Parker Boudreaux says he was released from WWE right after getting a pay raise | Exclusive
Parker Boudreaux has opened up about his journey and exit from WWE.
In a recent exclusive with F4WON, former college footballer Parker Boudreaux opened up about his journey to WWE and exit from there. Boudreaux joined WWE NXT in 2021 and was soon promoted to be a television character.
Speaking on his first run with WWE NXT under Triple H, the 28-year-old shared, “For me, it was amazing because right when I got there, you know, of course everybody was saying the Brock Lesnar stuff, but then once they saw me train and, you know, work, you know, some promos and do the stuff, they gave me my character and that was Harland. I got the Harland character a couple of months into training, after probably like six, seven months of training, I got the Harland character.”
However, while doing so, he also revealed a dark secret of the WWE Performance Center. “And so what an honor, because I didn’t think I was gonna get on TV that quickly, because there were a lot of people at the PC. I don’t think a lot of people know this, but a lot of people at the PC, there’s five to seven years that you go without even being on TV sometimes. Like, there’s some people that are just at the PC for years and years and never have seen TV, who are just training, maybe waiting for that great moment.“
Although the youngster believed he was doing a good job because of the pay raise he had received, WWE certainly had other plans for him. While rarely seen, Boudreaux was released by WWE just days after giving him a raise.
“I was grateful for my time in WWE because I could definitely see myself back in WWE soon. And just what an honor to be in the WWE, and I was on TV every Tuesday. I was doing a great job, I thought, because I got a raise, you know, two weeks before I got released. So, um, when I got released, obviously, it was super blindsiding and super unexpected, probably the most unexpected thing in a while. But looking back at it, of course, now I just realize that’s the pro wrestling business. It could’ve been anything, you know? For me, I knew I put my 100% work ethic in there, and now I’ve just grown tremendously internationally, and all these different techniques, living in the dojo in Japan for years. And, you know, just all the things that I’ve done now, I think it’s just showing my passion for it, which I don’t think they maybe was seen when I got from college football to WWE ’cause I just started WWE,” he shared.
Opening up more about his WWE release, the current OPW Global Champion shared, “This was before TKO, so I don’t know how it is now. But when I was there, it was, like, COVID time, so it was, like, everybody was still kinda sick and stuff like that, and you had to get tested a lot. But for me, it was like I just did a workout at the performance center, did, like, a live PC. I thought it was, like, a great day, and I just got back to my apartment, I got the call from Mr. [John] Laurinaitis, and they said it was budget cuts. So for me, it was like, looking back now, Mr. Laurinaitis is not in the WWE now, so it’s like there’s this, you know, there’s more new people in there now. There are different people. He’s not in there. You know, so it’s the person that fired me that is not even there, and I talk to, you know, many superstars still in the WWE now, and Mr. [Paul] Heyman, some other people. So, it’s just I think the relationship with me and WWE is still really solid.”
However, that was not the end of Boudreaux’s pro-wrestling journey. Shortly after leaving WWE, he did tryouts for AEW and was selected there.
Parker Boudreaux recalls his time with AEW and the people there
In the same interview with F4WON, Boudreaux reflected on his time in AEW and the joyous moments he spent there. However, despite a brief television run, Boudreaux was also released by AEW due to his injury.
“It was different, my release, because everybody in the storyline was getting hurt. Trench, the guy with the face tattoos. He got hurt, and then I got hurt with just a sprained wrist, so I was out for like two and a half weeks. And when you get hurt sometimes in some of these companies, some of the time, a lot of the people hurt are in the injury list, and they’re trying to get back, but the storyline’s so short. You know what I mean? There’s only a certain amount of people and whatever. So I was on the injury-prone list to get back. I was ready. I was fully ready for like seven, eight months,” he added.
“But I was in this special class where it was getting back to TV class, so I would go down to Orlando and train every week, sometimes multiple times a week in Orlando with AEW, and that’s when we would do these, you know, specific training sessions where everybody was fully healed from an injury and they’re just trying to get back in the storyline, so they’re just trying to develop their character, but also how to fit on the AEW storyline right now. So it was more of an expected release because there were more people getting released who were just trying to get back from injuries and stuff like that, which I understand.
“It’s like a business, so I get it. But that was a great experience, too, because I was with AEW for over two years, and like I said, traveling like that and getting used to all that and doing some really big matches, and that was really, really fun. So same thing with AEW. I think I’m in a great relationship with them, and it would be, you know, a great, great opportunity to work with WWE, AEW again. I could definitely see it, you know, working for either of those,” he concluded.
Understanding the reason behind his AEW release, Boudreaux addressed his relationship with former AEW World Champion, Swerve Strickland, and boss Tony Khan.
“It was a locker room full of amazing talents. So, I was still super inexperienced. It was a great opportunity for me to be in the locker room with some real veterans, especially Kenny Omega, a person who really dominated Japan, who literally speaks Japanese. Just for me, it was, you know, I’ve had such great opportunities with coaches and feedback and learning from talent, learning from veterans, and I think that’s what’s helped me grow so much in the little amount of time that I’ve had so far. My locker room experience was amazing with AEW, same with WWE. You know, everybody treated me really well.
“Slim J was really, really cool. We were in the Trustbusters together in AEW. Obviously, Swerve Strickland was a huge mentor to me because he’s been a veteran. He’s one of the top or the top guy in AEW right now, and he’s just, you know, what a mentor, what a great guy. He’s helped me out a lot when I was starting in AEW, finding that Parker Boudreaux BFD character. Those people really, really helped me out a lot, man. AEW is a great group of guys. You know, Big Show, Mark Henry, Mr.Tony Khan, he treated me so well. He treated me with so much respect. Mr. Tony Schiavone, you know, had a couple of road trips with him. What a great guy. Just everybody, you know, a great group of guys,” he shared.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
Shounak takes particular interest in soccer, closely following top clubs like Real Madrid and Arsenal. Beyond sports, he enjoys fiction writing, photography, gaming, and cinema.