WWE’s Surprising Original Plans For Released Star Revealed
The post-WrestleMania 42 release list contained a few interesting names.
On April 24, WWE released more than 20 names across different brands, with SmackDown suffering the brunt of it. Raw, meanwhile, saw two releases in the form of Kairi Sane and Zoey Stark.
NXT saw the second-highest number of wrestlers let go, one of them being Andre Chase.
Chance, who previously competed under the name Harlem Bravado, signed with WWE in 2021 and made his NXT debut on the September 21 taping of that year.
His heel character incorporated a teacher persona, wherein he hosted segments named Andre Chase University. Gradually, it would be changed to Chase U, with names like Thea Hail and Bodhi Hayward signing up as his students. Later, Duke Hudson and Ridge Holland joined as well.
Despite Chase U being a heel faction, NXT fans embraced it. Soon, Andre Chase’s appearances became one of the consistent acts on the developmental brand, securing a cult following among live audiences and viewers at home.
Chase also won the NXT Tag Team Championships twice, once each while pairing up with Duke Hudson and Ridge Holland.
Chase U was disbanded in late 2024. During the April 22, 2026 taping, WWE revived the faction, with Thea Hail joining as an alumni. However, two days later, Andre Chase was released from the company.
WWE Initially Had Different Plans For Andre Chase
Andre Chase was not brought on board when WWE purchased EVOLVE in 2020. However, he got a tryout, only after which he joined the promotion.
While recently speaking to Duke Hanson (Hudson) on Between Two Jobs, he looked back on his time as a wrestler with EVOLVE before the Stamford-based company bought the promotion.
He also revealed that the company’s initial interest in him was as a coach. However, he impressed the higher-ups during the tryout, earning himself a television gig.
Gabe (Sapolsky) calls me in July and goes, ‘We sold EVOLVE to WWE. You weren’t under contract with us. They are going to absorb some of the contracts, but you’re not one of them because you’re not under a deal.’ ‘Okay, cool.’ ‘Stay ready,’
I was still working out and staying ready, but I wasn’t expecting anything. In September, Gabe texts me out of the blue and is like, ‘Have you been staying ready?’ ‘Yeah.’ Five minutes later, I get a call from Canyon (Cemen) and he’s like, ‘How have you been? Are you well? Are you working?’
North Carolina was shut down. I had a work-from-home setup. ‘As best I can, I’m staying ready.’ He’s like, ‘You want to come in for a tryout?’ It was the first tryout in COVID. Essentially, he was like, ‘You’re an interesting case because we actually want to sign you as a coach.
Come to the tryout anyway, and we’ll talk and discuss what we have for you. We think you’d be a great coach.’ I’m 31 and like, ‘I’m not ready to stop wrestling yet.’ They made it clear it was one or the other. There were no player-coaches. He said they were bringing in ten guys, it was a small tryout and everyone was getting signed, ‘You just have to come to it.’
Andre Chase recalled that it was a tough tryout and only three people got signed, including him. He also revisited his conversation with WWE’s Canyon Cemen, who told him that the coach’s salary was higher than that of a starting wrestler.
I get the call back in November from Canyon and he goes, ‘We really wanted you as a coach, but we enjoyed your tryout. What do you want to do?’ They gave me the numbers, and the coach was a much higher salary than what it was starting as a wrestler. I was like, ‘Do I take the money and call it a day on my career?’ They made it clear, ‘You can’t do both.’
The money was appealing and attractive, but I came here to be a wrestler, so I’m gonna be a wrestler. I called him and told him. He was a bit surprised. ‘You know the pay difference, right?’ [H/T: Fightful]