As first reported by Fightful Select, Kushida has left WWE.
Kushida initially debuted in 2019 and was considered a hot prospect when he joined WWE. He would spend his entire WWE journey in NXT, and much of that time wrestling out of the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida
Early indications that Fightful was given was that his deal expired, though we haven't been given any idea as to whether or not a new one was offered.
Kushida became NXT Cruiserweight Champion, and looked to be figured into plans more as of last summer when the Cruiserweight Title was going to receive more screen time, but a shift in the company to NXT 2.0 caused the Cruiserweight Title to be nixed altogether. Since then, he'd appeared in a tag team with Ikemen Jiro called Jacket Time.
Throughout Kushida's NXT run, we weren't told of any plans to bring him to the main roster, and he wasn't brought up for any dark matches. He last competed on NXT LVL Up on March 22, and had lost his last four matches on his way out of the company.
Prior to WWE, Kushida was one of the most decorated junior heavyweights in NJPW history. There was a story regarding Kushida early in his NXT run in which, several Performance Center talent recounted to Fightful that it took months for the Performance Center to get many people a locked because they were so overcrowded, with Kushida being among the most high profile names to go without one.
Fightful will continue to monitor the story and report any and all updates.
This report first appeared on our premium Fightful Select service. Subscribe to support our exclusive and independent coverage of professional wrestling. You'll get access to exclusive news, and dozens of additional podcasts.
