Karrion Kross, Nia Jax Among Shocking WWE Releases

On Thursday night, WWE released more than a dozen wrestlers from its talent roster.

Eighteen wrestlers were released by WWE as part of a set of cuts that affected both the WWE main roster and developmental brand NXT. The list of releases was headlined by former NXT champions Keith Lee and Karrion Kross and former Raw women’s champion Nia Jax.

Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Mia Yim, Eva Marie, Harry Smith, and B-Fab were also released from the main roster, while Franky Monet, Ember Moon, Scarlett, Oney Lorcan, Trey Baxter, Jessi Kamea, Zayda Ramier, Katrina Cortez, and Jeet Rama were released from NXT.

Talent were told that budget cuts were the reason for the releases, which were made on the same day that WWE announced its third quarter financial results. The company reported $255.8 million in revenue for the quarter, a 15 percent year-over-year increase.

This is WWE’s first round of mass releases since 13 people were cut from NXT this August. The company also made several cuts in April, May, and June.

Prior to his release, Lee had been repackaged as Keith “Bearcat” Lee on Raw in September. He spent five months out of action this year after contracting COVID-19 and dealing with heart inflammation.

Lee and Yim announced their engagement in February. Yim hasn’t wrestled since December 2020, when she was going by the name “Reckoning” as a member of the faction Retribution.

Kross and Scarlett are also engaged. Scarlett managed Kross on television while he was one of the top stars in NXT, but Scarlett stopped appearing with him once he debuted on Raw in July.

In addition to being a former Raw women’s champion, Jax held the women’s tag team titles twice during her time in WWE. She’s a cousin of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

Metalik requested his release from WWE in September. He and Dorado were tag team partners as part of the Lucha House Party.

B-Fab had just made her SmackDown debut two weeks ago after Hit Row were called up from NXT in the WWE Draft.

Marie returned to WWE TV earlier this year after having been gone from the company since 2017. Smith, who is the son of pro wrestling legend “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith, also recently returned to WWE for the first time since 2011. He never appeared on TV after making his return, only taking part in one dark match before an episode of SmackDown in July.

Monet wrestled as Taya Valkyrie prior to joining WWE this February. She’s held women’s titles in Impact Wrestling and Lucha Libre AAA.

This was Moon’s second stint in NXT. She returned to the brand in October 2020 after having been called up to the main roster in 2018. She’s a former NXT women’s champion and NXT women’s tag team champion.

Lorcan is also a former NXT tag team champion.