Popular star breaks silence following WWE release; sends heartfelt message to fans

A popular former WWE star broke his silence today and sent a heartfelt message to wrestling fans after he was released by the Stamford-based company. The promotion has released several stars this week following Royal Rumble 2025.

Ludwig Kaiser, with Gunther's blessings, kicked Giovanni Vinci out of Imperium last year and the 34-year-old went on hiatus for months. He finally returned on the September 6, 2024, episode of SmackDown but lost the match in seconds to Apollo Crews. They had a rematch later and Crews prevailed again.

Vinci was released by the company this week, after months of inactivity, and took to Instagram to break his silence following his departure from the company. The 34-year-old sent a heartfelt message to fans and to everyone he worked with in the promotion.

"Thank you to the WWE Universe, @WWE, and everyone I had the pleasure of working with," wrote Giovanni Vinci.

Giovanni Vinci used to compete under his real name Fabian Aichner and spent eight years with the company before being let go this week. The veteran won the NXT Tag Team Championship twice with Marcel Barthel during his time in the developmental brand, who is now known as Ludwig Kaiser on RAW.

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Former WWE writer predicted several stars would get released after disappearing from television

Former head writer for the Stamford-based company Vince Russo recently predicted that several stars would be released by WWE after they had disappeared from television.

Speaking on an episode of Legion of RAW last November, Russo noted that stars such as Jakara Jackson, Lash Legend, Blair Davenport, and Sonya Deville were no longer regularly featured on television by the company. He predicted that they would all eventually be released, and that was proven correct as Sonya Deville's contract was not renewed, and Blair Davenport was released earlier this week.

"And where are they? [...] What happened to Janet [Jakara] Jackson? Bro, I can't imagine you put someone on the show and they just disappear. Like, what kind of booking is this? I don't understand it. The resources, the time, and money, they are here and they are gone. Bro, all of these people are going to be released, just like Tegan Nox. They are all going to be released when the next crop of NXT is ready to take their places," said Russo.

It will be fascinating to see what the future holds in the wrestling business for Giovanni Vinci, and the rest of the stars who were released or not retained by the company this week.