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Getting into WWE is one of the biggest dreams of almost every professional wrestler out there. The Superstars competing in the company today have worked hard for several years and some even failed many tryouts before coming back and not giving up.
However, getting released by WWE can be extremely heartbreaking for Superstars as it can show that they failed to achieve what they dreamt of achieving. While many Superstars have taken a release in their stride and have come back to the company to reach new heights, others have struggled to do the same.
Superstars usually take to social media following their release or appear in interviews to talk about what went wrong. Several former Superstars have also revealed some interesting details following their release from the company.
With that as the focus of this article, let’s take a look at the six WWE Superstars who made confessions following their release from the company.
#6 WWE writers possibly did not like working with Austin Aries
Just like AJ Styles, Austin Aries was seen as a top wrestler whom fans loved to see wrestle in WWE. The former TNA World Champion finally joined WWE in January 2016, and many fans were glad to see him appear in the biggest wrestling entertainment promotion.
Aries tried to join WWE on several occasions earlier but failed to do so. He even auditioned for WWE during the 2011 Tough Enough competition. The Superstar had a brief run in Vince McMahon's promotion but was released just 18 months later.
Rumors began to spread that Aries was difficult to work with, and therefore WWE decided to part ways with him. Following his release, Aries was on a media conference call where he revealed that WWE creative might have found it difficult to work with him.
"I'll bet you some of the WWE writers probably didn't like working with me very much because understand that in that environment, when I'm given something that the writers hand me, if I have any things that I think should be adjusted or things that I wouldn't personally say, as someone who's been doing this for 17 years and as a writer it's not easy for us to just go and change those things, but then to have to march back into the office and have those things changed for them. So the process is a little tedious, and to me, it really takes a lot of the artistic and creative freedoms away from the wrestlers. If there are any writers that had any issues with me while I was in WWE, they certainly never expressed that to me. That's something that was never brought to my attention, so I can't speak on anonymous reports."
Aries surprisingly revealed that even a wrestling veteran like him did not have creative freedom in WWE. He spoke about how it was difficult for the writers to change the script for him and get approval from the higher-ups.
#5 Simon Gotch was unhappy during his time in WWE
Simon Gotch joined WWE in 2013 and formed a tag team with Aiden English known as The Vaudevillains. After winning the NXT Tag Team Championships, the two Superstars were moved to the main roster.
Gotch did not enjoy his time on the main roster and confessed the following after he was released by the company in April 2017.
"I was really unhappy. I'd actually been pretty unhappy there for a while. It's kind of an odd little side story – the previous year, right after the takeover they did in Dallas, which myself and my former tag team partner Aiden English weren't even on the live special from Dallas.
"And I'd always been really close with Biff Busick or Oney Lorcan as he's now known, and he walked by and said 'Hey man, how are you doing,' and I just looked at him and said 'I f--king hate this place. I want to quit.'”
Gotch’s confession after his release showed that even after reaching the top wrestling company in the world, the Superstar was unhappy. Gotch has since been performing on the independent circuit following his release from WWE.
#4 Alex Riley believed John Cena did not like him in WWE
In 2007, WWE signed Alex Riley, who had the looks and charisma to become a top name for the company. While the Superstar had a good start to his career, his push was later taken away by WWE.
Riley was paired with The Miz for some time, but he did not get as over as his fans had hoped. He then transitioned into a commentary role and was released by the company a couple of years later.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Riley confessed that he and Cena did not get along behind the scenes.
"I think it came down to, in the end, two men just not liking each other. As sad as that is, it had an impact on my career because he is who he is. I just happened to be in a situation where, right from the start, it was just… he didn't like me.”
Arn Anderson confirmed that Riley’s push was halted because Cena was not in favor of the WWE Superstar.
“I think Alex had a good look. I think his work was ok. He seemed to gel well when they put him with The Miz. But there’s a famous story that he was offered some help from John Cena and he seemed less than enthused or interested which would have immediately made it’s way back to the locker room and to the office. I’m sure it was around that time that his water got cut off.”
Riley hasn’t made a huge impact on the pro wrestling scene following his release from WWE in 2016, even though he’d announced that he would be returning to the ring in 2019.
#3 Jack Swagger thought WWE liked to take advantage of independent wrestling shows
After joining WWE in 2006, Jack Swagger enjoyed a steady rise in the company. The former WWE Heavyweight Champion had a noteworthy run in Vince McMahon's promotion.
