At midnight on Tuesday, Tye Dillinger announced on his Twitter that he had requested his release from the WWE.
— Shawn Spears™️ (@ShawnSpears) February 20, 2019
Should Tye Dillinger be granted his release, it would end his second stint with the WWE, this one kicking off in 2013. He had worked for WWE in developmental prior, from 2005 to 2008. In his second run with the company, his “10” gimmick gained an immense cult following and he became one of Full Sail’s most beloved stars.
But after a hot main roster debut at Royal Rumble 2017 at the number 10 position, Dillinger has spent the last two years up and down on the SmackDown Live roster (mostly down). His last televised match was on September 25, 2018, in a US Championship match against Shinsuke Nakamura. Oddly enough, many NXT fans hoped this was going to start a feud, as the two were well versed in fighting each other from their NXT days together. But after a defeat to Shinsuke, Dillinger was never seen on WWE television again in-ring. He had been working the last few weeks of the SmackDown Live Event circuit facing EC3 and Shelton Benjamin, which sadly could have been intriguing programs on television.
