Every year, WWE parts ways with a large group of wrestlers over the course of a day or so. Sometimes, it’s wrestlers who are outright released from their contracts, and other times, it’s wrestlers who are told that the company has decided not to renew their soon-to-be-expiring contracts, but either way, you’ll see a couple dozen people out of a job in one fell swoop.
It happens every year, and sometimes, more than one time in a calendar year, and every single time it happens, the same discourse happens.
On one hand, you have the side of the debate that is “WWE IS MAKING RECORD AMOUNTS OF MONEY, SO IT’S RIDICULOUS THAT THEY HAVE TO RELEASE PEOPLE.” Then, on the other hand, you have the “THIS IS THE WRESTLING BUSINESS, NOT THE WRESTLING UTOPIA” side of the debate.
That discourse will go back and forth and forth and back and back and forth for a particular period of time, then it will die out until whenever WWE starts to release people again, where the cycle begins once more.
I keep seeing it unfold, and frankly, I’m sick and tired of it.
Before we go any further, let’s take a look at the entire list of people released during this latest round of cuts…
- Aleister Black
- Zelina Vega
- Uncle Howdy
- Nikki Cross
- Joe Gacy
- Rowan
- Dexter Lumis
- Kairi Sane
- Santos Escobar
- Zoey Stark
- Alba Fyre
- Apollo Crews
- Alex Shelley
- Chris Sabin
- Andre Chase
- Tyra Mae Steele
- Tyson Dupont
- Tyriek Igwe
- Dante Chen
- Sirena Linton
- Malik Blade
- Trill London
- Luca Crusifino
- Chris Island
- Carlee Bright
Lots of interesting names on that list, some of which jump out at you right away.
Most of the time, you’ll see WWE’s cut lists that are full of names that aren’t being used on television, and haven’t been in a while, either because they’ve been dealing with injuries or the writers simply haven’t had anything for them in a long time. That isn’t the case with some of these names.
The Wyatt Sicks have been television regulars for a while now. Hell, up until three months ago, Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis held the WWE Tag Team Titles for a six-and-a-half month reign. Believe it or not, that’s the second-longest reign in the decade-long history of these titles, only behind The Usos and their epic Bloodline reign that came to an end at WrestleMania 39. I’ll take it a step further… the Wyatts wrestled on the episode of Smackdown that came before their departure from the company. They’ve had some inconsistent booking in stretches, but recent times have seen them appear and wrestle on television regularly.
I’ve been very clear with my opinions on the Wyatts. After one of the wildest and most memorable debuts in wrestling history, they did next-to-nothing to get me excited for anything that involved them. I’ve seen a bunch of people who agree with that line of thinking, including fans who were huge Bray Wyatt fans and who were looking forward to seeing what the group could do to continue Bray’s legacy. The group simply struggled to connect with crowds once their entrance was done.
Am I saying that they deserved to be released? No. Unless you’re a complete piece of shit human being who is actively making everything around you worse, I don’t wish anyone a visit to the unemployment line.
If you’re looking for a REAL shocker on that list, though, look no further than Kairi Sane. Not only was she getting regular television time, but she was being set up for a potential face turn and a big storyline with Asuka, whose character has been abusing her for a while. It has been building and building, to the point where many people were expecting the turn to happen and give us a match between Kairi and Asuka at WrestleMania. Obviously, that didn’t happen, and now, just like that, Kairi is gone once again. It is worth noting that Kairi is the one release fans are truly complaining about online. Sure, if you’re a huge fan of Dexter Lumis or Andre Chase, you probably wish they were back in the company again, but if you go to any of WWE’s social media accounts and look at the comments, they’re full of people mentioning Kairi, making hashtags about her, demanding that WWE bring her back, and so on. Will that lead to someone in the company hierarchy to bring her back? Probably not, but it has worked on occasion in the past, so stay tuned, I guess.
What about Aleister Black? One day short of one full calendar year since he made his return to WWE, he is also gone. Even though it didn’t really make sense with the clues we were given, the rumor is that Aleister was originally going to be the man on the other end of the phone that was talking to Randy Orton leading up to WrestleMania. This would’ve been the biggest thing he was involved in during his time in WWE, but TKO called an audible and went with Pat McAfee instead. To go from “we’re going to give you a marquee spot involved in a WrestleMania main event” to “we’re going to release you from your contract” in the matter of a few weeks is insane.
Even if there were some surprises this time around, it’s not like WWE released Cody Rhodes or Roman Reigns, or anyone along those lines.
