On Wednesday, Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Ruby Riott, Lana, Santana Garrett, and Buddy Murphy were released from World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), according to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp. WWE has since confirmed it on their website. This comes nearly two months after the releases of multiple wrestlers including Samoa Joe and The IIconics. Two weeks ago, WWE also had a number of releases from NXT and the Performance Center as well.
Braun Strowman is the most notable of the names, as his last match came at WrestleMania Backlash where he competed for the WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre. “The Monster Among Men” is a former Universal Champion, as he defeated Goldberg for the championship at WrestleMania 36. He also held the Raw Tag Team Championship and Intercontinental Championship in his career.
Black, 36, returned on SmackDown two weeks ago as he cost Big E the Intercontinental Championship. In his time with the company, he was the NXT champion. Black has made his first statement about his release on Twitter:
Im gathering my thoughts as this was a complete left field for me as obviously we just started the dark father character but this was it, thank you so much WWE universe for allowing me to create and give you small bits of myself.
— Malakai Black (@malakaiblxck) June 2, 2021
Riott was last seen on SmackDown, as she teamed with her Riott Squad team member Liv Morgan in a losing effort to the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Natalya and Tamina Snuka. Lana was most recently teaming with Naomi, having multiple opportunities at the tag team championships.
Garrett was seen many times in NXT. Her last match with the company came at this year’s Royal Rumble, where she was part of the women’s edition of the match.
Murphy was a former NXT Tag Team Champion and Cruiserweight Champion. His last appearance for the company was in the Andre “The Giant” Memorial Battle Royal on SmackDown ahead of WrestleMania 37.
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