Released WWE Star Questioned Re-Signing With The Company After Seeing AEW Faction Debut

A released WWE star questioned re-signing with the company after seeing the formation of a top AEW faction.

In February 2025, Cedric Alexander was released from his WWE contract after almost a decade with the company.

While Alexander’s role on WWE television was far from prominent in the years leading up to his departure, his release came as a surprise to fans given that he had only re-signed with the company the following year and had been featured more often on the NXT brand.

Following his re-signing Alexander’s former WWE stablemates in The Hurt Business – MVP, Shelton Benjamin and Bobby Lashley all signed with AEW under the new name of The Hurt Syndicate, and have since been one of AEW’s most featured acts.

During an appearance on Knockouts and 3 Counts, Alexander revealed that he had some doubts regarding his decision to re-sign with WWE upon seeing The Hurt Syndicate debut in AEW.

Addressing this, as well as his thoughts on MJF’s addition to the group, Alexander said:

“My immediate thought when I — so, when I even realized MVP showed up (at) AEW and then Shelton (Benjamin), I was like, ‘Ah, man. I shouldn’t have re-signed that last contract, huh?’

“That was something I had dreamed of doing so I was like, ‘Aw man, should I have really re-signed that last contract?’ I was like, ‘Ah, it’d be fun. It’ll work out.’ If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be kind of thing and I kind of just be happy for the boys and they’re doing their thing at another place and I was just happy for ‘em, and then, oh! I get released. I’m like, ‘Oh! So maybe it is meant to be. This is something that I can really look forward to,’ and then I realized that MJF is trying to make his way in there. I was like, ‘Alright, well…’ let it play out.

“Let it play out. I’m sure they’ll get tired of his shenanigans because he’s MJF. Of course, he’s gonna screw everything up. You know how he works. He’s gonna get the big head, like he always does… MVP trusts him for a little bit so I’m like, alright, cool, whatever… I don’t trust him.”

Alexander recently returned to in-ring action on the independent scene following the expiration of his 90-day WWE non-compete clause, competing for the likes of House of Glory and DPW.

It remains to be seen whether he will end up signing with AEW, but we will provide updates if they become available.

For more AEW news headlines follow this link here.

Transcript via Fightful