Dan Matha Felt It Was 'Grimey' Of WWE To Release Him After Accident, Asked For Release In December

Dan Matha was released by WWE in April 2020 as part of a handful of releases made by the company.

Matha competed on live events, but rarely on television after signing with the company in 2016.

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Speaking on Rise to the Challenge Podcast, Matha explained his frustrations with how he was used by NXT.

"Because of the pandemic, they released like 40% of the staff. Also, I was just in a car accident. I was a good opportunity for all that to take place. To be honest, I was unhappy with my circumstances. I had been with the company for five years and that last year I was unhappy with the way things were going. I felt like I wasn't being listened to. My displeasure with the ways I was being used weren't being listened to. I wasn't getting honest information back from them. I was expressing how I was feeling, they were telling me something, but what they were telling me wasn't necessarily what was real. That became really frustrating. There was never effort to use me as a character. Greatest Royal Rumble, they just needed bodies. It was a cool experience, but as a wrestler, you don't want to just be a guy filling a spot. You want to be a character on the weekly episodic television show," said Matha.

Shortly after his release, Matha revealed he was in a car accident but was fortunate to not have any major injuries.

When asked if his future is in wrestling, Matha said, "This is the million-dollar question. To be honest, I had a bad taste in my mouth with wrestling. Between the accident and being released, I felt like it was a grimey move. Especially because I had asked for my release back in December. They didn't give it to me. They wasted four months where I could have pursued other companies that wanted my services. Maybe that's why they held on, I don't know. It left a poor taste in my mouth. Then, between the accident, the pandemic, losing your job, being in a ton of pain, it takes its toll mentally. We were all going through it during the pandemic. Even though I was phsyically able to be back, I underestimated the concussion and what it did to my emotions. I was back and cleared to be back and started to work out again. I was recovering from wrestling more than my car injuries."

It is unknown if Matha will continue his wrestling career. He hasn't wrestled since March 2020 at an NXT live event.

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