Chase U doesn’t feel that same without Duke Hudson.
The moment the duo linked up in 2022, Chase U felt like a special and unique group that would be one of the defining acts on NXT and WWE for years to come. And they were. At least in NXT.
Interesting enough, Hudson was not originally penciled in as a member of Chase U. Hudson was doing his own thing down in the developmental brand, but the then NXT star was a fan of Chase U. Apparently, WWE officials saw him in Chase U attire and thought it was a good idea to put him into the group.
“I’m wearing Chase U shirt around because I loved what they were doing,” Duke recalled on That Sweet Pop. “I don’t know if that’s what gave them the idea, but before I know it, I was in Chase U. That’s probably what happened, ‘Put him in that. Maybe he wants to be in that.’ They had Bohdi at the time, but they wrote Bohdi off and put me in his place. It was only meant to be a very short run of me in Chase U.
I think I was meant to turn on him…they kept postponing it. I think, from memory, it was meant to be me and Chase at Stand & Deliver, but they ended up being the Gacy match, which was a fun storyline, but they put us on the pre-show. I was pretty upset about that because I felt like we had such a good angle and a very good payoff that it deserved to be on the main show. There are reasons. We won’t worry about that. It was a lot of fun.”
Unfortunately, the group would finally disband in late 2024 after Hudson lost a match to Ridge Hudson. The 35-year-old would eventually be released from WWE in January 2025.
The group would reform with Andre Chase, Thea Hail, Uriah Connors and Kale Dixon, though the faction isn’t used as prominently as they were before they disbanded the original team in late 2024. To be quite honest, Chase U 2.0 hasn’t really felt the same as the original faction with Hail, Hudson, and Andre.
Duke Hudson has moved on. The former NXT star has been competing on the independent scene since April. Check out the full interview where Hudson talks about being called up to WWE as Brendan Vink, Duke U, and what the future lies now that he’s no longer in WWE.