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WWE has released a total of 52 wrestlers so far this year with the latest batch of releases coming just hours ago. The news broke as SmackDown was live on the air.
Following the episode of SmackDown, wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell sat down with Sid Pullar III and Rick Ucchino of Sportskeeda Wrestling for the latest edition of Smack Talk. The former WWE manager gave his insight on a range of topics, including recent releases.
Check out the episode of Smack Talk below:
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Mantell, who has worked with Vince McMahon on multiple occasions in the past, discussed the recent releases and had the following to say about WWE CEO in light of the news:
"Vince - he just cares, at the end of the day, what the bottom line says because he's been in this business for 50 years." Mantell continued, "Releasing a guy is nothing new to him and most of the guys he releases, they gotta get booked somewhere else but the only place they can go is AEW so he doesn't care. If he made more money than he's ever made in a quarter during this pandemic, [do] you think he's worried about anything? And he's dumping his stocks so they're getting ready for something. I don't know exactly what it is." said Mantell.
Earlier today, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported that WWE released Bobby Fish, Bronson Reed, Jake Atlas, Ari Sterling, Kona Reeves, Stephon Smith, Mercedes Martinez, Zechariah Smith, Asher Hale, Leon Ruff, Giant Zanjeer and Asher Hale.
Some notable names who were released from WWE this year have already found other landing spots
The landscape of wrestling at the moment is much different than it was just a few years ago. With AEW becoming a major professional wrestling promotion in North America, Wrestlers have been provided with more options outside WWE. Even IMPACT Wrestling has thrived in recent months, following their working relationship with AEW.
Andrade was one of the first wrestlers to be released from WWE this year and he made his debut in AEW in June. Another prominent star was Aleister Black, who has since rebranded himself as Malakai Black and defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event of AEW Dynamite this week.
AEW isn't the only option for wrestlers who were released from WWE. Chelsea Green has been regularly appearing on Impact Wrestling ever since making her debut at Slammiversary.
What are your thoughts on Dutch Mantell's comments on Vince McMahon? Where do you think these recently released stars will end up? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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