First Indian female wrestler Kavita Devi released by WWE

As per US time zone, it happened a few hours ago in what appears to be part of a major let-go from the NXT roster, similar to the COVID-19 related budget-cut releases from the main roster last month. However, this time it was the unused talents from NXT that were released.

Overall, eight such talents were released from their contracts, as given below:

– Drake Wuertz (referee)

– Alexander Wolfe (former member of SAnitY faction on NXT and main roster)

– Kavita Devi (first-ever Indian female talent to be signed with WWE)

– Brandi Lauren / Skyler Story (former EVOLVE star)

– Jake Clemons

– Ezra Judge / EJ Nduka

– Jessamyn Duke (member of former MMA/UFC Four-Horsewomen group alongside Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, and Marina Shafir)

– Vanessa Borne (former NXT Superstar)

Kavita Devi whose real name is Kavita Dalal, was signed by the WWE in October 2017. She flew to the United States after being selected to participate in the inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament earlier that year. She came up short in the first-round match against former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion Dakota Kai.

But the fact that Devi, an Indian talent performed on WWE TV garnered major attention from the audience as the video of Kai vs Devi racked up over 62 million views on WWE’s YouTube channel. This led the biggest professional wrestling promotion of the world to offer a deal for the former TV presenter and powerlifter.

The first female pro wrestler of Indian nationality to wrestle for the WWE was last seen in action at the July 27, 2019, NXT live event that took place at Ft. Pierce, Florida. It was a non-televised live event in which she lost to the former NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai. Later, she was reportedly sidelined from in-ring action.

The belief is that Kavita Devi picked up an ACL injury during her WWE journey. Following her last match on NXT, she returned to Punjab, India, and opted to stay back. She was scheduled to work for the WWE Superstar Spectacle taping, an event that was dedicated to the Indian audience.

Despite WWE promoting her for the show that aired on January 26, Indian Republic Day, Kavita Devi missed the taping that went down at the Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay, Florida. Some sort of family emergency was stated as the reason. Since she hasn’t returned to the United States for almost a couple of years, her release was inevitable.

That being said, the greatest achievement for Kavita Devi remains an appearance (first Indian woman to make it to a WrestleMania match card) on the main show of WrestleMania 34 as part of the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal in 2018. The only third TV appearance of Devi in WWE ended via an early elimination from that over-the-top-rope challenge that was won by Naomi.