Former UFC Champion Cain Velasquez Released by WWE

Cain Velasquez's run with the WWE was brought to a sudden end this week, as Dave Meltzer reported via the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the former UFC Heavyweight Champion has been released from his multi-year contract. Velasquez first arrived in WWE in October 2019 when he attacked Brock Lesnar moments after "The Beast" won the WWE Championship from Kofi Kingston. This led to a match at Super ShowDown, which Lesnar won in just a couple of minutes due to Velasquez dealing with a knee injury. With the exception of a house show match in Mexico against The OC, Velasquez was never seen in a WWE ring after that — though he did initially claim he would be in the 2020 Men's Royal Rumble

"It was a multi-year deal, and just like everybody else, they signed him to a giant deal, and now that they're cutting back, one of the things in those deals is that they got the right to cut people," Meltzer explained on Wrestling Observer Radio. "So people who thought that they signed multi-year contracts for high dollar figures, this is how it goes."

Velasquez made his wrestling debut back in August 2019, competing under a mask alongside AEW's Cody Rhodes in a six-man tag match at Lucha Libre AAA's TripleMania XXVII. Fans were blown away by some of Velasquez's lucha libre moves right out of the gate, leading to negotiations with both WWE and AEW.

"I've talked to him [Cody] a little bit, I want to talk to him a little more," Velasquez told Ariel Helwani before signing with WWE. "I think they are doing great things, I think AEW is doing some really cool things."

Here's a full list of every wrestler who has been released since April 15:

• Cain Velasquez
• Rusev
• Drake Maverick
• Karl Anderson
• Luke Gallows
• EC3
• Curt Hawkins
• Heath Slater
• Eric Young
• Lio Rush
• Aiden English
• Sarah Logan
• Erick Rowan
• Primo
• Epico
• Mike Kanellis
• Maria Kanellis
• Zack Ryder
• No Way Jose
• Deonna Purrazzo
• Aleksandar Jaksic
• MJ Jenkins
• Dan Matha
• Alyssa Marino
• Taynara Conti
• Nick Comoroto
• Cezar Bononi
• Tino Sabbatelli
• Kassius Ohno (Reportedly)
• Mohamed Fahim
• Marcos Gomes
• Faisal Kurdi
• Hussain Aldagal
• Yifeng (Rocky)

And here's the full list of every backstage producer/referee/writer who have either been released or furloughed:

• Gerald Brisco
• Kurt Angle
• Shane Helms
• Lance Storm
• Billy Kidman
• Mike Rotunda
• Dave (Fit) Finlay
• Pat Buck
• Sarah Stock
• Shawn Daivari
• Scott Armstrong
• Mike Chioda (Referee)
• Andrea Listenberger (Writer)
• Chris Guy (Performance Center Trainer)
• Serena Deeb (Performance Center Trainer)
• Kendo Kashin (Performance Center Trainer)
• Jerry Soto (Spanish Announcer)
• Josiah Williamson (Interviewer)
• Jon Quasto (Announcer)