Here we go again—for something like the 8th time. Another round of so-called “budget cuts” has left a dozen or so WWE Superstars without jobs in the latest set of releases.
At this point, there’s no use discussing “the big picture” of it all. Either WWE is selling the company or Vince McMahon and Nick Khan really do truly believe in the mantra that “no Superstar is as big as the brand name” and that every wrestler is just a replaceable cog in the machine, forgetting entirely how the company’s made its success off the names of several big stars in the past. Entire eras are defined by Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold and John Cena, but I guess these days, none of that matters.
Still, even without talking about the what, where, when, why and how, we can still talk about the “who” of the releases. Furthermore, we can address what the future might have in store for them.
B-Fab – In the few matches we’ve seen her wrestle recently, she was admittedly pretty bad. This is one of the releases I can actually see making sense. Even still, the timing just seems strange. They JUST brought Hit Row up to the main roster and started their push. How does this keep happening? If she and so many others are so low on the totem pole that they’re on the chopping block, how does WWE simultaneously push them and fire them in the same weeks? Bronson Reed and others fit that bill.
Where does she go? I don’t think we’ll see her anywhere else in wrestling. My guess is she’ll move to another career path.
Ember Moon – I’m always honest, even if it’s not an opinion that will earn me any fans. This might be another of those cases. Ember Moon was someone I championed to beat Asuka for the NXT Women’s Championship. Then, they took a detour to get the belt on her and promptly moved on to Shayna Baszler. Since then, Moon’s never recovered. I went from being a big proponent of her getting a push to someone who thought she wasn’t meeting her potential. Lately, I flat out haven’t enjoyed much of her work—especially her promos. She was probably making more money than they thought she was bringing in, and I can understand this release.
There’s a chance we’ll see her in AEW, but I think she’s actually a better fit elsewhere. If I were NWA or Impact Wrestling, I’d be making a hard play for her there. In AEW, I don’t think she’ll reach the top of the food chain, but she’ll definitely do it in those other two promotions. If I had it my way, I’d like to see her in NWA even more.
Eva Marie – Why even bother bringing her back? She’s attractive, but there are a million other good looking women out there who could offer just as much and be a fresher face. This storyline they had with Doudrop was trash, she never learned how to get better in the ring or on the mic, and now she’s gone. What a total waste of money.
Eva Marie doesn’t go to any other promotion, unless it’s for a guest spot for something quick. She’ll just move on to doing other things like her fitness and modeling projects.
Franky Monet – All this fuss over Taya Valkyrie and what does she amount to under WWE’s banner? They promote her, wait a while, have her win a few matches, put her in The Robert Stone Brand, she loses her title shot and then gets fired a few months into her career. Again, what a waste, although this time, I feel like it’s a legitimate waste of talent.
We should DEFINITELY see Taya Valkyrie in AEW. That’s the ideal situation. If not there, I guess Impact Wrestling is where to circle back to. Or maybe she just steps aside for a while, at least for now.
Gran Metalik – This has been a long time coming. Years ago, he was asking where people would like to see him go next, so he’s clearly not thought much of his time in WWE. I don’t blame him. He came into the Cruiserweight Classic with a lot of fanfare and nearly won the tournament, then went nowhere. Lucha House Party wasn’t ever in serious contention of winning the tag team titles and that was their highlight.
Metalik goes back to promotions like AAA and CMLL and such, if I’m predicting, more so than showing up for something like AEW.
Harry Smith – WWE spends the past few years talking to this guy, bringing him back into the fold, waiting and waiting, then has him do a dark match, says he’s back, waits a few more months and then fires him. What the hell is going on here?
Davey Boy Smith Jr or Harry Smith or whatever he wants to go by next is likely to pop up on any number of promotions. Maybe he works the indies. Perhaps he goes to somewhere like AEW, especially with the Owen Hart Cup coming up.
Jeet Rama – Rama was in the NXT system since June 2015 and barely ever seen. This was a long time coming. Oddly enough, they just started using him recently. Again, it’s as if WWE is trying people out, giving them 1 or 2 showings to “prove their value” and then releasing them.
Rama’s next move is a complete unknown to me. I can’t imagine he’s a hot commodity for any of the USA promotions. Maybe he does some work on the indies, though.
