Released NXT UK Talent Could Return: “Door Is Open”

There were many NXT UK stars released from their contracts over the past week, but a new report suggests that WWE is open to bringing some of them back.

Following several weeks of speculation, WWE confirmed that the NXT UK will come to an end soon. The announcement also included WWE’s plans to run a World Collide Premium Live Event that will see NXT 2.0 stars facing off against NXT UK’s best talent. In place of NXT UK will be a new play brand called NXT Europe.

While speaking to Alistair McGeorge of the Metro, WWE Vice President of Talent Development Creative (and WWE Hall of Famer) Shawn Michaels said that there were plans to do a move like this for a long time.

“This has been a goal of Hunter’s for quite some time, and I think clearly with what has gone on recently with him taking on creative, he felt that now would be a great time to have the ability to do that. NXT UK was one of the first steps in that process.”

In a press release from WWE, Michaels also credited the success of NXT UK as a reason to launch NXT Europe.

“Following the success of our live events and talent identification efforts throughout all of Europe, we believe this is the perfect time to expand NXT beyond the UK.”

Several NXT UK stars were released including veteran wrestlers like Trent Seven, Sha Samuels, Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster, Dave Mastiff, Xia Brookside, Amir Jordan and many more.

A new report from PWInsider’s Mike Johnson noted that the “door is open” for some wrestlers to return and explained why WWE released so much talent.

“We were told the ‘door is open’ for some of the released talents to be brought back down the line but with the long hiatus ahead until the relaunch, it didn’t make sense to keep everyone under contract. Most of the talents released have a 30-45 day window before they can go work elsewhere beyond local independents.”

WWE has not officially announced when NXT Europe will launch.