WWE Releases Timothy Thatcher, Danny Burch, William Regal, Road Dogg & More In NXT & Performance Center Cuts

UPDATE 3: Three of WWE NXT’s on-screen characters are now gone as part of the company’s NXT and Performance Center cuts. Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp has confirmed that Timothy Thatcher, Hideki Suzuki, and Danny Burch have all been let go from the company. Thatcher and Burch had both been off TV recently and had been helping as coaches at the Performance Center. Cathy Corino, aka Allison Danger, is also gone.

Thatcher signed a developmental deal with WWE in February of 2020 and debuted on NXT in April of that year. He was partnered with Matt Riddle, replacing Pete Dunne who had been unable to travel due to the pandemic, and eventually turned on him which led to the first Fight Pit match. Thatcher went on his own for a while until he feuded with Tommaso Ciampa, facing him in the second Fight Pit. That led to a partnership between them and tag team until Thatcher was written off TV as a result in August of an attack by Ridge Holland.

Suzuki signed with WWE as a PC coach in April of 2021 and debuted on screen as Hachiman in the Diamond Mine. Burch originally signed with WWE back in 2011 under a developmental deal, being released in 2014 but brought back in July of 2015. He eventually teamed with Oney Lorcan and had a run with him as the NXT Tag Team Champions from October 2020 to March of 2021. Lorcan was released from his contract in November of 2021.

Timothy Thatcher has been let go from WWE, Fightful has confirmed with the company. He'd been helping coach of late since being off TV

— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 5, 2022

Hideki Suzuki of Diamond Mine has been let go from WWE, Fightful has confirmed with the company.

— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 5, 2022

Danny Burch has been let go from WWE, Fightful has confirmed with the company. He'd been helping coach since being off TV

— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 5, 2022

Cathy Corino, also known as Allison Danger, has been let go from WWE, the company has confirmed to Fightful

— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 5, 2022

UPDATE 2: It is now confirmed that Brian “Road Dogg” James and others are among the NXT and Performance Center staff released in today’s wave of cuts. Fightful reports that James and Armstrong are both gone from the company. PWInsider has also confirmed the exit of James and Armstrong, as well as George Carroll.

James was brought back into WWE in 2014. He was the head of Creative for Smackdown for a while and resigned that spot in April of 2019, after which he moved to work as a producer for NXT. Armstrong was also a producer as well as a referee. He was among the producer furloughs in April of 2020, and was eventually brought back.

Carroll was brought on board with the company as a writer and producer in 2020. He previously had worked with both NJPW and MLW in various roles.

UPDATE: PWInsider has an update with a list of the names who have reportedly been cut from the WWE NXT and Performance Center staff, including William Regal.

Regal had previously worked as NXT Director of Talent Development and Head of Global Recruiting. He was also a lead talent scout for WWE and had recently been appearing onscreen as NXT’s General Manager for years.

Chris Guy, aka Ace Steel, is also reportedly gone from the company. Guy had recently been working as a coach and match producer at the WWE Performance Center.

Dave Kapoor, aka Ranjin Singh, has also been cut by WWE. Kapoor is likely best known to fans as the former manager and translator to WWE Hall of Famer The Great Khali. Kapoor worked as the SVP of Creative for NXT. He recently moved to Florida last year to start working for WWE NXT full-time.

Longtime NXT Creative Producer Ryan Katz is another name on the list of cuts today. Katz was reportedly involved in working a lot of character development and vignettes for the brand, along with helping a number of talents improve their overall characterizations. Katz also taught promo classes for NXT after the passing of Dusty Rhodes. Previously, he appeared as GQ Money for Wrestling Society X on MTV. He’d been with NXT since 2015.

The PWInsider report noted that additional names are still to be confirmed.

ORIGINAL: Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reports that WWE has confirmed a number of personnel cuts in NXT 2.0 and the WWE Performance Center, including WWE Hall of Famer Brian James (aka Road Dogg). WWE also issued the following statements on the staff cuts that were issued today (via Sapp on Twitter:

“With the continued evolution of NXT 2.0, we’ve decided to part ways with some of the staff based in our Performance Center. We thank them for their many contributions throughout the years and wish them the best.”

While it was initially reportedly confirmed by Sapp from WWE that Brian James, aka Road Dogg, was released from WWE NXT, another source stated that is not official as of yet. Additional names on exactly who was cut are not yet available. Additionally, Sapp noted that today’s NXT personnel cuts include producers, coaches, and writers.

PWInsider is also confirming the release of a number Performance Center staffers by WWE with the same statement.

Stay tuned as this story continues to develop.

WWE issued Fightful a statement saying "With the continued evolution of NXT 2.0, we've decided to part ways with some of the staff based in our Performance Center. We thank them for their many contributions throughout the years and wish them the best."

— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 5, 2022

https://twitter.com/SeanRossSapp/status/1478835495648075778

Producers, coaches, writers among the names said to be cut in the NXT personnel layoffs

— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) January 5, 2022