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For many years, joining WWE was the one major dream for many professional wrestlers. After all, there was no other promotion that could give a proper competition to WWE. However, the dynamics have changed a lot in the last couple of years.
WWE possesses a massive roster of talent and one major problem with it is that many of them are left without any proper direction, especially superstars on Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown. This ultimately leads to frustration and dissatisfaction, which has led to multiple stars requesting their release from the company recently.
Most recently, reports have emerged that the former WWE United States and NXT Champion Andrade has requested his release from the company. Naturally, the question now among the WWE Universe is - who could be next?
Let's take a look at five WWE Superstars who could request their release from the company before the end of the year. Comment down and let us know your thoughts on the same.
#5 Cesaro (WWE SmackDown)
For years now, Cesaro has been one of the most underrated stars on the main roster. Possessing incredible strength and wrestling abilities, Cesaro has all the qualities to become a main-event star but has never moved up to that spot.
The Swiss Cyborg has had quite a successful career in the tag team division in WWE, winning the tag team titles on seven occasions. However, fans want to see him compete for the world titles and also have a proper reign with either the WWE Championship or the Universal Championship.
Recently, he got a decent push on Friday Night SmackDown and it seemed as if WWE was hinting towards him finally getting in the Universal title picture. However, that didn't happen and Cesaro has now started a feud with Seth Rollins on SmackDown.
There is a possibility that Cesaro may end up requesting his release to try something new with his career. He could become the face of any other wrestling promotion that he joins.
#4 Jeff Hardy (WWE RAW)
Jeff Hardy is one of the legendary WWE Superstars who is still an active in-ring competitor. The Charismatic Enigma has made a career out of putting his body on the line for the entertainment of his fans and even at the age of 43, he continues to do the same.
Just last year, Jeff's brother Matt Hardy left WWE and signed with All Elite Wrestling, and one can't rule out the possibility of The Charismatic Enigma doing the same soon. During his recent appearance on ESPN West Palm, Jeff Hardy stated that AEW is more open-minded than WWE.
"It's really cool. Matt is in AEW and before the pandemic hit, their crowds were incredible and on fire. It's so exciting watching, they are very different than WWE. I don't know how to explain it, but they are more open minded, WWE is kind of set in their ways. This has changed many times over the years, especially since the Attitude era." (H/T: WrestleZone)
Recently, WWE tried teaming up Jeff Hardy with Riddle on Monday Night RAW, calling their team "The Hardy Bros". That alliance didn't last long and it is to be seen what's next for The Charismatic Enigma ahead of WrestleMania 37.
#3 Lana (WWE RAW)
Several wrestling couples are currently split between the two promotions - WWE and AEW. One of the very popular ones among them is RAW superstar Lana and her husband and AEW star Miro (fka Rusev in WWE).
It was a year ago when WWE had the weird love-triangle storyline going between Rusev, Lana, and Bobby Lashley that got even weirder with the involvement of Liv Morgan as Lana's former lover. Soon after this storyline was abruptly canceled, Rusev was released and he ended up joining AEW in September 2020.
Lana was then booked in an angle where she was power-bombed by Nia Jax, through the announce table for several weeks in a row. This led to speculation that WWE is punishing her for Rusev joining AEW. However, WWE started giving Lana a push, portraying her as a massive babyface. She even became the sole survivor for RAW at WWE Survivor Series 2020.
She is currently teaming up with Naomi on Monday Night RAW and it is to be seen how long their alliance lasts. In any case, there are chances that she ends up requesting her release from the company and join AEW to be with her husband.
#2 Ricochet (WWE RAW)
Monday Night RAW superstar Ricochet is arguably one of the most athletic wrestlers in WWE history. The things that he can do inside the ring are sometimes tough to believe and fans love watching him wrestle.
After signing with WWE in 2018, Ricochet joined NXT and quickly became a massive fan favorite. He went on to have several amazing feuds and matches and also won the NXT North American Championship. After just one year in NXT, Ricochet was called up to the main roster and started competing on RAW as a tag team with Aleister Black.
However, Ricochet's journey on the main roster hasn't been what fans expected. He has had his moments to shine, including a United States Championship victory, but has been directionless recently. Ricochet feuded with RETRIBUTION on Monday Night RAW a couple of months ago, who wanted him to join them. Even after multiple losses to the members of the faction, Ricochet didn't join them.
Currently, he doesn't have any proper storyline heading into WrestleMania 37 and speculations have emerged again on whether Vince McMahon has given up on him. One can't rule out the possibility of Ricochet requesting his release from the company soon.
#1 Aleister Black (WWE SmackDown)
Former NXT Champion Aleister Black hasn't been seen on WWE TV for over five months now without any proper explanation. It was Paul Heyman who wanted to give Black a push, but he no longer has that power in WWE. Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio also claimed that Vince McMahon doesn't see anything in Aleister Black.
"He doesn't have that kind of power right now. If he had power, yeah, I could see it. But he does not have that power. And Vince does not see anything in Aleister Black, or Andrade, or any of those guys that when Heyman lost his position and I said the guys that are f**ked. The only one that ended up not being completely f**ked was Shayna because I guess they like the idea of Shayna and Nia Jax so she got brought back. But pretty much everybody else they're with Bo Dallas in catering."
Last year, WWE released Aleister Black's wife, Zelina Vega, after she publicly spoke against WWE's policy of third-party platform bans. One can't rule out the possibility that Aleister Black isn't happy with this situation and might end up requesting his release from the company soon as well.
