Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reported the news on April 18. In an update, he wrote that “early indications” suggest that Kushida’s contract expired. It’s unclear whether he was offered a new one.
His last match came on the March 22 episode of NXT Level Up, and he lost his final four bouts.
Kushida signed with WWE in 2019, and he was featured on NXT and 205 Live/NXT Level Up throughout his time there. He won the NXT Cruiserweight Championship once, as he won the gold in April 2021. But the drastic shift NXT 2.0 led the brand to drop the title altogether. In recent months, he has been featured as a member of Jacket Time alongside Ikemen Jiro on NXT 2.0.
Before he signed with WWE, Kushida enjoyed a lot of success with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. He is a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and a two-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion. He also won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in 2015 and 2017, and the Super J Cup in 2016. Additionally, he held the Ring of Honor World Television Championship once.
WrestleZone will provide more details as they become available.
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