More on WWE’s Releases Of Dakota Kai, Malcolm Bivens, Harland & More

As noted earlier, WWE cut ten of their NXT stars including Malcolm Bivens, Dakota Kai, Harland and more, and a new report has some details on the releases. WWE released Bivens, Kai, Harland, Persia Pirotta, Dexter Lumis, Draco Anthony, Raelyn Divine, Mila Malani, Sanjana George, and Paige Prinzivalli on Friday. Fightful Select reports that all the talent have 30-day non-compete clauses and that John Laurinaitis made the cuts, citing budgetary reasons.

An email sent internally read:

“Due to budgetary cuts, and with immediate effect as of today, 4/29/2022, we have come to the terms to release the following.”

The site notes that Bivens had made it very clear he had no plans to re-sign, something he did last year after not being used on TV before he agreed to a short extension due to the Diamond Mine pitch. He was offered a new deal in February but turned it down. a source in the WWE Digital department notes that there was a significant push to feature Bivens more.

Kai apparently saw her release coming and had indicated to WWE that she wasn’t planning on renewing her contract. She had done several dark matches for Raw and Smackdown but had no idea whether she would be called up when the draft happens. Regarding Harland, the feeling was from coaches and officials that he had not progressed in his ring work as much as they wanted.

One NXT official said that they were frustrated by the fact that the cuts will impact several angles, gimmicks and storylines with little to no notice or time to prepare. Several of the released stars were spoken to by the site and are in good spirits, considering their releases.