WWE Backlash France and the preceding SmackDown proved to be huge successes for the promotion and also marked the return of a former Superstar. 

The promotion’s latest PLE saw several top stars including Undisputed WWE Cody Rhodes, World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Jade Cargill. The crowd in the LDLC Arena was electric throughout the show in addition to being worryingly loud during the May 3, edition of WWE SmackDown. 

During the opening match of Backlash France, Tanga Loa aided the Bloodline in their Street Fight but he wasn’t the only former Superstar to get involved. Earlier in the show, security tried to keep the Bloodline and the team of Randy Orton & Kevin Owens apart, albeit to no avail. It has since come out that former WWE NXT Superstar Sylvester Lefort was part of that team of security. 

This wasn’t Lefort’s only time getting physical during WWE’s time in France. The 40-year-old wrestler was also part of the security during the previous night’s edition of SmackDown and was slammed onto the commentary table by Randy Orton. 

Lefort was on the NXT roster from 2013 to 2015. During this period of time, he was involved in storylines with Enzo Amore, Dax Harwood (then Scott Dawson), and Miro (then Alexander Rusev). After his WWE NXT tenure ended, Lefort joined TNA Wrestling and worked as Basile Baraka. 

Getting to appear for WWE one more time (albeit not as a Superstar) likely felt good for Lefort, despite the beating he took at the hands of Orton. Not only did he appear at Backlash, by Lefort (under his real name Tom LaRuffa) competed at an event for BZW in Lyon, where he was on the losing end of an eight-man tag-team match. 

More From WWE Backlash France

Here are some recent articles about WWE Backlash France as the promotion’s first PLE in the country continues to prove to be quite the talking point: 

Sylvester LeFort, who was among the five NXT talents to be released by WWE on Friday, issued the following statement Saturday on Twitter addressing his departure from the organization.

So it’s now been 24 hours since my release by WWE, and no lol I did NOT quit to put these rumors to rest.

First of let me thank all my fans for their continued support, and yes, you WILL definitely hear from, and see me again.

My 3 years and a half working for WWE have been a life changing experience, both in and out of the ring, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity they gave me. They made me a better performer, in the ring, on the microphone (definitely!) as well as a more mature and life enjoying human being. Damn, after all, I started painting thanks to them in a way! And you all know how much I now appreciate art.

But anyway as far as why it came to an end, let me use one my best buddy “Marcus Louis” metaphor about this business:

A Shakespeare play is awesome.

But Spiderman is awesome too.

And if you’re okay at playing Shakespeare, but VERY GOOD at playing Spiderman, there comes a time when you either move on or they hire someone better for the job!
This is pretty much what happened with me.

So from the bottom of my heart, thank you EVERYBODY : workers, coaches, fans, behind the scenes people, for making this ride such an awesome adventure.

To all my fans, don’t worry, wrestling is still in my blood and some of the products out there still gives me goosebumps. This is why I will follow my heart, and I WILL be back in the ring.

Be blessed. Follow your heart. Give love and respect to your peers so they give it back to you

• WWE looking to sign Goldberg for 2016

NXT stars Bull Dempsey, Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louis are no longer with WWE. All 3 of their profiles have been removed from the company website.

Update: We can confirm Oscar Vasquez and Pete Howard have also been released. Vasquez is a 31-year old Luchador who has worked for TNA and ROH and just started working NXT live events last month. Howard is a former pro rugby player from the UK.

Dempsey tweeted on Friday morning:

https://twitter.com/bulldempseywwe/status/695636784051572736

https://twitter.com/bulldempseywwe/status/695637063757070336

Lefort tweeted:

Thanks everyone! #goodbrothers pic.twitter.com/HroR0lEXeE

— 🇨🇵Tom La Ruffa👑 (@TomLaRuffa) February 5, 2016

– Former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson is Jim Ross’ guest on this week’s edition of the “Ross Report” podcast, which is available now. You can download the show at PodcastOne.com.

– The following matches are confirmed for tonight’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network:

– Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Jason Jordan and Sylvester Lefort

– Dana Brooke vs. Cassie

– The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley) vs. Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins

– Finn Balor vs. Rhyno

– Plus, Hideo Itami will address his injury

– WWE posted the following “unseen footage” of Triple H’s special “Terminator: Genisys” ring entrance at WrestleMania 31 earlier this year.

https://youtu.be/uxCykS6JHBk

• BOBBY LASHLEY On CM PUNK’s UFC Debut: “EVERYBODY’s Going To Be Mad!”

The following are results of the NXT Takeover 2 special, which aired on the WWE Network on Thursday, September 11, 2014.

– The Lucha Dragons (Sin Cara & Kalisto) def. The Ascension to become the new NXT Tag-Team Champions in the opening match of the show. The finish came when Kalisto pinned Viktor.

