WWE no longer scouting independent wrestling for new talent signings

In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that according to several WWE sources, “the word from the top is no more independent talent as far as scouting and such” and that “AEW can have all the independent talent to itself.”

Meltzer added that like with most “no more” doctrines in pro wrestling, it never really means that and he guarantees it will change at some point in the future.

The philosophy change is the latest pivot in a year full of them for WWE as NXT undergoes “a complete revamp” according to WWE president Nick Khan.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani during SummerSlam weekend, Khan said, “We believe, because of lot of the ‘indie wrestlers’ if you will have come through our system and are in our system with SmackDown and Raw now, we don’t want to just keep doing that same thing. We want to look elsewhere for great young talent.”

Another round of cuts earlier this month led by Vince McMahon saw thirteen NXT and 205 Live talents released along with word that they will recruit taller and bigger talents that they feel could be box office attractions, could headline a WrestleMania, and are in their 20s.

An open workout during SummerSlam weekend in Las Vegas saw over a dozen new signees, most of which didn’t have pro wrestling experience.

NXT taped several weeks of their Tuesday show earlier this month as they upgrade the Performance Center to be more TV-friendly with more lighting and more color. The new logo debuted on Friday’s SmackDown.

AEW’s Tony Khan replied to a tweet about the news with this GIF and this image from the movie Boiler Room.