Backstage Explanation For Specific WWE Releases

That explains a few things. We are not that far removed from one of the biggest WWE stories of the year, as the company released ten people from their contracts on Thursday. This shook up the roster a little bit and that might have been a long time coming. There were various wrestlers released but for the most part, they shared a common trait, which is the reason most of them were let go.

This week’s releases included all kinds of wrestlers from across the WWE spectrum, including men, women and a member of the broadcast team. The ten names released included Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Wesley Blake, Bo Dallas, Samoa Joe, Mojo Rawley, Tucker, Mickie James, Chelsea Green and Kalisto. Some of these were more surprising than others, but for the most part, they had something in common.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio, the idea of the cuts was to get rid of wrestlers who did not frequently appear on television. Aside from Kay and Samoa Joe, most of the released names appeared infrequently, with several of them not appearing for months outside of a one off match. Dallas had not wrestled a match since November 2019 prior to his release. It is not clear if more main roster cuts are coming.

Of the nine released wrestlers, Tucker, James and Kalisto had only wrestled one match this year, while Blake, Rawley and Green had not wrestled since last year. Samoa Joe has not wrestled in over a year, though he has also not been medically cleared due to concussion issues. That leaves Royce and Kay as the most active wrestlers released, with Kay having wrestled at WrestleMania the weekend before being let go.

This is a weird situation. Check out a few of the released wrestlers:

The Forgotten Sons vs. Imperium – Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round: WWE NXT, Jan. 8, 2020

Fatal 4-Way Survivor Series Qualifying Match: SmackDown, Nov. 13, 2020

Mickie James vs. Lana: Raw, Aug. 31, 2020

Opinion: I understand part of the idea with this, as there are some names on this list who have barely meant a thing to WWE in a very long time now. That might not be the nicest thing in the world, but it is a lot more realistic. Some of these names were at the end of the bench for WWE and would at least be more active by wrestling anywhere else. It might not be the same, but it is probably better than sitting around.

Then you have Royce and Kay, who are you, talented, and have a bit of a track record to fall back on. Throw in the fact that both of them were fairly active, or at least certainly by comparison, and they do not make a ton of sense. Let them be out there doing their thing and getting a reaction from the fans, because releasing them really does sound ridiculous in a lot of ways.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his- Amazon author page with 30 wrestling books.

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