5 WWE Superstars who are currently AWOL 

WWE has made several budget cuts across all of its brands over the past few years, leaving the company with a much smaller roster.

Despite the roster being cut in size, there are still a number of current WWE Superstars who are being underutilized by the company and haven't been seen on TV in several weeks.

Many of these stars are former Champions who could be without matches at WrestleMania if there isn't a way for them to be factored into a storyline in the next few weeks.

The following list looks at just five current WWE Superstars who are currently AWOL from TV.

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#5. Former Women's Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler

Shayna Bazler was last seen on WWE TV last month when she was part of the Women's Royal Rumble. Baszler was able to reunite with Ronda Rousey and the two women dominated the Rumble match for a short time before The Submission Magician was eliminated.

Surprisingly, this was the last time Baszler was seen since Rousey has stepped into a storyline on SmackDown and teamed up with Naomi instead.

It's unclear why Baszler has remained unused on WWE TV over the past few weeks, and why the former NXT Women's Champion could now be without a feud heading into WrestleMania.

Baszler was recently part of a storyline that included Charlotte Flair and was once helping Sonya Deville in her feud against Naomi. Baszler defeated Naomi with the help of Deville and was used as her enforcer for a short time.

Since Rousey returned to WWE TV she has been working on SmackDown as a face, this means that Baszler is unable to fit in with the storyline because she's still working as a heel and was originally part of the heel team.

Of course, Baszler isn't the only woman who hasn't wrestled a match since The Royal Rumble, Xia Li and Shotzi have been obvious misses from the SmackDown Women's Division as well.

#4. Former 24/7 Champion Elias

Elias has been missing from WWE TV for so long now that the superstar that he last wrestled has since been released.

Elias last wrestled on RAW back in July when the former 24/7 Champion was defeated by his long-time friend turned rival Jaxson Ryker. The former Forgotten Son has since been released by WWE as part of their budget cuts back in November.

Despite Elias being AWOL from TV for more than two months at that time, he wasn't one of the stars who departed the company. This hints at the creative having some plans in place for the former star.

The company did push a few vignettes for Elias last year which revealed that "Elias is dead" but reports suggest that these were not building towards anything and were just making it clear that it was the end for that character.

There has been no mention of Elias in recent months and the star didn't return at The Royal Rumble. It's clear that the former Champion won't be part of this year's WrestleMania.

#3. WWE Superstar Mansoor

Mansoor was a force to be reckoned with at WWE's bi-annual Saudi Arabia event, but the star interestingly wasn't part of the company's most recent trip.

After being undefeated in his homeland and making history against Mustafa Ali in the Middle East back in October, it was a surprise that Mansoor wasn't part of the company's plans when they made their return to Saudi Arabia.

Whilst many websites have noted that it was bizarre that the hometown star wasn't even-handed an impromptu match on the card, there has been no reasoning for him missing the show.

The last time Mansoor was seen on WWE TV was two weeks before The Rumble when he was part of a fatal four-way tag match. The Saudi star was partnered with Cesaro. The match was won by the Viking Raiders, who then went on to make the trip to The Middle East,. However, they were beaten down by The Usos before the bout could get underway. The match was then abandoned and seemingly rescheduled.

#2. WWE Superstar Mustafa Ali

It's clear that Mustafa Ali probably won't be appearing on WWE TV anytime soon, since the former RETRIBUTION leader has made it clear that he wants out of his contract.

Ali is so determined to leave the company that he has made it public knowledge via his Twitter account that he wants his release. Ali even went as far as to post on Royal Rumble weekend to note that he had rejected a role in the 30-man match because he wants his release.

The last time Ali wrestled for WWE was on the 29th October 2021 when he was defeated by Drew McIntyre on SmackDown.

Ali then requested his release from the company in January and it has since been confirmed that this has been rejected.

Ali recently tweeted what appeared to be the length of his contract when he noted that he would "see ya all in like 2 1/2 years." It's likely that WWE won't force the star to remain part of the company for that long if he's unhappy. The company would most probably look to negotiate a deal with him so that he can make his return to SmackDown.

#1. Former WWE Women's Champion Sasha Banks

Sasha Banks was one of the women who kicked off the 2022 Women's Royal Rumble match. Banks wrestled the returning Melina for several minutes before she was able to eliminate her from the match. The SmackDown star made quite the statement before she was eliminated just a few minutes later.

Despite setting up several future feuds whilst in the Women's Royal Rumble match, Banks hasn't been seen since. As a SmackDown superstar, she would have been expected to be part of one of the recent episodes, but instead, the company has pushed Ronda Rousey's match against Charlotte as the main story in the Women's Division.

Banks main evented WrestleMania last year in the absence of Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey, and is now in danger of not even being part of the show.

Ahead of the Rumble, it was noted that Banks was suffering from a leg injury and it's unclear if this is the reason why she hasn't returned to SmackDown.