Although Dennis was cut, he wanted to show up to support his friend.
In early September of 2022, WWE presented their Clash at the Castle Premium Live Event from Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. Several weeks prior to the event, WWE shut down its NXT U.K. brand and announced intentions to launch NXT Europe.
Former NXT U.K. talent and Wales native Eddie Dennis told the Wrestling With Johners Podcast that several weeks prior to NXT U.K. going on hiatus, he went to Wales to do media for WWE to promote Clash at the Castle.
Although he had been cut from the roster, Dennis still attended the Premium Live Event to show support for his longtime friend Pete Dunne, who accompanied Sheamus to the ring for his match at the event. Dennis added that he’s not upset about being let go at that time and said it’s just business.
It was a really funny time (following NXT U.K. hiatus) because the WWE is so fluid. Decisions happen there so quickly, so fast-moving that you should never be surprised when this stuff happens but, three weeks prior, maybe four weeks prior, I literally got on a train and went to Cardiff to do a day of media for the WWE with regards to Clash at the Castle. So, I went and did a bunch of Welsh-language media for the WWE with regards to Clash at the Castle like three weeks before we all got released and then they ran the Clash at the Castle show so, it was a funny old time. I know a lot of the guys sort of didn’t want to go to the Castle but, all I could think was one of my best friends, Pete Dunne, was gonna walk out in front of 60,000 people. A 15-minute walk away from Cathays Community Centre where we’d put on the really early ATTACK! shows and I couldn’t not want to watch him do that, you know what I mean? So I was super psyched that I went to watch it and I saw my friend have that sort of milestone moment in his career and then the day after, I had a cool milestone moment in my career, albeit down the road in front of many less people against Spike (Trivet). Someone who, again, I had a little hand in training and someone who I’m extremely proud of the professional wrestler he became. So that moment was equally special for me. When you tell the story, it sounds like you should be super pissed off and really bitter and angry. But, I just wasn’t. I kind of understood the business decision when they decided to close the brand and I was psyched to have been a part of it for as long as I was a part of it and I was really excited that the city where I went to university and the capital city of my home country and I’m really proud to sort of be Welsh. It was sort of taken over by the WWE that weekend and I was excited to be a part of it, albeit an independent show on the fringe of it as opposed to the big show itself. It was cool. I was more happy than anything else. It really wasn’t much of that bittersweet. It was just a cool weekend.
Dennis opened up about missing NXT U.K. TakeOver: Cardiff in 2019. He said that was bittersweet. He was recovering from an injury but felt like he could have competed. Dennis was of the mindset that he’d be cleared to compete in his home country.
He put members of his family on the reservation list because he was expecting to be good to go. Although he was not, he expressed that it brought him to tears to see longtime friends Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster capture the NXT U.K. Tag Team Championships. He added that Clash at the Castle was not bittersweet because he was certain he was not going to be on that show.
Yeah, there was way more bittersweet in TakeOver: Cardiff than there was at Clash at the Castle. At Clash at the Castle, I could just enjoy it for what it was. TakeOver: Cardiff was real, real, real bittersweet because you’re exactly right, it was coming up to the end of my injury. I actually felt like I could have gone out there and wrestled. I felt absolutely fine, I was in good shape and in the buildup to it, I’d kind of been telling myself, ‘I’m gonna be cleared by TakeOver: Cardiff.’ But, of course they’re not necessarily going to manage to write you into story by then or have something for you on the show but, I was desperate, desperate, desperate, desperate to be a part of that show and obviously because the first TakeOver in Blackpool, I was a part of that show, and then for the second TakeOver to be in Cardiff, you kind of look at it and you think, they probably will do something with Eddie at TakeOver: Cardiff, and I do think that if I hadn’t gotten injured, I probably would have been a part of that show in some capacity. I’ll never know. So, they released a guest list for talent way, way, way early. So my wife and my mom came to the show, because I’d arranged guest lists for them months and months prior when I was still telling myself that I was gonna be on that show, you know? So that’s kind of a level of bittersweetness. I had guests there to watch me perform and I wasn’t on the show. I was just sort of sat backstage, but then, it’s really just bitter. It’s not even sweet. It’s just bitter to be honest. It just sucks the whole time and then one of the people who works for the WWE sort of arranged for me to get out into the crowd for the tag match because I wanted to watch Flash (Morgan Webster) and Mark (Andrews) from the crowd… And yeah, I found myself in tears in the crowd when that reaction hit and they won the Tag Titles and then certainly the sweet spot of the bittersweet moment hit because I couldn’t have been more happy for two of my best friends and I rushed backstage after. I was out there in the crowd for the whole thing and then I rushed backstage and gave them a big hug… I was absolutely delighted for them so, that moment is absolute magic in my heart. It’s another one that I’ll kind of remember forever, albeit, it didn’t directly involve me. But it’ll always be sad that I was hurt during a Premium Live Event for my brand in Wales, because all signs point to the fact that I would have probably been involved in it. I guess that’s why Clash isn’t as bitter, right? Realistically, I wasn’t gonna be on Clash so, whether I was fired by WWE during the time the Clash happened or not doesn’t really change anything, you know?
In 2023, Dennis was hired back by WWE as a writer and producer for the NXT brand. In November, he came to terms with WWE on a release.
He came out of retirement from in-ring competition and is now back active on the independent scene in the UK.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit the Wrestling With Johners Podcast with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
