WWE News: Superstar rejected 'substantial raise' before asking for WWE release
What's the story?
Speaking on Edge & Christian’s ‘Pod of Awesomeness’, Tye Dillinger discussed the reasons behind his WWE exit and revealed that he rejected a new deal before being granted his release in February 2019.
In case you didn't know…
As is often the case with Superstars from NXT, there was a lot of buzz around Tye Dillinger when he made his way to the main roster in April 2017.
After being assigned to the SmackDown Live brand, “The Perfect Ten” began to establish himself with a new audience by feuding with Aiden English during his first few months on the show.
However, after the two men traded victories on PPV kickoff shows, Dillinger’s only other notable appearance in his first year on the main roster came in October 2017 when he participated in a United States Championship Triple Threat match with AJ Styles and Baron Corbin at Hell In A Cell.
In 2018, he featured sporadically on television in brief matches and segments with Samoa Joe, Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura, but he spent most of the year without a storyline.
His lack of television presence led Dillinger to request his release in early 2019, which WWE granted.
The heart of the matter
After being left off WWE television for large periods during his time on SmackDown Live, Tye Dillinger told Edge & Christian how he used to “essentially pray” before matches in the hope that audiences would still remember him.
Regarding his request to leave the company, Dillinger explained that he rejected a new deal without even knowing how much he was going to be offered.
“I walked in and said to talent relations at the time that I needed to go. They said, ‘Well, we’re about to offer you a pretty substantial raise’ and I just kind of put my hands up. Now, I’m by no means a millionaire, I’m not even close, I’ve been very lucky, I have everything I could possibly need… I wouldn’t have that without WWE. But for me personally, this wasn’t about the money, so I didn’t even let him get the offer out of his mouth.
“Later I found out what it was, a couple of weeks later, but I just said it wouldn’t change anything tomorrow morning when I wake up, I’m still going to feel the same way that I do right now, that I have for the last six months.”
What's next?
The future looks bright for Tye Dillinger. Not only is he marrying Peyton Royce later this summer, but he is booked on independent shows from the end of May until August.
While there has been no official word on him possibly signing with AEW, it is worth noting that he is a former tag partner of Cody Rhodes and the two are close friends.
Watch this space, perhaps?