WWE did a mass round of talent cuts on Thursday. The main roster cuts included Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali, Elias, Shelton Benjamin, Riddick Moss, Emma, Aliyah, and “Top Dolla” AJ Francis. Quincy Elliott, Shanky, Bryson Montana, Yulisa Leon, Dabba-Kato, Kevin Ventura-Cortez, Alexis Gray, and Daniel McArthur were also cut from NXT.
Among the released names was Rick Boogs, who had signed with WWE in 2017. Boogs trained at the Performance Center and was later promoted to the main roster, where he was paired with Shinsuke Nakamura. He had returned from a torn quad earlier this year.
Boogs publicly addressed his release in a video on his YouTube channel for the first time. At the start of the video, he shared his belief that a backstage political power play was the reason for his release.