WWE.com has announced that Ilja Rukober, Kay Lee Ray, Jazzy Gabert, Oliver Sauter and Jay Melrose have all signed Performance Center deals with the company.
Ray and Gabert both competed in the first-ever Mae Young Classic tournament, and made their NXT UK debuts following their appearances at NXT Takeover Blackpool.
Sauter, 24, comes to NXT UK from Dietikon, Switzerland and is a former soccer standout.
“Primate” Jay Melrose hails from Newcastle, UK, and served in the British army for six years. Finally, Ilja Rukober, better known in the ring as Ilja Dragunov, hails from Russia and Germany.
More On The Hardy Boyz Status
As seen on WWE Smackdown Live this week, Matt Hardy made his WWE in-ring return and teamed up with his brother Jeff to defeat The Bar.
We noted after Hardy’s return that WWE had picked up The Hardy Boyz’s contract option for another year, keeping them in the company until 2020.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE actually invoked the third year option for The Hardy’s several weeks ago, prior to Matt Hardy issuing a Tweet claiming he would become a free agent in pro wrestling in less than two weeks.
Triple H To Respond To Batista
Former WWE Champion Batista made his surprise return to WWE TV on Raw this week, and spoiled Ric Flair’s birthday celebration when The Animal attacked Flair and called out Triple H.
[lawrence-related id=883026]WWE has since released the above video looking at the subsequent back-and-forth which took place between Batista and Ric Flair on Twitter following The Animal’s Raw return. The video also looks at various social media reactions to the ending of Raw, including a Tweet from actor Ken Jeong, who will star alongside Batista in the new movie My Spy.
The video also promises that Triple H will be on hand for Raw next week to respond to Batista’s actions this week, which are likely leading to an Animal vs Game match at WrestleMania.
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