Alright, so Friday evening dropped some wild news, man: Ten talents signed with WWE officially got released, according to Sean Ross Sapp from Fightful.com. It’s a pretty massive shake-up, and you gotta wonder what’s going on backstage with all these changes. This isn’t just a few names, either; it hits across different parts of the roster, from champions to newer recruits.
Who’s Out? A Closer Look at the Departures
The list of names is pretty diverse, showing just how broad these cuts are. We’re talking about guys like Jasper Troy, who wasn’t just *on* the roster, he was a WWE Speed champion and even took home the Men’s LFG Season 1 win. You’d think a champion would be safe, right? Then there’s Wendy Choo, the WWE Evolve Women’s Champion, who saw action on both NXT and Evolve. It just shows you that even with a title, nothing is guaranteed.
But it wasn’t just active wrestlers. We saw some unexpected names too. Take Ellen Akesson, for example, a legit Swedish powerlifter and arm wrestler who won the 2024 Western European Powerlifting Championships. She was assigned to the WWE Performance Center but never even wrestled an official match. Same goes for Marcus Brown, a bodybuilder who was also assigned to the Performance Center without ever wrestling. Then there’s Adriana Rizzo, who was with NXT from 2022-2025, known for her appearances as part of the D’Angelo Family, but unfortunately dealt with numerous injuries. She even appeared as a ringside interviewer on Evolve. Zena Sterling, with WWE since 2023, trained at the Performance Center, worked NXT live events, and got some screen time on WWE LFG and Evolve. Anya Rune has won championships for six different promotions and made Evolve appearances in 2026, including a Women’s Title Qualifying Fatal Four Way. Braxton Cole was on Season 3 of WWE LFG and made appearances on Evolve and numerous NXT Live house shows. PJ Vasa, a former rugby player, just debuted on Evolve last November. Even a referee, Gary Wilson, who was signed in 2022 and worked NXT and SmackDown, got caught in this wave.
Not the First Time: A Trend in 2026
Here’s the kicker, and why this feels like such a big deal: this isn’t some isolated incident. Sean Ross Sapp reported this is actually the second time a large wave of WWE cuts has gone down in 2026. The last one was announced pretty soon after WrestleMania, back on April 24. That earlier wave saw some huge names released, including Kairi Sane, Aleister Black, Apollo Crews, Bo Dallas (aka Uncle Howdy), Nikki Cross, and Joe Gacy. When you see two big clear-outs like this in the same year, you gotta wonder what the long-term plan is for the roster. It definitely makes you think about the pressure on the remaining talent and what the overall product is gonna look like moving forward.
With two massive waves of cuts already hitting in 2026, it makes you wonder what’s next for the WWE roster. We’ll be watching to see how the landscape shifts after this, and who steps up to fill the void. It’s gonna be wild to see how it all shakes out on screen.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
Leave a Reply