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Who's next?
While the WWE needs to keep their roster bulky for the men's and women's Royal Rumble match in January, all that will change once the pay-per-view comes to an end and the build towards WrestleMania 35 begins.
Unfortunately for some Superstars, that means finding somewhere else to call home and make a living.
With that being said, what superstars are the most likely to fall prey to the upcoming locker room thinning and which superstars will be safe?
Of course its impossible to be know for sure, especially since a plethora of things can change between now and then, but here are the exits that make the most sense.
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As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below and be sure to tell us who you think WWE will be getting rid of in 2019 and why!
#10 Jinder Mahal
Let's be honest here
It's starting to get embarrassing to see Jinder Mahal on television under the sad meditation gimmick and realize he was once the company's champion!
Of course, WWE deserves a lot of credit for at least experimenting with their top spot and giving Mahal a run with the title, but taking him from champion to joke fodder isn't how things should have been done.
Beyond that, Mahal isn't funny as joke fodder at all. he's constantly losing, which is only hurting his credibility and literally any other superstar could take his place without fans knowing the difference.
If nothing else, Mahal is that extra bit of fat that WWE needs to trim off the roster after the Royal Rumble for The WWE Universe's sake and his!
In the end, there are a plethora of other superstars on the card that can take this role and do it better. With that in mind, WWE needs to release Mahal and give another Superstar a chance at the role.
At least that removes Mahal, allows WWE to experiment and maybe even find the next Elias if they are lucky.
#9 Mickie James
There are two things that point to Mickie James being done with The WWE in the very near future.
The first is the fact that she has been losing on a pretty regular basis, which makes her an enhancement talent at this point. The company is also finding less and less for her to do as time goes on and that might not be a good thing either
With that being said, WWE probably won't get rid of her right after The Royal Rumble, especially with the chance to use her at WrestleMania 35, but there might not be much they can do with her after that.
Hopefully, that means she'll at least go outputting over a young superstar like Ember Moon, Ruby Riott or Sarah Logan, which would be a nice way to end things.
In the end, this is probably going to be one of the few mutual partings on this list and really won't be a big loss for either side.
In fact, Mickie James got to play a part in The Women's Revolution, helped elevate The NXT Women's division and also was a perfect sidekick for Alexa Bliss during her run as Women's champion.
A great run by all accounts and a genius move on WWE's part for bringing her in.
#8 Asuka
As tough as it is to say this, it seems entirely possible that Asuka will not reach the lofty heights of success that was originally slated for her.
Not only is that evident by Asuka's downward spiral ever since losing to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34, but also by how she lost two straight title matches to Carmella in the summer.
If nothing else, both those things did a great job of hurting her credibility and it doesn't look like WWE can really change that image, after all, that's happened.
With that being said, there are also rumours that the only thing stopping a big push for Asuka is her refusal to brush up on her English, which leaves her with a little bit of fault as well.
At the end of the day, Asuka, especially in her current form, isn't really that big of a loss to the company.
Yeah and some will call that blasphemy, which it very well could be, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of potentials there anymore. There doesn't even seem to be much effort on her part to make her run in WWE work, which gives WWE the right to give up on her.
#7 Chad Gable
How can WWE keep around a guy that is only somewhat useful as part of a tag team? Beyond that, rumours are speculating that Bobby Roode will eventually turn on him and split up the team, which means he will need to find something else to do. Unfortunately for Gable, there might actually be nothing left to do and he will be let go.
Of course, that might seem like a grim outcome, especially for someone that has become quite charismatic and has always proven to be talented in the ring, but he just doesn't have that X factor to get above the mid-card. Even worse, he doesn't even seem to have enough charisma to be a singles competitor, which is another strike against him.
In the end, Chad Gable probably deserves better than a release from the company, but there seems to be no other future for the former tag team champion.
Even if he does find yet another partner after the breakup with Roode, he's just going to be another team in a tag team division that is struggling to find its footing.
#6 Dana Brooke
There just isn't seem to be much room in WWE for Dana Brooke anymore. As if that wasn't bad enough, WWE split up Titus Worldwide a couple of months ago, which has resulted in being let go as the groups statistician and essentially being dropped into squash matches.
WWE Officials don't seem to have anything for her to do either and the crowd still isn't behind her
With that being said and her prospects on the main roster dwindling, it seems more than likely that she will receive her walking papers once The Royal Rumble is over.
If not, however, they can always put her down in NXT and see if that works, but sooner or later, she is going to come up as expendable and be let go from the company.
Do you agree? Or do you think that Dana Brooke still deserves a spot on WWE's payroll. Let us know in the comments below and be sure to tell us what role she would be best served in at this point.
