Tyler Rust looks back on his time with the NXT brand.
Back in December of 2020, Tyler Rust was announced to be joining the WWE. This past June, alongside Roderick Strong, Malcolm Bivens and Hideki Suzuki, Tyler was re-introduced as a member of Diamond Mine. The group debuted by ambushing NXT Cruiserweight Champion KUSHIDA and had a near two-month run with the original on-screen members before Tyler was released on August 6th.
Tyler was in the middle of a storyline when he was released and several weeks prior, he and Roderick Strong had taken on KUSHIDA and Bobby Fish in a tag team match. Rust appeared on The Wrestling Inc. Daily show and said his release came as a surprise. He does not harbor any negative feelings towards WWE and feels he was used well during his time there.
I mean yeah. I’ve talked to a few good people who [also] got the news that day and even the guys who got the clean-up round beforehand. I’m pretty sure all of us felt it was a bit of a shock when it happened. So, I mean, I was out of town actually in Myrtle Beach with my brother at the time, just a little getaway for the weekend and yeah, you get the phone call and I just kind of sat there for a minute on the beach just thinking about it like, ‘Okay, this is gonna change life for a while.’ But, it’s not the end of the road, it’s just a turn on the road so, it’s been a good long run. I was there for a good solid year for ‘em and they used me really well the entire time. They never once [hindered] me, they always made me look well. I had a great experience honestly with every single person I worked with, all the agents, coaches, wrestlers. Man it was a great experience for me honestly. They made me look good, used well, everybody’s awesome to work with so, NXT’s a really good spot man.
It was first reported by Fightful Select that Marina Shafir and Arturo Ruas were slated to be a part of Diamond Mine. That has since been confirmed and Tyler added on by sharing that Marina and Arturo both filmed content with Diamond Mine prior to their releases.
It was a complete shock again [Marina Shafir & Arturo Ruas being released from WWE]. Same thing as when I got my call. I remember talking with Marina and Ruas like the very next day actually afterwards like, ‘What’s going on? You guys are supposed to be with us.’ We had filmed some things together so, they were both very, very talented in their background skills and while they were still a little green on the wrestling side, they learned it so well and Marina was gonna be so badass in the ring. I was training with her then, I was like, ‘She is gonna be a badass girl when she starts doing these matches.’ She was ready to do something killer in that ring. So it really, really sucks that she got let go for now and who knows, life is long. Maybe she ends up coming back in a year. Maybe Ruas does. Maybe it doesn’t happen. It’s a lot of different roads we all go on but I really hope she can showcase how badass she was becoming because I was training with her a good bit and man, she’s a killer. She’s definitely a killer.
Prior to joining WWE, Tyler Rust was becoming a regular on the NJPW STRONG program. He had also competed in Ring of Honor’s Pure Title tournament.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit The Wrestling Inc. Daily with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
