WWE wishes them the best in their future endeavours. Has there ever been a more loaded sentence than that? Aside from “I’m feeling chill, do you want to watch Netflix”. The old future endeavours line though suggests that someone either wasn’t good enough for WWE or did something naughty that got them let go.
In the year of the Almighty Bobby Lashley 2018, quite a few superstars have been shown the door by WWE management. Whether that’s the doors to the performance centre or just getting kicked off the still moving bus on the way between main roster shows.
Some of these releases were entirely justified and others are a bit of a travesty, but all of them happened this very year.
1. Enzo Amore
I almost missed Enzo Amore before he pulled that stunt at Survivor Series, which kind of reminded me that he’s not a particularly pleasant person.
Enzo was the first release of 2019, coming after allegations of rape on Twitter. It was reported that it was not so much the accusations that led to his release, more that he had not disclosed them to WWE at the time.
Enzo, real name Eric Arndt, was found not guilty of the crime after insufficient evidence was put forward, and has had a pretty bizarre year.
After a brief hiatus, Enzo returned to the spotlight under a new title, Real1, releasing his first rap single called “Phoenix”, in which he openly mocked his accuser and talked about his “consensual penis”.
Other than that, it looks like his wrestling days are over, and although he seems desperate to keep some level of fame, what with all the Survivor Series attempted hijackings, I highly doubt he’ll make his way back into Vince’s company again.
Most recently he released his first album, Rosemary’s Baby, which, in its more positive reviews, was described as “entirely forgettable”.
2. Big Cass
Large Cassius, Enormous Casserole, Bobby Cassley, none of these were names for Big Cass, but I’ve got word count I need to adhere to.
It wasn’t a very good year for Enzo and Cass, with both being sent packing during 2018. Cass was injured shortly after Enzo’s release, and although attempts were made to push him as a singles competitor, it never really worked.
Although he’s 7ft tall, Cass’ gimmick for a large portion of the year is that he’s tall, and apparently that’s enough to make him good in WWE’s eyes.
His final feud came against Daniel Bryan, which he lost very convincingly, and he was out the door just a few days later.
It didn’t help that Cass was a bit of a pain backstage either. Getting drunk, breaking toilet doors and beating up a dwarf too much aren’t acts that are likely to gain you too many fans in WWE, and that was certainly the case here.
Since being released, Cass has admitted that he was a bit of a nightmare to work with and that he doesn’t blame WWE at all for releasing him when they did.
He recently made his in ring return for MLW under the imaginative new ring name, Big C.
3. Rich Swann
Rich Swann was released in February after allegations of domestic violence were made against him. WWE stated that they had a zero tolerance policy for such accusations, and a mutual decision to release Swann was made.
Like Enzo, Swann was not found guilty of any wrongdoing after the crime was dropped, and he and his wife are still married.
A one time Cruiserweight Champion, he was one of the most popular members of the roster in the early days of 205 Live, and his departure came as a real blow, particularly as it came just three weeks after Enzo Amore was released for similar reasons.
Thankfully, Rich Swann didn’t decide to become a rapper, and has instead signed with IMPACT wrestling where he is a very popular figure.
His high flying style will always be a popular one with fans, and so you wouldn’t be surprised if he one day makes it back into WWE.
Although he might not be able to remember all the WrestleTalk presenters’ names, he came across as an incredibly nice man when we met him at Wrestling MediaCon, so we wish him all the best.
4. Abbey Laith
This is the part of the list where some people might start saying “who?”, but fear not, there are plenty of well known names to come!
Abbey Laith, or Kimber Lee as she is perhaps better known, was signed to a developmental contract in January 2017, a month after making her NXT debut in a losing effort to Asuka in December 2016. You know, when Asuka was good.
But after signing, she was never much more than a face in battle royals and on live shows. She did have some success in the 2017 Mae Young Classic, reaching the quarter finals after defeating both Jazzy Gabert and Rachel Evers.
But if she hoped that this might be the start of something bigger, she was sadly wrong, as she pretty much never appeared on NXT TV ever again, other than a brief cameo in another battle royal.
The biggest shame is that Laith is a very talented wrestler, having appeared for a number of well respected promotions before being snapped up by NXT.
She was released in March, and has since debuted for Stardom in Japan, and I sincerely hope she is given her moment to shine…like a star.
5. Sage Beckett
As the owner of the best real name in wrestling, MaryKate Duignan Glidewell, I feel like Sage Beckett should have been kept hold of by WWE for only that reason, but oh well!
Unfortunately, having a cool name just isn’t enough sometimes, and it’s fair to say that Beckett’s run in WWE was pretty uninspiring.
She debuted in 2017 as Lana’s manager, which is a pretty awful start to any career. Managing a manager is never going to get you thrust into the limelight, and that was certainly the case here.
