It seems "Black Friday" for WWE talent is upon us again and I'm going to run down my thoughts on each of the releases as far as what I thought of each person. As of now there are no big main roster cuts yet but if that does change, I will be coming back and amending to this article if more releases are announced. I look forward to hearing your comments on the releases as well!
Derrick Bateman
Bateman is a strange case my guess is durability could have been a leading factor, he seemed to be very in favor with certain writers being used as a comedy wrestler most of his run. In my opinion his best work was done on NXT Redemption where he had more depth to his character. I can definitely see a guy like Bateman getting a chance again later down the road if he chooses to continue with wrestling in other promotions.
Percy Watson
Watson is a gifted athlete, I always thought for certain they'd finally get him in a tag team that would stick. Another guy I thought received a few nice spotlights on NXT Redemption but like Derrick Bateman I felt there were times where he seemed forced and it caused for an unnatural character overall. Percy should have no problems catching on somewhere that his athleticism can push him forward and hopefully he'll find a new persona that fits him better.
Briley Pierce
Pierce, most well known for being the younger brother of Dolph Ziggler had seen several different roles while being in the WWE's developmental system. I could see it highly likely he'll end up working with WWE again in the future, more than likely not in a wrestling capacity.
Sakamoto
It is a shame that as a world wrestling entity they seem to lack the worldly vision in promoting and using wrestlers from all over the world. What people saw of Sakamoto on their televisions being shoved around by Charlie Chan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubTNJPdeKbI) was a pretty big waste for a genuinely talented performer. I am sure he will go back to Japan to a great return and wrestle where he is appreciated.
Audrey Marie
Once a strong contender for the FCW women's title I had always thought Audrey Marie was for sure headed to the main roster, her talking ability I thought had that attitude they try to push on girls that came to her naturally. Her in ring work was smooth and I thought she was capable of having really good matches and with the NXT Women's Championship tournament starting on the next set of tapings this is a puzzling release in my opinion, perhaps more will come out about this release being a mutual decision or a health reason.
Anya
Unfortunately, I don't really know much about Anya as she was signed sometime over the summer last year and hadn't shown up in solo or tag competition on NXT or any other program for that matter. As not much is known about her, I don't really know what is being missed out on here. Perhaps she will show up as a part of the new training facility because she needs much more in depth training.
Brandon Traven
I have only seen this guy a few times and from the look of him he seemed like a really solid wrestler, this was again a name that hasn't been around in awhile so I don't know how shocking the release news can be as he was not someone who they used on their NXT program. Another young guy I am very interested in seeing where he goes from here, I am sure there are going to be more than a few promotions looking to have this guy come on board.
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