By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The following NXT wrestlers were released from their WWE contracts on Friday, according ot Fightful.com.
-Wendy Choo
-Adriana Rizzo
-Zena Sterling
-Anya Rune
-Braxton Cole
-Gary Wilson
-Ellen Akesson
-Marcus Brown
Powell’s Notes
Jasper Troy and PJ Vasa announced their departures on Friday afternoon.
Rizzo (Anna Keefer) worked as part of Tony D’Angelo’s family. She suffered a major left knee injury in August 2025, reportedly tearing her ACL and meniscus, and spraining her MCL. She also suffered a ruptured Achilles in 2023. She returned to television as an Evolve backstage interviewer in July.
Choo (Karen Yu) originally signed with WWE in 2019. She most recently worked in Evolve and also did some work in TNA. She worked independently as Karen Q was trained by Johnny Rodz before debuting in 2014.
Sterling was a standout on the WWE LFG show. She was a swimmer at Ohio State University.
Cole, who debuted for Evolve in March 2025, played football at Brown in 2022 before transferring to Villanova.
Rune worked as Airica Demia on the independent scene before signing a WWE ID contract in March.
Wilson worked as a referee in NXT and spent time on the SmackDown brand.
-Akesson is a Swedish powerlifter and arm wrestler. She took part in a SummerSlam 2025 tryout and was signed in March 2026.
-Brown is a bodybuilder who signed in early 2026.
(Jason Powell, founder and editor of ProWrestling.net, has covered pro wrestling full-time since 1997. He hosts the weekly podcast, Pro Wrestling Boom, and also appears regularly on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast. Reach him via email at dotnetjason@gmail.com and on social media via @prowrestlingnet.bsky.social or x.com/prowrestlingnet. For his full bio and information on this website, click here.)
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