It looks like WWE decided to release a few of their developmental talents in the last few days. Abbey Laith & Sage Beckett are the most prominent names released.
Abbey Laith, who is known on the indies as Kimber Lee, competed in the Mae Young Classic and made sporadic appearancesย on NXT TV. She was not seen on TV or live events for a few months.
https://twitter.com/AbbeyLaithWWE/status/971781378072301568
As for why, there are rumors of a wellness violation, but also just a bad attitude and failure to adhere to the NXT/WWE system. Including not helping her then-roommate, Welsh star Nicon Newell, deal with a torn ACL
Maybe if she cared for Nixon when she got her ACL surgery and WWE didn't make KLR fly over to help her she wouldn't have gotten in hot water with management but ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ
— ๐ฌ๐ช๐ผ๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฎ๐ต (@ifyouseekcasey) March 8, 2018
Cause I got a lot of dms. I never heard of Abbey failing wellness. Just the Nixon situation and her showing up to training late a few times. Sheโs super talented. Just didnโt work in the wwe scheme it seems.
— ๐ฌ๐ช๐ผ๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฎ๐ต (@ifyouseekcasey) March 9, 2018
Sage Beckett was also a Mae Young Classic competitor, there were rumors that she was transitioning into a role backstage, possibly as a commentator, but it looks like she was just fully released from her contract. If you remember, it was speculated that she was going to be the literal manifestation of Sister Abigail late last year.
Laith and Beckett were signed at the same time as Ruby Riott in January of 2017. The fourth woman hired at that time is Zeda, a former model, and MMA competitor who also competed in the Mae Young classic. As for right now, here job appears to be safe, and she appears regularly on NXT live events in Florida.
Riott faces Charlotte Flair at Fastlane for the Smackdown Women’s Title and has been a top-heel in the Smackdown Women’s Division since her debut in November of 2017.
Why Abbey Laith Failed And Ruby Riott Succeeded.
It is interesting to note the different directions Riott and Laith went in, career-wise. Both were considered huge signings, as the two had been massive indie stars in the women’s scene. Riott rose not just to the main roster but became the top heel on television in less than a year while Laith floundered in developmental. We probably won’t ever know the real reasons, but this just shows you that there is no guarantees in WWE. Their developmental system is about weeding out those that can’t make just as much as it is growing future stars. Riott worked in the system. Laith didn’t. I expect to see Laith back in the indies very soon. She was maineventing across the country before she was signed, and there’s no reason to think that won’t continue to happen.
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