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A number of WWE talent cuts are ongoing.

So far, we've learned Alba Fyre, Zoey Stark, Joe Gacy, Bo Dallas, Rowan, Dexter Lumis, Andre Chase and Nikki Cross are among them. Dante Chen also announced his departure. Motor City Machine Guns, Santos Escobar, Zelina, Aleister Black, Kairi Sane all believed to be among the WWE departures, Fightful Select has learned.

Tyson, Tyriek, Chris Island, Tyra Mae Steele, Sirena Linton, Trill London, Malik Blake and Luca Crusifino were also released

There are more coming.

We're told Zoey Stark was recently cleared for a return.

WWE had a number of these wrestlers in Las Vegas doing appearances and meet and greets.

We've been reaching out to WWE about a number of additional names, but they have not confirmed any as of yet.

Angelo Dawkins was NOT released. His tweet was not indicating he was

There are a number of talent that are not backstage at Smackdown this week as well.

The majority of today's departures are outright releases. There might be some that are notified that their contracts will not be picked up. Releases on the main roster will have a 90-day pay period. NXT will have 30-day. Expirations will just expire.

We are specific about this because of Triple H playing semantics over Drew Gulak's contract not being renewed, even though we heard the creative surrounding him for after his deal would have been up.

Comments

Q

Damn it tko

Marcos

Only women?

Dr Scripts - The Nocturnal Scholar

Didn't MLW just bring in Big Damo, aka Nikki's husband? Also, cutting immediately after recovering from an injury is just dirty work.

Scott Hutchinson

Alba Fyre! That doesn’t bode well for Piper Niven it’s a shame that who team with Chelsea was one of the most entertaining parts of Smackdown

Mike Harp

Wow. Zoey was just cleared to come back? That’s downright awful.

Joe Clark

I mean.. they cut someone prior who was currently injured and they got (rightfully so) crushed for it. They made sure she was cleared before cutting her.

Kieran Buxton

Thoughts with all the talent on this. Alba Fyre feels like an AEW signing especially with Isla Dawn working there.

Matthew Bamford

She's probably retired due to a neck injury from what I have heard.

Leron Ford

I would put her on Dynamite or Collision.

Scott Hutchinson

Most likely but with nothing having been announced, was hopeful to see them all together again

Cena

Alba Fyre.... ;o;

Matthew Bamford

I was thinking having a team with Isla Dawn since they're both Scottish. Them Vs Brawling Birds in London would be HOT if built well.

Talia

Any word on if they're doing NXT/Evolve cuts too or is it just main roster right now?

Flameducky

they cut back on talent security, got a record site fee and gate, and still weren't satisfied

Spencer Cantor

Any other confirmed names or this it so far?

Shannon Willis

If I'm Court Bauer, I'm signing Zoey Stark asap. If she would like to go to MLW that is. This always happens after Mania and I always forget about it until the day of. Sucks.

Joey Williams

Zoey and Alba will be All Elite soon

Waka4RedBelt

Right now it's only these three it seems. But there's a non-small chance that there are at least a few more, specially in NXT. At least based on past years.

ruckus j0nes

WWE is a company that only cares about their bottom dollar who were then bought by people who only care about their bottom dollar.

PSAT99

joe gacy is cut

Jordan

Joe Gacy was released

Jared Yeldell

Sucks!!!!!! We Will Always Love Them!

TheSir420

Damn, I hate them doing this 💔

ThatRetro

Three since it sounds like Bo's gone.

Inexplicable Shorts

Wyatt Sicks were awesome. Their debut insane. Once again the ball is dropped because creative has no clue what to do with them. What a shame—for all names involved.

Ethan ferguson

Hoping fraxiom is safe with the mcmg

C Mac

They created them, had a massive run up to their launch then had no plans for what to do with them. Weird company

Laquita Momon

Joe Gacy being released is a crime, never got to fully show his potential.

Sam

They can tell that the new call-ups are better than Zoey. Heck, I think that. However, they need that are ok to lose to everyone.

