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Over the past four months, WWE has released several stars who had promising futures in pro wrestling.
The likes of Samoa Joe, The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), Andrade, Aleister Black, Braun Strowman, Murphy, and Ruby Riott were all let go by WWE. Other stars like Chelsea Green, Lana, Santana Garrett, Tucker Knight, and Kalisto also saw their tenures in WWE come to an end.
Garrett and Green could have helped bolster the women's division on SmackDown but were never used. Green's unfortunate wrist injury didn't help either. Lana improved in the ring but still wasn't on the level of some of the other women in WWE.
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Names like Andrade, Black, and Strowman will be main-event level stars wherever they land. Andrade has already popped up in AEW alongside Vickie Guerrero. He has a match with Kenny Omega for the AAA Mega Championship in August. Black, Strowman, Murphy, and Riott will have to wait out their 90-day non-compete clauses before they can make an impact in a new promotion.
Former WWE writer buries Judgment Day HERE
While the cuts might be seen as necessary, several aspects of the releases will affect WWE in different ways. Some of the departures probably haven't sat well with the fans. Here are five fallouts from the recent wave of WWE releases.
#5 It shakes up some divisions in WWE
The SmackDown women's division has six active women following the releases - Carmella, Bayley, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Tamina and Natalya. Sasha Banks is on hiatus after losing the SmackDown Women's Championship to Belair at WrestleMania. Sonya Deville is still considered part of the Blue brand but hasn't had a match since last year's SummerSlam.
Ruby Riott and Lana were both part of different tag teams in the women's division. With their releases, two teams have been taken out of the running for the titles. That also doesn't account for the inevitable dissolution of former Champions Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.
Will WWE dip into the uber-talented crop of NXT women to fill some voids? Recent reports suggest that could soon be the case.
Black was reworking himself back into the SmackDown mid-card after months off TV. Murphy was ready and able to do anything but WWE opted not to use the talented Aussie grappler.
The mid-card on SmackDown has mainly consisted of Big E (who hasn't been on TV for a few weeks), Apollo Crews, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Shinsuke Nakamura, and King Corbin. Rotating some performers in and out of action would have kept things fresh.
Challengers for the WWE and Universal Championships are also dwindling with the release of Strowman. Within the last year, Strowman faced both Roman Reigns and Lashley for their titles.
While he is only one man, it will still force WWE to come up with new challengers for each major Champion. Will AJ Styles return to the main event soon or will he continue his RAW Tag Championship run with Omos?
#4 Current WWE angles are dropped
Following a lengthy hiatus, Aleister Black was getting reintroduced to the WWE Universe with a new character. It was a departure from his prior work as he would introduce stories from his past with his "Dark Father".
It was something new and different from practically every other character on the WWE main roster. For that reason, his new direction was a breath of fresh air. After a few weeks of telling stories, Black returned to SmackDown and cost Big E a chance to regain the Intercontinental Championship.
The ambush foreshadowed a potential feud between the big man and the dark character. Instead, Black was released two weeks later following his attack on Big E.
Lana and Naomi were still pursuing the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships. Where does that leave Naomi? Will she return to SmackDown now that her husband, Jimmy Uso, has returned to action? Will she return to the singles division or will she look to form another tag team?
Now that the angle with Black is off the table, where will that leave Big E going forward? Following the most recent releases, some reports suggest that he is a favorite of Vince McMahon.
Even with his standing with the Chairman, his immediate future is unknown at the moment. It's a shame since SmackDown is in dire need of big names to move up to the main event.
The only tag teams left in the women's division are Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke and the WWE Women's Tag Team Champions. Neither duo appeared on the latest episode of RAW but they are likely headed towards a future title match.
With such a dearth of teams in the women's division, will stars like Liv Morgan and Naomi form new teams? Are women from NXT coming to bolster both of WWE's major brands? Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler are also breaking up due to losing their titles.
It makes sense that those angles have been dropped since certain stars are no longer with the WWE. For specific situations, however, the releases hurt one division more than others.
#3 Is WWE making way for a big return like Brock Lesnar?
Brock Lesnar hasn't been seen on TV since dropping the WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre back at WrestleMania 36. It was the end of a storyline that started at the 2020 Royal Rumble where McIntyre eliminated Lesnar.
The Beast has made a lot of money working on a limited basis for WWE. His contract reportedly expired last September. In the past, Lesnar has also played both the UFC and WWE against each other while negotiating deals.
During the no-crowd era of the pandemic, some rumors stated that Lesnar would be back when the fans are back. WWE announced that fans would return in person in July. Many of the releases could have been in preparation to sign a returning part-timer.
Goldberg still wrestles two matches a year and the Beast usually only comes back for title programs. Lashley wants a dream match with Lesnar. With the return of fans, his wishes could become a reality when it comes to facing the Beast in the ring.