#5 Rusev/ Lana
Rusev and Lana have been through hell and back trying to prove to WWE that they can be top stars, but there are a lot of other stars that just seem to deserve that much more.
In fact, beyond a title match against AJ Styles earlier in the year and a semi-interesting feud with him Aiden English and Lana, WWE hasn't done much Rusev and Lana lately.
Of course, that's a very unfortunate thing to happen to two people that were booked as a dominant duo, but one has to remember that they are on a show with limited time and are competing with other stars for those coveted top spots.
They also have had a few blunders in their past, which might make WWE officials feel reluctant to work with him again.
Again, unfortunate, but it's not like Rusev and Lana didn't have a good run in WWE. Rusev even captured The United States, became apart of the League of Nations, had a feud with John Cena and had a match with The Rock at WrestleMania.
Win, lose or draw, those were still some big moments for his career and will stick with the fans for years to come.
As for Lana, she did a couple of segments with The Rock during her career, was one of the best managers of the 2010s and has even gotten better inside the ring as time goes on.
If nothing else, these two have accomplished a lot and while they never got the big one, they still did a measure of success in the company and should be thankful for that.
#4 Bray Wyatt
There are a lot of reasons to give Bray Wyatt his pink slip. Interesting enough, some still claim that Wyatt will return to Raw soon as a face, but what if he doesn't?
What if WWE got so tired of his antics outside of the ring and just decides to cut him once the royal rumble is over?
As harsh as that might sound, especially since he is a former WWE champion and is one of the best promo cutters in WWE, he is still a guy with a lot of problems outside of the ring and WWE really doesn't need that negatively right now.
Beyond that, Wyatt just doesn't carry the same weight that he used to with the company. He's been booked to lose when it counts too many times, which is why its hard to get behind him as anything more than a mid-carder.
Furthermore, WWE could easily put someone new in his spot and it could be the beginning of something that actually works
If nothing else, this might be a blessing in disguise for Wyatt and a chance for another company to do something big with him, but his time with WWE should be done.
#3 Jeff Hardy
Jeff Hardy's career can not last much longer!
Think about it! Matt Hardy has already retired from the company a few months ago and there hasn't been a lot for Jeff Hardy to do since then.
Of course, he did compete at Survivor Series on The men's team and fought for The United States title, but he has essentially become filler as of late.
That's not to say he isn't entertaining filler and that his matches have become boring or anything, it just means that there isn't much the company can do with him anymore.
He's probably too old and injury prone to put him in a big-time spot for the title, which pretty much relegates him to mid-card feuds and putting over younger superstars.
Again, none of this is a bad thing and this isn't to try to paint Hardy's career as lacklustre, it's just that there's nothing left to do!
In the end, the options are essentially limited for Hardy at this point in his career and that's exactly why WWE should future endeavour him sometime in the near future.
#2 Bobby Roode
It was supposed to be Glorious
Despite a run as United States Champion and a win against Dolph Ziggler when he debuted, Bobby R0oode's main roster run has been anything but glorious.
In fact, the better word to describe his time on the main stage is lacklustre and it only seems to be getting worse by the day!
Sure, there are rumours of Roode eventually turning on Chad Gable and getting a singles push as a heel, but what if that doesn't work?
Unfortunately for Roode, that would mean that he is stuck in the same spot he was in after his debut and his run with The United States title, which is nowhere.
In the end, Roode doesn't seem to be a priority right now, which is Ok due to the fact that there are much better babyfaces and heels out there to fill his role, but one would wish WWE would at least give him a run as a heel and see where things go!
If not, they might as well just get rid of him and turn someone else into a mid-card star.
#1 Shinsuke Nakamura
If only things could have been different for Shinsuke Nakamura.
Things did start promising enough for Nakamura as he was inserted into a feud with Dolph Ziggler, but he couldn't seem to maintain that momentum, moving forward.
In fact, WWE started to book him to lose to Jinder Mahal, who was the champion at the time, and he never quite recovered from that.
Of course, he won The Men's Royal Rumble match the next year, which was supposed to be his crowning moment, but WWE changed plans and kept the belt on Styles.
Nakamura and Styles continued to fight for the tile throughout the spring, and the feud finally came to end with The Phenomenal one standing tall.
Unfortunately for Nakamura, this dropped him into virtual irrelevancy and he went weeks without finding a decent spot on the card.
That changed however when he was booked to beat an injured Jeff Hardy for The United States title at Extreme Rules, but even that wasn't enough to get things going in a positive direction.
With that being said, Nakamura is directionless once again and seems like one of the most expendable parts that the company has right now.
He already has been booked poorly, lost when it counted for The WWE title and now he isn't even on television much, which sucks if you're a fan of him.
