WWE Had Different Name On Original NXT Release List

WWE recently underwent another mass purge of NXT talent. Some of the names on the list were currently involved in ongoing storylines on TV. Among those was Dexter Lumis, who had been involved in plot involving Indi Hartwell, Duke Hudson, and the also-released Persia Pirotta.

There had been some speculation that the NXT creative team wasn’t fully aware of the coming releases. It made no sense to have wrestlers who were being let go in active angles on weekly TV. There may have been some wires crossed about exactly who was being let go and who wasn’t.

On the latest Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez shared an interesting tidbit about the recent NXT releases. Alvarez noted that he received a list of ten wrestlers who were getting cut. That list matched up, except for one name.

“I got the list of, it was like ten names or whatever, and then a few hours later, there were ten names that came out that had been cut. I don’t know why I thought about doing it, but I decided I was going to match them up.

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Actually, I know why. The list that I got… Dexter Lumis wasn’t on the list. And then later, you know, there’s all these people, ‘Dexter’s been cut, what are they going to do?” and I was like, ‘Dexter’s cut? He wasn’t on the list I got.’ And so, I went to match up the names, because there were ten on my list and ten on the other list or whatever.

In fact, the list that I received did not have Dexter Lumis, but it had another name who I’m not going to mention, who was listed as being cut, and then they weren’t cut. So, the point of all of this is, these blokes have no idea what’s going on. You can see that they knew in advance that Harland was going to be out of here because one day, Harland just vanished.”

Fans will surely speculate about who the other name is, but for Dexter Lumis, it doesn’t matter. Lumis is already working on the next steps in his career, having taken his first independent booking for June 24 as Samuel Shaw. While the change was likely a sign a lack of communication, it’s interesting to know that Lumis wasn’t always on the list.

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Transcription by Ringside News