Posted in: Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: Dakota Kai, Dexter Lumis, Harland, Malcolm Bivens, NXT, NXT 2.0, NXT Releases, Wrestlemania, wrestling, wwe, WWE Releases

WWE Has Released Numerous NXT Superstars This Afternoon

We have all been waiting for the usual post-WrestleMania roster cleansing that usually happens every April and it looks like WWE waited until the very end of the month to do so.  We are learning that WWE has released ten different NXT brand superstars today, including Dexter Lumis (Samuel Shaw), Harland (Parker Boudreaux), Malcolm Bivens, Dakota Kai, Persia Pirotta (Stephanie De Landre), Sanjana George (Vish Kanya), Draco Anthony (Reginald Chase Crews), Mila Malani (Kellie Morga), Raelyn Divine (Jaylen Williams), and Paige Prinzivalli (Blair Baldwin).

The news was broken this afternoon by Fightful.com, who received the disclosed names of the released NXT stars.  At this time, we have not received any official announcement or statement on the releases by WWE themselves.

Some of the included names are very surprising, as they had either been heavily featured on NXT 2.0 or appeared to be marked by the company as a future star.  Harland was a heavily touted recruit by the company with many even comparing him to Brock Lesnar.  He had received quite a bit of TV time since making his on-screen debut this past October and has been paired with Joe Gacy the entire time.  But noticeably, since Gacy's recent rise to becoming the top heel on NXT 2.0 and challenging Bron Breakker for the NXT title, Harland has been absent from TV.

Dexter Lumis and Dakota Kai were two of the brand's most veteran and relied upon in-ring talents.  Both date back to the former black and gold era of the brand and were always featured heavily on TV and in major storylines.

And then there's Malcolm Bivens, who had become a major character on NXT 2.0 since becoming the manager and lead mouthpiece for Diamond Mine, led by Roderick Strong.  Sean Ross Sapp is reporting that Bivens declined to re-sign with WWE this past February.

Bivens himself posted a short video to Twitter in the past hour, where he confirmed his exit from the company and gave a shoutout to SmackDown star Xia Li.

While those are the only names we know of right now, it's entirely possible more will be joining the NXT stars in the alumni section of WWE in the coming days, as the company usually does these releases in batches.  Stay tuned.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!