Grizzled Young Veterans talk WWE departure, TNA (Patreon)

Grizzled Young Vets spoke with Fightful for their first interview after WWE. 

They told Fightful that they'd considered their WWE departure for quite some time, and talked about asking for their releases last year. They said that they actually believed they were on the chopping block in 2022 after NXT 2.0 had taken over, but someone there saw something in them and pitched them as the Dyad. They noted that John Laurinaitis was just firing people left and right. 

They didn't really get a clear direction of Dyad or Schism and said that it was constantly changing. However, James Drake noted that once Ava Raine got involved, he firmly went to WWE and said that this was their chance to really have some direction because of the mainstream attention that the team would get. He said that the team never looked at Ava as The Rock's daughter, because she's her own person. They consider the names Rip Fowler and Jagger Reid dead.

The duo weren't required to go in to the Performance Center daily as a part of their deals, but did go in person to ask for their releases. Zack Gibson and James Drake spoke highly of the coaches there, and said there was no ill will on either side. They wouldn't close the door on a WWE return under the right circumstances. They said that right now they're enjoying their freedom, but would sign with a company with the right situation.

They said that Deadlock Pro running an event the day after their deals were up helped make that their first post-WWE appearance. They're based out of the United States now and are green card holders, but still travel overseas to compete. 

GYV also spoke highly of ABC and the TNA locker room. 

We encourage aggregators to wait until the full interview is out to get their words verbatim.