On Thursday, the WWE released eleven wrestlers from the company in their annual spring cleaning. WWE tends to release wrestlers after WrestleMania. This comes one year after the company released over twenty wrestlers and backstage workers known as Black Wednesday.
All of the wrestlers who were released last year have found new homes with other companies like AEW, Impact, and New Japan. The wrestlers who are now free agents are Samoa Joe, Chelsea Green, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Mojo Rawley, Mickie James, Tucker, Kalisto, Bo Dallas, and Wesley Blake.
Many fans took to Twitter to voice their displeasure about the releases. WWE tends to have a reputation of signing wrestlers, only to use them sparsely or sit at home. Many of these wrestlers made a name for themselves outside of WWE. For these wrestlers, this is a blessing for each of them. They will now have a fresh start elsewhere should they decide to continue their wrestling careers or pursue other opportunities.
Among the wrestlers that were released, Samoa Joe will have plenty of suiters. AEW, ROH, and Impact Wrestling will come calling. I think for Joe, he should head back to Impact Wrestling, where he made a name for himself and had classic matches with AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels, and Kurt Angle. While many would want to see him in AEW, they have an oversaturation of talent, and they don’t need to sign any more wrestlers.
Mickie James is another talent that many companies will want to sign. She will have options to choose from, like heading to the NWA, where her husband Nick Aldis is the current World Champion. She could also help rebuild the women’s roster, which currently features Thunder Rosa, Melina, Alex Gracia, and other newcomers. AEW could also take a shot at James if she decides to join them. She could help the young women wrestlers with her veteran presence. Her other option could be returning to Impact Wrestling, where she is a three-time Knockouts Champion.
Another name to keep your eye on is Chelsea Green. She wrestled for Impact Wrestling for three years and won the Impact Knockouts Championship. She will draw interest from AEW and Impact Wrestling. I think she will end up heading back to Impact Wrestling, where her career started, and where her fiancé is, Matt Cardona. If Green decides to head back to Impact Wrestling, don’t be surprised if she is in the title picture with Deonna Purrazzo.
Peyton Royce and Billie Kay, known as the IIconics, were a one-time Women’s Tag Team Champion. They were fan favorites with the crowd, and like many teams, they were split up and barely used. If these women decide to continue their careers as a tag team, Impact Wrestling would be the perfect fit for them as they too have a Knockouts Tag Team division. They could easily feud with Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz, known as Fire ’N Flava.
Tucker, another tag team wrestler, was part of a tag team called Heavy Machinery with his partner Otis. Like the IIconics, WWE split them up by turning Tucker heel (bad guy), and he wasn’t used ever again. I think Tucker will head to either NJPW, ROH, or NWA. It makes you wonder what WWE was thinking in breaking up these tag teams when they were fan favorites. The problem with WWE booking is they don’t have long-term plans for some of the wrestlers.
Every week on their programs, they feature the same wrestlers over and over again. While they draw ratings and bring in money, others just wait for an opportunity to perform on television. It would be nice to rotate the wrestlers to give all the wrestlers a chance to compete while giving others time off, but they don’t. This is where I give credit to other companies like AEW, NWA, ROH, MLW, and NJPW for not overusing their wrestlers and allowing others to take center stage while some wrestlers get the day off.
Now that their time in WWE is over, Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer reported that the released wrestlers are on a 90-day non-compete clause and can’t sign with anyone until July 14th. Don’t be surprised if companies are already writing storylines for them before their ninety days are up.
One thing is for sure; these wrestlers have plenty of options compared to twenty years ago when the WWE controlled the wrestling world. The other companies are about to get some good talent heading their way. Fans will continue to follow their careers. I can’t wait to see where these wrestlers end up later this summer.
