Why NXT Star Was Left Out Of Dusty Rhodes Classic Revealed

With the announcement that NXT would be holding a women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, many expected Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir to compete. However, Duke was left off the bracket.

Now, Fightful Select (subscription required) is reporting that Duke is focusing on creating content for UpUpDownDown. The report notes that she was a full-time streamer when she was hired for WWE. This has transitioned into her creating digital content for the company full-time. She was said to prefer this role rather than wrestling during the pandemic.

The report also says that Marina Shafir was always planned to enter the tournament with someone else. As such, she is currently scheduled to team with Zoey Stark in the first round.

There are reportedly no plans for Duke to wrestle or figure into NXT plans while she works on UpUpDownDown. She has not wrestled since she appeared on Raw Underground last year.

The women’s Dusty Rhodes Classic is set to begin on tonight’s episode of NXT. Meanwhile, the men’s tournament began last week with MSK, Undisputed Era, and The Grizzled Young Veterans advancing to the second round.

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