Andy Leavine Talks About His WWE Release & His Future Plans

Recently released WWE developmental wrestler and the latest Tough Enough winner Andy Leavine discussed his release with The Full Nelson. Here are some of the highlights:

On the news of his release from WWE and why it happened: "To be honest, man, I wish I knew the whole story of why I was released. It was one of those things where (John) Laurinaitus called me up and told me I wasn't progressing enough down there at FCW. So, they released me to go out on the independent scene and gain a little experience. ... Yeah (I was released over the phone)."

On what reason he was given for his release: "To be honest with you, for whatever reason, FCW wasn't a good fit for me. I was born and raised in Tampa and it just wasn't a good environment for me. I was only wrestling maybe once every two or three weeks. When you're breaking into something, that's no way to learn. Kind of struggling and whatnot. To be honest with you, I think it was the best thing for me."

On what he plans on doing now that he's been released: "Just go out there and work, man — have matches. It's the only way you get better at something. Back when I played football, the only way you learned is getting your ass on the fire. That's what I intend to do.

"I've been in contact with a couple of different promotions — UCW and CPR in Puerto Rico. So, I think I'm going to be heading down to Puerto Rico on the 14th of July. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to work and earn my grit."

On the people he's heard from since his release: "I've heard from Matt from Tough Enough. He gave me a bit of encouragement. He was a really cool guy on the show and he's a cool dude in real life. I heard from a couple of guys from WWE developmental. I talked to Bill DeMott and he encouraged me to keep at it. He said that a lot of people out there liked me, but they want me to go out and get a little more experience."

To check out the rest of the interview, click here.