Mike Johnson of PW Insider reports that former MLW Champion Shane Strickland is departing the company after next month’s mid-December television tapings in Miami, FL (12/13 and 12/14). According to Johnson’s sources, there is WWE interest in Shane Strickland and Strickland may appear in NXT as early as January 2019, as WWE is set to announce a new class of signings shortly after Strickland’s MLW contract comes to an end. Johnson also adds that Strickland has been competing in WWE ‘conduit’ EVOLVE since August.
According to Johnson,
MLW has been preparing for Strickland’s departure for some time and at one point, he was going to be written out of storylines following the MLW Wargames event over the summer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which is why the company booked him to be destroyed and carried out without being able to complete the match. Instead, Strickland turned at the Chicago tapings last week, playing an angry role where he has come out against the product MLW is producing and the fans who are supporting it. That turn and Strickland’s storylines will close out next month in Miami.
