Professional wrestling is in the midst of another golden age, and that means increased competition across the industry. Promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor soared to historic highs throughout the 2010s, but it was not until the launch of All Elite Wrestling in 2019 that things really shifted into another gear. Before AEW, WWE was largely viewed as the only show in town, leading Vince McMahon to willingly let disgruntled talent exit if they so pleased. Superstars like Cody Rhodes and Tye Dillinger (Shawn Spears) were given the green light shortly after requesting their releases in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Once AEW came about, things changed. Talent like Mustafa Ali, The Revival (FTR) and Andrade El Idolo made it publicly known that they had requested their releases from WWE, but the company either denied or waited months to eventually comply.
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WWE has continued the trend this year. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer had previously reported that NXT’s Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid had been granted their release requests, but doubt was cast on that when they appeared at an NXT live event later that week. Now, it has been confirmed by both Fowler and Reid themselves that their release requests were denied.
“Today WWE have denied our release, which was requested on April 3rd,” Fowler wrote on his Twitter on April 24th. “On 15th Oct ’23 we will be free agents again.I personally want to thank all of our fans for your continued support, it means a lot to both of us especially during times like these! We’ll see you on the 16th!”
“As of today, WWE has denied my request for my release,” Reid added on his Twitter. “I want to thank you all for your support throughout my career, I’ll never take that for granted. My contract with WWE expires on 14th October 2023. I’m excited to share our next chapter, once we are free agents.”
Fowler and Reid are currently members of Schism, a faction led by Joe Gacy. They are best known for their time as Zack Gibson and James Drake in NXT UK where they tagged together as the Grizzled Young Veterans. There, they were crowned the inaugural NXT UK Tag Team Champions. Fowler (Gibson) found singles success in 2018’s United Kingdom Championship Tournament, as he won the bracket but came up short in his NXT UK Title match against then-champion Pete Dunne.
