diff --git a/tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/prepare-initial-release/index.spec.ts b/tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/prepare-initial-release/index.spec.ts
index 6d2ed07088a1b3..bec1b9d5a1cbc9 100644
--- a/tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/prepare-initial-release/index.spec.ts
+++ b/tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/prepare-initial-release/index.spec.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import {
   stripIndents,
   readJson,
   updateJson,
-  workspaceRoot,
   installPackagesTask,
 } from '@nrwl/devkit';
 import childProcess from 'child_process';
@@ -121,15 +120,22 @@ describe('prepare-initial-release generator', () => {
 
         sideEffects();
 
-        expect(execSyncSpy.mock.calls.flat()).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-          Array [
-            "yarn change --message 'feat: release preview package' --type minor --package @proj/react-one-preview",
-            Object {
-              "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
-              "stdio": "inherit",
-            },
-          ]
-        `);
+        const execCalls = getExecSpyCalls(execSyncSpy);
+
+        expect(execCalls.length).toEqual(1);
+
+        expect(execCalls[0].cmd).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+          `"yarn change --message 'feat: release preview package' --type minor --package @proj/react-one-preview"`,
+        );
+        expect(execCalls[0].args).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+          { cwd: expect.any(String) },
+          `
+          Object {
+            "cwd": Any<String>,
+            "stdio": "inherit",
+          }
+        `,
+        );
       });
     });
 
@@ -160,7 +166,20 @@ describe('prepare-initial-release generator', () => {
               content: stripIndents`
             import { One } from '@proj/react-one-preview';
 
-            export const App = () => { return <One/> };
+            export const Default = () => <div><One/></div>
+          `,
+            },
+            {
+              filePath: 'packages/react-one-preview/stories/index.stories.tsx',
+              content: stripIndents`
+              import { One } from '@proj/react-one-preview';
+
+              const metadata: ComponentMeta<typeof One> = {
+                title: 'Preview Components/One',
+                component: One,
+              }
+
+              export default metadata;
           `,
             },
           ],
@@ -232,11 +251,24 @@ describe('prepare-initial-release generator', () => {
           "
         `);
         expect(tree.read('packages/react-one/stories/One.stories.tsx', 'utf-8')).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-          "import { One } from '@proj/react-one-preview';
+          "import { One } from '@proj/react-components';
+
+          export const Default = () => (
+            <div>
+              <One />
+            </div>
+          );
+          "
+        `);
+        expect(tree.read('packages/react-one/stories/index.stories.tsx', 'utf-8')).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+          "import { One } from '@proj/react-components';
 
-          export const App = () => {
-            return <One />;
+          const metadata: ComponentMeta<typeof One> = {
+            title: 'Components/One',
+            component: One,
           };
+
+          export default metadata;
           "
         `);
 
@@ -258,6 +290,7 @@ describe('prepare-initial-release generator', () => {
 
         // project updates
 
+        // v9 docsite
         expect(utils.docsite.pkgJson().dependencies).not.toEqual(
           expect.objectContaining({ '@proj/react-one-preview': '*' }),
         );
@@ -268,8 +301,9 @@ describe('prepare-initial-release generator', () => {
         `),
         );
 
+        // v9 vr-tests
         const vrTestDeps = utils.vrTest.pkgJson().dependencies ?? {};
-        expect(vrTestDeps).toEqual(expect.objectContaining({ '@proj/react-one': '*' }));
+        expect(vrTestDeps).toEqual(expect.objectContaining({ '@proj/react-one': '>=9.0.0-alpha' }));
         expect(vrTestDeps[projectName]).toEqual(undefined);
         expect(tree.read('apps/vr-tests-react-components/src/stories/One.stories.tsx', 'utf-8')).toEqual(
           expect.stringContaining(stripIndents`
@@ -278,6 +312,7 @@ describe('prepare-initial-release generator', () => {
         `),
         );
 
+        // react-components suite
         expect(utils.suite.pkgJson().dependencies).toEqual(
           expect.objectContaining({ '@proj/react-one': '9.0.0-alpha.0' }),
         );
@@ -290,25 +325,47 @@ describe('prepare-initial-release generator', () => {
 
         sideEffects();
 
