Mustafa Ali and Dana Brooke were released by WWE one week ago, two of 20+ talents that were suddenly cut following the company’s merger with UFC. Ali and Brooke had been doing work in NXT at the time, and their release did throw a wrench in plans that the yellow-and-black brand had.
According to Fightful Select, there was some frustration from NXT’s end as there wasn’t proper communication with WWE higher ups when the releases happened. The report notes that NXT has been attempting to stack the brand with familiar names. Ali in particular was set for an NXT North American title showdown with Dominik Mysterio, which is now off the table. Dominik will instead be defending the title against Trick Williams at this Saturday’s No Mercy premium live event.
On today’s NXT No Mercy media call Shawn Michaels said that losing Ali did indeed change some of his plans, that he enjoyed working with Ali, and that he will miss him. Later, Michaels spoke highly of Brooke, who he said was well-liked by the NXT roster. He added that Brooke enjoyed her role being back in NXT and that her release also affected certain plans.
Wrestling Headlines will have more highlights from today’s NXT No Mercy media call coming up. Stay tuned.
