Alex Zayne: William Regal Didn't Know I'd Been Released By WWE

Less than one year after he joined the company, Alex Zayne was released by WWE on August 6. 

The releases were reportedly a part of a toxic power struggle within WWE and NXT's Triple H had no say on the releases, nor was he informed about them until John Laurinaitis was already calling talent. 

NXT's on-screen general manager and WWE's Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting William Regal also had no idea the company were cutting talent on August 6, Alex Zayne revealed to Fightful.

"It's pretty strange. I think they're going through a strange time right now. They're getting their ducks in a row for whatever it is they need a line of ducks for. William Regal, either a good actor or truly in shock when I told him, but I told him literally seconds after getting the call. He's the first call I made. Don't tell my girlfriend. I actually gave it time before even calling her because I had to register it first," Zayne said.

"I'm pretty sure once they had called everyone and let them know individually, that message went out. Because I want to say other talent told me, 'Oh, we just got this message,' because of course I was taken off the chain. They told me they got the message within the hour after I'd gotten called. Yeah, and they're so random. There wasn’t a lot of correlation between one name and the next name, you know? It wasn't like, 'Oh, all these guys are sitting around the PC or whatever,' or they're people in active storylines and all sorts of stuff, that were wrestling that night."

Zayne then reflected on his release and noted John Laurinaitis informed him he was being released because of budget cuts.

"It was John Laurinaitis who called me. He told me, 'Hey, got some bad news. Budget cuts.' P*ss off, basically. I mean, he wasn't rude at all. I've told this story several times to my friends. It was interesting to me that I felt that immediate dread for all of five / ten seconds. It was like if it went down to the pit of my stomach and bounced back up, then it was like, 'Oh, I'm good. I'm still Alex Zayne, the Sauce. We're good.' It's not like I've lost who I was. I've never, not once in my life, attached myself to any sort of job. I always thought job security was a myth. Probably not the best mentality to have overall, but I think it helps me on the back end when and if things go awry. I'm always gonna bet on myself. That's what I did when I took the contract and that's what I'm doing now," Zayne continued.