It doesn’t matter, though, because people are still mad. They’re upset. They’re perturbed.
Like I said earlier, people are incredibly angry because WWE and TKO are making record amounts of money that nobody has ever seen in pro wrestling before, and yet, they continue releasing people and will often use the excuse of the moves being “budget” related.
While I understand where these people are coming from, I’m not sure what they’re expecting from WWE. Wrestlers sign contracts, not lifetime blood oaths. Like almost any other job on the planet, a WWE wrestler can be let go at any time for any reason, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Again, I don’t LIKE when wrestlers are let go, but I get why it happens.
First and foremost, you’re “wasting” money by having all these people on the roster that you’re not using for one reason or another. We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars per year all the way up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, for each wrestler. Do you know how you make sure you have record revenue numbers year after year? By not throwing away millions of dollars for what is essentially no reason. Like it or not, WWE is a business, run by businessmen and businesswomen, who are looking to make as much money as they can.
Besides, the WWE roster has been bloated for a long time. This isn’t back in the day, where the WWF would have a bunch of house shows, but also had a roster big enough to handle multiple house shows on the same day. You could have Hulk Hogan in the main event of a house show in, say, Miami, and at the exact same time, a WWF house show was also taking place in Boston, where the headlining act would be The Ultimate Warrior or Randy Savage. There were even times where the company was running THREE house shows on the same day, so you’d have that Miami show, the Boston show, and then a third show in Kansas City that was headlined by Roddy Piper or Jake Roberts.
These days, WWE does such a small number of house shows that it doesn’t behoove the company to have a million wrestlers under contract. In THAT regard, the company could release a bunch more names, and they’d still be fine.
On top of all that, being released from your WWE contract isn’t a “death sentence” like it might have been in the past. Sure, there are people who have dreamt of wrestling for WWE since they were little kids, so it’s going to hurt them when WWE lets them go, but there are plenty of options for them these days. Other promotions, other countries, other continents… it’s all available to them. As people like Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Matt Cardona, and more have shown in the past, this is a perfect opportunity for released wrestlers to dig down deep and prove to the world that they belong somewhere like WWE. It’s going to require a lot of hard work, as there are far more cases of WWE wrestlers being released and then fading into obscurity than anything else, but it can be done, and it’s there for them if they’re willing to put the work in.
So, where DOES everyone go from here?
As always, fans are speculating. There are far too many talented names on that list, and they shouldn’t have a problem finding employment somewhere.
It’s not exactly a secret that Tony Khan is more than willing to open his checkbook and bring in new wrestlers, even if the AEW roster is far more bloated than WWE’s roster is.
With the focus and attention than AEW pays to their tag division, I think the Motor City Machine Guns could do great things there. Like most of you, I assumed they would end up in AEW back in 2024, when their contracts with TNA expired. There’s also the fact that Shelley and Sabin’s 90-day non-compete clauses presumably end on July 23rd or July 24th… and where will AEW Dynamite be the following week? None other than Detroit, Michigan… Shelley is from Detroit, and Sabin is from Pinckney, which is only about 60 miles away. That seems like a pretty good time for the Guns to make their debut as contracted AEW wrestlers. At the same time, though, I could easily see them returning to TNA, where they’ve spent the most time teaming up. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see them make a return to New Japan, even on a short-term basis.
What about Aleister Black? The joke is already that he’s going to go back to AEW, spend a year or so there, then return to WWE for a year, then go back to AEW for a year, and on and on until the planet explodes. As much as it would make sense for him to return to AEW, I would hate to see Brody King’s progress stunted. Brody was a member of House Of Black, but has really begun breaking out as a singles wrestler since Black left AEW. I wouldn’t want to see Brody go back to being just another guy in a stable if Black returns. Let them feud with each other, keep them apart… whatever… just don’t blindly throw HOB back together.
Then there’s Zelina Vega. I’ll have more to say about her in a bit, but for now, let’s talk about her potential employment options. Of course, she is married to Aleister Black, and they’ve been an on-screen duo for the last six-and-a-half months of their time with WWE. Are they a “package deal” with their free agency? That would give AEW a boost to their men’s and women’s divisions in one move, but it would also do the same for TNA. Black has never worked for TNA, but Zelina spent a couple years there, winning the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles with Sarita in 2011.
Santos Escobar is someone who is naturally going to be a popular free agent in Mexico. He has plenty of history in both AAA and CMLL, but he’s also dealing with a torn tricep that recently required surgery, so it might be a while until he’s seen anywhere. AEW is an option for him, of course, especially with the company’s reliance on Lucha stars and their working relationship with CMLL.