Her only in-ring performance of any note was appearing in the first round of the 2017 Mae Young Classic, where she lost Bianca Belair in a decent match.
She was released alongside Abbey Laith in March.
6. Ming
Remember that load of Chinese wrestlers WWE signed when they were looking to expand into Asia? Well, they’ve all been released.
Working under the imaginative ring name “Ming”, Gu Guangmin was a Chinese boxer when he decided to attend a WWE tryout in 2016. No doubt aided by being 6ft 8ins, he was signed to a developmental contract with NXT.
He debuted in 2017 as an enforcer for Kona Reeves, and that’s pretty much as good as it got for old Ming. His in ring debut didn’t come until October 21, where he lost to Angelo Dawkins of the Street Prophets.
And that was all she wrote for Ming, who was released alongside Laith and Beckett.
7. Zeda
If you go on the Wikipedia page for the Mae Young Classic, Zeda is one of only eight people who you can’t click on, which gives you a pretty good idea of how her time in WWE went.
Another queen of the battle royal, Zeda failed to make any kind of impact in WWE after being recruited on a developmental contract in January 2017.
It has to be said she wasn’t exactly given an easy draw in the 2017 Mae Young Classic, losing in the first round to someone called Shayna Baszler, who I hear may still be in NXT somewhere.
And that was pretty much as good as it got for Zeda, who, apart from cameo roles in multi-woman tag matches, made little or no impact during her brief time with the company.
Since being released in June, she has made appearances on a number of independent shows under the ring name Zeda Zhang.
8. Ealy Twins
Seriously though, have you ever seen two identical twins that are as identical as these fellas? Even their nostrils are twins.
These bros appeared sporadically in losing efforts on NXT, usually putting people over, which they were able to do given how huge they both are.
They were with NXT for two years, but struggled to make any kind of breakthrough. Their downfall came when Uriel (the one on the right…or left) sustained a severe injury, and was subsequently quietly released from his contract.
Gabriel (the one on the left…or right) was never cut out to be a singles competitor, and he too was released shortly after. It’s a shame because Uriel sounds a bit like “urine” and therefore could have been used in the recent Drake Maverick piss segment.
9. Tian Bing
There’s more Chinese on this list than my local high street. They really didn’t make the impact everyone hoped they would.
Having said that, of all the highly unsuccessful Chinese wrestlers on this list, Tian Bing is the least unsuccessful, so that’s something.
He wrestled for the Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) between 2013 and 2016 before being snapped up by WWE after a successful try-out.
He is the only Chinese recruit to have featured on the main roster, doing so in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33, where he eliminated both Fandango and Tyler Breeze.
But that was the peak of his WWE career unfortunately, and he was released on October 19, making him the most recent departure.
10. Jason Cheng
Another recent departure was that of Jason Cheng, who was another Chinese signee back in 2017.
He was little more than a face in NXT, where he would be thrown into random matches to job to more over teams.
He, like Tian Bing, was released in October.
11. James Ellsworth
Chinese Wrestler James Ellsworth…wait, he’s not Chinese? Oh.
Ellsworth is the only person on this list who has the honour of being released by WWE twice. He first disappeared in November 2017, after a long storyline with Carmella, during which he, I mean, Carmella won the Money in the Bank ladder match.
After a while ‘Mella became disenchanted by Ellsworth’s failings and he was gone. But not for long!
He returned to WWE at Money in the Bank 2018, where he helped Carmella pin Asuka…I know…
He was only back for a matter of weeks however, and was once again released from his contract.
What’s he doing now you ask? Well, the less said about that the better.
12. Nick Miller
This is a bit of an annoying one, mainly because it happened after I wrote the first 11 people on this list…
Nick Miller was one half of NXT Tag Team The Mighty, previously known as TM61, which to Pokemon fans is the move Will-O-Wisp, Miller was released from his WWE contract just last weekend, leaving his tag partner Shane Thorne all alone and partnerless. I hear Naomi needs a new best friend.
It’s being reported that Miller was taking some time out back in his native Australia after the birth of his child, very wholesome, and that while there, he decided he wanted to stick around and asked for his release.
It’s understood that should he wish to return to NXT, the door is very much open, but presumably for the time being he’s a bit busy training his baby to fight Monroe Sky Mizanin and Birdie Danielson.
13. Tucker
Although it has not been confirmed by the man himself, NXT UK star Tucker has had his name removed from the roster page on WWE.com, which is a bit like unfriending your ex on Facebook.
Tucker appeared in both United Kingdom tournaments, losing in the first round on both occasions, and hasn’t done much else.
The Belfast-born brawler made his name on the indies mainly with Irish promotion OTT, but failed to continue this momentum after being signed by WWE.
Maybe he’s hoping there was an issue in the paperwork as his namesake Tucker Knight was just called up to the main roster.
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