News: Curtis Axel Has Been Released by WWE

It was announced this afternoon that WWE has released Curtis Axel. The post on WWE.com is simply this:

“WWE has come to terms on the release of Curtis Axel. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.”

Axel is 40 years old and signed with WWE developmental when it was FCW in 2007. Axel’s real name is Joe Hennig, he’s the son of the late great WWE Hall of Famer Curt “Mr. Pefect” Hennig and grandson of Larry “The Ax” Hennig.

In May 2013, Hennig started using the name Curtis Axel as a tribute to his father and grandfather. He was using the name Michael McGillcutty before that.

During his WWE career, Axel won the Intercontinental Championship one time with Paul Heyman as his manager. Axel is also a two time WWE Tag Team Champion with David Otunga as a partner the first time and Bo Dallas as a partner the second time. Axel has been teaming with Bo Dallas the “B Team” for a few years.

Axel was not being used regularly on WWE in recent months. It’s not known right now if he requested the release or if WWE chose to do it.