Returning to the road brings an uptick in revenue for WWE. With the additional money made from touring, will that lead to WWE trying to sign a few well-known free agents? Daniel Bryan is currently without a contract, while Tessa Blanchard and Davey Boy Smith Jr. are also untethered to a big promotion.
No matter what reason is given for the wave of releases, big-name Superstars were going to return once touring resumed. SummerSlam is arguably the second biggest PPV of the year, so WWE often tries to pull out all the stops to put on a huge show.
Money in the Bank will be the first big PPV featuring the return of a full-capacity live audience. Pandemic restrictions have been lifted all over the United States and WWE will try to capitalize on those changes.
Losing the likes of Braun Strowman, Aleister Black and Ruby Riott is disappointing for fans. WWE may feel more comfortable relying on part-time stars rather than elevating several newer stars. It could very well be related to the return of big names like Lesnar.
#2 WWE's competition will ultimately get better due to the releases
WWE and some of its fans may not consider a company like IMPACT Wrestling as competition. When it comes to AEW, however, WWE definitely battles the new promotion for the attention of wrestling fans.
The companies can deny that they are competing with each other, but that doesn't mean it isn't happening. Wrestlers that get released often mention the words "my former employer" during promos with a new promotion.
The biggest names that left WWE and helped AEW are Jon Moxley and Chris Jericho. Miro (the former Rusev) is the current AEW TNT Champ. While it might not be on the scale of AEW competing with WWE, several released stars have joined IMPACT over the last few years.
Deonna Purrazzo is the current Knockouts Champion while the Good Brothers won the IMPACT Tag Team Championship. Former WWE stars like Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Big Cass, and Tenille Dashwood have also joined IMPACT.
When it comes to the releases of 2021, however, the potential for a former star to become an even bigger one is much higher. With names like Aleister Black, Strowman, and Andrade, the promotion that signs those names will be gaining main-event talent. Black and Andrade were not pushed to the moon in WWE, but it doesn't mean that it won't happen in AEW or IMPACT.
Multiple promotions will have bolstered their women's division following the WWE releases. Several talented stars like Ruby Riott, the IIconics, Chelsea Green, and Santana Garrett will improve any women's roster. Once the non-compete clauses end, multiple women's rosters could look much different by the end of the year.
It's just the nature of pro sports - athletes get released and some go to the competition. When an owner/promoter still sees value in a star - especially one that has untapped potential - they'll do whatever they can to sign that performer.
By releasing someone like Black, WWE misses out on adding another supernatural performer to its history. Black would have been a good foil for The Undertaker, Kane, or The Fiend but he was kept clear of those stars.
Despite having the in-ring skill and promo ability to go to the top in WWE, some reports claimed that Vince McMahon didn't "get" his style. These rounds of releases will ultimately lead to some big shifts in talent for promotions competing with WWE.
#1 Despite talent, WWE will only push certain stars
When it comes to WWE and every other wrestling promotion, talent and/or potential will ultimately get a performer in the door. WWE has coined the term "sports entertainment" rather than referring to itself as professional wrestling. That rubs some people the wrong way, but there's a reason why the company has been around for over 70 years.
Once WCW folded and WWE had little competition, Vince McMahon's company was seen as the end game for most aspiring pro wrestlers. Someone like Brock Lesnar, however, was an amateur wrestling champion and was scouted for pro wrestling.
That scouting tactic ultimately turned into looking at athletes in several other sports. With the advent of NXT and the Performance Center, the way WWE evaluated talent has also changed.
Wrestling promotions used to traditionally focus on developing younger performers. Having a solid in-ring game is enough for a wrestler to get over with smaller companies on the independent scene. Once the new millennium started, however, that whole mindset changed.
WWE always had a developmental territory like Deep South Wrestling or OVW. With NXT, however, athletes from all walks of professional sports are encouraged to try out.
The company currently has former football players (Roman Reigns, Baron Corbin) and powerlifters (Big E, Mandy Rose, Bianca Belair) on the roster. WWE also has MMA fighters (Brock Lesnar, Shayna Baszler, Ronda Rousey) and other high-level athletes under its umbrella.
Coming from a wrestling family too helps a wrestler get signed to WWE and it often leads to pushes.
The simple point is that despite loads of in-ring talent, WWE ultimately chooses which performers it wants to push. While his early pushes were polarizing, the recent work of Roman Reigns is among the best in the business. Dominik Mysterio has proven to be just as talented in the ring as his father.
Aleister Black had all the makings of a future World Champion but never got the consistent backing of management. Andrade, despite his limited English, was always solid in the ring. Being solid in the ring might work for AEW or NJPW, but for WWE, a lot of other factors play into which stars get pushed.
