The WWE has released multiple wrestlers from their contracts, most of whom were part of their NXT or Cruiserweight brands. News has broken that Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, the team of Chase Parker and Matt Martel (also known as Ever-Rise), Fandango, Tyler Breeze, and August Grey have all been released from the WWE. Several of the wrestlers confirmed their releases on social media earlier this afternoon. Nese and Fandago are both former champions – Nese was a former Cruiserweight Champion and Breeze and Fandango were an NXT Tag Team Championship team. Breeze was also heavily involved with the WWE’s UpUpDownDown video game content.
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Daivari and Nese were both Cruiserweight Division stalwarts, having anchored that division since its return in 2016. Breeze was a major part of NXT’s defining run as a “rising brand” within WWE during its transition from game show to televised developmental brand, and Fandango had been a part of the WWE for 14 years and even had a 1-on-1 Wrestlemania match with Chris Jericho, which he won.
The cuts seemed to come without warning – Breeze was just announced as part of a G4/D&D collaboration airing next month on Peacock, while Ever-Rise just had their viral “pre-pre-show” moved to the WWE Network. Grey was also scheduled to wrestle a match on 205 Live this evening. The cuts also seem to fly in the face of recent reports that NXT planned to highlight the brand’s Cruiserweight division over the next few months, which was kicked off by the reveal of the “Diamond Mine” faction attacking NXT Cruiserweight champion Kushida.
The moves were seen as surprising by most WWE fans, as they followed several rounds of talent cuts over the past few weeks. WWE has aggressively cut talent since April, leading to speculation that the company is attempting to work their balance sheet to attract a buyer. This speculation was later refuted, but the rumors are likely to come up once again. Wrestling journalist Sean Ross Rapp noted on Twitter that the cuts came after a meeting led by WWE president and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan.
WWE has also announced that they’ll be releasing the Singh Brothers, meaning another big blow to the world of 205 Live. Most recently WWE announced what is thought to be the final release of these latest cuts, releasing NXT’s Tino Sabbatelli, who signed with NXT again in October of last year.
The WWE has yet to post any comment about the cuts, but we’ll provide any additional updates or news when it becomes available.