-        expect(execSyncSpy.mock.calls.flat()).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-          Array [
-            "yarn change --message 'feat: release stable' --type minor --package @proj/react-one",
-            Object {
-              "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
-              "stdio": "inherit",
-            },
-            "yarn change --message 'feat: add @proj/react-one to suite' --type minor --package @proj/react-components",
-            Object {
-              "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
-              "stdio": "inherit",
-            },
-            "yarn lage generate-api --to @proj/react-components",
-            Object {
-              "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
-              "stdio": "inherit",
-            },
-          ]
-        `);
+        const execCalls = getExecSpyCalls(execSyncSpy);
+
+        expect(execCalls.length).toEqual(3);
+
+        expect(execCalls[0].cmd).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+          `"yarn change --message 'feat: release stable' --type minor --package @proj/react-one"`,
+        );
+        expect(execCalls[0].args).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+          { cwd: expect.any(String) },
+          `
+          Object {
+            "cwd": Any<String>,
+            "stdio": "inherit",
+          }
+        `,
+        );
+
+        expect(execCalls[1].cmd).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+          `"yarn change --message 'feat: add @proj/react-one to suite' --type minor --package @proj/react-components"`,
+        );
+        expect(execCalls[1].args).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+          { cwd: expect.any(String) },
+          `
+          Object {
+            "cwd": Any<String>,
+            "stdio": "inherit",
+          }
+        `,
+        );
+
+        expect(execCalls[2].cmd).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`"yarn lage generate-api --to @proj/react-components"`);
+        expect(execCalls[2].args).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+          { cwd: expect.any(String) },
+          `
+          Object {
+            "cwd": Any<String>,
+            "stdio": "inherit",
+          }
+        `,
+        );
+
         expect(installPackagesTaskSpy).toHaveBeenCalled();
       });
 
@@ -463,3 +520,16 @@ These are not production-ready components and **should never be used in product*
     },
   };
 }
+
+function getExecSpyCalls(spy: jest.SpyInstance) {
+  const execSyncCalls = spy.mock.calls;
+
+  const normalized = execSyncCalls.map(call => {
+    return {
+      cmd: call[0],
+      args: call[1],
+    };
+  });
+
+  return normalized;
+}
diff --git a/tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/prepare-initial-release/index.ts b/tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/prepare-initial-release/index.ts
index 3f36a2a85cffd3..adc8925065105f 100644
--- a/tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/prepare-initial-release/index.ts
+++ b/tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/prepare-initial-release/index.ts
@@ -129,18 +129,18 @@ async function stableRelease(tree: Tree, options: NormalizedSchema) {
 
   // update stories
   visitNotIgnoredFiles(tree, options.paths.stories, filePath => {
-    if (filePath.indexOf('index.stories.tsx') !== -1) {
-      updateFileContent(tree, {
-        filePath,
-        updater: content => {
-          let newContent = content.replace(`'Preview Components/`, 'Components/');
-
-          newContent = contentNameUpdater(content);
-
-          return newContent;
-        },
-      });
-    }
+    updateFileContent(tree, {
+      filePath,
+      updater: content => {
+        let newContent = contentNameToSuiteUpdater(content);
+
+        if (filePath.indexOf('index.stories.tsx') !== -1) {
+          newContent = newContent.replace(`'Preview `, `'`);
+        }
+
+        return newContent;
+      },
+    });
   });
 
   // global updates
@@ -207,7 +207,10 @@ async function stableRelease(tree: Tree, options: NormalizedSchema) {
   updateJson<PackageJson>(tree, reactComponentsVrTestsProject.paths.packageJson, json => {
     json.dependencies = json.dependencies ?? {};
     delete json.dependencies[currentPackageName];
-    json.dependencies[newPackage.name] = '*';
+    // when going from preview to stable, package version changes to `9.0.0-alpha` in order to beachball properly bump to `9.0.0` stable.
+    // thus dependency on the package within workspace packages cannot use `*` but `>=9.0.0-alpha`
+    // on CI (release,pr) this is being checked normalized via [normalize-package-dependencies generator](tools/workspace-plugin/src/generators/normalize-package-dependencies/index.ts)
+    json.dependencies[newPackage.name] = '>=9.0.0-alpha';
     return json;
   });
   visitNotIgnoredFiles(