Independent wrestling veteran Necro Butcher has signed a WWE Legends deal despite never wrestling for the company.
Butcher, whose real name is Dylan Summers, announced the agreement Tuesday on Facebook, according to Fightful. A photo included with the post appeared to show a completed WWE Nostalgia Agreement involving Summers and WWE President Nick Khan.
PWInsider later reported that WWE sources confirmed the deal.
“I have signed a basic legends deal with the WWE,” Butcher wrote, according to Fightful. “The offer actually came in the day after I walked out of my job. The timing was ridiculous.”
Butcher said possible projects with WWE have already been discussed, although he did not provide details.
“Now, the door is open for various projects, which have already been discussed,” he wrote. “But I’m taking things slow.”
The signing is unusual because Butcher built his career entirely outside WWE. He became one of the best-known deathmatch wrestlers of his generation through appearances for promotions including IWA Mid-South, Combat Zone Wrestling, Ring of Honor, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and Big Japan Pro Wrestling.
Butcher also appeared in the 2008 film “The Wrestler,” starring Mickey Rourke.
His 2005 match against Samoa Joe at the ECW Arena in Philadelphia was the subject of an episode of Vice TV’s “Dark Side of the Ring” that aired in July. The match became one of the most widely discussed bouts of the independent wrestling scene of that era.
Butcher addressed his unusual path to a WWE contract in his announcement.
“What does this say about my career?” he wrote, according to Fightful. “A man who never worked there. But he worked hard everywhere he went.”
He also said the agreement would not cause him to miss any previously scheduled appearances.
“I hope this leads to more opportunities for guys who never got that call to the big time,” Butcher wrote.
Fightful first reported Butcher’s announcement Tuesday night. PWInsider subsequently reported that WWE sources confirmed the company had signed him to a nostalgia deal.