Backstage News On Why Timothy Thatcher Signed With WWE

As noted, WWE announced this week that Timothy Thatcher and Killer Kross have signed with the company. They reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando and will start with WWE NXT soon.

The 36 year old Thatcher, who turns 37 in mid-March, reportedly signed with WWE because he couldn't land a contract with any of the top promotions in Japan, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. He has been trying to land a contract in Japan as that was his goal, but he was unsuccessful.

Thatcher had been on WWE's radar since WrestleMania 31 Weekend in 2015. It was noted that Thatcher impressed WWE officials with his win over Kassius Ohno at the WWNLive "Mercury Rising" Supershow in San Jose, CA on March 28, 2015, and has had an open offer from WWE ever since then. Meltzer also noted that while WWE made an offer to Thatcher then, that "wasn't his thing" as he had a regular job in Sacramento, and was content doing what he was doing. He ended up leaving his job and going to Germany to work the indie scene there. Thatcher's idea was to break into Japan, and that never happened. Now he's finally made the decision to sign with WWE.

The hard-hitting Thatcher has worked for several top promotions on his journey to WWE – wXw, EVOLVE, Championship Wrestling From Hollywood, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, PROGRESS Wrestling, MLW, RevPro, CZW, and others.

You can click here to read WWE's full announcement on signing Kross and Thatcher.