WWE released Zamariah "ZZ" Loupe from his developmental contract on Thursday.
Pro Wrestling Sheet first reported the move.
Loupe was part of the cast on the latest season of Tough Enough. He was one of the fan favorites of the season but ultimately finished as the male runner-up to winner Josh Bredl.
Being part of the cast for WWE's reality competition show was not the first foray for "ZZ" into reality television. The Baton Rouge, La., previously was on the Swamp People show as a teenager that aired on the History Channel, and was known for wrestling alligators on episodes of that program.
Despite coming up second on the reality show, Loupe signed a developmental deal in September and reported to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando in October of last year.
Loupe's stint in the WWE developmental system was fraught with turmoil -- quite a bit of which was chronicled on the Breaking Ground series that airs on the WWE Network. That series showed Loupe arriving at the Performance Center out of shape, and struggling mightily to keep up during the conditioning drills held at the WWE Performance Center as part of the beginner course of training. In November, Loupe suffered an injury while training that sidelined him for several months.
Loupe recovered from the injury and made his in-ring debut at the end of March at a WWE NXT live event where he defeated Oney Lorcan.
By John Moorehouse
