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John Laurinaitis, WWE’s Head of Talent Relations, told Jaxson Ryker during a phone call that he could potentially return to the company in the future.
Ryker received his release on November 18, 2021 after four-and-a-half years with WWE. The former Forgotten Sons member’s 90-day no-compete clause recently ended, meaning he is free to wrestle for any other promotion.
Speaking on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Ryker explained how Laurinaitis informed him of his release:
“It was Johnny Ace [John Laurinaitis], and he was always cool with me backstage," said Ryker. "We would talk and stuff like that. He just said, ‘We’re gonna exercise the right to terminate your contract, your 90-day no-compete clause. We don’t have anything for you right now. Maybe down the line. Keep my number.’ You know, the normal spiel.” [22:47-23:07]
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Ryker’s last WWE match ended in defeat against Cedric Alexander on the November 1, 2021 taping of Main Event.
How Jaxson Ryker responded to John Laurinaitis
John Laurinaitis told Jaxson Ryker that his release was due to budget cuts. Several other WWE Superstars were also let go on the same day, including John Morrison and Tegan Nox.
Ryker clarified that he has no bad feelings over his exit, but he does not believe budget cuts were the real reason for the release:
“It makes you wonder sometimes," Ryker continued. "There’s no budget cut because the company profited, but that’s it. It was one of those things that happened. I said, ‘Hey, man, I appreciate the five years of employment. Now it’s time to move on to some other things.’” [23:55-24:09]
Ryker also said he wishes his fellow superstars had reached out privately if they had an issue with his pro-Donald Trump tweet in 2020. Many high-profile names, including Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, berated Ryker online after his positive tweet about Trump during the Black Lives Matter movement.
Please credit the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.
