Earlier this year, Andre Chase was released from his WWE contract, bringing a five-year NXT run to an end. During an appearance on YouTube channel The Wrestling Classic, Chase revealed that he was aware of an entirely different plan before the decision was made to end his faction Chase University in 2024."It was not supposed to be the end of Chase U; it was supposed to be the end of that version of Chase U," he said.From the time of Ridge Holland's introduction to the faction in the spring of 2024, all the way up through Holland's departure and their pair of singles matches on "WWE NXT," Chase believed the group would continue with some major changes."Creatively, that was the only thing that was laid out to me in advance, and it happened exactly as it was laid out," Chase said of the storyline with Holland. "So probably the week before [the feud ends], they tell me, 'Chase U is no more, as it is now."
The dissolution of the close-knit team hit Chase hard. Still, when Chase U disbanded, there had been a plan in place for Chase to form a new version of the group, but it didn't happen as initially laid out."They told me it was going to be Uriah [Connors], and Kale [Dixon], and BJ Ray," Chase said. "I was going to be Will Ferrell in 'Old School.' They were these frat guys who were partying and this and that, and I was going to be down on my luck because I had lost the University. ... They were going to recruit me, build me back up."The storyline would've then seen Chase take on some of the more frat-like attributes of his new teammates, but for various reasons, including injuries, the story didn't play out as it was planned. Chase ended up working with Connors and Dixon to form a new version of the group but it did not meet Chase's expectation for what would take place.If you use any quotes from this article, please credit the Wrestling Classic and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