If the #WeWantKairi movement doesn’t cause WWE to bring Kairi Sane back, then you have to assume a return to Japan is a likely move. She is married to a Japanese man, and last I heard, her husband has continued to live in Japan during her time with WWE. When her WWE contract expired at the end of 2021, she returned to Japan to be with her husband, also returning to her roots with Stardom and also wrestling for New Japan for a bit. I would assume that would be at the forefront here with another departure from WWE.
I don’t want to mention every single release on an individual level, but I do want to talk about a potential option out there for some of the names, should they be bold enough to give it a shot…
Power Slap.
Yes, the viral slap fighting promotion that is currently owned by Dana White and features former WWE wrestler Kizarny (also known as Sinn Bodhi in various places) as its recruiter and matchmaker.
You can hate on the concept and the idea of what they’re doing in Power Slap, but one thing that can be attractive to potential fighters is the company’s pay scale. Bodhi made an appearance on the Something To Wrestle podcast a few weeks back and informed co-hosts Conrad Thompson and John Layfield about how Power Slap puts their shows together, and what the pay is. He revealed that Power Slap starts their pay at $5,000 just for accepting a fight, and you walk away with $10,000 if you win the fight. If you win a fight and receive a performance bonus, you walk away with $20,000. That might not seem like a ton of money for some people, and it might not seem like enough to justify what you’re putting your brain through in Power Slap, but how many independent wrestlers do you think are making up to $20,000 in a single night? For the sake of comparison, during his post-WWE run on the independent scene, Cody Rhodes was charging between $750-$1,500 per show. No offense to Chris Island or Tyriek Igwe, but if Cody Rhodes was charging that kind of money, imagine what those guys would be making on the indies. It would take them forever to make $20,000 at that rate.
It’s not for everyone, of course, but Power Slap is certainly an option for those who are, again, bold enough to think outside of the pro wrestling box and give it a shot.
Before I wrap things up, I want to go back to the topic of Zelina Vega for a bit. After her release, she went on her Twitch stream and made headlines by expressing anger towards Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp for how he handled the news of her release. Here’s her exact quote…
“The thing is, I was so shocked., but yeah, I also would have appreciated it if Sean Ross Sapp, or whoever the fuck announced it, could have at least given me the decency to, like, let me do it myself first. Fuck you, dude.”
Because Sean is an incredibly polarizing figure in the wrestling scene, that comment had people jumping out of their seats to chime in with their own opinions. If you’re someone who dislikes Sean, you were thrilled to see a wrestler say something negative about the guy, especially in such an unfiltered fashion. For those that like Sean, or at least don’t have much of an opinion one way or another, you were quick to point out that his job doesn’t work that way.
Right off the bat, I understand that her comments, whether she 100% believes in them or not, were fueled by the anger and sadness that comes from losing your job. It’s not a great situation to be in, whether you’re a WWE Superstar or someone who makes sandwiches at Subway. I do feel that her anger was aimed in the wrong direction, though.
Folks, it isn’t Sean’s job to contact Zelina about when he can and can’t go public with news. If it happens as he’s double and triple-checking his information, so be it. I know for a fact that it has happened in the past, where Sean will get news, confirm it with the person involved in said news, and “stand down” for a bit so that they can do what they need to do publicly.
In this instance, though, it would be next to impossible. Look back at the list I posted at the beginning of this column. There are 25 names on it. TWENTY-FIVE NAMES. Is Sean supposed to get the entire list of releases, put every single one of them in a group text chat, and coordinate with all of them about when to go public?
“Okay, so Zelina… you’re going on Twitch at 7pm Eastern, correct? Tyriek, you said you were going to post a ‘thank you’ on Instagram at 7:05, right? Okay, so I will wait until 7:03 to tweet about Zelina, giving her time to make the announcement, and by the time I’m done with that, it should be around 7:06, when I can post about Tyriek’s release. Wait, what’s that? Apollo has a dinner reservation with his wife at 7, so he needs to tweet about the release first? Okay, so… I can tweet about Apollo first, but only if nobody else needs to say something. Wait… Nikki, you’ve already tweeted about your release? Son of a bitch! Okay, hold on, let me get the Nikki tweet out right now, and…”
Do you see how stupid that is?
People are outraged that Sean had the audacity… the nerve… the unmitigated gall to tweet about her release, as if she didn’t know she was being released. Tweet after tweet after tweet, Instagram comment after Instagram comment after Instagram comment… all taking shots at him for not having the basic human decency to let her know that he received this news.
