5 WWE Superstars who were released in 2020: Where are they now?
WWE Superstars are currently focused on The Road to WrestleMania, but despite a new year usually bringing better fortunes, two WWE Superstars have already been released from the company this year.
Lars Sullivan and Steve Culter have become the first WWE Superstars released by WWE in 2021 and join a long list of former stars now looking to make an impact in the business outside of WWE, following their surprising departure from the company.
Last year was tough for many businesses and Vince McMahon's company was forced to make many harsh decisions and think outside of the box in order to continue to create their product and push the business forward during the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Many releases that came back in 2020 were a direct result of the first global lockdown, which forced WWE into their own Performance Center for a number of months, in order to keep their employees safe.
Many of the WWE Superstars who were released back in 2020 have since moved on to new chapters in their lives and careers, here are just five examples.
#5. Former WWE Superstar Taynara Conti/Tay Conti
Taynara Conti was quietly released from WWE back in April 2020 after several main roster WWE Superstars had already been handed their release papers.
Conti made history back in 2018 when she competed in the Women's WrestleMania Battle Royal, becoming the first Brazilian woman to compete on the grandest stage in WWE.
Conti has a background in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and competed in the 2016 Olympics, before being signed to the company back in October 2016. The Brazilian star was just 20 years old when she signed with WWE and went on to compete several times for WWE as part of their NXT brand.
Conti only ever worked on NXT and after reports suggested that the star had been released in January 2020, these were confirmed to be false. But real reports followed a few months later and Conti herself confirmed the news on Twitter.
The former WWE star's 90-day no-compete clause ended in July last year which allowed the Brazilian star to head over to All Elite Wrestling and later become known as Tay Conti. The former NXT star signed with AEW full-time in September and has since become a popular member of their roster after being included in several high profile women's matches.