Scotty 2 Hotty (Scott Garland) left NXT in November 2021 after working as a trainer and coach at the WWE Performance Center following his in-ring retirement.
NXT underwent significant changes in September 2021 with the black & gold brand becoming NXT 2.0 and a more colorful product. The edict was to reportedly put a bigger spotlight on younger performers as old guards began to be phased out for newer talent.
According to Scotty, WWE's focus on wanting younger talent extended behind the scenes, at least with how the coaches looked.
"As soon as it started to change, Hunter went away and the other guys started to come in. It was, 'okay, back to (business casual) now.' The next week, this is awesome, the next week it was, 'Hey, Vince (McMahon) wants the coaches looking younger. We need you guys to start dying your beards and cutting your hair.' The coaches. I literally lost sleep over that. A couple went and did it right away. I've had every kind of facial hair, dyed, not dyed, chin strap, goatee, beard. Everything. Spiked hair, bald head. It's not about that. It's just, they're making us jump through hoops like monkeys just to see if we'll do it. If you do that, what's next? That was just the beginning," said Scotty on Talk Is Jericho.
WWE would continue to make changes to the WWE Performance Center, releasing the likes for William Regal and Samoa Joe in January.
After leaving NXT, Scotty has resumed his in-ring career, working independent dates and make a checklist for 2022.
You can view Scotty's goals for his 2022 by clicking here.
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