Elle

Why would they release Bo Dallas

Talia

Welp, guess it is NXT too!

Mark Butchers

Dexter seems to have confirmed he's gone too

Robbie Wray

Rough part of the business. I hope all of these people are able to find work wherever they choose!

Draculala

Releasing someone right when they get cleared is some next level diabolical shit. Idk why but it feels more cold than when they're actively out with injury.

AC Fresh

Where? Just curious.

adawg2500

Eh, she got paid through her injury and recovery, I think that's better than the alternative.

Spoopy Steven Bell

Fuck. This is always incredibly lame. Here's to everyone quickly finding more work, cash and creative freedom than they've ever experienced. I'll be keeping an eye on Gacy, in particular. I predict he'll be back once he finds that elusive, undeniable It out in the wilds.

Ralph Hartman

Isn't it the Wyatt Sicks and not the Wyatt 6?

Bryan Costello

They are only in business to make money, right? Right? Right??????

ThatRetro

Lumis also pretty much confirmed with a post too.

Bryan Costello

How about......instead of firing talent......you start releasing creative? Bookers, writers, and other creative fecal matter?

Robbie Wray

That would entail responsibility and why would anyone at TKO want to address that?

Ro Edwards

Queue people suddenly giving a 💩 about wrestlers they didn't care about yesterday. This is an opportunity for them all to go make a better run for themselves elsewhere. Doesn't always have to be a negative.

Daniel Beesley

Aleister constantly being on the brink of getting to do cool stuff and then getting released pisses me off.

Jason Pinto

Kairi release is insane. She’s so awesome

Brian Walmer

Keyword is "believed" but "not confirmed"

Justin Edelheit

Why Cut aleister black when they’ve been building him on tv

G Partridge

Ok those added rumored ones are insane. MCMG, Alister and Zelina, and Kairi? What are they smoking?

jxb

Bruh Aleister Black?? IKYFL

Brian Walmer

What's weird about this is that WWE could always bring them back within the 90 day window. In other words, give them time to rest up, get refreshed, and then maybe bring them back because they have some ideas that will actually keep them on television And I think that's the key situation. They're not being utilized on television, so they don't see any reason to keep them around. But within those 90 days, they could find ideas for them. Bring them back and before you know it, they'll be utilized more But even if that's not the case, I definitely see TNA picking up a lot of them because WWE has a partnership with them and WWE Doesn't wanna lose, you know them to AEW

Draculala

I'm starting to feel this goes above HHH. Dropping a talent mid-storyline tied to Asuka/IYO? Also someone there was reports in the fall he saw as a big babyface coming out of the Kabuki breakup? Idk.

rocksolid124

I've got a wild idea for what Aleister Black could do in AEW if he wanted to go back. He did leave on good terms.

Thad Perkins

Wow. MCMG was such a fumble. And Kairi was in the middle of a storyline. Just……WOW. I feel for Zoey because she was working so hard to come back.

Joe Snurkowski

In other news, WWE earns record profits for the umpteenth consecutive quarter...

Stew Sizer

Mad to let Kairi go without finishing that story. Absolute shite to not have that on Mania. Asuka ans Iyo will be demoralises

Joe Gonzales

I saw it on fb and thought it was fake. Can’t believe Aleister and MCMG

Joshua Weaver

While this is probably what will happen with a few of these names, the sad part is that’s not why TKO did it, they did it to make their finances look better in time for the next quarterly shareholders meeting

Jeff Brown

Zelina stated on her Twitch that she's pissed off at SRS for reporting it before she could announce it.

Adam Deutsch

Sucks for MCMG and Aleister Black. I don’t get how they could never make things work for those guys.

Graham

Makes it hard to honestly keep watching this product even with the remaining wrestlers I love so much.

Brandon Foster

MCM guns are one of the best tag teams WWE has. That’s a shame. Truly.

Kevin

Noticed the heavy lean towards the Smackdown roster. Could (presumably, when Braun Strowman's show comes back) going from three back to two hours be the reason for that?

