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2017 has been quite the year in professional wrestling, WWE specifically. There has been no shortage of in-ring action, thanks to the brand-split, which has basically added double the programming, including a pay-per-view almost every other week. Needless to say, there's plenty of work to go around for all WWE Superstars.
Unfortunately, some of the talent doesn't stick around as long as expected and releases or cuts do occur on a regular basis. In fact, cuts have become so common, that there is now a phrase fans use for that certain time of the year - "Black Friday."
Not to be confused with the busiest shopping day of the year, there's nothing joyful about this particular day. This is the day that has become synonymous with the popular "future endeavour" saying.
Now that we are deep into Summerslam season, there have already been several significant releases throughout the year thus far. Some have asked to be released, while others were blindsided with a pink slip.
Whatever the reason was, there are quite a few Superstars that are no longer with the company and in this column, we will take a look at five former WWE Superstars that were let go this year and the reasoning behind their release.
#5 Simon Gotch
In 2013, Simon Gotch signed his developmental contract with WWE after a pretty strong run on the independent scene. Gotch performed for a number of well-known promotions such as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Chikara, and Full Impact Pro, just to name a few.
In April of last year, The Vaudevillains made their main roster debut as members of the newly revamped Smackdown Live brand. At first, there was a lot of hype and promise surrounding their potential as main roster championship contenders.
Unfortunately, The Vaudevillains never picked up the steam needed to be a long-term success as WWE Superstars.
In April of this year, almost one year to the date since his main roster debut, Simon Gotch was released. The general consensus is that Simon simply was not happy with his progress, or lack thereof, as a main roster Superstar. With that said, both Simon and WWE officials reached a mutual agreement to grant Simon his release. Upon being released WWE released the following statement:
"WWE has come to terms on a mutually agreed upon release with Simon Gotch as of today, April 5, 2017. WWE wishes Gotch the best in all his future endeavors."
Upon being released, Simon also had to wait out a 90-day no-compete clause in his original contract. Since then, the 90 days have passed and Simon is working a full schedule, being booked all over the world as "Simon Grimm."
#4 Ho Ho Lun
Ho Ho Lun signed with the WWE in 2015 and was originally a participant in the inaugural WWE Cruiserweight Classic. After an impressive performance in the Cruiserweight Classic, Lun was brought back to participate in the annual Dusty Rhodes Classic Tag Team Tournament before eventually being sent to the main roster as a member of the 205 Live roster.
Lun is a native of Hong Kong, which is where all of his family still reside. Unfortunately, Lun recently received news that his mother had fallen seriously ill. Despite his dream of being a WWE Superstar, Ho Ho Lun had no other choice but to ask for his release, which the company granted.
Lun has since returned to Hong Kong, where his focus centres around his mother and helping her get better.
#3 Austin Aries
When Austin Aries signed with WWE in January of 2016, many fans, including me, felt as if the company landed a big fish, and if managed properly, Aries could do some great things as a WWE Superstar.
However, it appears Aries became frustrated with WWE's creative officials and his role with the company. There's another report that suggests that Austin was just hard to work with and was very unpopular backstage. Either way, Aries was released in early July.
However, Austin also has to contend with a 90-day non-compete clause, which runs through October 5, 2017. At that time, Aries will be free to find work with any company or promotion he desires.
#2 Jack Swagger
Out of all of the releases to date in 2017, Jack Swagger is probably the one that shocked fans the most.
Coming out of college at the University of Oklahoma, Swagger had accumulated a plethora of skills that he could have used to be successful in practically any field he decided to go into. In the end, he opted for a career in professional wrestling and in 2006, Jacob Hager became Jack Swagger and he was then assigned to WWE's developmental territory, Deep South Wrestling.
Throughout the years, Swagger has been a fairly underwhelming and overall not very impressive. Swagger has had some success with the company since arriving on the main roster, becoming the ECW Champion at one time, as well as the United States Champion and the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. It's also worth mentioning that Jack also won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match in 2010.
In March, Swagger announced on Chael Sonnen's podcast, that he had indeed asked for his release from his WWE contract. However, WWE responded two days later that they had declined his request to be released. Just a couple of weeks after that announcement, WWE officials then confirmed that Swagger had been granted his release.
Since leaving the company he has kept a pretty busy independent schedule. While there have been conflicting reports as far as why he left the company, Jack spoke with The Main Event Radio show back in May and made the following statement regarding his release:
"I had been with the company for 10 years. I’m very fortunate for the career that I had. What it really was is a business decision. I valued myself at a certain price, they valued it at another. I’ve gotta move forward. It was just time for a change; time for Jake Hager/Jack Swagger to go out and see other opportunities."
#1 Eva Marie
Eva Marie has had quite an interesting run with WWE. While she became known best for her participation on the Total Divas show, Eva eventually worked her way into becoming an in-ring competitor, but her skill-level failed to reach the point where she could work on the same level as her fellow lady Superstars.
Despite receiving a significant amount of additional training from both Brian Kendrick, as well as the WWE Performance Center staff, she never really caught on enough to truly establish herself as a respectable WWE Superstar.
As we previously reported here on Sportskeeda, Eva Marie was released by WWE on August 4th. While it was never officially announced why, WWE backstage agent Road Dogg had a Twitter exchange that the decision to leave was, in fact, Eva's herself.
