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In recent years, WWE has released several superstars after WrestleMania as part of budget cuts. Even wrestlers who appeared at WrestleMania were not safe. It appears the WWE Universe were not the only ones surprised by the names on the list.
Often, WWE informs superstars of their release via a phone call, but some are forced to find out when the information is leaked online. This is also when many stars in the locker room hear of such releases, which, in turn, has led to several candid reactions online.
The following list looks at five times current WWE Superstars were shocked by the release of their colleagues.
#5. Zelina Vega's release shocked the WWE locker room
Zelina Vega was signed to WWE after a successful stint in Impact Wrestling where she was a former Tag Team Champion. Vega was underutilized as a wrestler in WWE. She showed the WWE Universe what she was capable of as a manager when she led Andrade to NXT and United States Championship gold.
She also went on to manage the group of Andrade, Angel Garza and Austin Theory before her shocking release in November 2020 just moments after she tweeted that she supported unionization.
Vega's release was related to WWE's revised stance when it came to third-party content. Vega made a lot of money from streaming on Twitch throughout her career and obviously wasn't prepared to give this up when WWE made the new rules.
According to a report from Dave Meltzer, her release was to send a message to any other stars who were not prepared to give up their third-party accounts. The release also sent shockwaves through the wrestling world, with reports suggesting that stars from AEW, IMPACT Wrestling and WWE were all caught off guard by the release.
Current star Paige and former star Renee Young took to Twitter to react to Zelina Vega's shock release, which seemingly came out of the blue following WWE's announcement regarding third party streaming and social media accounts.
The wife of current WWE star Aleister Black has already sat out her 90-day no-compete clause but doesn't appear to be heading to any other promotions at the time of writing. Following her release, Vega has remained an avid Twitch streamer.
#4. Billie Kay's WWE release came from out of nowhere
Billie Kay is a former WWE Women's Tag Team Champion and was part of WrestleMania 37 just days before her release was made public. Kay and her long-time partner Peyton Royce split last year in what was also considered a shock. Many fans believed that Kay had found a new role for herself on SmackDown.
Billie Kay and Mickie James were the first names to be released by WWE back on April 15th. The backstage reaction to Kay's release made it clear that she was a popular star in the WWE locker room.
Former WWE Divas Champion Paige revealed that she was shocked that The IIconics were on the list of cuts, whilst several other stars also pointed out that Billie Kay would be a huge miss. Kayla Braxton was also seemingly close to Kay since she noted that she would miss her terribly.
Kay herself later went on to release her own heartfelt message, since she interestingly became the biggest shock of the 2021 WWE releases, despite the fact that former NXT Champion Samoa Joe was also on that list.
Xavier Woods Tweeted as soon as the releases started to make it clear that the day had changed and now it was different.
This is the second time that WWE has chosen April 15th as the day that they make a mass talent cut.
#3. The Big Show joined AEW following his WWE release
After 22 years in WWE, The Big Show made the shock decision to walk away from the company earlier this year. He went on to join their rivals AEW.
The Big Show's contract was coming to an end and WWE wanted the former Champion to re-sign. But after RAW Legends Night back in January, where The Big Show appeared on-screen with Randy Orton, he made the decision to walk away.
The Big Show was seen as one of WWE's most loyal stars after spending two decades with the company where he had been part of some of their biggest storylines. His move to AEW came from out of nowhere and whilst the WWE Universe were shocked that he was able to pull it off without any leaks, the WWE locker room was also caught by surprise.
Former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes reacted to The Big Show's move over to AEW. He made it clear that he was looking forward to working with the former WWE Champion in the future.
According to a report by Fightful, the WWE lock room was caught off guard. Several current WWE stars were unaware that The Big Show was on his way out of the company.
Ric Flair and Kurt Angle later went on to reveal that there was some frustration for The Big Show behind the scenes in WWE. This could be why he opted to join AEW following his appearance on RAW Legends Night:
“I didn’t see it coming, and I’m sure they [AEW] must have made him a spectacular deal over there,” said Flair. “Do I wish had would stay with us personally? Yes. At the same time, he has earned my respect, and I think he has earned the respect of everybody and should be able to make whatever choice he wants.”
Vince McMahon reportedly understood why The Big Show made the move. He even called him the day that he signed with AEW and thanked him for his contributions to WWE over the years.
#2. Peyton Royce's WWE release seemingly came from out of nowhere
Much like Billie Kay, Peyton Royce was one of ten WWE Superstars who were released from the company back on April 15th.
Royce was someone who Vince McMahon was reportedly high on just months before and the IIconics split was expected to lead to huge things for Royce. The former Women's Tag Team Champion was part of a storyline with Lacey Evans at the beginning of the year. When Evans announced her real-life pregnancy, the storyline was scrapped.
Royce's last WWE match came when she took on Asuka on RAW back in March. The match came together after she delivered an emotional promo on RAW Talk.
Carmella worked with Billie Kay ahead of her release. Earlier this month she revealed in an interview for The Bellas Podcast that she was rocked by the release of Royce and Kay:
“Those two were some of my closest friends since I’ve been here, since they got here,” Carmella noted. “So this was the first time I was like really rocked by a release. I was like, "Wow." These are my friends. They’re not just my co-workers.”
Becky Lynch is currently on maternity leave from WWE but it appears that the former Women's Champion was also shocked by the news of Royce and Kay's release. She shared the following image on her Instagram.
Royce has since changed her name on social media to Cassie Lee and is expected to be known under this name when she returns to the business.
#1. AJ Styles was shocked by the WWE release of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson
AJ Styles wrestled The Undertaker in a Boneyard match back at WWE WrestleMania 36, which also featured Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Despite making a cameo as part of this match, Gallows and Anderson were released from WWE a few days later alongside several other WWE stars.
Styles was taking a hiatus from WWE following his loss to The Undertaker at the time and was seemingly devastated by the release of his closest friends. This led to issues between Paul Heyman and Styles. The two men now have to work on separate brands.
Styles' reaction to their release on his live stream just days later shows how the former WWE Champion felt losing his two closest friends:
“That one hurt really bad. The only way I can explain it is that these guys are my family and I couldn’t take care of my little brothers. I didn’t manage to do that and I feel responsible for them being released. It’s devastating.”
Gallows and Anderson have since gone on to make a name for themselves in IMPACT Wrestling whilst Styles has made it clear that he will retire from WWE when his current contract expires.
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