Megan Loves Professional Wrestling

People keep forgetting how BROKE WWE is. Damn shame. I've seen most of these people wrestle and hopefully they'll find a place somewhere.

John Thee Punisher

I don't know about that. Only because he knew he was leaving but before that he was apparently not wanting to do jobs. Just my opinion. It'll be interesting to see if AEW signs him.

John Thee Punisher

Santos Escabar gets cut, resigned shortly after, then cut. Wow. And Kairi Sane? Wtf?

CSDX

Jesus Fucking Christ.

Sheltahn

I dont understand how they pick who gets kicked out. Looking at the current roster there so many names that either have 0 storylines or are just straight up bad wrestlers. Kicking Kairi, Black, Vega and Bo is very weird. With Bo and the whole family gone, maybe alexa can carry brays flame along, can get a cool new singles storyline.

Avelanna

audibly gasped when i saw sean's tweet. i can't believe some of those names on the list

Tim Wininger

Any word on Talla Tonga? He was not apart of the graphics for the MFTs on smackdown

LostRhino

I'm really surprised by some of those 'believed to be among' names. MCMG and Kairi for example are just crazy releases

Diarte S Jeffcoat-McLeod

This has to be a TKO/Nick Khan move. I refuse to even think that Paul Levesque had anything to do with some of these cuts. This is ridiculous.

Unabashedly Reggie

These releases' main purpose is to make more money by cutting their payroll. A WWE Superstar minimum is 300k. Creative writers are not making anything close to that. That's all they care about, increase profits

Wes Rose

This is awful. So many talented folks. You could start an entire new promotion with just these folks who are being released.

Marc Forbes

this is bad, Trips put together the Wyat Sicks and did nothing with them, yep he should be booker of the year, decade, and century. I cannot believe anyone with even half a brain could not come up with creative for, at least, some of the talent being released. I truly hope all of the talent lands on their feet and does well.

Tucker

This company sucks

David Wikeley

Kairi is one of the most used women. It sucks. Didn’t even get to finish the story. Feel bad for Black. Pretty much burnt his bridges with AEW to be back in the WWE. They did little with him until recently. He should be a top guy but wouldn’t blame TK for not hiring him back. The Zoey Stark release is heartless.

Rob Taylor

TKO ditched Black and ZV cos of Danhausen... They saw him come in and capture the merch and discussion space in 3 months for a relatively low cash rich deal in favor of ownership and Merch split favor. Black negotiated hard for big wages for he and Zelina and push but neither really delivered... Whereas Danhausen is... Now TKO use that money to pay his Merch bill at the end of the financial year instead. Sure their decision stopped Black in the Orton angle, but would it have seemed better than Pat all told? Or Drew as Champ? Who knows? But cold hard logic says Danhausen was a better get than Black.

Insomnia Inc

Same energy as they should really fire those CEOS that OK video games that are complete failures Instead of closing the studio that made it. Things that will never happen. No matter how much they are deserved unfortunately

Benjamin Brown

I’d expect MCMG to end up in AEW relatively soon. Black was very complimentary to TK anytime he was asked about it, so wouldn’t be shocked if he and Zelina went, too. Kairi would be interesting as well. Santos on a two way deal with CMLL and AEW would make a lot of sense. Alba, Zoey, and Nikki are all quality performers that I could see both TNA and AEW/ROH having interest in. A lot of where any of them go will depend on price tag, though. TNA doesn’t seem to want to pay people and AEW have been more careful about who they sign lately. New Japan seems to be in a weird spot roster wise as well.

Caleb Maldonado

They didn't Bo-lieve in him unfortunately

Bryan Costello

What is wrong with increasing profits? Seriously, what is wrong with that? And you would be surprised at the money creative makes.....all for the trash they are serving up

Chris Cobb

All that money TKO making off of WWE and they can’t keep them on. Guess all the extra money going to the owners. WWE should keep all of them because after a while you get tired of seeing the same people every week.

John Thee Punisher

Literally have to make room for the Divas that came out of retirement. 🤦

ruckus j0nes

Give me MCMG in AEW and I'll be a happy boy.