Ashante “Thee” Adonis is gone from WWE.
The 32-year-old confirmed the news of his departure during the second week of August.
It’s sad to see another talent being released, but the news wasn’t surprising. The last time Adonis fought on NXT was in June against Ricky Saints. Ashante ended up on the losing end of the match against the former NXT North American Champion.
In fact, Adonis’ final months in NXT was him jobbing to bigger name talent on the roster. The last time Adonis won a match was back in August 2024. So while it was clear that the writing was on the wall for the former NXT star, he wished during an interview that he was given a shot to prove that was a capable performer during his time in NXT.
“I’m a performer. I’m a performer, I’m an actor.” said on the LiMPiN AiNT EASY podcast. “I know I’m supposed to be in front of the camera, and I really wish that I could have shown that more in WWE. But, that is not up to me.”
Adonis couldn’t control his booking. He tried to seek console from guys like Kofi Kingston and John Cena, who gave him valuable advice about what he should do with his career.
“I’m just trying to do more, I’m always trying to do more, and that’s something Kofi Kingston told me, you know, a few Manias ago was like, ‘You gotta do more. You gotta do more, man,’ and that’s just what I’ve been telling myself. I have to do more, I have to do more, which I have been trying to do. It’s something John Cena told me, ‘You gotta control the controllable,’ and that’s what I’ve been doing.
I can’t control how I’m booked. I can’t control, you know, when they book me. I can control how I look. I can control my body, keep my body in shape, I can control how good I am in the ring, I can control how good I am at talking. I can control… presentation!… You definitely can control that (your attitude), which I have definitely done (he laughed).”
Check out the full interview where Adonis talks about his time in the army, mastering football, martial arts, and acting, and his wrestling journey overall. Ashante is a talented wrestler so he shouldn't have any troubles landing in a different promotion. He's still young, so it's not impossible to believe that he could be back someday.