Drake Younger To Resume His In-Ring Career Following WWE Departure
Former WWE NXT referee Drake Younger (Drake Wuertz) is apparently resuming his in-ring career now that he is no longer with WWE.
Drake, who was released last Wednesday with several other NXT budget cuts, took to Instagram over the weekend and teased a ring return by posting two photos from his wrestling days. He then announced on Monday that he will be returning to in-ring action on Saturday, June 26 in Orlando, Florida at the "Take Down Trafficking: A Benefit for Bikers Against Trafficking" event.
"Back to my 'Younger' days," he wrote on Instagram. "Returning to in-ring action for a great cause on June 26th in O-Town 'Take Down Trafficking' A Benefit for Bikers Against Trafficking. Special VIP ticket holders will have early entry and take place in a meet and greet with former WWE and International superstars Matt Morgan and Low-Ki! The Operation Underground Railroad volunteers will be there in support as well. Stop by our table to see how you can get involved in the fight to eradicate Child Trafficking. Come enjoy a great night of Pro Wrestling and take a stand against Human Trafficking! #endHumanTraffickingX #prowrestling #imback"
The show with Drake's ring return will be held at the Boardwalk Bowl Entertainment Center in Orlando at 7pm ET that night. General Admission tickets are $20, while VIP tickets are $30. VIP ticket holders will receive early entry to a meet & greet with former WWE Superstars Matt Morgan and Low Ki. You can find details on the limited capacity tickets at this link.
Younger made his pro wrestling debut back in 2001 and has worked for several promotions, including CZW, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, EVOLVE, Dragon Gate USA, IWA Mid-South, and CHIKARA, among others. He held several heavyweight and tag team titles across the indies and was also a top Deathmatch worker. In just CZW he was a Triple Crown Champion and a 2016 Hall of Famer, and won the Tournament of Death VI. Drake has wrestled several top talents in his career, including Adam Cole, Timothy Thatcher, Tommaso Ciampa, Sami Callihan, Kyle O'Reilly, Sonjay Dutt, Brian Cage and Rocky Romero, among others. The former NXT head referee was trained by Chris Hero, Ian Rotten, American Kickboxer and Low Ki.
Younger signed with WWE as a referee in March 2014, after working a WWE Performance Center tryout in December 2013. He worked his last several indie matches in April 2014, and has worked with NXT ever since then.
It was reported last week that Drake had already started reaching out to indie promotions shortly after his release was revealed online. You can click here for a recent report on how Drake's actions led to controversy within the company.
Stay tuned for more on Drake's post-WWE future. Below are the related Instagram posts: