After a successful (but controversial) Wrestlemania season, a list of brand new signings like Aleister Black, The Lucha Bros, Rusev, as well as WWE ID and LFG talent, and even a brand acquisition in the form of AAA, WWE would make various cuts to staff amidst “budget cuts” despite record breaking profits.
The cuts would continue as Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful on May 2nd, 2025, would report that WWE releases were ongoing. Here is a list of the talent that got released, which will get updated as we learn more.
Braun Strowman
Coming off the heels of several fantastic matches against the likes of Bronson Reed and Jacob Fatu, Braun Strowman would find himself on the chopping block. Strowman had previously been struggling with different injuries that’d leave him on the shelf for periods of time, including a torn groin against Bronson Reed. He would then return on the January 17th, 2025 edition of Smackdown to save LA Knight from an attack from Jacob Fatu & Tama Tonga.
Braun would go on to feud with Jacob Fatu where he’d ultimately be defeated by the future United States champion in a Last Man Standing match. This would be his second WWE release, with him having previously been released in June of 2021.
Dakota Kai
Dakota Kai would be released after being notably absent from WWE television for unknown reasons. Fans would be led to believe that she had been injured, which would lead to her tweeting out
“I miss wrestling and I miss you guys. Not hurt btw.”
This comes after she would be in the first-ever Women’s Intercontinental Championship match, where she’d be defeated by Lyra Valkyria. She would then win the number one contendership in a match against Ivy Nile, leading to her being part of the second Women’s Intercontinental Championship match, where she would be defeated once again.
Following her release, Dakota Kai would tweet a GIF from GTA: San Andreas, with the main character of the game, Carl Johnson, going “Ah s–t, here we go again.” This is in reference to Dakota having previously been released back in April of 2022 while in NXT. She would proceed to make a grand return by debuting on the main roster at Summerslam of that same year, teaming up with a returning Bayley and a newly minted Iyo Sky to form Damage CTRL.
Kayden Carter & Katana Chance
With WWE’s Women’s Tag Team division already struggling amidst storyline break-ups and the current champions being taken out of action due to Liv Morgan filming a movie for (presumably) the next month, former champions Kayden Carter and Katana Chance would end up being released after being missing from WWE television for a significant period of time, only making brief appearances backstage to announce their move from RAW to Smackdown, and a mini feud with The Secret Hervice (Alba Fyre & Piper Niven) that resulted in Fyre & Niven picking up the victory.
Katana Chance (FKA by her real name of Kacy Catanzaro) would sign with the company back in August of 2017, where she would wow the WWE Universe with her acrobatics, including a jaw-dropping Royal Rumble save aided by her American Ninja Warrior background.
Kayden Carter would sign to the company around the same time, competing in the 2018 Mae Young Classic before the duo would become a tag team in 2020, going on to win the NXT Women’s Tag Team championships.
Shayna Baszler
Following up on the aforementioned Women’s Tag Team division issues, “The Queen of Spades” Shayna Baszler would be the next on the list as she would find herself released. This is on the heels of former Pure Fusion Collective leader Sonya Deville being released, which left Baszler and her tag team partner Zoey Stark on their own. The tag team last appeared on television together during the build for Wrestlemania, where they would fall short in a Tag Team Gauntlet match to Bayley and Women’s Intercontinental Champion Lyra Valkyria.
The former UFC fighter would first sign with the company in 2017 and would have an incredibly lucrative career in the WWE, picking up two NXT Women’s Championship reigns after a dominant stint in the at the time black and gold brand, she would then compete on behalf of NXT at Survivor Series, defeating Bayley and Becky Lynch to continue NXT’s dominant performance in the 2019 Survivor Series event.
She would eventually be called up to the main roster, where she’d get an eyebrow-raising debut against Becky Lynch, with Shayna biting into Becky’s neck like a vampire. She would eventually pick up three separate Women’s Tag Team title runs, two with Nia Jax and one with real life friend Ronda Rousey before she’d eventually betray Rousey and then defeat her at the 2023 Summerslam event in an “MMA Rules” match.
Gigi Dolin
Continuing the trend of Women’s Tag Team troubles, Gigi Dolin would be released. Gigi had last been seen on WWE TV lamenting over a loss in a Women’s Tag Team Championship match against Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez on the NXT after Mania, where she would come up short alongside her tag team partner Tatum Paxley. The duo would be seen alongside Karmen Petrovic and Ashante The Adonis, where Ashante would refer to them as “losers” before he and Karmen would head out to the ring for a Women’s North American Championship match.
Gigi Dolin signed with the company back in 2021, she would eventually join forces with Mandy Rose and Jacy Jayne to form the dominant NXT faction, Toxic Attraction. The trio would then become a duo after Mandy Rose was released in December of 2022 after a year-long NXT Women’s Championship reign that would be ended by Roxanne Perez. The duo would then go their separate ways after a brutal breakup with Jacy Jayne booting Gigi’s head through a door on Bayley’s “Ding Dong, Hello” talk show on the February 8th, 2023 edition of NXT.
Gigi would float around in the singles division for a while after this, before eventually joining forces with Tatum Paxley and Shotzi to form a group that fans online would refer to as Chemical X.
After her release, Gigi Dolin would state on Twitter that she’d be free to work in 30 days.
