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WWE Releases 18 Performers Due To “Budget Cuts”

Sports

| Nov 5, 2021 |

WWE released 18 members of their roster on Thursday afternoon, shortly after their quarterly investors call. Citing “budget cuts,” 9 members of the main roster and 9 from NXT were let go.

Main Roster Releases:

  • Keith Lee
  • Mia Yim
  • Nia Jax
  • Karrion Kross
  • Eva Marie
  • Lince Dorado
  • Gran Metalik
  • Harry Smith
  • B-Fab

Keith Lee and Karrion Kross are both former NXT Champions and have had equally rough times since getting called up. Lee, who had received massive ovations when entering the 2019 Royal Rumble, squaring off against Brock Lesnar, and being a part of “Team NXT” during the 2019 Survivor Series, teased a match against current WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns that never materialized. Recently, Lee had re-debuted with a new “Bearcat” nickname after a long absence from television battling illness.

Kross, when getting called up after SummerSlam, had to deal with this.

WWE roster

The former Impact World Champion is engaged to another released superstar on this list, and it’s a baffling decision, to say the least.

Personally, I’m glad to see Gran Metalik get his release, which he had reportedly requested. As Mascara Dorada, he is a former 4-time CMLL World Welterweight Champion and 2-Time CMLL World Trios Champion alongside current AEW Star Andrade El Idolo. One of the best light heavyweights in the world, Dorada had been woefully underutilized in the dead-end Lucha House Party stable since 2018.

Metalik/Dorada’s partner in Lucha House Party, Lince Dorado, was an accomplished luchador on the indies in places like CHIKARA, incredibly talented and still young enough to make a name for himself at 34.

Nia Jax is a former Raw Women’s Champion and a two-time former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion. She is also one of the most dangerous workers in all of television wrestling and will hopefully stay away from the ring in the future.

Harry Smith is the son of the legendary “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith and had signed a contract and worked a few dark matches during his second stint with WWE.

Eva Marie was just brought back to the company and coaxed out of retirement to be put in a wonky storyline and quickly shuffled off-screen to get Piper Niven/Viper/Doudrop over.

B-Fab was just called up after the most recent WWE Draft alongside the rest of the “Hit Row” stable from NXT. That should bode well for that group.

Mia Yim, formerly Jade in TNA/Impact Wrestling, had a successful NXT run, something that is quite common and was brought up and packaged with a bunch of talented workers in the ill-fated “Retribution” stable that didn’t last a year.

For the NXT releases, there is a bunch of great talent, especially on the women’s side of things, that were a part of this round of releases:

  • Scarlett
  • Ember Moon
  • Franky Money
  • Jessi Kamea
  • Katrina Cortez
  • Jeet Rama
  • Oney Lorcan
  • Trey Baxter
  • Zayda Ramier

Zayda Ramier, Jessi Kamea, and, to a lesser extent, Katrina Cortez (who recently worked a match on 205 Live), had received very little screen time in NXT; same with Jeet Rama.

Trey Baxter, known as “Blake Christian” on the indies, has wasted no time at all getting booked, already being announced for multiple dates in December with GCW. He’s one hell of a high flyer and a missed opportunity, like so many others.

Oney Lorcan, better known as “Biff Busick” on the indies, was a former NXT Tag Team Champion with Danny Burch. He has worked wXw in Germany, Evolve, Dragon Gate USA, and was CZW World Heavyweight Champion before signing with WWE in 2015. He had announced on his YouTube channel that he has a 90-day no-compete clause.

Franky Monet, the former (and future) “Taya Valkyrie,” is the most accomplished name on this list by a mile. Valkyrie is married to John Hennigan (WWE’s John Morrison) and is a former Impact Knockouts Champion, 3-Time AAA Reina de Reinas Champion, and the longest-reigning Knockouts Champion in Impact history.

Ember Moon, who worked as “Athena” on the indies, has one of the best finishes in the business: the top rope twisting stunner, “the Eclipse,” or “The O-Face.” She is a former NXT Women’s Champion and Women’s Tag Team Champion. One of the best female workers in North America, full stop.

Scarlett (Bordeaux) is the fiancée of Karrion/Killer Kross and has been off television since Kross’ call-up to the main roster. A good worker in her own right, as a package, she and Kross are a money pairing and proof that the WWE has lost their mind.

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