New Details on WWE Talent Releases, Including Who Made the Call

Friday, April 24 was an extremely difficult night for WWE employees and fans alike as the company executed a number of post-WrestleMania talent cuts.

This has unfortunately become an annual occurrence, to the point that many in the locker room were speculating that the releases would take place all week long, according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select.

Former WWE Women's Champion Nikki Cross was the first to announce her departure, doing so on her X account at 5:21 p.m. ET. She made her announcement roughly 20 minutes after the company began informing two dozen wrestlers that they were being released or that their contracts were not going to be renewed.

Goodbye and Thank you WWE

I’m really excited for whatever my next chapter will hold.

Thank you all for the continued love and support.

Special thank you to Robbie Brookside and William Regal for helping this dream come true.

Thank you to the wrestlers, coaches, producers…
— Nikki Cross (@WWENikkiCross) April 24, 2026

Not long after Cross hit publish on her post, it was public knowledge that all of the Wyatt Sicks would be leaving the company, along with Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Kairi Sane, Motor City Machine Guns and a bevy of others.

When diving into the how and why these cuts were made, Sean Ross Sapp noted that while there has been a great deal of chatter about TKO making the calls for them, the final decisions were made at the WWE level.

WWE President, Chief Content Officer and talent relations department made the tough calls of cutting talent

"Triple H, Nick Khan and WWE talent relations were ultimately the primary decision makers," Ross Sapp said in his report Sunday night. "WWE sources indicated that majority of releases were to make way for new talent, and the possibility of SmackDown reducing to two hours in the near future."

The insiders at BodySlam did report earlier in the day on Sunday that SmackDown would be moving back to two hours within the next few weeks, a call that was apparently made by the USA Network.

A disproportionate number of SmackDown stars were released when compared to those in the Raw locker room who will soon be hitting free agency. Both brands, however, were hit with an infusion of NXT talent this week, including Ethan Page, Sol Ruca, Joe Hendry, Fatal Influence, Blake Monroe and Ricky Saints.

A number of releases at the NXT level were reportedly made with a new recruit class expected at the Performance Center in Orlando in the very near future.

Some of the releases were a bit more surprising than the others. Santos Escobar, for example. WWE re-signed him to a big-money deal just this past year and then never used him on the main roster. He made several appearances for AAA before suffering an injury that required surgery, and Escobar is expected to be sidelined for several more months.

"This used to be against the company's policy, but has happened a number of times in recent years," Ross Sapp said of injured talent being released. "Karl Anderson, BJ Ray and Ridge Holland were all released or not extended while they were awaiting clearance."

Zoey Stark is another talent who has been out injured. She tore her ACL and MCL in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match last May, but sources told Fightful Select that she was recently cleared to return to the ring. She'll be good to go wherever she chooses once her right of termination and requisite notice is up in 90 days.

One talent who is expected to garner heavy interest on the free agent market is Kairi Sane. The multi-time Women's Tag Team Champion was among the more shocking company departures, considering she's been a key figure in the ongoing rivalry between IYO SKY and Asuka on Monday Night Raw.

"There was heavy frustration to her being cut before any real payoff to the story was made," Ross Sapp said in his report.

Kairi Sane has received a significant amount of support on social media from both her friends and the WWE Universe. The hashtag "WeWantKairi" has been trending on X for much of the weekend.

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