Report: WWE Referee Drake Wuertz Was Suspended Earlier This Year, Had His Responsibilities Reduced
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NXT referee Drake Wuertz has seen his duties reduced and he’s also been suspended and barred from the WWE Performance Center, a likely response to his conduct in recent months.
On Wednesday, a video showing Wuertz at a Seminole County Board of County Commissioners meeting was posted online, showing him speaking emphatically speaking about a conspiracy theory involving child sex trafficking and COVID-19 mask mandates, which led to more details being revealed about his role in WWE.
According to a report by Fightful Select, Wuertz was replaced as head referee of NXT by Darryl Sharma, and he was passed on for the role as match timer in NXT in favor of Scott Armstrong. It was noted that Wuertz was initially considered for the timing job, but ultimately was not offered the back-up timing job either. According the report, DA Brewer is now in that role, which occasionally leads to timing matches for 205 Live.
In addition to seeing his role reduced, Wuertz was also “formally or informally suspended” earlier this year and wasn’t allowed in the Capitol Wrestling Center for a short period of time. It was noted that several people with notable positions in the company were “horrified” about what they read in an article posted last year by David Bixenspan about Wuertz. Things were made worse by the video that surfaced on Wednesday, and it was explained that many people in NXT that spoke with Fightful expressed that they were surprised he was still there, but thought that his radical beliefs might actually be preventing him from getting fired. It was noted that We’re told that once his suspension was lifted and he returned to the CWC, Wuertz appeared to be more restrained and didn’t show some of the behavior that got him “substantial heat” with people at the PC.