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WWE budget cuts have hit the company hard over the past 12 months. The company has been forced to adjust throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of WWE's biggest stars have lost their jobs as mass releases have continued. Several of the stars released were once seen as the future of the company.
None of the company's current champions were on the chopping block. There were, however, a few who dropped a title a few months prior to their release.
The following list looks at five former WWE Superstars released just months after holding a Championship.
#5. Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle had quite the career leading up to 2006. As an Olympic Gold Medalist, Angle was pushed hard in WWE. He was able to obtain a number of championships in the seven years he spent on the main roster.
Heading into WrestleMania 22 in April 2006, Kurt Angle was the World Heavyweight Champion. It had become well-known in the company at the time that he was going through a rough patch. The biggest show of the year saw Angle defend his Championship against Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio.
The triple threat match at WrestleMania initially called for Orton to become Champion. However, it was revealed that this would be his final match before suspension due to violating WWE's Wellness Policy.
In the end, Rey Mysterio was the star who won the title instead. Just months after Mysterio's victory, Angle was gone from WWE.
Angle was drafted over to ECW, where he went on to become The Wrestling Machine. Just four months after dropping the title, Angle was released from WWE in August, later revealing that he had asked to leave the company.
The former Champion was working hurt and needed time away to heal. His last match was against Sabu on an episode of ECW which ended in a no contest.
#4. Former WWE NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff
Leon Ruff was once seen as one of the stars who could be the future of WWE. Ruff was able to win the North American Championship in his first official match on the black and yellow brand.
He went on to lose the title back to Gargano a few months later at NXT Takeover: War Games, before becoming part of WWE's Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic alongside Kushida. The two stars were knocked out of the tournament at the quarter-finals stage when they lost to The Grizzled Young Veterans.
He was a regular face on the NXT brand throughout his short time under contract and feuded with a number of superstars including Isaiah "Swerve" Scott and Pete Dunne. Regardless, Ruff was one of a number of NXT Superstars who were released from their contract on August 6th.
This means that Ruff joins an elite list of WWE Superstars who were part of the company for less than a year, but were still able to win a Championship.
#3. Former WWE North American Champion Bronson Reed
Bronson Reed was recruited by WWE back in 2019 and joined several other big-name stars at the company's Performance Center. Reed made his official debut in NXT's Breakout Tournament in the summer of 2019 but was defeated by Cameron Grimes in the quarter-finals.
The Australian star went on to focus on the North American Championship and was unsuccessful a number of times, before defeating Johnny Gargano on an episode of NXT to become Champion.
This victory came less than three months before Reed's WWE release and made him the first Australian and non-American superstar to win the title.
After Reed dropped the Championship to Isaiah "Swerve" Scott the following month, there were rumors that the star was heading up the company's main roster.
This wasn't the case, since the former Champion was released from the company along with several other superstars on August 6th. Reed was easily one of the biggest shocks on the list of releases since many believed he was heading to SmackDown to join The Bloodline alongside Roman Reigns.
#2. Former WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman
It's still hard to believe that Braun Strowman is no longer a WWE Superstar. The former Universal Champion was built as a monster and was one of the company's biggest stars at the time of his release.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and The ThunderDome Era, Braun Strowman was a dependable pair of hands and even agreed to wrestle Goldberg for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36. The scheduled match should have seen Roman Reigns take on Goldberg, but The Tribal Chief was forced to pull out of the match and Strowman replaced him at the last minute.
Strowman became Champion and went on to enter a feud with Bray Wyatt/The Fiend following the biggest show of the year. Strowman remained part of the main title picture for the remainder of his WWE career since he wrestled Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania Backlash in his final match for the company.
The Monster Among Men was then surprisingly released from WWE on June 2nd, just over a year after holding the biggest Championship in the company.
#1. Former WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt/The Fiend
Bray Wyatt was released from WWE last month in easily one of the biggest surprises of the year. The man, also known as The Fiend, had been appearing sporadically on WWE TV in his final year in the company and was part of a feud with Alexa Bliss at the time of his release.
As The Fiend, Wyatt had been able to revive his career and won the Universal Championship on two occasions. The latter of which came in the summer of 2020 when he was able to defeat Braun Strowman at SummerSlam.
Roman Reigns made his return to the company and attacked the two men following their match. The Tribal Chief then took the Championship title that he should have won at WrestleMania.
Wyatt moved on to a feud with Randy Orton which led to him being off TV for a lengthy period of time before returning and wrestling at WrestleMania in April. This was Wyatt's last match for WWE since he was released from the company due to budget cuts on July 31st.
