-- WWE released almost two dozen wrestlers yesterday as part of cuts stemming from the fallout of the merger with Endeavor. Fightfulselect.com has notable updates on a few of the prominent names, summarized below:
- Dolph Ziggler - Ziggler was a somewhat surprise cut as he had been with WWE for an incredibly long time and was ready to leave himself a couple of years back. At that time, he was "talked into" staying by management and his existing contract extended well into next year, rumored to expire in the summer of 2024.
- Mustafa Ali - Ali had been interested in leaving WWE as far back as 2021, when he formally requested a release after creative differences, rumored to be directly with Vince McMahon. However, WWE rejected his request for a release but he was removed from TV and his contract was set to also expire in the spring/summer 2024 timeframe. His release apparently blindsided a lot of people.
- Elias - Elias had not been on TV for quite a while and even though some people suspected he was injured, that was not the case. He had been pitching creative ideas as recently as last month.
- Riddick Moss - Moss was a longtime favorite of Paul Heyman and in fact, when Heyman was in charge of creative for WWE, he was someone that Heyman felt he could elevate to main event status. However, this idea was met with considerable resistance backstage and the end result was that Moss often struggled to get booked.
