WWE had the opportunity to sign current All Elite Wrestling talent Wheeler Yuta but passed on him.
Fightful Select reported on August 8th that there is a shift in WWE’s hiring process, which raised concern. The report noted that people in NXT were surprised WWE passed on talent after trying out.
“There were also some names passed on at recent tryouts that people in NXT thought were going to be a slam dunk that a couple of wrestlers claim were red flags,” said Fightful Select.Â
A new report revealed today that Yuta was whom the sources were referencing.
“Fightful had noted recently that there was a WWE tryout name that didn’t receive an offer that turned several heads within the Performance Center and WWE and raised some flags that the hiring process had changed. It actually ended up being Wheeler YUTA, who is now regularly featured on AEW programming after his May 2021 WWE tryout,” the report states.
More Notes on WWE passing on Yuta
The news of WWE not signing him came as a surprise because of his age, experience, and appearance.
While the reports said WWE passed on Yuta, it acknowledged it’s unclear if WWE gave an offer. “The same WWE official we spoke with this past weekend noted that was a head-turner for them as well, but they weren’t sure if Yuta was actually made an offer or not — but that the idea that they didn’t finish a deal was surprising,” as stated in the report.
The report also notes that AEW and Ring of Honor were trying to sign Yuta at that time. Ultimately, he joined AEW and debuted on AEW Dark Elevation at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 28th. He would lose to Karl Anderson in his debut. Since then, he has been on AEW’s programming. His first match on AEW Dynamite was a loss against Sammy Guevara on July 14th at Daily’s Place.
