Riddick Moss, Elias and Aliyah have also been released.

Top dolla gone now

None of these come as a surprise so far.

Ali is probably the biggest since he was on NXT duty and was set to work their PLE but his career stalled years ago.

I am a bit surprised the bigger, physical talents have been let go. Elias, Moss, Boogz. You can't tell me Bronson Reed is better than these guys. 

Gargano is also a bit of a shock to be honest. Thought HHH really went to war for him. Def. see him in AEW very soon. 

Sept 21, 2023 15:26:41 GMT Blindy said:

Gargano is also a bit of a shock to be honest. Thought HHH really went to war for him. Def. see him in AEW very soon. 

Where did you get this from?

Emma didn't really do much after she returned did she?

The rumours are true Dolph Ziggler has been released by the WWE.

Shelton Benjamin is also gone.

The great cleaning is here.

Sept 21, 2023 15:47:39 GMT Big Pete said:

Sept 21, 2023 15:26:41 GMT Blindy said:

Gargano is also a bit of a shock to be honest. Thought HHH really went to war for him. Def. see him in AEW very soon. 

Where did you get this from?

Seems like it was a fake twitter account that did it so thankfully it's fake. 

Sept 21, 2023 16:07:05 GMT Emperor said:

Emma didn't really do much after she returned did she?

She was basically just a jobber and Riddick Moss' girlfriend (who completely lost his push under HHH's regime).

Oh shit it is a bloodbath:

Aliyah
Elias
Moss

Also released so far.

Big E and Dakota got be sweating a bit.

OMG Elias confirmed he was Zeke this entire time!!!

Second wave of cuts expected around 5 EST, with a focus on NXT.

Sept 21, 2023 16:10:10 GMT c said:

Oh shit it is a bloodbath:

Aliyah
Elias
Moss

Also released so far.

You can try to hide your enthusiasm a little better. Geesh.

Mostly apathetic. I assume half of them will be in AEW in three months and a few in during the GCW circuit. If the cuts are done for main roster happy E and Dakota were spared given E has no return date and Dakota keeps getting hurt. Also cuts were very light to what I expected. I expected closer to 30 to 50 released in the first wave.

Only person I can see joining AEW is Dolph and that’s only if he feels like working with his brother. Nick has been a good soldier for AEW and throwing him a bone and letting him go on a run with his older brother might be cool.

Maybe Elias but I feel like his gimmick would not go nearly as far in an AEW setting. And it flopped several times in WWE, so…he would make a good fit with Sterling, Nese & Woods though. Bring in another shredded guy that can easily be a dick to the crowd. That’s an excellent group for the Trios division, that is severely lacking a threatening heel team (HOB will never be booed they are too cool).

I feel bad for Emma. Tweeted how excited she was for EC in Australia then not six hours later she is released. Bummer.

Top Dolla is one I kinda feel for, depends what he wants to do, can see him doing Indies..or maybe NWA?

Dana Brooke & Maximum Male Models have been released.

NXT list.

Dana Brooke
Mace
Mansoor
Qunicy Elliot
Bryson Montana
Shanky
Dabba-Kato

Other names being tossed around, so may be another wave.  Still a lot of people creative has nothing for on rosters.

Yulija Leon has been released, too. Better watch for Valentina Feroz. She's in that 50/50 spot now.

Weren’t Maximum Male Models like over as fuck not six months ago? What happened?

I assume they were never supposed to get over and pulled from Smackdown because of it.  Like someone in WWE had to have hated them.

There's so real surprises so far, most of these guys are barely being used and there's far too much good talent in NXT that should have already been called up.

Elias could be a major player on the independents with his gimmick - it's almost too easy booking this guy. Show up, sing about how Bumfuck, Ohio is awful and get stomped out by the local champ. It's circus act booking, but it works.

Ziggler and Ali will be big stars in AEW, and Shelton likely an agent. Elias likely will be big on the indys. Tony should not grab him, but I think will not be able to resist it.

I could also see Shelton being super over in GCW just because he is such a constant but think he is moving backstage.

A lot of the others will do locals or retire I assume.

I still think there will be a second wave with deeper cuts.  If that happens may create a critical mass for a second national indy fed to rise up like GCW.

Sept 21, 2023 21:47:54 GMT RT said:

Weren’t Maximum Male Models like over as fuck not six months ago? What happened?

When Maxine started her story with Otis.. they kind of hit the back burner because everyone moved their admiration to Maxine & Otis.

It sucks to see Dana Brooke and Emma were released, I would have loved for them to hold tag team gold, in the WWE. I suppose Impact could always use another knockouts tag team, and Emma has worked for the company in the past.

Sept 21, 2023 22:04:22 GMT NATH45 said:

There's so real surprises so far, most of these guys are barely being used and there's far too much good talent in NXT that should have already been called up.

Elias could be a major player on the independents with his gimmick - it's almost too easy booking this guy. Show up, sing about how Bumfuck, Ohio is awful and get stomped out by the local champ. It's circus act booking, but it works.

When AEW does back to back Rampage/Collision shows in Bumfuck, Ohio 3 months from now, we will know why.

When Shemaus had that banger with Gunther, someone commented that it took him 15 years to get that good. But at least he was good.

In saying that, some of these releasees have been around for sooo long without getting to a even a consistent level - Aliyah, 8 years in WWE. Mace, 7 years. Boogs, 6. Moss, 9. Kato, 7.

I'm sorry, but how long is too long? Some of these guys have had longer active careers in WWE than The Rock and Steve Austin. Aliyah was around long enough, it's almost like watching the new generation transition to the Attitude era to the Ruthless Agression era in terms of length.

Sept 22, 2023 0:30:40 GMT NATH45 said:

When Shemaus had that banger with Gunther, someone commented that it took him 15 years to get that good. But at least he was good.

In saying that, some of these releasees have been around for sooo long without getting to a even a consistent level - Aliyah, 8 years in WWE. Mace, 7 years. Boogs, 6. Moss, 9. Kato, 7.

I'm sorry, but how long is too long? Some of these guys have had longer active careers in WWE than The Rock and Steve Austin. Aliyah was around long enough, it's almost like watching the new generation transition to the Attitude era to the Ruthless Agression era in terms of length.

It's a really hard thing to gauge. There are a lot of factors that we simply don't know the full extent of.

Would Rick Boogs have been World Champion if he was shoved down our throats for half a decade like Roman Reigns was?

Would Emma have been as good as Charlotte Flair had she been handed the Women's title literally whenever she showed up on TV?

The answer to those questions are most likely 'no,' but how do we know if they weren't given the same treatment as the others?

And let's be real: Sheamus has been good for most of his career. People just didn't like him because they didn't like the WWE in general and God herself couldn't pin John Cena during that time.