Alexander Wolfe opens up about his final moments in NXT and opens up about the creative process in NXT.
Alexander Wolfe was released by WWE on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. Throughout his time with WWE, he was able to capture the NXT Tag Team Championship alongside Eric Young and compete in the first-ever NXT WarGames in 2017.
Just 24 hours before his release, he was written off of NXT television after a match with his former partner, Killian Dain.
In comments made immediately following his release, Wolfe stated that he believed no WWE firing was mandatory. Now, speaking with Inside The Ropes, Wolf explains why he believes his final moments in NXT stung, the creative process on that brand with the uncertainty of COVID-19, and how hard it is to get a hold of Shawn Michaels and Triple H given their jobs’ busy nature.
“After it happened, it kind of made sense what happened two weeks before. Not storyline-wise, more like backstage-wise. But it was weird. Like, first off, that was one of the most things that stung me, what really sucked was the way it was. I mean, it’s a send-off and of course, it has to happen somehow but, for me, I get the whole point of how they did it and it’s better that then just disappear without explanation.
"I’m happy that I could do it with my best friends. So I had to match against Killian Dain and we get the send-off from two of my mates, which I’m very good and very like… It’s two of my friends. They could give me their farewell and I’m happy for them that they had the chance to give me that. But on the other side, it was very weird. So now I hear a lot of reports, it should have happened three weeks ago and it explains a lot of things why they kind of like stalled the storyline, because usually, they plan the match, and then Triple H is like, ‘Let’s do another angle. Let’s go with it next week.’”
He continued, “In general, they do not give you a lot of heads up with creative – just speaking with NXT, I don’t know how it is right now up there with RAW and SmackDown – but they don’t give you a lot of heads up, because with on everything, one guy gets tested positive and the entire storyline has to get postponed in the future. But with me was the thing I tried to get a hold of Triple H or even Shawn Michaels, and both those guys are very busy men. Shawn is very busy. Triple H is more busy with his position, and everything. So I kind of told myself, yeah, if they don’t have the time, no need to rush because my plan was originally… I want to move back to Germany anyway because I have a two-year-old kid and I want him to grow up with his grandparents – and they don’t get younger."
Discussing the pandemic, Wolfe discussed preferring NXT UK due to travel and not being fond of staying in the US.
"Because of what happened with the pandemic, I was stuck for a couple of times in Germany, so I had the chance to, anyway, work in NXT UK. So it’s an easier travel for me and also I’m back in Germany. I wasn’t that keen to stay in the States. So I tried to chat with those guys and talk with them. ‘Hey, is there a possibility…?’ But it never came to that. And for me also was the big question, ‘Am I stayed with Imperium or you want to do Sanity 2.0?’ And I never had the chance to talk with them. I tried it a couple of times, but it was like, ‘Yeah, we’ll go back and get back to you.’ No message or answer. And again, both were very busy. So I’m not wanting to say they tried to dodge me, but it’s kind of after thinking it’s… Yeah, you probably don’t want to talk to a guy you plan to release because he did not, in your opinion, evolve as much as we keep the investment – and that’s a part of the business.
"I’m totally fine with that because I learned in those six years to understand this. But it’s more like the pride of me as a professional wrestler that I know I’m very good at what I’m doing. I’m probably not the biggest, the strongest. I’m not in the best shape I could be. I understand that. And that’s also the first thing I do. I just touch my own nose and ask myself what I have to do better to keep the job and not blaming others because that’s weak.”
You can see a full list of names released from NXT on Wednesday, April 19, 2021, here. The next day, Velveteen Dream was released by WWE. He recently put out a statement regarding his release which you can read here.