Former WWE NXT Producer Ryan Katz On His WWE Release, Working With Dusty Rhodes

Ryan Katz recently discussed his release from his WWE NXT Associate Producer job, his experiences with Dusty Rhodes and more. Katz was among those released in WWE’s revamp of the NXT backstage staff in January, and he spoke with the Handsome Genius Club Radio Show for a new interview. You can see some highlights below, per Wrestling Inc:

On his WWE release: “I got a phone call that came during a time where I had a discussion with one of my bosses that seemed to go pretty well and then he went to go take a call and I went on with my day. And then the going on with my day turned into getting a call from someone else with, ‘I just lost my job’. It came out of nowhere.

“Now through all that, that’s life and things happen, and we move on,” Katz continued. “I got to have eight and a half years of incredible education, entertainment, world travels, coaching, mentorship, got to work with some of the greatest people from all over the world and all walks of life that even in a situation of getting bad news where you feel like your hearts being ripped out, so to speak, and your dream is coming to an end, I’ve still yet to have any feelings of anger, resentment, sadness, frustration.”

On being the WWE Performance Center’s first full-time employee: “I kind of went down there before the building was open to the public. Kind of got to be involved with overseeing the final steps and then they moved everyone up from Tampa a month later and we got things underway and we go to sit under the learning tree and tutelage of Dusty Rhodes, and have, at that point, two years of the Dream. Kid in a candy shop, little boy’s dream come true. Getting to be around and be supported by, you know, some of the biggest superstars in the world who I’ve been watching forever.”

On working with Dusty Rhodes: “He would be like {impersonating Dusty}, ‘Ryan Katz, I’m not your boss. I’m your coworker. And you know what? I’m not even just your coworker. I’m your friend.’ And it was just, it was just awesome stuff…

“I wish it could’ve been longer. But the craziest thing is to know that after only having two years with the guy, when he did pass, I had never experienced losing someone in my life like that. And like through relatives and grandparents that, you know, I hadn’t necessarily been super tight with in my life. Like no death has really done that, and it broke me a little bit. It was, it was crazy. Like, that was my Yoda and it was wild, and he believed in me and supported me.”