Zoey Stark Teases Return From Injury After WWE Release

Published: 1 hour ago by Dave Adamson | Last Updated: 10 seconds ago by Dave Adamson

Dave has been a website writer for WrestleTalk since October 2022, having previously written for Den of Geek, among a number of wrestling, movie and television-related sites. Dave has been around the independent wrestling scene for more than a decade, including behind-the-scenes.

Zoey Stark Teases Return From Injury After WWE Release

Last competing in May of last year, Zoey Stark has teased a return from injury following her recent WWE release.

Zoey Stark was one of a number of stars to be released by WWE on April 24 of this year, having signed with the company in early 2021.

A Money in the Bank qualifier on the May 19 episode of WWE Raw last year would be the last time Stark would compete, suffering torn ACL, MCL and meniscus injuries in that match.

Having revealed that she was “almost” ready for an in-ring return in January of this year, sharing a photo of her physique on social media, Stark has now provided an update on her progress.

In a new post on Twitter, Stark shared a message very much suggesting she’s just waiting for her non-compete clause to expire, tweeting:

“Man, I miss wrestling. I guess I can wait 85 more days”

The post was accompanied by a photo of the progress that Stark has made, demonstrating her, frankly, impressive physique.

Man I miss wrestling. I guess I can wait 85 more days pic.twitter.com/FNk5BpRgRq

— Zoe (@ZoeyStarkWWE) April 29, 2026

Where Next For The Released WWE Stars?

It’s easy to instantly jump to “AEW should sign” any of the stars that WWE has recently released, particularly with Tony Khan previously stating he “constantly evaluating the market and scouting for fantastic wrestlers” when it comes to a signing strategy.

The wrestling world is, obviously, bigger than just the major companies, and it’s unlikely that Khan is going to sweep up all the names to recent part ways with WWE.

WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray has put his support behind the idea of Khan signing Stark, however, describing as a potential “instant babyface” in AEW.

With the twenty-plus released stars no doubt weighing up their options for the future, it’s too early to say where any particular name will end up, however, if Khan is “scouting” for talent, it’s highly probable that the likes of TNA Wrestling, Maple Leaf Pro, NWA and other larger companies are very much doing the same.

Then, of course, there’s the sort of independent run that the former Zack Ryder undertook, reinventing himself as Matt Cardona and going on to be the self-described Indy God, before finding his way back to WWE.

Addressing a past set of WWE releases in a March 2025 post on Twitter, Cardona gave three options to those no longer under contract:

“You have three choices…

“1) Fade into obscurity

“2) Coast off of your WWE name

“3) Work your ass off, reinvent yourself, make a lot of money, and have a lot of f***ing fun!”

All are valid options for the stars who want to continue their wrestling journey, with the outcome very much in their hands as a valued name and talent.

With non-compete clauses typically ninety days, there’s still time for each released star to determine the direction of their own future beyond the name they made in WWE.