Report: 'Toxic' Power Struggle Within WWE Led To NXT Releases

A power struggle within WWE led to NXT's latest round of releases, according to a new report. 

WWE has regularly released talent since April 2021 and the company let go 12 NXT Superstars on Friday, August 6, including the likes of Bronson Reed, Alex Zayne, Bobby Fish and Mercedes Martinez. 

Head of NXT Triple H reportedly had no idea WWE was making cuts that day, with Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis and Bruce Prichard instead making the decisions. Major changes are also said to be planned for NXT as WWE are looking to use the Tuesday series as purely a developmental show again with an emphasis on younger and bigger wrestlers. 

There is more to the story, though, and Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that an internal power struggle contributed to the NXT releases being made. 

According to Meltzer, higher-ups within WWE are fearful about their futures in the company if/when Triple H takes over and they, therefore, want to undermine the COO. On the other side is those who support Triple H and the current situation has been described as "toxic" within WWE, particularly because the releases were more of a power grab and NXT talent found themselves being used as pawns. 

The NXT releases were also seen as a surprise because Triple H had previously been considered "untouchable." Him losing the Wednesday Night Wars gave his detractors ammunition, though, and they pointed out NXT failed to attract younger viewers or even just more viewers than AEW, something that was considered a given ahead of Dynamite's premiere.