Earlier today, news broke that a WWE NXT star had become a free agent.
Sarray signed with WWE in 2020, and despite once being a highly touted prospect, the star hasn’t wrestled in over seven months. According to a report from Tokyo Sports, the star’s contract with WWE is up and she will be returning to Japan.
The report also stated she will be competing in her first match on Japanese soil in two years. She is scheduled to appear at the Shinjuku Face Tournament on May 16th, which has been named “Sareee-ISM”. Her return is set to be announced at a press conference on March 13.
After making her television debut in 2021, the star took time away from TV and returned in early 2022 with a divisive gimmick after saying she’d returned to Japan to refocus her energy. Dressed as a schoolgirl with pigtails, Sarray would transform into a warrior with the help of a magic medallion from her grandmother.
The new gimmick didn’t garner her much more success, and she suffered two straight defeats during her subsequent feud with Tiffany Stratton. Her last WWE outing took place on the August 2nd episode of NXT, where she competed in a losing effort against then-NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose.
Sarray Hasn’t Been Around The WWE NXT Performance Center In “Ages”
Now, an update from Fightful Select shed more light on the situation surrounding Sarray’s NXT departure, stating that the star has been on her way out of the company for quite some time. In fact, the report states that the “beginning of the end” actually came in early 2022, when many of her supporters in the company were released from their contracts. William Regal, who was released in January of 2022, was one of these supporters, and the report notes that him leaving the company was seen as a turning point.
Sarray hasn’t been heavily factored into creative plans since then, and the report says the “writing was on the wall” by spring of 2022.
Talent who spoke with Fightful haven’t seen Sarray around the Performance Center in “ages,” and those talent weren’t given any information from management when they asked about her whereabouts. It was widely accepted within the NXT roster that the creative direction given to Sarray was bad.
The report also makes note of Sarray’s brief feud with Tiffany Stratton, saying the star was happy to help Stratton during their time working together. Despite a language barrier, Fightful states that Sarray had no trouble working with anyone on the roster and that no one has had anything negative to say about the star behind the scenes.
Before her time in NXT, wrestling as Sareee, she appeared for World Woman Pro Wrestling Diana, SEAdLINNNG, and Sendai Girls Pro Wrestling. The Japanese star is a former two-time World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana World Champion, former Sendai Girls World Champion, JWP Junior Champion and SEAdLINNNG Beyond The Sea Tag Team Champion.