Swagger was released by WWE in 2017, eleven years after stepping foot in the company. Swagger headed to the independent circuit following his release and confessed that he believed that WWE likes to chase the indies and possibly sabotage their shows.
“I’m new to the independent scene, but I’ve seen a trend arising and I wanted to speak on it. Whenever certain promotions run their bigger shows, especially around the holidays, WWE likes to come in to the same market and run a show at the same time.”
“Hmmm … coincidence? I mean, possibly. They do book their shows months and months ahead of time. But what is even more possible is that WWE saw the card for The Revolver and said ‘oh sh*t, that’s a great roster. This is gonna be a big show. Indies are hot. We should get some of that.” Swagger adds, “To me, this is a slap in the face. Typical WWE saying they’re a bigger company and they can come into your market and push you around and run a show whenever they like.”
Swagger revealed that he thinks WWE likes to book shows around the same dates as independent promotions so they can cut into their revenues. The former WWE Superstar thinks it’s a way for the company to show that they can push around smaller promotions and run a show wherever they like.
#2 The Revival (FTR) believed Vince McMahon didn't like tag team wrestling in WWE
The Revival was seen by many as a top tag team in WWE. Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson had a good time in WWE NXT after which they were moved to the main roster. However, the two men struggled to find their footing on RAW or SmackDown and failed to make a huge impact on the main roster, in the long run.
The Revival was released from their contract in 2020, and fans saw that as a major surprise. However, Wilder and Dawson had been looking for a release from the company and the duo had expressed their displeasure at their creative direction.
The Revival joined AEW soon after and was rebranded as FTR. The duo was interviewed by journalist Stephanie Chase, and they made the surprising confession that Vince McMahon is probably not a big fan of tag team wrestling.
"Cash and myself, we both worked in 2019 more than any — we had more matches than any other talent in the WWE. So they kept us booked because they knew we’d work hard on the live events, but if that were a problem, they wouldn’t have us in 155 matches in 2019, and then there’s the talk of, ‘Well they have to pay two talents.’ Yeah, they had to pay two talents but me and Cash were also two of the least paid guys in 2019. We worked the most and got paid the least, so I don’t believe that. It’s just an opinion that Vince McMahon has on tag team wrestling. He owns the company, it’s his playground, it’s his money and that’s okay. There’s things that I don’t like and if I owned a company, I wouldn’t — if I owned a coffee company, there’s no way I would serve gas station coffee, you know? It’s just not what I enjoy, and I just think he [Vince] just doesn’t enjoy tag team wrestling.”
The confessions revealed why WWE has been so lackluster in terms of booking their tag team division. Hopefully, WWE's creative staff has taken the criticism constructively so they can work on making their tag team division better in the future.
#1 Nexus didn't think they would lose to John Cena at WWE SummerSlam
Nexus made a big debut in WWE in 2010 with Wade Barrett as its leader. Barrett led several NXT Superstars onto the main roster and demanded that each member should receive a WWE contract.
The faction got into a huge rivalry against John Cena, and Barrett was sure that the faction would go over WWE’s top star at SummerSlam 2010. The faction went into the event knowing that they were booked to defeat Cena's team, but the plans were later changed.
During an interview with Inside the Ropes, Barrett revealed what went down at SummerSlam.
“We come back down later on and get pulled to one side and Arn Anderson says, ‘hey guys here’s the finish it’s gonna be you eliminating him he’s gonna eliminate this guy, he’s gonna eliminate this one.’ It’s kinda like dominos are falling, and we finally get down to the final three which is myself and Justin Gabriel and on one side against John Cena. And then they say Cena’s gonna beat you both and go over. At which point I kinda thought he was joking just to gauge our reaction.”
“Now I realize he’s not joking John’s going over. We bring up, ‘why’s John going over? We really need to win this match.’ And Arn puts his hands up and says, ‘nothing to do with me, you’ve got to go speak to Vince about this.'”
Slowly, all the members of Nexus were released by the company. Barrett was released by WWE in 2016 and made the confession regarding the onscreen booking of Nexus almost a year later.
Since Cena has been one of WWE’s top Superstars for decades and was on the highest level in 2010, it comes as no surprise that WWE decided to lay Nexus down for Cena to pick up the victory.
