Retribution was poised to be the next big faction in wrestling during the summer of 2020, but that thought was short-lived as promos and vignette’s featuring the group went nowhere.
Several NXT stars, including Dominik Dijakovic (T-Bar), Dio Maddin (Mace), Shane Thorne (Slap Jack), Mercedes Martinez (Retaliation), and Mia Yim (Reckoning), were all part of the faction, and Mustafa Ali was revealed as the leader of the group. Although, Mustafa Ali evidently wasn’t always the plan.
During an appearance on the Two Man Power Trip podcast, Shane Thorne discussed the storyline. Thorne began by stating that his theory for why the group came apart was due to the angle’s timing, as WWE was operating with a restricted roster in the Performance Center at the time. Names that group members pitched to lead the group included Shane McMahon, Edge, and Vince McMahon before WWE landed on Ali.
So, that was the thing, we kept — we pitched ideas to have a lot of different people as the leader. We wanted Shane McMahon or Edge or just someone higher, as high as possible, we went as high as possible. We pitched for Vince to be the leader as well. We went as high as possible for who the leader would be. So, we wanted to be attached to one of the main characters and I guess at the start, we were. We were doing stuff with Bray Wyatt and Hurt Business which you know, was [Bobby] Lashley so…
Several of the group’s members including Mercedes Martinez, Shane Thorne, and Mia Yim were eventually released by WWE.
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