Jessi Kamea – Back when she was doing the dork gimmick, I really liked her. I thought she had some serious potential to become a new Bayley of sorts. Once they switched her up to be just another generic wrestler, I could hear the death knell. It was only a matter of time.
Sadly, I don’t think she’ll be snatched up by any promotion any time soon. Maybe she’ll work an episode of Dark: Elevation or something. There’s a chance NWA or Impact signs her, but we’ve seen plenty other people who are bigger names still not have a home. I don’t think we’ll be seeing her outside of indies. She might not even continue this career path.
Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux – This is one of the most baffling things. These two were such a big part of NXT and then poof. What happened? Did Vince really pay so little attention to NXT that when he brought Kross up to Raw, he decided he didn’t like him and just wanted to be done with it? Scarlett, I can see, as she wasn’t used to wrestle a single time, so maybe they just don’t want to pay valets. But Kross is just a complete and utter shocker. That’s insane.
AEW gets both of them or they go back to Impact. Killer Kross has more to offer than what happened in WWE with that awful Demolition Zardoz outfit.
Katrina Cortez – Frankly, she was never good. Her appearances ranged from terrible to below average. It’s not for everyone and I’m surprised she made the cut so many times before.
AEW Dark: Elevation and the indies. I don’t think we’ll see her anywhere else or getting truly signed.
Keith Lee – This just flat out pisses me off. Keith Lee had the tools to become one of the next big stars and they completely let him go to waste. He was one of my favorites. We should have seen him beat Brock Lesnar, win the Royal Rumble, capture the WWE Championship and so on. Absolutely ridiculous.
PLEASE sign him, AEW! Pretty please?!
Lince Dorado – Sadly, this felt like it was a guarantee for a while now. There was a chance he was more of a team player in WWE and they would have kept him, but it didn’t seem as though he’d be more than an enhancement talent anyway. Clearly, they made up their minds about him a long time ago and wouldn’t be budging.
I like Dorado, though. I would like to see him pop up in AEW. I don’t think he’ll be signed by them, but I can see him wrestling a few matches here and there. Maybe he focuses more outside of the United States in the long run, though.
Mia Yim – Total waste of someone who could have been a much bigger deal on the main roster than even she achieved in NXT, but deserved more on the black and gold brand to begin with.
She’s definitely someone I’m hoping will be a big part of AEW’s women’s division. I’d sign her immediately if I were Tony Khan. I’d even consider having her be the one to beat Dr. Britt Baker for the belt sometime in 2022.
Nia Jax – In a lot of ways, I’m sure a lot of people are thinking “good riddance” after all the injuries she’s caused. If it’s true that she’s one of the group who refused to get vaccinated and lost her job because of that, maybe she’s someone WWE is thinking about rehiring in the future once this settles down more.
I won’t miss her, if I’m being honest. She never reached a level in the ring or on the mic that made me feel like she was a necessity on the roster.
As far as a future spot for her, I think she’s going to take time off. Then, maybe she’ll go to Impact.
Oney Lorcan – Biff Busick is heading to AEW. We’ll see him on Dark in no time, I’m sure. This guy’s going to be brawling with people like Bryan Danielson and Jungle Boy and whatnot, for sure.
Lorcan’s a guy who I never saw much of a high ceiling for in WWE, but I’ve always enjoyed his work. AEW will treat him much better, even if he never reaches TNT Championship level, even.
Trey Baxter – Well that was pointless, wasn’t it? Did they sign him just to sweeten the deal for Cora Jade, or what? At least there goes my prediction he’s the next cruiserweight champion, right?
Baxter’s a guy I can see wrestling on Dark, but I don’t think will be signed by any promotion unless it’s Impact. Even then, I don’t think he’ll be high up on their priority list and they’d rather sign a big name and pay more for them than to get 5 people like Baxter instead.
I see him more on the indies than anything else.
Zayda Ramier – I honestly couldn’t tell you anything about her. She just got started. Maybe she’ll wrestle as enhancement talent on Dark or something. At most, she could be some NWA person or just someone who hovers the indies.
Where do you think these men and women will end up next? What do you think about their releases? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
