Parker Boudreaux Reveals He Was Blindsided By WWE Release, Had Just Received a Raise

Parker Boudreaux says he wasn’t expecting his WWE release when it happened, as he had just received a pay raise. Boudreaux worked in WWE NXT as Harland from October of 2021 until April of 2022, when he was let go due to the traditional post-WrestleMania budget cuts. During his time on TV, Boudreax was paired with Joe Gacy as the latter’s enforcer.

Boudreax spoke with F4W Online for a new interview and spoke about his time in NXT. He noted that he got on TV quicker than he expected, noting that a lot of talent at the WWE Performance Center spend years before coming to TV, and noted that he still has a good relationship with the company. You can check out the highlights below:

On His Run In NXT Under Triple H:

“For me, it was amazing because right when I got there, you know, of course everybody was saying the Brock Lesnar stuff, but then once they saw me train and, you know, work, you know, some promos and do the stuff, they gave me my character and that was Harland. I got the Harland character a couple of months into training, after probably like six, seven months of training, I got the Harland character.”

On Getting On TV Relatively Quickly:

“And so what an honor, because I didn’t think I was gonna get on TV that quickly, because there were a lot of people at the PC. I don’t think a lot of people know this, but a lot of people at the PC, there’s five to seven years that you go without even being on TV sometimes. Like, there’s some people that are just at the PC for years and years and never have seen TV, who are just training, maybe waiting for that great moment.”

On Being Surprised By His Release:

“I was grateful for my time in WWE because I could definitely see myself back in WWE soon. And just what an honor to be in the WWE, and I was on TV every Tuesday. I was doing a great job, I thought, because I got a raise two weeks before I got released. So when I got released, obviously it was super blindsiding and super unexpected, probably the most unexpected thing in a while. But looking back at it of course, now I just realize that’s the pro wrestling business. It could’ve been anything, you know? For me, I knew I put my 100% work ethic in there, and now I’ve just grown tremendously internationally. And all these different techniques, living in the dojo in Japan for years and just all the things that I’ve done now, I think it’s just showing my passion for it, which I don’t think they maybe was seen when I got from college football to WWE ’cause I just started WWE.”

On How He Was Told Of His Release:

“This was before TKO, so I don’t know how it is now. But when I was there, it was like COVID time. So it was like, everybody was still kinda sick and stuff like that, and you had to get tested a lot. But for me, I just did a workout at the Performance Center, did like, a live PC. I thought it was a great day, and I just got back to my apartment, I got the call from Mr. [John] Laurinaitis and they said it was budget cuts. So for me it was like, looking back now, Mr. Laurinaitis is not in the WWE now, so there’s this — there’s more new people in there now. There are different people, he’s not in there. So it’s — the person that fired me that is not even there, and I talk to many superstars still in the WWE now, and Mr. [Paul] Heyman, some other people. So I think the relationship with me and WWE is still really solid.”