Former NXT star Arturo Ruas was one of the names released last month. It appears that the officials were considering big plans for him at one point before the 39-year-old was let go.
The Diamond Mine finally made their debut on NXT TV last month after teasing the fans for weeks. The group consisted of Roderick Strong, Tyler Rust, and Hideki Suzuki. Malcolm Bivens was their manager.
It was later reported that both Ruas and Marina Shafir were originally planned to be a part of the group. When asked about it during an interview with WrestlingInc, Arturo confirmed that he knew about these talks:
“When I did my match with Kushida, I knew that the storyline of that match would be leading to me being a part of Malcolm Bivens’ group, It wasn’t Diamond Mine yet. I was supposed to be in that group, and then I got injured.
I got surgery on my bicep, and things kind of stopped, but I healed. I got cleared, and everything started to run again.” said Ruas “That’s where Diamond Mine came up. It would be a group of legit fighters with legit backgrounds.”
Unfortunately for the former NXT star, his injury forced the company to change plans and the diamond mine ended up making their debut without him.
The Brazilian professional wrestler signed with WWE back in 2015. He worked several Raw underground segments on the main roster. Arturo Ruas was released from his contract in June 2021.
