Top 5 Wrestling News Stories Of The Week 04/28: Released WWE Stars Weren’t Working Hard Enough & Braun Strowman Released Due To High Salary
Each and every week, the weird and wonderful world of professional wrestling never fails to captivate fans with a plethora of captivating stories that make their way into the news cycle.
Whether it’s shocking upsets, dramatic showdowns, or behind-the-scenes drama, the happenings within professional wrestling always keep fans on the edge of their seats.
Here are the Top Five Wrestling News Stories of the Week.
5. Rey Mysterio Kicks Off New WWE-AAA Alliance
As AAA’s show in Mexico City began on May 3, a video featuring Rey Mysterio played, where he promised that AAA and WWE were about to take Lucha Libre to new heights.
“For nearly a century, Lucha Libre has redefined wrestling. And now the whole world is watching AAA and WWE, taking Lucha Libre higher, faster, better, farther. The future flies here.”
As noted by LuchaBlog on April 2, there remain more questions than answers within AAA regarding the promotion’s new relationship with WWE.
“To the best of my knowledge, AAA has not sat down its office or wrestlers as a group to explain what’s happening, what’s next and where that leaves the people who are currently working for AAA.
That should happen here. There’s a lot of luchadors with question marks for futures, and how AAA treats them publicly and privately will start answering those questions.”
4. WWE Releases Several Stars Including Braun Strowman, Dakota Kai And NXT Talent
It has become an annual tradition for WWE to release wrestlers in the weeks after WrestleMania. Even though WWE often brags about record profits and sold-out arenas (and stadiums), it is still letting talent go.
The following main roster talent has been let go. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful noted that in some cases, WWE may have chosen not to renew a contract that is set to expire.
* Braun Strowman
* Dakota Kai
* Shayna Baszler
* Katana Chance
* Kayden Carter
Braun Strowman and Dakota Kai have both been released before. They were both brought back to the company in 2022 after Triple H took over as the Chief Content Officer.
Strowman recently feuded with Jacob Fatu on SmackDown, and the two men had many good matches together. Kai challenged Lyra Valkyria for the Women’s Intercontinental Title. WWE Universal Champion, Intercontinental Champion, and two-time Tag Team Champion. Strowman initially signed with WWE in 2013. Even though he was featured on TV fairly regularly, he rare competed on PLE shows.
Dakota Kai was originally signed by WWE in 2016 and was let go in 2022 after WrestleMania. That only lasted a few months until she was brought back by Triple H and put in Bayley’s Damage CTRL group. Kai is a former two-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion and two-time NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion.
Shayna Baszler has worked for WWE since 2017. She had a lot of success in NXT as a former NXT Women’s Champion and was a three-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion.
Kayden Carter and Katana Chance are former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions and NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions. They were both hired in July 2018. They were not used as much over the last year.
There have also been many wrestlers from NXT that were released.
* Gigi Dolin
* Cora Jade
* Eddy Thorpe
* Riley Osborne
* Jakara Jackson
* Mark Coffey of Gallus
* Joe Coffey of Gallus
* Wolfgang of Gallus
* Javier Bernal
* Oro Mensah
It is believed that the wrestlers on the main roster will have a 90-day non-compete clause after their releases while the NXT talent will have a 30 day no-compete clause on their contracts.
3. Ex-WWE Star Blasts Company Over Latest Releases
Former WWE Superstar Tegan Nox has slammed the company following the latest wave of talent releases.
A host of WWE Superstars were wished all the best for their future endeavours on 2nd May, with the likes of Braun Strowman, Shayna Baszler and Dakota Kai all shown the exit door as the company looked to trim costs.
Tegan Nox, now performing as Nixon Newell on the independent circuit, has offered a unique take on the news having been let go by WWE on two previous occasions in 2021 and 2024.
Whilst not naming a specific Superstar in a heated reply to the releases, Nox shared her disbelief at the names that WWE had deemed surplus to requirements.
The 30 year-old Welsh star took to social media to air her feelings following the announcements:
“Imagine releasing talent like that!… place is fing insane!”
2. Released WWE Stars Weren’t Working Hard Enough
WWE stars were released because they didn’t train hard enough.
On May 2, several WWE main roster and NXT Superstars were released by the company seemingly out of the blue. Across Raw and SmackDown, the likes of Braun Strowman, Dakota Kai, and Shayna Baszler were cut, while Gigi Dolin and Cora Jade were among those who were removed from NXT.
24 hours later, it was also confirmed that Shotzi will leave the company when her contract expires.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that WWE felt that many of those who were released weren’t training hard enough. He added that he’d seen the word “lazy” used to describe some talents who are “gonna be gone.”
“Many of those cut were perceived as not working hard in training. And if you don’t work hard in training, there’s so many people who do. And at this point, if the feeling is you’re not working hard in training – I saw the term ‘lazy’ – the ones who are lazy are gonna be gone, and the ones who didn’t stand out are gonna be gone.”
1. Braun Strowman Released Due To High Salary
A now-former WWE star was released because of their high salary.
In recent days, WWE has released several main event talents as well as a host of NXT Superstars. The cuts came right after the company let go a number of office staff, including the Senior Vice President, Creative Writing Operations, Christine Lubrano.
From the main roster, Katana Chance, Kayden Carter, Shayna Baszler, Dakota Kai, and Braun Strowman were all let go. While Cora Jade, Riley Osborne, Eddy Thorpe, Gigi Dolin, Jakara Jackson, Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, Wolfgang, Oro Mensah, Dani Palmer, and Javier Bernal were all cut from NXT.
Meanwhile, it was reported on May 3 that Shotzi had been informed that her contract wouldn’t be renewed. Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer suggested that in Strowman’s case, his salary played a part in the company deciding to release him. One source noted that there was a feeling that the former World Champion wasn’t being used enough to justify what he was being paid.
“He is the one that the salary was high,” Meltzer stated. “One person told me that they felt he was being… he was paid more than how they were using him, I guess is the best way to put it, but salary played a part in this.”
Meltzer added that his recent in-ring work may have also played a role, pointing to how a hamstring injury had an impact.
“The reality of Braun Strowman is, is that ever since he had that hamstring injury, he’s never been the same.”
Braun Strowman initially signed with WWE in 2013 and spent two years training largely behind the scenes before debuting on the main roster as part of the Wyatt Family in August 2015. Strowman went on to become a three-time Tag Team Champion, one-time Intercontinental Champion, and Universal Champion.