Duke Hudson Confirms WWE Release

Duke Hudson Confirms WWE Release

Duke Hudson Confirms WWE Release – Duke Hudson has been released from WWE, with news of his departure emerging on February 3, despite him reportedly being let go in January.

The reasoning behind Hudson’s release remains unclear, but he confirmed his exit in a video where he seemingly portrayed two versions of his personality—one in color and the other in black and white.

Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the decision, noting that WWE developmental had been Hudson’s home for nearly six years. While Paul Heyman initially saw potential in him during a brief RAW stint in 2020, Vince McMahon ultimately dismissed the idea after three weeks. Meltzer stated:

“He had a good babyface comeback. I was a little surprised, but this is the deal. He’s 34 years old. And I think the decision was essentially that we’ve had him in developmental for what’s it been, six years? And we just don’t think he’s, you know, he had his one shot on the main roster, [Paul] Heyman saw a lot in him. He saw a big guy, good look, moves. Well, he wasn’t ready, but Heyman thought, you know, if you remember, when Heyman started on the Raw thing, his big thing was to bring in all kinds of new guys and push and push guys who hadn’t been pushed before. And you know, the idea was, the ratings are going to go down, and in a year, 18 months, whatever, once these guys get over, it’ll be all fresh, won’t be stale, and they’ll be it’ll be a younger crowd and a younger audience because remember, at the time. Yeah, they were doing shit with younger viewers. I mean, that’s where AEW was beating them. So that was, like, the goal, you know. And Duke was, you know, a guy he tried with for, like, three weeks, and then Vince got the three-week thing. And it’s like, ‘Nah.’ And that was that, and he was gone. And I think once that happened. Now, of course, Vince is gone, so it doesn’t matter, but you know, [Paul ‘Triple H’] Levesque is the one who makes the calls, and for whatever reason, you know, he didn’t see Duke as a main roster guy. So at some point, when you’re, you know, when you’re 34, and you don’t see him as a main roster guy, and he’d been there for six years, it’s kind of like that’s the way it works.”

Hudson first joined WWE in 2019 under his real name, Brendan Vink. He had a short-lived run on RAW in 2020 alongside Shane Thorne before returning to NXT and being rebranded as Duke Hudson. He competed in the NXT Breakout Tournament in 2021 before gaining traction as a member of Chase University in 2022.

Alongside Andre Chase, Hudson captured the NXT Tag Team Championship in 2023. However, the group disbanded in late 2024, and now, his WWE tenure has come to an end.

With Hudson now a free agent, his next move remains to be seen.

Duke Hudson Confirms WWE Release

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