Summary
WWEhas released nine superstars with more cuts expected. While there are exceptions to the rule,WWE has a history of releasing talent in batches, a practice that it has been criticized for in the past.
WWE has been going through a major transition period.Vince McMahon’s struggle for control of the companyhas ultimately seen it sold to Endeavor, which in turn has merged WWE and the UFC into a new company called TKO Group. WWE has been laying off employees since then, with various office employees let go earlier this week. Now WWE has started removing individuals from its talent roster, with nine cuts confirmed so far.
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At the time of this writing, WWE has released Aaliyah, Dolph Ziggler, Elias, Emma, Mustafa Ali, Rick Boogs, Riddick Moss, Shelton Benjamin, and Top Dolla. WhileWWEitself has not made any official announcements about the talent it has released from the company, the impacted individuals have taken to social media to confirm that they’ve been released. Additional reporting from Fightful has confirmed even more talent that have been let go from WWE. Fightful’s report also mentions how WWE talent have been under the impression that mass cuts would no longer be happening in the company, with contracts being allowed to expire instead, though that clearly didn’t happen in this case.
WWE Releases September 2023 List
The highest profile release so far is easily Dolph Ziggler. While Ziggler has not been featured regularly on WWE as of late, he has been with the company for over a decade and is aformer world champion.
One of the most surprising wrestlers to see released by WWE is Mustafa Ali, as he is actively involved in a storyline that’s currently happening on NXT. Mustafa Ali has beenfeuding with Dominik Mysterioon the Tuesday night show. A match between the two was scheduled for the NXT No Mercy event on September 30, which would have seen Mustafa Ali challenging for Mysterio’s NXT North American Championship. With Ali’s release from WWE, that match is obviously no longer happening.
WWE has made these cuts just after announcing a $1.4 billion deal that will see itsSmackDown showmove from Fox to the USA Network in fall 2024.
