WWE has released 80 wrestlers in 2021, often coming in waves of 10 wrestlers or more at random intervals. But the releases, typically cited as budget cuts, has often led to some unusual consequences the reverberate throughout the rest of the company. For example, WWE 2K22‘s roster has had to change numerous times to not include released wrestlers and merchandise of cut wrestlers can still be available weeks after they’re let go. And then there’s the matter of action figures. Ringside Collectibles announced this week that one of the latest lines of WWE’s Mattel figures, WWE Elite 92, is now available for pre-order and is expected to go on sale in February. The only problem is that four of the six wrestlers featured in the line — a burnt version of Bray Wyatt’s “The Fiend,” Ric Flair, Scarlett and two variants of Adam Cole — are all gone from the promotion.
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Flair was granted his release over the summer after requesting it, Wyatt was released in late July after being off TV since April, Cole allowed his contract to expire following NXT TakeOver 36 and is now in AEW and Scarlett (along with her fiance Karrion Kross) was released back in early November. Scarlett was the first to poke fun at the situation.
Of the aforementioned group, Flair has been the most outspoken about his anger towards WWE. Following the release of Dark Side of The Ring‘s “Plane Ride from Hell” episode, which included a flight attendant accusing Flair of sexual assault, the 16-time world champion was removed from the opening signature at the beginning of every WWE program. Flair went on his podcast and claimed WWE was trying to “erase his legacy.”
Well, by erasing my legacy, if you take me off the opening of the show and take the Woo, which I own, thank God, because they will never get it back, and replace me with The Ultimate Warrior, a guy that sued the company, held them up for money, I guess the next thing they’re going to do with me is make a DVD having so many people say how bad I was like The Warrior, then they brought him back and put him in The Hall of Fame,” Flair said. “That isn’t going to work for me. One and done. No worries, but you’re not going to bring me back, not that they want me by any means, but I couldn’t ever work for Nick Khan in my entire life. Vince McMahon, I can work for, but Nick Khan, who is a guy who orchestrated taking me off the show. I’ve got my facts together. He orchestrated taking my Woo off. Never in a million years. The big difference is Tony Khan respects me. He has as did Vince. NIck Khan has not. I talk to Vince now. I have no problem with Vince. He just knows I won’t come back.”
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Samantha Irvin ring announcing for WWE.
