WWE: Talent reacts as NXT has its version of “Black Wednesday”

Just over a month ago (on the anniversary of “Black Wednesday 2020”), WWE heartlessly laid off talent while still in the fallout of a global pandemic. NXT was spared until now.

News of the NXT releases started coming yesterday afternoon. At first, it was just news of referees Drake Wuertz and Jake Clemons. Once Alexander Wolfe was released, it started to look like another round of “Black Wednesday” was upon us. More names were released throughout the day, confirming what we suspected.

As of this writing, the other talents released are:

-Vanessa Borne

-Kavita Davi

-Jessamyn Duke

-Skyler Story (aka Brandi Lauren)

-Ezra Judge/EJ Nduka

Released NXT talent speak out

Ezra Judge/EJ Nduka was one of the first to break his silence with a series of tweets.

Brandi Lauren changed her Twitter & Instagram handles to remove the Skyler Story name. She also thanked her fans and put her store back up. Her Patreon is coming back soon.

Jake Clemons had a simple response:

Alexander Wolfe wrestled on NXT Wednesday night…where he lost his match. Wolfe clarified that his contract was almost up and he doesn’t have a non-compete clause. The other talent reportedly have a 30 day non-compete clause.

Late Wednesday night, Vanessa Borne posted a video with a few (well deserved) parting shots.

Wuertz was on his way out

Many thought that Wuertz would be bulletproof, despite his very public behavior of pushing QAnon theories and QAnon-adjacent organizations. Several times, the public behavior happened while wearing a company shirt or sending e-mails from his company e-mail.

Sean Ross Sapp reported on Fightful Select that Wuertz “wasn’t allowed in the CWC for weeks”. He also politicked many times for backstage roles and would throw others under the bus to make himself look better.

Other than being vocal about talent getting COVID vaccines, he got upset during a speech that HHH gave during the Black Lives Matter movement. While discussing inclusion, Wuertz took offense when religion was included. He reportedly “aggressively gathered his belongings and left.”

There have been reports of employees of color having issues with him. Some wrestlers “didn’t feel comfortable or safe around Wuertz.” Ezra Judge allegedly was “feeling the need to get physical with Drake.” This tweet from Judge seemingly references this incident.

As of this writing, Wuertz has made no public comments. He has removed WWE from his Instagram handle and bio.

While it’s sad to see talent released, it was way past time for Wuertz to go. Not only was he pushing extreme conspiracy theories, he made some of the Superstars unsafe. When a person who is involved in your match-in part to ensure safety- makes you feel unsafe, it’s time for them to go. It should’ve never gotten to this point and WWE should’ve done something much sooner.

Stay tuned to Daily DDT for any further updates.