Former WWE Star Dani Luna Addresses Speaking Out Movement's Affect On NXT UK Brand

Worlds collided on Sunday and it feels like only one world survived. "WWE NXT UK" superstar Dani Luna recently spoke about her tumultuous time in the UK developmental brand during an appearance on NBC Sport's "The Ten Count." Early in the interview, Luna was asked if she felt that "NXT UK" wasn't as well-promoted as some of WWE's other brands.

"It's hard. I don't know if it was WWE's fault," Luna said. "Obviously we had the whole Speaking Out movement over here, as well. So I don't know if that also affected it a little bit too." Luna is referring to the 2020 movement that saw numerous people in the professional wrestling industry outed as being abusive. 

"I don't know if there was just a period, especially during the pandemic, where wrestling was kinda just a touchy subject," Luna continued. "I kinda feel like sometimes we kinda got the bad end of that."

NXT UK is scheduled to go on hiatus and rebrand as "NXT Europe" in 2023, and Luna was released from WWE alongside numerous other UK talent at the time of the announcement. Despite the promotion's ignoble end and impending rebirth, Luna still thinks that "we had some of the best pro wrestling in [NXT UK] and it's a shame more people didn't get to see it, because I watched some of the best matches I've ever seen." 

While Luna feels the road for "NXT UK" was made rocky by Speaking Out and the pandemic, she attributes the lack of spotlight on "NXT UK" as "a case of wrong place, wrong time."