New Details on WWE Releasing Santos Escobar While Injured

Santos Escobar was one of two dozen talents released by WWE this past Friday night, which capped off a tumultuous time in his professional wrestling career.

The former NXT Cruiserweight Champion saw his contract with WWE expire last summer, only for him to be re-signed to a reported big-money deal several hours later. That came amid rumored interest from rival All Elite Wrestling.

The financials of his agreement were said to be significant enough that it would be unreasonable to keep him on the sidelines, according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select, but that's exactly what ended up happening.

Santos Escobar, Elektra Lopez, Angel and Berto make their way to the ring — Legado Del Fantasma on SmackDown | WWE

Escobar never made a main roster appearance under the new contract, but Ross Sapp has now learned more about the open negotiation period that ultimately saw him return to WWE.

"Sources familiar with the situation said that CMLL actually expected him to join the company around that time, and naturally he would have ended up likely making AEW appearances," Ross Sapp said Tuesday evening. "Those we spoke to at least expect the CMLL conversations to resume [once he's a free agent again].

Ross Sapp says that Escobar was backstage at least once for a WWE main roster event after he re-signed, but his on-screen appearances were limited to AAA.

Santos Escobar was released from WWE while rehabbing an injury

Santos was noticeably struggling during his final match back in March, which was a Fatal 4-Way featuring La Parka, El Grande Americano and the Original El Grande Americano at Rey de Reyes 2026. He later revealed that he needed to undergo surgery to repair his triceps, and the fact that he was released from WWE while injured has drawn public ire.

"The WWE line of thinking was they expect him to be healed and near being cleared by the time his 90-day wait period is up," Ross Sapp noted in his report. "It was communicated to [Fightful] that he's still able to use the Performance Center to rehabilitate his injury during that period."

It used to be against the company's policy to release a talent while they were rehabbing an injury, but not so much in recent years. Karl Anderson, BJ Ray and Ridge Holland all departed WWE while they were still awaiting medical clearance.

Zoey Stark was also released this past Friday night. She suffered a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus last May while wrestling in a Women's Money in the Bank Qualifying Match and was still working her way back to the ring at the time she was cut from the roster.

Stark is said to be medically cleared now, however, and she should be ready to accept bookings immediately following the end of her 90-day wait period. Hopefully, there will be no recovery setbacks for Santos Escobar, and he'll be in a similar situation in the coming months.

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