Former champions have told people backstage they have been granted their WWE release, but it may not be true - Reports
WWE can sometimes be a revolving door, with many talents walking in and out of the company regularly. During the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, an update on the WWE release request of the Grizzled Young Veterans Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler was revealed, with Dave Meltzer stating that they might not be gone just yet.
Fightful reported yesterday that the former NXT UK Tag Team Champions had requested to be released from their contracts for unspecified reasons.
Reid and Fowler have apparently been telling people behind the scenes that they are done with WWE. However, as revealed by Meltzer, their current status is "up in the air," with one source claiming that they might not have been allowed to leave just yet.
"Well, that's up in the air now. They were telling people they got the release. I actually heard from someone this morning from WWE; yeah, they are gone, and later in the day, it was like, I don't think they got the release. So, you know, they told people they did, but I don't think I got the impression that was not really the case as far as getting the release," reported Dave Meltzer. [35:00 - 35:24]
As per the Wrestling Observer journalist, fans of the highly-rated tag team will have to wait and see how their entire situation with WWE plays out over the next few days.
WWE reps, however, have indicated that there might not be much truth to Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler's backstage claims as they still aren't out of their deals.
"So we'll have to see for the next couple of days how this all plays out," clarified Meltzer. "But I think 'officially officially,' they may have, but it was indicated to me that it wasn't as official as they thought, and everyone down there, though." [35:25 - 35:40]
The former champions have been in WWE since 2018
Popularly known as the Grizzled Young Veterans, the British duo of James Drake and Zack Gibson have been associated with World Wrestling Entertainment since early 2017 when Drake competed in the United Kingdom Championship Tournament.
The team later became a part of NXT UK, where they won the tag team titles once before joining the main NXT brand in 2020.
The stars were repackaged in 2022 as Jagger Reid and Rip Fowler and aligned with Joe Gacy's "Schism" faction while also renaming their team as "The Dyad."
Reid and Fowler last wrestled at NXT Stand and Deliver 2023, and if they do get released, it would be their final match in the promotion. They may have been in the developmental zone for three years, but the Grizzled Young Veterans have a decade's experience in the business and are allegedly "in demand" on the US and UK independent scene.