Ari Sterling Tweets About WWE Release

As the news of massive releases roll in from WWE's NXT brand, more and more released stars are beginning to comment. In addition to Bronson Reed, NXT and 205 Live star Ari Sterling took to Twitter with a simple message.

"Alex Zayne > Ari Sterling," Sterling tweeted.

The reference is to Sterling's old ring name Alex Zayne, which he used during his independent wrestling career. Sterling quickly changed his Twitter name back to Zayne, confirming he'll be using the name going forward as he returns to the independents.

Sterling was reported to have signed with WWE in November of 2020, and was unveiled as part of the December Performance Center class, alongside the tag team MSK and Tyler Rust, who was also released this evening. Sterling's WWE tenure, which consisted of just ten matches, mostly featured him on 205 Live, though he appeared on NXT one in a losing effort to Cameron Grimes. In a cruel twist, he was advertised to wrestle on tonight's episode of 205 Live, taking on NXT Cruiserweight Champion KUSHIDA.

As Zayne, Sterling was best known on the indies for his stint in Game Changer Wrestling, where he became known as one of the most gifted high flyers in wrestling. He also made several appearances for Ring of Honor in early 2020 and for New Japan Strong in the fall.

You can see Sterling's tweet below.

Alex Zayne > Ari Sterling

— Alex Zayne – アレックス・ゼイン (@AlexZayneSauce) August 7, 2021