Unfortunately yes but it doesn't really come as much as a surprise. To me at least. Most of the talent Triple H scouted are either gone or now in AEW ever since he/NXT 'failed' to beat AEW when it debuted (though from what I've seen the general consensus is that he was set up for failure and it was just an excuse to get rid of everything Triple H did in NXT)
I didn't want to double post but both Asuka and Mustafa Ali returned to WWE on Raw last night. Asuka was going to happen eventually but I think the most shocking was Ali considering this past January before the Royal Rumble he was asking for his release.
From the time NXT switched to 2.0 the morale behind the scenes has been declining, because this isn't the NXT that they've known anymore...even though this version of NXT is pretty much what NXT is there for - to be the developmental wing of the WWE - and not the "super indie" brand that Triple H built up. I wasn't too happy about the change and yet I've kept up with NXT since 2.0 started, just to see how things go and to find talent worth investing in because one never knows, some of these Superstars could go on to succeed on the main roster later on. But it's becoming a light version of Raw and not easy to watch from week to week. Even the podcasters that I follow who cover NXT are finding fewer and fewer positives from the show as time goes on and I wonder when they'll decide to call it quits.
I'm behind on this week's content, am hoping to catch up over the weekend, but that's a big surprise about Ali. From the time he asked for his release and with him being absent from TV (plus his social media activities), I thought he was going to be left on the sidelines. Now that he's back, I would think creative has something meaningful for him. Asuka too, I'm curious to know what's next for her. Hopefully she's moved on from being a caricature of herself and is back to being more serious.