WWE Has Released 8 More Wrestlers; More Than 80 In 2021
By Jason Hall
November 19, 2021
Several more WWE superstars were released by the company on Thursday (November 18) night, which gives the company a total of 83 releases in 2021.
Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp reported WWE released John Morrison, Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis, Isaiah 'Swerve' Scott, Tegan Nox, Drake Maverick, Shane Thorne and Jaxson Ryker on Thursday (November 18) night.
WWE has yet to address the reported releases, but much of the talent included confirmed the news via their respective social media accounts.
Sapp reports WWE head of talent relations John Laurinaitis "cited budget cuts" as the reason for the latest round of releases in an email to Fightful.
John Laurinaitis cited budget cuts as the reason within the e-mail
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) November 19, 2021
Morrison's wife, Taya Valkyrie, who competed for WWE's NXT brand as 'Frankie Monet' prior to being included in the last round of releases earlier this month, shared several tweets criticizing the company amid the latest round of releases.
"Stop supporting a company that has ZERO respect for their talent," Valkyrie tweeted. "You love pro wrestling, spending your money on the hundreds of other alternatives. This is wrong. Ethically, as employers they don't care about us. Talent or fans."
Stop supporting a company that has ZERO respect for their talent. You love pro wrestling, spend your money on the hundreds of other alternatives. This is wrong. Ethically, as employers they don’t care about us. Talent or fans.
— TAYA VALKYRIE (@FrankyMonetWWE) November 19, 2021
Since February, WWE has released on-screen talent from its RAW, SmackDown and/or NXT shows during every month of 2021 excluding September.
Former NXT champion Samoa Joe was among an early round of post-WrestleMania releases in April before eventually behind rehired in June.
Several other notable releases included former WWE Universal Champions Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman, as well as former NXT Champions Aleister Black (now Malakai Black), Keith Lee and Andrade (now Andrade El Idolo) -- who was granted his requested release -- and Ruby Riott (now Ruby Soho)
Black, El Idolo and Soho have all since been signed and featured in prominent roles for competitor All Elite Wrestling.
Lee was among the biggest names in the round of releases earlier this month and is still facing a 90-day no-compete clause.
A full list of released WWE talent can be found at WrestlingInc.com here.