10 WWE Superstars who might leave in 2017
Could WWE have another mass exodus of stars this year like they did in 2016?
Believe it or not, WWE has as many as 200 people signed to ‘talent’ contracts spread between RAW, SmackDown, NXT, the Performance Center, and various other affiliations. They have so many wrestlers, yet many of them aren’t even used properly when they do appear on a regular basis. Because of this, there is the potential that some people might leave WWE by the end of this calendar year.
Every year, WWE goes through a period during which wrestlers are either ‘future-endeavored’, i.e. released at the company’s request, or leave themselves after requesting to depart. 2016 had its fair share of high-profile departures from WWE for several reasons.
Damien Sandow was a wildly popular mid-carder whose organic popularity was completely disregarded by WWE’s top brass, which led to him being released in May of that year.
Wade Barrett, once one of the most promising wrestlers on the roster, was not used well by WWE for years and went on a considerable losing streak until he was released on the same day as Sandow.
Ryback made controversial comments towards his payment in 2016 and had several disagreements with Vince McMahon, which led to him being sent home and ultimately released by the company.
Finally, the highest-profile departure from WWE last year was Cody Rhodes. Rhodes was horribly miscast by being perpetually shoehorned into the Stardust character, which was something he didn’t want to do. This led to Rhodes requesting his release on May 21 of last year, about two weeks after Sandow and Barrett left the company as well.
2017 hasn’t witnessed any major departures as of yet, but there are still give full months left in this calendar year. In that period, there’s still the chance that one or more WWE superstars could leave the company for one reason or another.
Here, we’ll look at the ten that are most likely to leave WWE.
#10 Apollo Crews
Just because he smiles a lot doesn’t mean people like him
Apollo Crews has been lost in the shuffle since he debuted on the main roster. He was brought up from NXT far too early, as he hadn’t had the chance to develop a personality or improve upon his promo skills. He looked great, but his lack of a character and time devoted to actually speaking have prevented him from establishing a lasting connection with the audience.
Crews has been drafted back-and-forth between RAW and SmackDown Live, and both have been relatively fruitless. He hasn’t been given any time to show any fire or personality, and his only facial expression appears to be ‘smiling’. His current storyline with Titus O’Neil has little chance of having a major payoff, which makes one wonder what the point was for that pairing.
Since it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll go back to NXT (as it is, after all, still perceived internally as a developmental brand), he’s dangerously close to being completely forgotten by the fans. If that happens, Crews should go back to Dragon Gate, where his athleticism and style were appreciated to a greater degree.