As noted, Neville reportedly asked for his release from the company with the idea of going to the indies and making a name for himself outside of WWE.
Neville has reportedly been unhappy with several factors, including being left off the WrestleMania 33 DVD and receiving no royalties from what is usually the best-selling WWE DVD of the year. Neville retained the WWE Cruiserweight Title over Austin Aries on the WrestleMania 33 Kickoff pre-show but all three pre-show matches were left off the version of the DVD released in the United States.
Jericho said he’s not surprised that a superstar as talented as Neville would seek other opportunities, and he also said that leaving WWE is not a decision anyone would make on the spur of the moment, so Jericho knows Neville put a lot of thought into his choice to seek greener pastures elsewhere. But Jericho believes that Neville has the potential to be very successful wherever he ends up.
“It doesn’t surprise me because I think a guy like Neville, whenever I worked with him we had great matches,” Jericho said. “He reminds me a lot, actually, of working with Chris Benoit in that he’s very hard-hitting, he’s very solid, very graceful and not stiff in the least, just a really innovative, smart worker. I think he wasn’t really getting his shot in the WWE, and the cruiserweight thing is fine but let’s be honest, it is what it is. I think there’s a lot higher potential for a guy like Neville in the ring and also the character.”
“If he left you know that he’s gonna be one of those guys like Cody Rhodes, guys like the Young Bucks and Will Ospreay and Marty Scurll that are making a choice not to be in WWE and proving that it’s not the be-all, end-all if you’re not there,” Jericho said. “Look at Tommy (Dreamer) with House Of Hardcore, very successful outside of the reigns of the WWE.”
“It’s a big step, it’s like walking off the side of a building and being told that there’s a net at the bottom, but you can’t see it,” Jericho said. “So you don’t know for sure if he’s making the right decision as of right now. But talent-wise, character-wise and intelligence-wise, he’s got all three of those things. So he’s not making this decision lightly, and I think wherever he ends up he’ll be probably a bigger star than he was before just by getting a bigger opportunity.”
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