• Newest WWE Signing’s Current Status
Former IWGP Heavyweight Champion EVIL departed New Japan Pro Wrestling in January before signing with WWE. His final match in NJPW came at Road to the New Beginning.
According to PWInsider, EVIL has not yet been assigned to any WWE brand and is currently listed internally on the company’s “Misc.” roster.
On last week’s episode of NXT, during a backstage segment involving NXT Champion Tony D’Angelo, Keanu Carver, and Robert Stone, D’Angelo was handed a mysterious box with Japanese writing on top of it, sparking speculation that EVIL could soon join WWE’s developmental system.
• Reason Behind WWE Firing Multiple NXT Names
WWE released 25 wrestlers as part of the 2026 spring cuts carried out on Friday, with 11 of those departures coming from developmental brands including NXT, LFG, and EVOLVE.
According to Bodyslam+, the recent wave of NXT releases is linked to incoming talent signed by the company, but not yet officially announced. It was also noted that many stars were let go because they had not shown the level of progression WWE was expecting within a set timeframe.
The list of developmental names released includes Tyra Mae Steele, Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe, Chris Island, Trill London, Malik Blade, Luca Crusifino, Sirena Linton, Andre Chase, Carlee Bright and Dante Chen.
As for Andre Chase, he clarified that he had previously been told his role in NXT was more focused on helping develop younger talent rather than being positioned as a long-term featured star.
• “Absolutely not” – Triple H Rejected Cody Rhodes’ Post-WrestleMania 42 Idea
Cody Rhodes suffered an eye injury during his WrestleMania 42 – Night 1 match after taking a punch from Randy Orton, which led into the sequence that ended with an RKO on referee Charles Robinson. The eye swelled up badly, with the Undisputed WWE Champion receiving treatment backstage after the match.
Speaking on ESPN SportsCenter, Rhodes revealed that he had pitched an idea to appear on TV with an eyepatch following the injury, but WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H turned it down.
“I’ll tell you something funny. I thought, ‘I’m gonna go to TV, I’m gonna go to Monday Night RAW, I’m gonna go to Friday Night SmackDown, I’m gonna do an eyepatch thing.’ I thought that’d be cool. Wrestlers are always looking for something. Let’s get a new action figure out of it. Eyepatch Cody.
Triple H told me, ‘Absolutely not.’ And there might be a shot on Unreal of me throwing that eyepatch down backstage because I had it. I was ready to go.”
• WWE May Be Planning To Release More Wrestlers
WWE carried out its annual spring roster cuts last Friday, releasing 25 wrestlers across both the main roster and developmental brands. The list included several notable names, with Kairi Sane, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, and The Wyatt Sicks all being let go, alongside multiple wrestlers from NXT, EVOLVE, and LFG.
The decision-making behind the cuts is believed to have come from WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H, who has been overseeing talent relations and creative direction across the company.
According to Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, the current wave of releases may not be the end of it. There was originally a larger list of NXT talent expected to be cut.
While a portion of that list has already been acted on, the overall number released so far is not as high as expected, suggesting that further departures from the developmental system could still be on the way.
