Riley Osborne Denies He Didn't Want To Work WWE Evolve

Riley Osborne has addressed reports that he didn't want to work WWE Evolve tapings, a decision which reportedly contributed to his WWE release.

Osborne (AKA Josh Terry) was one of 16 talents let go on Friday, May 2 as part of post-WrestleMania 41 cuts. It was noted by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer following Osborne's release that his exit wasn't related to his performance on-screen, with Bryan Alvarez later reporting that Osborne made it clear he didn't want to work on WWE Evolve.

Osborne has since denied this was the case, however, writing on X/Twitter:

"I worked the first set of Evolve tapings the day after my wife was released. When I was told by head coach on a phone call that night I can have it off tomorrow if I need time with my wife as we had to pull out of the house we were like 2 weeks from closing on, all I had to do was tell him yea I'd like just a day to be with her.

"I was the first person in that building the next day and was commended on my professionalism. I will not have my work ethic questioned when I was busting my ass off in rehab to return which I knew the return would have been on Evolve. Not everything you read online is true."

Osborne worked twice at Evolve tapings in February, losing to Oro Mensah and picking up a win over Javier Bernal. Osborne suffered an injury around this time and he was out of action when WWE released him. He is subject to a 30-day non-compete clause.

Osborne is married to Bea Priestley (FKA Blair Davenport). Her WWE non-compete clause is due to expire this week.

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