Kyle O'Reilly Decided To Leave WWE After Hearing "We Don't Want Pro Rasslers”

As the black and gold of WWE NXT gave way to the multicolour lights of NXT 2.0, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before Johnny Gargano, and Kyle O’Reilly left it all behind, whether to go to WWE’s main roster, or ply their trade elsewhere.

Both ended up winding their contracts down and leaving, with O’Reilly subsequently joining AEW, and on a recent appearance on The Sessions with Renee Paquette O’Reilly shared what the difference was between ‘NXT classic’ and WWE’s main roster:

“When NXT got its TV deal, there was something Hunter said that I loved when he compared NXT to the main roster,” O’Reilly said. “He said ‘NXT was like the broadway show. It’s where the real performers get out there. They’ve got the chops, they can act, they can sing, they can dance, they can do it all and there are no special effects. There’s no big-budget blockbuster movie special effects that are hiding it all like RAW and Smackdown would be.’ I just thought that was such a great analogy, and it really rang true.”

The news in late 2021 that O’Reilly’s contract was due to expire was a shock to the wrestling world, but to O’Reilly it was a blessing in disguise:

“When we were renegotiating, the powers that be were like ‘listen, this doesn’t typically happen. Usually we re-sign guys six months out,'” O’Reilly continued. “But talent relations at the time, I guess let things slip or weren’t into re-upping NXT guys contracts is the only explanation I can give. I really don’t know. But I thought I had at least six months to a year left. It was a real surprise to me knowing it was coming up in December, (but) a pleasant surprise, just with the landscape and everything.

“It was really kind of a blessing that I was given the opportunity to make my own decision. I could stay, I could go; it wasn’t made up for me. I feel for people who get released and everything, and that’s happened way more than it should. It’s awful. I was just grateful that I was in a position where I could kind of look at the landscape and see what opportunities were out there. And luckily for me, AEW was the place and I were able to jump ship as it were.”

The switch to NXT 2.0 put the writing on the wall for O’Reilly, who revealed he heard of a mentality switch in WWE’s hiring practices before he departed:

“‘We don’t want pro rasslers’ was something I heard,” O’Reilly revealed. “And it was like ‘alright but I am a pro wrestler. And I want to be a pro wrestler still. So I want to go where I can be a pro wrestler.’ And I know that the things are the same, sports entertainment, wrestling, it’s all the same. But I don’t know if everyone looks at it that way.”

H/T: WrestlingNews.co