WWE Departures: Listing every superstar who has been released in 2020 so far
Up until last night, there had been just five releases from the company in more than four months with Matt Hardy, The Revival, Jazzy Gabert, and Killer Kelly the only stars to have walked away from the company, whilst Cathy Kelley also decided to end her employment in WWE.
Over the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused issues across the globe with many companies going into administration as a result. WWE Chairman Vince McMahon revealed at yesterday's earnings call that cuts needed to be made across the board and whilst last night's releases were much faster than expected, they didn't come as a surprise.
WWE released on-air talent, backstage producers and even creative members as part of last night's cull that looked to take some pressure off the company, who are currently looking for ways to make back the deficit that WrestleMania at the Performance Center looks to have left them with.
Whilst many more releases are both rumored and expected, here is the full list of stars who were released from the company last night. This list only includes stars who WWE revealed have been released or that have announced it themselves.
#20. Kurt Angle
It came as a huge shock when the news came through that Kurt Angle had been released by WWE. The former World Champion was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame back in 2017, was a General Manager of Monday Night RAW, and had his final match at WrestleMania just last year.
The WWE Universe knew that Angle had retired from the wrestling side of WWE employment but he had quietly stepped into a backstage role as a producer. This is a role that many stars including Mark Henry, D-Von Dudley, and even Tyson Kidd have stepped into following their retirement. The former Olympic star reacted to his release on social media just hours after it became public knowledge.
#19. Rusev
Rusev was the final WWE release of the night and he actually revealed his release himself on Twitter when he shared a post that said "Rusev Out." Of course, The Bulgarian Brute has been known to troll his fanbase in the past, but just minutes later WWE confirmed that this time Rusev wasn't joking and he had become another star on the list of last night's releases.
Rusev was recently part of a storyline including his wife Lana and Bobby Lashley but hasn't been seen on WWE TV since before WrestleMania as rumors of Rusev refusing a new contract filtered through. The former United States Champion reportedly wasn't ready to re-sign with WWE and follow in his wife's footsteps, which is why the company decided to keep him off TV.