The fact of the matter is that almost all of those angry people weren’t watching her stream, and only received their opinions based on the tiny clips provided on social media where she cussed Sean out in the first place.
Zelina’s own timeline of the news is that she found out about her release over the phone, almost two full hours before Sean tweeted about it. That’s more than enough time for her to make the announcement in whatever fashion she wanted to do it. If she wants to be mad at someone, be mad at WWE for releasing her in the first place. Be mad at the person or persons that are leaking the news to reporters. You can’t be mad at Sean for doing what he is being paid to do. If he didn’t tweet about the releases, the next person would’ve done so. If the next person didn’t do so, the person after that would’ve done so. The list goes on and on and on.
One more time for everyone in the back… Sean’s job is to receive the news, confirm the news, and then report the news. If he WANTS to wait, he can do so. He’s done that over releases in the past, and also about things like a wrestler dying, and so on. To expect him to do so 25 times in a single day is completely asinine. This thing happens in all other walks of life, but you’ll notice that wrestling is the only area where people bitch and whine about it. When an NFL player gets traded or released, guess where you’re going to see the news? On Twitter, ESPN, the NFL Network, and so on. Why? Let’s do this again. It’s the reporter’s job to receive the news, confirm the news, and then report the news. That’s what they do, and that’s what they’re paid well to do. Do you know who doesn’t go online and rant about how the reporter had no business breaking the news first? The player who got traded or released. It happens numerous times per day, every single day, all year long. Entertainment reporters will break news about how so-and-so has signed on to star in the latest Marvel movie or Martin Scorsese film. Political reporters break news about what the President said, who is thinking about running for office two years from now, and so on. Again, it’s only wrestlers that get bent out of shape over things. Hmm… weird. Apparently Big Damo was right. If you know, you know.
If you dislike Sean for whatever reason… the man has been my friend forever, well before he became “known” on the wrestling scene, but I understand that some of the things he does can be viewed in a negative light by some people… say that, but some of the battles people pick to fight, simply to say they’re on the opposing side of Sean, makes them look foolish.
This doesn’t even count the fact that people who look to dunk on Sean always say that he doesn’t have sources, doesn’t break news, and so on… and then, they go completely silent when his sources help him to break news. If he didn’t have sources, and if he didn’t break news, we quite literally wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we?
Anywho.
Long story short… releases are bad, but releases are necessary… many of the released performers will have numerous opportunities to bounce back
What is your take on the latest round of WWE releases? Do you think any of them end up back on the WWE roster sooner than later? How many of them do you expect to see in AEW or TNA once their non-compete clauses expire? Did Zelina Vega handle her situation properly? As always, feel free to hit me up in the comments section below, on Twitter (@HustleTheSavage), or on Bluesky (@aaronhyden.bsky.social), and let me know what’s on your mind.
Now, let’s get to my Weekly Power Rankings before I close things out with the list of songs I was listening to as I put this column together.
Weekly Power Rankings
Darby Allin vs Tommaso Ciampa: Say whatever you want about Darby winning the AEW World Title in the first place, but his title reign is off to a tremendous start in the ring.
Oba Femi: After his big victory over Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania, Oba had the perfect follow-up promo on Raw. He soaks in the huge face pops, drops four words (“The Ruler has arrived.”), and leaves. Simple, yet incredibly effective.
Will Ospreay vs Mark Davis: These two know each other very well from their days as stablemates in New Japan’s United Empire, and it showed here. Great, pay-per-view quality stuff.
Jacob Fatu: One of my favorite things that we used to see at the Raw (or Smackdown) After WrestleMania episodes is that we would get to see who the next World Title challenger would be. So-and-so would leave Mania with the title, and we’d find out who their next feud would be with right away. That’s what we got here, with Jacob Fatu stepping up to make it known that he’s coming for his cousin, Roman Reigns. That’s a really big match, whenever it ends up taking place.
Fatal Influence: It has been heavily rumored for a while now that Jacy Jayne was going to be one of the next NXT names called up to the main roster, but it was a surprise to see Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid joining her on Smackdown. In one night, Fatal Influence shook the Smackdown women’s division up. They started by attacking Brie Bella, Paige, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss, leaving them all in a heap. Later on, they interrupted a Rhea Ripley promo, getting huge amounts of heel heat, and setting up a match between Rhea and Jacy right away. Interference led to a disqualification there, but it’s clear that Fatal Influence is going to be a really big part of Smackdown moving forward. Jacy looks like she’s going to be a contender for the WWE Women’s Title, and it’s a safe assumption to make that Fallon and Lainey look to be contenders for the Women’s Tag Team Titles.