Shotzi
Shotzi joins her Chemical X teammate, Gigi Dolin, on this list as her contract will not be extended. This would be reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, and after the report, WWE would move her from the Current Superstars section to the Alumni section on their website.
Shotzi would sign with the WWE in November of 2019 after an appearance on Tough Enough in 2015. She would then go on to become a staple of WWE’s Halloween season, becoming a yearly host for NXT’s Halloween Havoc PPV and making ghost-hunting videos for WWE’s YouTube channel alongside Scarlett and guests from the WWE roster.
Shotzi seemingly knew about this ahead of time, as prior to any reports of her contract not being extended, she would post an emotional video to Twitter.
Jakara Jackson
Fresh off the heels of Meta-Four disbanding on this week’s episode of NXT, Jakara Jackson would be released. Originally signing with the company in 2021, Jakara would be scheduled to compete in the 2023 NXT Women’s Breakout Tournament before being sidelined with an injury. This would be the same year in which the faction Meta-Four would be formed, with Jakara standing alongside the likes of Lash Legend, Noam Dar, and Oro Mensah.
Alongside Legend, Jakara would challenge for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles several times, and would even cross promotional lines with her to challenge for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles, however the team would never be able to pick up gold for themselves.
On April 29th, 2025, after a lengthy absence from Noam Dar, Meta-Four would finally fully reunite… only for Lash Legend to suggest that the group split up so that they could all do their own thing. Lash would tell Jackson that it was time for her to be about her own action.
Oro Mensah
Joining fellow Meta-Four member on the list is Oro Mensah. Mensah would confirm his release on social media, tweeting out
“15 years hard work and true sacrifice to make it to WWE. Always gave it my 110% and put my whole passion and body into the artform of pro-wrestling. Thank you for all the support! love y‘all”
Oro Mensah originally signed to WWE back in 2019, where he’d appear on the NXT UK brand under the name of Oliver Carter. He made the jump over to the NXT brand in 2022, arriving with the name Oro Mensah and qualifying for a NXT North American Championship ladder match. He would then go on to join Meta-Four on May 28th’s NXT Battleground event, and he would eventually go on to have a rivalry with Ethan Page for the NXT championship where he’d come up short.
Cora Jade
Cora Jade been confirmed to be released. Her last appearance was at NXT: Stand and Deliver 2025, where she would team up with on-again, off-again partner Roxanne Perez on the pre-show, where she would find herself abandoned by Perez during an elimination Fatal 4 Way Tag Team match against Fatal Influence, Meta-Four, and Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley.
Cora Jade signed with the company in 2021, having previously made appearances for AEW, GCW, and Warrior Wrestling. She would go on to challenge for several titles, including the NXT Women’s championship and TNA Knockouts championship, and would pick up an NXT Tag Team title reign alongside Roxanne Perez before she would betray her.
Eddy Thorpe
Eddy Thorpe is one of the more recent signings to be released, having signed with the company in 2023 after making appearances in NJPW, ROH, AEW and Prestige Wrestling.
Eddy Thorpe would have rivalries with the likes of Dijak, Trick Williams, and Lexis King. He would challenge for the NXT championship several times, however, he would always come up short against the likes of Trick Williams and Oba Femi.
Riley Osborne
Riley Osborne has been confirmed to be released. Having made a few appearances for the company prior to his signing, Osborne would officially sign in September of 2023.
In December of 2023, he would compete in the Men’s NXT Breakout Tournament, where he would go all the way to the finals, where he would be defeated by future North American and NXT champion Oba Femi. Riley would then go on to join Chase U and partake in a romantic storyline with Thea Hail until the group would be forced to disband after Andre Chase was defeated by Ridge Holland.
Osborne would then float around in the company, making appearances on WWE Speed, Main Event and WWE Evolve. He had also previously appeared in TNA to compete for the X-Division title.
Gallus
Former NXT and NXT UK Tag Team champions Gallus have been announced to be released.
Mark and Joe Coffey and Wolfgang would first unite in 2018, fighting under the now-defunct NXT UK brand before eventually making the move over to NXT. The group would lay waste to several members of the NXT roster, and would eventually pick up the NXT Tag Team championships before dropping them to The D’Angelo Family.
The group’s final televised appearance for the company would be on WWE Evolve where they’d defeat WWE ID’d talent Capuccino Jones, Jack Cartwheel, and Jordan Oasis.
Javier Bernal
Javier Bernal is next on the list of releases. The former “Big Body Javi” signed with the company back in 2021, making his debut in 2022 on 205 Live, where he would be defeated by Draco Anthony. After that, he would frequently appear on NXT Level Up to varying degrees of success.
He was most known for feuds with people like Ikemon Jiro, Von Wagner, and Hank Walker. He has made appearances on NXT, Smackdown, and Evolve. He’s also married to NXT’s Tatum Paxley.
Dani Palmer
Dani Palmer is the latest name added to the list. Having previously joined the company in 2022, Palmer very sparingly appeared on WWE Television, typically appearing on NXT Level Up and working NXT live events. Her most recent appearance was on WWE Evolve where she’d be defeated by Kali Armstrong.
She had previously made a controversial statement in October of 2024 after the Florida hurricanes, implying that the hurricanes were caused by the United States government to prevent Republican states from voting in the election.