Jake Atlas is back! The former NXT Superstar put a pin in his retirement plans and made his All Elite Wrestling debut at the recent Dark/Dark Elevation tapings at Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
In his first match since September, the 26-year-old defeated Serpentico and earned a handshake from AEW president Tony Khan after the bell.
Jake Atlas officially signed with WWE in October of 2019, although his involvement with the company began when he appeared on Stephanie McMahon's episode of Celebrity Undercover Boss in 2018. In that episode, Atlas promised Stephanie that he would one day become the first-ever openly gay WWE Champion. Sadly, Atlas was released by WWE on August 6th along with several of his now-former NXT colleagues including Bronson Reed, Asher Hale, Tyler Rust, Giant Zanjeer, Zechariah Smith, referee Stephon Smith, Kona Reeves, and Ari Sterling.
In September, Atlas announced that he would be stepping away from the world of professional wrestling to focus on other ventures while taking his mental health seriously.
"I’m not concussed or “banged up.” I simply just can’t keep going anymore. Take your mental health seriously, both for yourselves & for each other, because we only have one life to live. Thank you to anyone who did support me for 5 years. I didn’t do much, but what I did was fun," Atlas wrote in a since-deleted tweet.
That same month, Atlas (real name, Kenny Marquez) took to Twitter to discuss WWE's policy of reimbursing talent for therapy costs. Atlas was responding to a tweet from Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, who pointed out that WWE had reminded members of its roster of the aforementioned policy in the aftermath of the tragic suicide of former WCW star Shannon "Daffney" Spruill. As we previously reported, on September 2nd, it was confirmed that Daffney had sadly taken her own life after struggling with mental health issues
"I certainly don’t want to make this about me but this is important to speak up about," Atlas wrote. "WWE paid for 6 months of my therapy & quite literally saved my life. Not everything is what it seems. People who are truly suffering from mental illness learn how to hide it well. Reach out," he finished.