Alex Zayne reflects on his WWE release.
Ari Sterling was just getting started in WWE when suddenly, he was released along with many other 205 Live staples due to the short time he was with the company, Alex did not have a long period of grief over losing his dream job before having independent dates lined up.
Speaking with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, Alex reflects on calling William Regal before anyone else when he got the news of his release and says that the current NXT General Manager was genuinely shocked to hear the news.
“It’s pretty strange. I think they’re going through a strange time right now. They’re getting their ducks in a row for whatever it is they need a line of ducks for. William Regal, either a good actor or truly in shock when I told him, but I told him literally seconds after getting the call. He’s the first call I made. Don’t tell my girlfriend. I actually gave it time before even calling her because I had to register it first.
“I’m pretty sure once they had called everyone and let them know individually, that message went out. Because I want to say other talent told me, ‘Oh, we just got this message,’ because of course I was taken off the chain. They told me they got the message within the hour after I’d gotten called. Yeah, and they’re so random. There wasn’t a lot of correlation between one name and the next name, you know? It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, all these guys are sitting around the PC or whatever,’ or they’re people in active storylines and all sorts of stuff, that were wrestling that night.”
Like all of the others that got released, John Laurinaitis made the phone call and claimed that the releases were occurring due to budget cuts. For Alex, this wasn't a long period of dread because he knew he still had his independent following.
“It was John Laurinaitis who called me. He told me, ‘Hey, got some bad news. Budget cuts.’ Piss off, basically. I mean, he wasn’t rude at all. I’ve told this story several times to my friends. It was interesting to me that I felt that immediate dread for all of five / ten seconds. It was like if it went down to the pit of my stomach and bounced back up, then it was like, ‘Oh, I’m good. I’m still Alex Zayne, the Sauce. We’re good.’ It’s not like I’ve lost who I was. I’ve never, not once in my life, attached myself to any sort of job. I always thought job security was a myth. Probably not the best mentality to have overall, but I think it helps me on the back end when and if things go awry. I’m always gonna bet on myself. That’s what I did when I took the contract and that’s what I’m doing now.”
Alex did not take long before getting back to work on the independent scene, recently winning the Ring of Honor Honor Rumble at Death Before Dishonor. Learn more here.
