Jasper Troy’s WWE exit didn’t come out of nowhere. His early NXT push may have come before he was ready, the momentum never fully clicked, and another rising heavyweight eventually started getting the kind of opportunities Troy had once been receiving.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer broke down what he believes led WWE to move on from Troy. He said the former football player was put on television and pushed aggressively before he was fully prepared for that spot.
“Jasper Troy, you know, big football player guy, when they brought him up, he. Or started putting on tv, he wasn’t ready, and they pushed him real hard.”
Meltzer explained that getting a major push too early can actually become a problem. Once WWE decides someone has serious potential and puts a lot behind them, failing to connect can quickly turn that enthusiasm into pressure on the wrestler.
“And that’s like. Like that’s. That’s kind of like in a lot of ways a kiss of death, you know, is that if they think you’re really good and they think you’re really marketable and they push you really hard and it doesn’t get over. You know, you kind of take the blame for their enthusiasm.”
Another warning sign came when Keanu Carver started receiving a bigger push. Meltzer said he noticed Carver moving into the kind of position Troy had previously occupied, while Troy’s own treatment on house shows and dark matches began telling a very different story. Meltzer made it clear he wasn’t claiming Carver’s push directly caused Troy’s release, but he saw the shift as a sign that WWE’s faith in Troy had already faded.
“And I think the one thing also is in, you know, I don’t know if this is related. I do know how people there think.”
By the time Meltzer saw how Troy was being used away from television, he believed WWE had already made up its mind.
“And I just seen, like, where how Jasper Troy was being treated on the, you know, the house shows and, and dark matches and everything. I thought, like, they’ve totally given up on the guy and obviously they had, because they cut him.”
Troy’s WWE run went from a hard early push to a quick loss of momentum. Being thrown onto television before he was ready, failing to get the response WWE wanted and then seeing Carver rise while his own opportunities dried up were all signs that Troy’s spot in NXT was slipping away before the release finally came down.
Do you think WWE rushed Jasper Troy before he was ready and then gave up too quickly, or was his release the right move? Let us know what you think in the comments.
