John Morrison Among Eight More Released From WWE Contracts

Another round of WWE roster cuts took place on Thursday night as eight wrestlers were released from the company.

John Morrison, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Top Dolla, Ashante “Thee” Adonis, Tegan Nox, Drake Maverick, Shane Thorne, and Jaxson Ryker were all released from their WWE contracts in this round of cuts. The releases were first reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.

Mass releases have become commonplace for WWE over the past year. This is the second round of significant roster cuts within a two-week period. On the same day that WWE touted its successful third-quarter financial report, 18 wrestlers were released from the WWE main roster and developmental brand NXT on November 4.

WWE also made several cuts to its roster in April, May, June, and August.

All eight of Thursday's releases were main roster wrestlers.

Courtesy of WWE

Morrison re-signed with WWE in 2019 after previously being with the company from 2002 to '11. Upon making his return, Morrison re-formed his tag team with The Miz. The two began feuding with each other in August, but the program was scrapped when Miz took time away from WWE to be part of the most recent season of Dancing with the Stars.

Outside of WWE, Morrison is a former world champion for Impact Wrestling, Lucha Libre AAA, and Lucha Underground. Morrison’s wife, Taya Valkyrie (who wrestled as Franky Monet in WWE), was released in the November 4 roster cuts.

With Scott, Top Dolla, and Adonis being released, all of Hit Row are now gone from WWE. Hit Row’s B-Fab was also among the November 4 releases. The group was called up from NXT in last month’s WWE Draft and made their SmackDown debut on October 22. Scott is a former NXT North American champion.

Nox was called up to the main roster in July and formed a tag team with Shotzi Blackheart. Their team was broken up when Nox and Blackheart went to opposite brands in the draft.

Maverick was originally released by WWE in April 2020, but he was re-hired by the company after continuing to participate in the NXT cruiserweight title tournament that he had already been announced for prior to his release.

Thorne debuted a character based on his Australian heritage in a dark match this September, but he never appeared on television with the new persona. Using the name “Slapjack,” Thorne was previously a member of WWE’s Retribution stable. 

Ryker drew significant heat in June 2020 for posting a controversial tweet in support of Donald Trump during the Black Lives Matter movement. Ryker was part of The Forgotten Sons with Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler then, but the group was taken off TV after Ryker’s tweet. Ryker returned in December of last year, aligning with Elias before later feuding with him.