The Young Bucks, Dezmond Xavier, Zachary Wentz & Myron Reed vs Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia, David Finlay & Clark Connors: An AEW match that featured a total of ten competitors? You know what that means… more spots than a leopard orgy. Lots of exciting stuff, though.
Giulia vs Tiffany Stratton: Tons of athleticism here, and I appreciate that. It’s a shame what WWE has been doing with Giulia, though. She has two reigns as the WWE Women’s United States Champion, combining for 244 days as the champion between those reigns, but she doesn’t get to do much either time. She has had some entertaining matches, but she hasn’t done anything that will be remembered. She signed with WWE and brought in a ton of momentum and buzz, and her time in NXT was fun, but this main roster run has been underwhelming.
Sol Ruca vs Zaria: This was a really good in-ring week for Sol Ruca, and she gets mentioned twice in this week’s Power Rankings. The final spot in this match was almost a disaster, though, with Zaria shoving Sol off of the Eagle’s Nest type of structure, and Sol smacking the back of her head on the side of a table. She had to get a wound on her head stapled shut, but it could’ve been so much worse.
Sol Ruca vs Liv Morgan: Here’s Sol’s second appearance in the Power Rankings. Even though she has wrestled on the main roster before, this was her official debut as a member of the Smackdown roster. She had a really good performance here, hanging with the brand new Women’s World Champion and looking like someone that is going to be competing for championships right away.
Chris Jericho, Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin vs Ricochet, Bishop Kaun & Toa Liona: It’s really weird to see Jericho teaming up with The Hurt Business, but hey, it’s something. I do like the story being told so far in Jericho’s return, with him coming up short in the ring and showing signs that he might not have what it takes anymore. It’s something intriguing.
Je’Von Evans vs “All Ego” Ethan Page: Welcome to Monday Night Raw, Ethan Page. There is a ton of potential for his future with the combination of his in-ring skills, character work, and promo ability. He’s someone to keep an eye on over the rest of 2026 and beyond.
Tatum Paxley vs Blake Monroe: Blake’s NXT run (which is coming to an end now that she has been promoted as coming to Smackdown) has been weird. She had so much momentum after her run in AEW, but she has lost more matches in NXT than I think anyone expected to see. There are still a bunch of good performances… just in a lot of losing efforts. It will be interesting to see how she’s booked on Smackdown.
Rhea Ripley & Iyo Sky vs Asuka & Kairi Sane: #WeWantKairi, indeed.
Myles Borne vs Dion Lennox: A nice match for the NXT North American Title between two of the brightest futures in all of NXT. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
Ricky Saints: He is also on his way to the Smackdown roster, but I’m very interested to see how he is received by main roster crowds. When you look at the amount of people who know him from his time in AEW, and then anyone who knows him from his time in NXT, that only makes up a small percentage of WWE main roster crowds. There will be a large number of Smackdown fans who will be seeing him for the first time there. Is he going to be viewed as a “Rock ripoff” or something along those lines? He has been getting those accusations for a long time, no matter what he does, so I’m worried that his main roster run will fall flat if fans immediately brush him off.
This Week’s Playlist: “No Such Thing” by Kehlani & Clipse… “Folded” by Kehlani… “I Need You” by Kehlani & Brandy… “Out The Window” by Kehlani… “CBFW” by Ro$ama… “Kickboxer” by The Amity Affliction… “House Of Cards” by The Amity Affliction… “Afterlife” by The Amity Affliction… “Reap What You Sow” by The Amity Affliction… “Broken Throne” by If Not For Me… “The Lost Souls Saloon” by FangSlinger… “Streets” by Doja Cat… “Time Of Your Life” by Kid Ink… “Ric Flair Drip” by Offset… “Shabba” by A$AP Ferg & A$AP Rocky… “Residuals” by Chris Brown… “Think I’m In Love With You” by Chris Stapleton… “All Your’n” by Tyler Childers… “Love Like Whiskey” by The War And Treaty… “Stealing A Kiss” by The War And Treaty… “Save Me” by The War And Treaty… “One Headlight” by The Wallflowers… “The Impression That I Get” by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones… “Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand” by Primitive Radio Gods… “Sell Out” by Reel Big Fish… “Take On Me” by Reel Big Fish… “Superman” by Goldfinger… “The Science Of Selling Yourself Short” by Less Than Jake… “Pinch Me” by Barenaked Ladies… “Right Now” by SR-71
