WWE reportedly had invited Wheeler Yuta to a recent tryout at their Performance Center, according to Fightful Select.
It was reported that Yuta was among several notable indie talents who had been invited and worked at recent tryouts for the company. It was reported that despite Yuta’s work impressing many people at the Performance Center, WWE officials decided against signing him to a deal in the end.
WWE’s decision to not sign Yuta to a deal reportedly came as a big shock to several spoken to within NXT’s locker room. Two NXT talent spoken to stated that they viewed this as a red flag moment for the apparent major changes being planned for the NXT brand.
Several NXT talent and one WWE official spoken to were also puzzled why the company did not sign Yuta despite him checking off a lot of boxes that the company has been recently looking towards for new signings. Mainly in regards to his tall size, youthful age, and television wrestling experience.