featured on TV for two years, but then the pitch was made for the Diamond Mine faction. WWE then offered a new deal this February, but Bivens made it clear he wasn’t going to re-sign. As for Dakota Kai, the report says that she saw the release coming, and had also indicated to WWE that she wasn’t planning on renewing her contract.
Harland is one of the bigger surprises on this list since he came into NXT with a great deal of hype and buzz. He was used on television but never really got into the ring much and was only used as an enforcer for Joe Gacy. The report says that coaches and officials said they felt like he didn’t progress enough in the ring for their liking.
One NXT official expressed frustration that several current storylines and angles were now affected due to these releases, and they had little to no notice to prepare and change course. Pirotta and Lumis have been involved in a story with Indi Hartwell and Duke Hudson, and Lumis and Hartwell’s marriage storyline was one of NXT’s biggest last year. Meanwhile, it was expected that Harland would play a role in Gacy’s upcoming Title match against Bron Breakker, but that is out the door as well.
Diamond Mine continues to lose people due to releases, as the stable got cut in half last time around. Now it loses its manager, and while they recovered the last time, replacing someone like Bivens is going to be exceptionally difficult to do.
