5 recently released WWE Superstars who underwent a character change

Most WWE Superstars put their faith in the hands of the creative team of the company. Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Charlotte Flair are a few of the top superstars who have done right by WWE.

Meanwhile, superstars like Becky Lynch, Drew McIntyre and Keith Lee have had to prove themselves to the higher-ups before getting a massive push. The WWE Universe had to get behind them to get the company to give them the chances they deserved.

Recently, WWE released a whole new batch of superstars from their contracts. This wasn’t the first time a number of superstars were released by the company in one go. Many of these former superstars had recently gone through a character change and were looking forward to something big.

Unfortunately, their time in the company came to an end before they could get ahead. Take a look at the five WWE Superstars who went through a character change this year before their release.

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#5. Tucker Knight had a hard time getting over after splitting from Otis in WWE

Otis and Tucker worked together as Heavy Machinery for most of their WWE careers. The two men had great chemistry and made a name for themselves in WWE NXT before moving to the main roster.

Surprisingly, WWE never trusted Heavy Machinery with a championship. Otis got more popular than Tucker and went on to win the Money in the Bank briefcase in 2020.

However, Tucker turned heel and attacked his partner to cost him the briefcase in a match against The Miz. It looked like Tucker’s heel turn would lead to something big for the two men, but the character change did not help.

He was released by WWE in April 2021 after being underutilized for several months. Tucker opened up about his release in an interview with Wrestle Talk.

“Yeah I mean of course, it’s never fun to lose your job or whatever. I hadn’t been in that positive of a creative position I would say since the split of Heavy Machinery. So, like I said, obviously disappointed, but I think some people say that, for them, their releases were surprising or came out of nowhere – I was pretty sure I was gonna get released. After I hit my former partner in the head with a briefcase and then we didn’t have a wrestling match, I’m like, ‘Uhh, I kinda know where this thing’s headed, I think I know where this thing’s headed’,” revealed Tucker.

The former WWE Superstar knew he would lose steam after splitting from Otis and going through a chance. Unfortunately, he was right and WWE released him months after giving Otis a big push.

#4. Aleister Black worked hard on his new character before being released by WWE

Aleister Black had a good run on WWE NXT before moving to the main roster in 2019. Black had a decent run on the main roster where he initially went on a winning streak before getting into some good rivalries.

In late 2020, Black had a slight change in character after he “lost his eye,” and debuted new entrance music and attitude. Sportskeeda's Rick Ucchino recently caught up with the man himself to ask all about those new aspects of his presentation, particularly the new music:

"I love it because it goes hand in hand with the new change. And, you know, the thing is like, you, you've only heard it once and you've not heard it in a complete setting. You've heard a rough version without the bells and whistles and the bells and whistles are very much coming."

Black turned heel for the first time and debuted a brand new character in mid-2021. The Dark Father character was gaining a lot of attention before he was released from WWE in June 2021.

Black took to Twitter to talk about his release soon after. He was surprised at being cut by WWE just weeks after debuting his new character:

“Im gathering my thoughts as this was a complete left field for me as obviously we just started the dark father character but this was it, thank you so much WWE universe for allowing me to create and give you small bits of myself.”

Black joined AEW soon after his non-compete clause came to an end. He is one of the top wrestlers on the new promotion and seems to be enjoying his life post-WWE.

#3. Karrion Kross was watered down by WWE before his release

Karrion Kross came into WWE for a golden run in February 2020. He went on a roll right off the bat and picked up some dominant victories.

It took Kross just a few months to knock out Keith Lee at NXT TakeOver: XXX to win the NXT Championship for the first time. After suffering an injury, he took some time off before returning to go on another golden run.

Samoa Joe defeated him to take the NXT title off him in his second run. The Herald of Doomsday moved to the main roster full-time shortly after this. His character was tweaked on WWE RAW and he appeared without Scarlett by his side.

Slowly, WWE started changing more things about Kross’ character and he did not seem like the old Herald of Doomsday. Vignettes recently aired, hinting towards another character change for Kross. However, he was released by the company on November 4, 2021.

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley was one of the few legends who was critical of the way the creative team handled Karrion Kross. Foley believed that WWE should not have changed anything about Kross on the main roster:

“I think younger talent sees the way that developmental characters are cut or left by the wayside or in the case of Karrion Kross, greatly watered down and even made a joke of when they debut on the main roster. If it's not broke, don't fix it. “

Kross and Scarlett could move back to IMPACT or join AEW once their non-compete clause comes to an end. The duo were lethal together, and any wrestling promotion would kill to have a couple who can take over the way these two can.

#2. Keith Lee debuted his new character just weeks before his WWE release

Keith Lee came into WWE with high hopes and dreams. The Limitless One started slowly in WWE NXT before picking up pace. He went on a golden run and became the first-ever double champion in NXT history, holding both the North American and NXT Championships at the same time.

WWE made him drop his NXT Championship after a short run and fast-tracked him to the main roster. After a good start, Lee started to fade away. He made returns for short rivalries before taking off for several months.

He finally went through a character change that saw him turn heel. Lee returned as Keith "Bearcat" Lee (a homage to Bearcat Wright) on the September 27, 2021, episode of WWE RAW. After a couple of matches, Lee was abruptly released from his contract on November 4th.

His release came as a huge surprise to many WWE employees and fans. The Limitless One soon confirmed the character change was not his idea through a comment on social media:

"No. It was not. Lol," wrote Keith Lee while responding to the 'Bearcat' rumor.

Lee could have been so much more on RAW had he been given a fair run. However, WWE decided to pull the plug on his career a bit too soon and released him after giving him a massive push more than a year ago.

#1. Bray Wyatt hinted towards a big character change before his WWE exit

Bray Wyatt was known as one of the most creative minds in WWE. After a successful run with The Wyatt Family, the former WWE Superstar brought forward ‘The Fiend’ character.

At first, The Fiend did well and came across as an unstoppable force. As time went by, the creative team could not do justice to the character and fans started losing some interest in him.

After a bizarre loss to Randy Orton at WrestleMania, Wyatt appeared on The Firefly Fun House and teased a change in character. He said something new was coming and he wanted to start afresh.

Fans were hopeful that the WWE Superstar would unleash a brand new character after the tease. Unfortunately, the company released him from his contract on July 31st, 2021.

Recent reports have stated that Wyatt was unhappy with the outcome of his match at WrestleMania and was outspoken about it.

“There were numerous people backstage who said that Wyatt was outspoken when he thought creative was bad, and by the end, some felt Vince McMahon just didn’t like him due to that," read a report by the Fightful Select.

WWE’s handling of Wyatt’s recent character changes was questionable, to say the least. He could end up making a better career for himself in a different wrestling company.