AJ Styles (C) again targettted The Undertaker's wife on Raw (WWE)
WWE decided to release several stars in 2020 with Rusev being one of the biggest ones to leave
The coronavirus pandemic seems to have hurt WWE as the promotion decided to release several stars in 2020.
While a few have been let go at the start of the year, WWE shared a statement where several big names were released from the organisation.
There were some big casualties from their list with several current WWE stars getting the axe. Rusev and a couple of the OC members were the biggest hits while there were a few surprises too.
Kurt Angle hasn’t been seen in a lot of WWE action in recent weeks, but even the Olympic Champion was released by the organisation.
Angle had a decent run as a manager and there was a storyline with Jason Jordan being his son too, but he wasn’t the only big name to be chopped off.
Fit Finlay, who does a lot of work backstage, was also released by the company. Mike Rotunda, the father of Bray Wyatt, also joined the list, and The Fiend was not impressed by the decision by WWE.
Of course, every company has to make some tough decisions in these times. However, WWE could have kept some good will by keeping hold of these stars until they got other gigs.
WWE has released other wrestlers in 2020 too with Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder leaving just a few days ago.
AEW could be an option for a few stars but many of them were active in storylines, so this is a little surprising.
Erick Rowan had been carrying a huge spider to the WWE ring for a while, but he now follows his Bludgeon Brothers star, Lee Harper, out of WWE.
Rowan was teased as a big thing in WWE with his new gimmick, but this monster is no more part of the organisation.
Sarah Logan only recently fought on Raw against Shayna Baszler, but she is out too. Eric Young was never given a real chance apart from his role in Sanity and the former TNA star has been released by WWE.
Mike Chioda, who has refereed for almost three decades, was also fired. The other known faces who are out include EC3, Epico and Primo, former Cruiserweight champion Lio Rush too.
Mike and Maria Kanellis never really clicked in their return to WWE. Zack Ryder, Drake Maverick, No Way Jose and Heath Slater make up the final names on WWE’s release list.
Angle was working as a producer on WWE and he joins other former stars such as Shane Helms (The Hurricane), Lance Storm, Billy Kidman and Shawn Daivari.
Some of these former stars have confirmed their release from WWE while there is speculation regarding the future of others.
WWE might have been doing a lot of shows in recent weeks, even during the coronavirus lockdown. However, even they have had to resort to drastic measures to keep the ship floating.
Hopefully, all the released members get gigs quickly, whether it be for WWE or any other promotion.
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