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LG
05-17-2013, 06:37 PM
Source: PWInsider

With WWE on the verge of signing new developmental talent to coincide with the launch of its Performance Center in Winter Park, Florida, multiple talents situated in the developmental system were released today.
It has been confirmed that Derrick Bateman and Briley Pierce were among those let go by WWE on Friday. Both individuals revealed on Twitter that they are no long affiliated with the sports-entertainment organization.

Bateman announced on his Twitter account that he is now available for independent bookings and then adding, "Welp see ya later @wwe #itsfine."

Pierce, who is the brother of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler, stated on his account, "I guarantee that was the funniest and most entertaining "You're released" phone call in WWE history. Bye, everybody!"

Bateman, who had been under contract to WWE since 2008, appeared on the final season of NXT before the program was transferred to Florida. He last appeared on WWE programming late late last year, and had been making infrequent appearances for NXT.

Briley had been under a developmental contract to WWE since 2011, the highlight of which was a Florida Tag Team Championship reign with Brad Maddox. He was shifted to the role of backstage interviewer for NXT last June, though would still continue to compete. However, he lost the majority of his matches from that point on.

According to PWInsider.com, additional names are expected to be revealed as being no longer under contract to WWE.

WWE has also released Sakamoto, who was originally paired with Tensai before being sent back down to developmental, this morning. He was signed to WWE in 2011 after originally breaking into the business under TAKA Michinoku in Japan.
WWE has also released developmental Diva Audrey Marie, who was signed in 2011 after being recruited by WWE and trained in the system.

There are at least two additional names we have heard were released from developmental and are working to double source them.

Rob
05-17-2013, 09:40 PM
Both Derrick Bateman and Briley Pierce revealed today on Twitter that they have partied ways with WWE.

Bateman announced on his Twitter account that he is now available for independent bookings and then adding, "Welp see ya later @wwe @wweuniverse #itsfine."

Pierce, who is the brother of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler, stated on his account, "I guarantee that was the funniest and most entertaining "You're released" phone call in WWE history. Bye, everybody!"

- Sakamoto, who was originally paired with Tensai, was released by WWE this morning. Sakamoto was signed back in 2011 after originally breaking into the business under TAKA Michinoku in Japan.

- WWE has also released developmental Diva Audrey Marie, who was signed back in 2011 after being recruited by WWE and trained in the system.

WWE has apparently released even more WWE NXT talents today according to PWInsider.

* Brandon Traven, who worked the Mid-Western independent scene as Brian Beaker before being signed to developmental. He had originally trained under Harley Race in Missouri.

* Percy Watson, who was signed to the company in 2009 and showed some real character and flashes of greatness on the fifth season of NXT, teaming with Titus O'Neil. He had been working regularly for NXT in developmental but was never moved on up full-time to the main roster.

* Anya, a 6'1" Russian kickboxer named Anna Bogomazova who was signed in the summer of 2012. She had been out of the ring of late with an arm injury.

SC

The Mac
05-17-2013, 10:28 PM
coula just merged with LG's

Rob
05-17-2013, 11:15 PM
Didn't see he posted, oops.

LG
05-17-2013, 11:39 PM
Partial Source: Pwinsider

With WWE on the verge of signing new developmental talent to coincide with the launch of its Performance Center in Winter Park, Florida, multiple talents situated in the developmental system were released today as we reported earlier.

It has been confirmed that Derrick Bateman, Briley Pierce, Sakamoto, Percy Watson, Brandon Traven, Audrey Marie and Anya were let go by the sports-entertainment organization.

Bateman announced on his Twitter account that he is now available for independent bookings and then adding, “Welp see ya later @wwe @WWEUniverse #itsfine.”

Pierce, who is the brother of WWE World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler, stated on his account, “I guarantee that was the funniest and most entertaining “You’re released” phone call in WWE history. Bye, everybody!”

Sakamoto thanked WWE on his account for doing business with him, writing, “#WWE #NXT my friend thank you for everything SAYONARA.”

Traven remarked on the social networking website, “Staying positive on a bad day..not the end only the beginning…things in life happen for a reason..just had a good lunch with good people. Not the end of the book just the end of the chapter..my journey is far from over”

Though Watson, Marie and Anya have yet to publicly address their standing with WWE, we have confirmed that all three individuals have been let go. Lending credibility to this, their respective profiles have been removed from the official websites of WWE (WWE.com) and NXT Wrestling (FCWWrestling.info).

Bateman, who had been under contract to WWE since 2008, appeared on the final season of NXT before the program was transferred to Florida. He last appeared on WWE programming late last year, and had been making infrequent appearances for NXT.

Briley had been under a developmental contract to WWE since 2011, the highlight of which was a Florida Tag Team Championship reign with Brad Maddox. He was shifted to the role of backstage interviewer for NXT last June, though would still continue to compete. However, he lost the majority of his matches from that point on.

Sakamoto was paired with Tensai last year before being demoted to developmental in November. Having been trained by Taka Michinoku at his Kaientai Dojo wrestling school in Japan, he joined WWE’s developmental system in 2011.

Traven competed for various Midwestern independent organizations as Brian Beaker before being signed to a developmental contract last year. He was originally trained by WWE Hall of Famer Harley Race in Missouri.

Watson, a former professional football player, joined WWE in 2009 and would frequently appear on NXT. At times, he appeared on the brink of joining the main roster, but ultimately did not.

Marie had been under contract to WWE since 2011 and was a fixture in the developmental system’s women’s division.

Anya is a 6’1″ Russian kickboxer and martial artist WWE signed last summer. She was recently sidelined due to a broken arm.

According to sources, at least two additional names are expected to be revealed as being no longer under contract to WWE. Despite more releases being rumored, nothing is confirmed as of this writing. We’ll keep you posted when we hear more.

WZR

LG
05-18-2013, 03:44 PM
The WWE developmental releases on Friday came as a complete surprise to everyone. Brandon Traven was tweeting about last night's NXT live event just four hours before he was tweeting about being released.
Russian Diva Anya, who has been out of action with an arm injury, noted that she's not giving up on professional wrestling. She re-tweeted this message from a fan:

"Kind of s--tty that they would release Anya while injured, but that's life, I suppose."

Derrick Bateman has already been announced to "return home" for the Absolute Intense Wrestling internet pay-per-view on June 30th from Cleveland, Ohio. He's appearing under his real name, Michael Hutter.

WNS