"Bring in Mandy Rose and put them together,""She's still signed?" - Fans erupt after absent AEW star survives talent cut

Absent AEW star Paige VanZant has survived the recent talent cut in AEW and fans are shocked to see her on the roster.

Tony Khan recently ordered a mass release which saw the company letting go of many names from the promotion. Khan gave the reason for pulling mass releases as budget cuts.

Surprisingly Paige VanZant wasn't part of the group that was released from the Jacksonville-based promotion recently. She has been a part of Khan's roster since 2021 but has only had one match since. At Double of Nothing 2022, she teamed up with Men of The Year (Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky) to defeat Frankie Kazarian, Sammy Guevara, and Tay Melo.

When the AEW fans found out that Paige was still in the company, they went onto X to express their astonishment. Here are some top comments.

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Dave Meltzer raises concern over Tony Khan ordering a mass-release in AEW

While speaking on the recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer commented on Tony Khan ordering a mass release. He stated that Khan has never advocated releasing talent unless they want or their contract is up. Therefore, he found the recent budget cuts surprising.

He said, "It does make sense, but at the same time one thing that I do remember, one of Tony Khan's things was if I sign you to a three-year contract, you know you're with me for three years, unlike there where they can cut you any time. There are actual cuts. It concerns me in the sense that he has always been strong on theta and there's cuts."

As per Sean Ross Sapp and PWInsider, a total of ten stars have been released so far and the names of released talents are: Jose The Assistant, Parker Boudreaux, Stu Grayson, Dasha Gonzalez, Anthony Henry, Slim J, Brandon Tate, Brent Tate, Gravity and Jora Johl.