On February 4th, Bryan Alvarez reported that WWE would be allowing NXT stars to appear for “select” independent promotions.
It has now been confirmed that the company has agreed to a partnership with the Reality of Wrestling promotion which is run by Booker T. The WWE Hall of Famer also serves as an announcer with WWE’s third brand.
Reality of Wrestling announced the deal on social media and revealed that Ivy Nile will be making her debut with the promotion on February 11th.
“Reality of Wrestling is taking the roster to the NEXT Level! We are proud to announce that we’ll be working with NXT to bring our fans incredible match ups they can’t see anywhere else.
Don’t miss the chance to see NXT’s @ivynile_wwe in action on Sat, Feb 11th in Texas City.”
Booker T commented that he was excited to merge his NXT favourites with the roster of his students.
Reality of Wrestling graduate Roxanne Perez is the current NXT Women’s Champion having won the title back in December.
WWE Continue To Evolve Their Policy On Where Superstars Can Wrestle
The promotion also appeared to confirm that WWE’s deal to allow stars to appear at “select” independent dates only applies to them.
If said Indie company is owned by @BookerT5x 😂
— Reality of Wrestling (@TheOfficialROW) February 4, 2023
Although the independent promotion in question retains a link with WWE through Booker T, the deal appears to continue WWE’s easing of restrictions on their talent in recent months.
Former World Champion Shinsuke Nakamura appeared for Pro Wrestling NOAH in January wrestling The Great Muta as he brought his career to an end. Interestingly, this deal was initially rejected while Vince McMahon was in charge of creative, and was only approved after Triple H took on the role of Chief Content Officer.
While NXT talents have wrestled outside of the brand previously, this has not been the case for many years. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa were allowed to continue wrestling on the independent scene despite also appearing in NXT back in 2015.