NXT Stars ‘Shocked’ WWE Passed On Hiring Wheeler Yuta

Wheeler Yuta is now appearing in AEW as part of the Best Friends stable. He acts as Trent’s replacement after his neck surgery, but Yuta also found himself right at home. WWE had a chance to hire him, but due to Vince McMahon’s edict to change the black and gold brand they passed on Yuta.

According to a report fromFightful, Wheeler Yuta did incredibly well during his WWE tryout. That fact that the company passed on signing him shocked many. It was said that he “turned several heads” with his tryout, and WWE passing on him was a reflection of how things are changing.

Those “of influence” within NXT also expressed the thought that Yuta was a “perfect fit for what NXT traditionally had been.” Of course, that directive changed in recent memory.

One NXT talent pointed out that Yuta is six feet tall, 24 years old, could already work, and had recent television experience and checked almost all of the boxes NXT had been looking for recently.

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Three other NXT stars reported said that WWE passing on Wheeler Yuta was “a shock.” A WWE official also described Yuta as a “head-turner,” but they still didn’t sign him. Another star also reportedly noted that they could tell a “major shift was coming when a guy like that didn’t get picked up.”

We will have to see what NXT looks like in a few months. Odds are the black and gold brand will be filled with several new faces, at least they will likely be younger and taller.

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