Dexter Lumis reportedly was not on WWE's release list at first - Reports

Former NXT Superstar Dexter Lumis was originally not on the WWE release list, new reports seem to confirm.

On April 29, Lumis was released from WWE after three years with the company, alongside other big NXT names like Dakota Kai and Malcolm Bivens. Dexter's release apparently came as something of a surprise backstage.

On Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan Alvarez revealed that he was given a list of around ten names, and Lumis wasn't one of them. There was, however, another name on this list who wasn't released, who he refused to disclose.

"I got the list of, it was like ten names or whatever, and then a few hours later, there were ten names that came out that had been cut. I don’t know why I thought about doing it, but I decided I was going to match them up... In fact, the list that I received did not have Dexter Lumis, but it had another name who I’m not going to mention, who was listed as being cut, and then they weren’t cut. So, the point of all of this is, these blokes have no idea what’s going on," Alvarez said. (H/T RingsideNews)

Lumis is currently under a 30-day non-compete clause and is likely to return to the ring once the stipulated period is over. He will be known as Samuel Shaw moving forward, the name he used on the independent circuit before signing with WWE.

What was Dexter Lumis up to on NXT 2.0?

Dexter signed his WWE contract in 2019 and has feuded with the likes of Johnny Gargano, Roderick Strong, and Cameron Grimes. He also notably featured in the wedding segment on the final episode of NXT's black-and-gold era, alongside Indi Hartwell.

Before his shocking release, Dexter Lumis was involved in some big storylines on NXT 2.0. He and his on-screen wife Indi Hartwell were engaged in a rivalry with fellow on-screen couple Duke Hudson and Persia Pirotta, the latter of whom was also recently released. The storyline revolved around the four superstars trying to prove who the more attractive couple was.

Lumis' last NXT match was a tag team match, where he teamed with Duke Hudson against NXT Tag Champions Pretty Deadly but failed to win the titles.

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