Two former WWE NXT wrestlers work AEW Dark tapings

AEW usually makes use of local free agent talent for their YouTube shows. They’re taping episodes of Dark at Universal Studios in Orlando this weekend, and that means some of those local wrestlers will have worked at the WWE Performance Center.

Two recent releases from WWE’s Developmental system who spent some time on NXT television worked Dark matches (not to be confused with dark matches) on Sat., July 16.

Just a month after being a surprising cut, Troy “Two Dimes” Donovan wrestled as Cole Karter on this afternoon’s taping. He wrestled several times in AEW last year, but today he picked up his first win in the company, beating Mike Orlando. As Donovan, he was in the midst of a push in Tony D’Angelo’s family when he was fired over a “policy issue”. The door is said to be open for a return to WWE down the line, but for now, they killed the 22 year old’s character off on television.

Parker “Harland” Boudreaux’s release came as part of a mass release back in April. The so-called “Brock Lesnar clone” who worked with Joe Gacy on NXT TV already appeared an MLW event since being cut by WWE. On Dark, he aligned with Ariya Daivari (now calling himself Ari) in a stable called the Trust Busters. Boudreaux wrestled using his real name and defeated Serpentico.

There’s no word that either man has signed any kind of deal with AEW, but we’ll keep you posted.