Riley Osborne Denies Evolve Refusal and Fires Back at Work Ethic Claims

Riley Osborne is not staying quiet anymore. Days after being released by WWE while still recovering from injury, the former NXT star has taken to social media to clap back at claims about his attitude and work ethic—specifically, recent reports from Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer and Wrestling Observer Live’s Bryan Alvarez.

Meltzer previously claimed that Osborne’s release had “nothing to do with talent,” but was instead tied to “non-wrestling things.” He elaborated, saying, “There were just certain things that happened with him, and it kind of led to them taking him off television… Talent-wise, he’s there. He’s good. He’s someone that AEW should at least take a look at, take a chance at.”

Alvarez followed up by pointing the finger at Osborne allegedly pushing back against WWE’s plan to move him to the company’s new Evolve brand. “One of the big things was, there are people that they want to go and help out Evolve. And I was told he did not want to go to Evolve, and he made it very well known,” Alvarez said.

But Osborne says that’s just not true. In a post labeled “Incorrect,” shared on May 6, Osborne wrote: “I worked the first set of Evolve tapings the day after my wife was released. When I was told by head coach on a phone call that night I can have it off tomorrow if I need time with my wife as we had to pull out of the house we were like 2 weeks from closing on, all I had to do was tell him yea I’d like just a day to be with her.”

He went on to explain how he prioritized professionalism despite personal circumstances: “I was the first person in that building the next day and was commended on my professionalism. I will not have my work ethic questioned when I was busting my ass off in rehab to return which I knew the return would have been on Evolve.”

And in closing, Osborne took a direct jab at the narrative surrounding his departure:
“Not everything you read online is true.”

This comes after Osborne previously revealed on Instagram that he had surgery on March 7 and hadn’t wrestled since, though his matches for Evolve had been pre-taped, leading fans to believe he was still active. He even joked about being released while still injured, posting, “Can’t wait to get medically cleared at work… oh.”

Between the injury, the pre-recorded appearances, and now this pushback against the “bad attitude” reports, Osborne is making it clear he won’t let misinformation define his exit from WWE.