Von Wagner to compete in first match since April 2024 WWE release

Von Wagner

Image: WWE

For the first time in nearly a year, the former Von Wagner in WWE will step into a wrestling ring.

Announced on Thursday, Wagner (Cal Bloom) will compete at this Saturday’s Mayhem at the Mall afternoon event for Midwest All-Star Wrestling in Maplewood, Minnesota, taking on Shay Diesel.

After five years in the WWE system, the 30-year-old was cut on April 22, 2024 — less than a month after losing to Lexis King on NXT TV.

It’s unclear why he hasn’t worked anywhere since that release.

The son of Wayne Bloom who wrestled as Beau Beverley in WWE, Wagner was a college football player who signed with WWE in 2019 after graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2016. He reported to the Performance Center and made his debut at a NXT house show in May 2019.

He actually made his main roster debut before appearing on NXT TV, losing to Sheamus on an April 2020 edition of SmackDown. He then competed against R-Truth on Main Event that same month and worked two SmackDown dark matches in August/September 2021 before making his NXT TV debut under the Wagner name. His first match was in a four-way for the NXT title as he replaced Kyle O’Reilly.

Eventually aligning with Robert Stone, Wagner remained in NXT for the duration of his run while also making several main roster appearances on Main Event in addition to competing in an Intercontinental title no. 1 contender’s battle royal on a May 2023 Raw.