– Baron Corbin def. C.J. Parker in a quick squash match that lasted all of 29 seconds.

– Enzo Amore def. Sylvester Lefort with a rolling reverse cradle, holding his trunks during the pin. Lefort tried to run away after the match, but Big Cass clotheslined him. Louis attacked Cass and Lefort ran off, leaving Louis alone. Cass hit a big kick on Louis. Cass said to Amore, “Enzo, get the bucket!” in Dudley Boyz fashion. He poured the bucket on Louis and Louis ran off.

– KENTA came out to the ring after being introduced by William Regal. KENTA announced that his new name is Hideo Itami. The Acension came out and threw him out of the ring and demanded a tag-title rematch. He came back in and cleaned house of both guys.

– Bull Dempsey def. Mojo Rawley in about a minute with a diving head-butt. After the match, he gave Rowley another diving head-butt for good measure.

– Backstage, Enzo Amore and Big Cass wanted to see somebody bald. They found Louis and Lefort ran away, leaving him alone yet again. Cass attacked him and carried him to the ring. Cass hit him with a reverse atomic drop and Amore took the towel off that was covering his head, revealing that he only had a little bit of hair left and no eyebrows.

– Charlotte def. Bayley to retain the NXT Women’s Championship. The finish saw Charlotte hit a moonsault, followed by a neck-snapper for the pin. After the match, Sasha Banks came out and taunted Bayley and then attacked her. Charlotte ended up making the save.

– It was announced that Hideo Itami (formerly known as KENTA) will be making his in-ring debut on NXT TV next week, which is actually being taped on Saturday night, September 12th.

– Adrian Neville def. Tyler Breeze, Sami Zayn & Tyson Kidd to retain the NXT Championship. The finish saw Neville hit his spectacular Red Arrow on Kidd for the pin after Zayn had hit the running kick into the corner and had the match won, but Neville pulled the referee out of the ring so he couldn’t make the three count. This was definitely a “match of the year” candidate.

The following matches were taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida for tonight’s edition of WWE NXT on the WWE Network:

– Colin Cassady vs. Sylvester Lefort

– Charlotte & Sasha Banks vs. Bayley & Becky Lynch

– CJ Parker vs. an enhancement wrestler

– Sami Zayn vs. Justin Gabriel

The following are results for the WWE NXT episodes that will air on May 1st, May 8th, May 15th and May 22nd. All four episodes were taped on Thursday night at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida.

Dark Match

– Alexander Rusev def. an unknown wrestler in a dark match to open up the tapings.

Spoiler Results for May 1, 2014

– Tyson Kidd def. Bo Dallas in the first television match of the evening.

– Sasha Banks (with Charlotte) def. Bayley in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.

– Adam Rose def. Danny Burch. After the match, Camacho appeared during Rose’s big after-match party.

– Natalya def. Layla in an opening round match of the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.

– Mojo Rawley def. Oliver Grey. After the match, Aiden English came out and cut a promo on Rawley.

– Adrian Neville def. Brodus Clay in a no-disqualification match to retain the NXT Championship in a what that served as the main event for this episode.

Spoiler Results for May 8, 2014

– This show kicks off with Triple H in the ring for a promo. He talks about how NXT is the future and is taking over wrestling. He pushes the NXT Takeover special, which will take place live on the WWE Network on May 29th. Additionally, he announces a battle royal to determine the new number one contender to the NXT Championship.

– Charlotte def. Emma in a second round match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.

– Kalisto & El Locale (Ricardo Rodriguez under a mask) def. The Legionnaires (Sylvester Lefort & Marcus Louise).

– Camacho def. Captain Comic from Adam Rose’s party group. After the match, Camacho came out and had a confrontation with Rose.

– Alexa Bliss def. Alicia Fox in another match in the NXT Women’s Championship tournament.

– Next up was the battle royal announced by Triple H earlier in the show to crown the new number one contender to the NXT Championship. The participants were Xavier Woods, Brodus Clay, Baron Corbin, Curt Hawkins, Aiden English, Jason Jordan, Danny Burch, Oliver Grey, Marcus Louise, Sylvester Lefort, Big Cass, Camacho, Mason Ryan, Kalisto, El Local, Mojo Rawley, Sami Zayn, Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Breeze, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd. In the end, Breeze, Zayn and Kidd were the final three and all were eliminated at the same time. This leads to Triple H coming back out and announcing that the three will compete in a triple-threat match to determine the official number one contender to the title.

– The Ascension def. Buddy Murphy and an unknown wrestler in the main event of this episode.

For results of the May 15, 2014 edition of WWE NXT TV, as well as the May 22, 2014 edition of the show, click ahead to page two …