WWE Releases: Every Wrestler Released In 2025 – WhatCulture

Here’s every WWE release of 2025 so far.While WWE has often made significant releases once WrestleMania is in the rearview mirror, the market leader has started things a little earlier on that front here in 2025.The start of this month saw several releases being confirmed over a number of days, although the wider release process for 2025 goes back to the very turn of the year, with NXT’s Duke Hudson recently revealing that he was let go by WWE back in January. And that Hudson release has been followed by various others, with the vast majority of those names now sitting out the standard no-compete stage of their respective WWE deals.This article is being updated in real-time as and when more WWE releases are made throughout 2025, but obviously, for those currently under the WWE banner, hopefully we won’t be having to update things all that often. Either way, here’s hoping all released talents soon find themselves lacing up their boots again elsewhere should they decide to remain in the industry.So with that in mind, here’s the extensive list of wrestlers who WWE has released in 2025 so far, starting with the aforementioned Duke Hudson.While news of his release didn’t surface until February, Duke Hudson was quietly released by WWE back in January.The 35-year-old Australian had been with WWE since 2019, operating under the Hudson moniker and also his real name of Brendan Vink. Those dark pandemic days saw Vink make a handful of fleeting appearances on the main roster, tagging with TMDK man Shane Thorne, and he’d later return to NXT to take on a gambler gimmick as part of the neon-soaked reinvention process known as NXT 2.0.As Duke Hudson, the powerhouse’s greatest success came as part of Chase University, winning the NXT Tag Team Championships with Andre Chase before that faction was forced to disband at the end of 2024.When rumblings of WWE releases first came to the fore this month, Paul Ellering was the first name confirmed to have been let go by the market leader.One of the all-time great managers, Precious Paul’s latest WWE run was quite the curious one. Returning alongside the Authors of Pain in January 2024, Ellering and AOP joined forces with Karrion Kross and Scarlett to form the Final Testament. Bizarrely, though, Ellering would rarely get the opportunity to do anything of note during that time – often standing stoically silent as others took the spotlight.Given how he’s shown himself to be such a phenomenal talker over the decades, it was certainly a choice to have Paul Ellering be part of a faction but have him barely utter a word. In fact, the most notable thing Paul did during this most recent run was be laid out by an Uncle Howdy Mandible Claw as part of Final Testament’s feud with the Wyatt Sick6.Much like the use of Paul Ellering, questions have to be asked over the use of the Authors of Pain after their WWE return.If reports are to be believed, AOP officially returned to WWE in late 2022, although it would take until January 2024 for the team to resurface on WWE programming. One of the most dominant teams in the history of the NXT brand, not to mention achieving championship success on the main roster, Akam and Rezar had an utterly forgettable second run with the company.What lies ahead for Akam remains to be seen, with the 31-year-old having previously launched the ill-fated Wrestling Entertainment Series with his tag team partner.Much like his partner Akam, Rezar was amongst those released by WWE earlier this month.Again, considering what had been seen from the Authors of Pain during their previous runs in NXT and on the main roster, it’s tough to understand why more wasn’t done with AOP once they were brought back into the fold in 2024. Making this all the more confusing is that WWE is nowadays under the stewardship of Triple H, with the Game clearly having been a fan of the team during AOP’s original NXT stint.Could we somehow see Akam and Rezar relaunch their Wrestling Entertainment Series promotion? Stranger things have happened, although WES stuttered and stalled before it even properly got going last time.After eight and a half years, Cedric Alexander’s time with WWE came to an end this month.A former Cruiserweight Champion, Raw Tag Team Champion, and 24/7 Champion, Alexander was first showcased in WWE as part of the Cruiserweight Classic back in 2016. After impressing in that tournament – where he was eliminated by Kota Ibushi – WWE management saw enough in Cedric to give him a contract.Most recently, Alexander had been spinning his wheels in NXT, often positioned as an on-screen mentor figure for the likes of Je’Von Evans and Ashante ‘Thee’ Adonis. Following his WWE release, there have already been reports that people in AEW have been pushing for Cedric to be brought in as part of the Hurt Syndicate, so that’s something to keep an eye on as and when the 35-year-old’s non-compete runs out. Of course, Alexander’s wife, Big Swole, had a very public falling out with Tony Khan following her AEW release, so it remains to be seen whether that could impact the possibility of Cedric at some point joining AEW.While this article is about those talents released by WWE in 2025, there’s somewhat of a caveat with Sonya Deville.Rather than being outright released, Deville was informed that her WWE contract would not be renewed once it expires in the coming weeks. As such, Sonya will become a free agent who could feasibly turn up in any other promotion once that contract is up. The very nature of a contract naturally expiring means that there is no non-compete element to navigate for a talent.Deville signed with WWE in October 2015 shortly after that year’s Tough Enough, meaning she’ll have been with the company for approaching a decade by the time she officially exits WWE. During that time, Sonya’s only slice of gold came in 2023 when she and Chelsea Green won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles.Whereas it wasn’t a surprise to see certain other names being released by WWE, the release of Blair Davenport feels a little unfair on the 28-year-old Brit.Having been moved to the main roster as part of the 2024 Draft, Davenport wasn’t exactly given much of a chance to show what she could bring to the table. Blair’s time on the main roster consisted of an extremely brief alliance with the Unholy Union, and then there was the tease of her doing something with Naomi.Ultimately, Blair Davenport never really got going on the main roster, and one has to feel sorry for the talent with the way she was seemingly called up without any particular plan in mind for her.The end of 2024 saw reports that WWE was exploring creative options for Davenport, suggesting big things could be on the horizon in 2025 for the two-time former WCPW Women’s Champion. Instead, Blair unfortunately found herself released.Given how Davenport marked herself out as a standout performer across the independent scene and likely most notably for STARDOM before joining WWE in 2021, you have to imagine there won’t be any shortage of offers coming the real-life Bea Priestley’s way once her WWE non-compete expires.Of all the 2025 WWE releases so far, Karl Anderson’s firing is the one that left a sour taste in the mouth of many a wrestling fans due to the fact that Machine Gun was out with an injury at the time of that release.Anderson last wrestled in October, competing in an NXT dark match, and has since been forced to undergo surgery for a shoulder issue. As of the time of his release, it was reported that the Bullet Club founding member still had another three to six months before he was likely to be cleared to return to the ring.It’s not like WWE hasn’t released injured wrestlers before, but it’s something that never sits well, regardless of the situation or the talent involved. Regardless of whether you’re an Anderson fan or not, firing someone when they’re injured – an injury sustained in one of your rings, no less – is never a great look.This brings Karl Anderson’s second WWE run to an end, with him and Luke Gallows having had two spells as WWE Tag Team Champions during those two runs.While his tag team partner Karl Anderson has had two spells with WWE, Luke Gallows has now wrapped up his third run with the promotion.Before those couple of runs with Anderson as the Good Brothers, Gallows had his initial run as Festus; a run that eventually led to him dropping that gimmick and becoming a disciple of CM Punk as part of the Second City Saint’s Straight Edge Society. Away from WWE and his NJPW success with Anderson, Gallows – as Doc Gallows – was also memorably a part of the whole Aces & Eights storyline in TNA back in the day.With their history with major promotions like NJPW, TNA, and even AEW, one has to imagine it won’t be long until the Good Brothers turn up elsewhere once Karl Anderson’s shoulder problems are behind him.A part of the 2018 Mae Young Classic, Isla Dawn joined WWE later that year, initially being a part of the NXT UK roster. Once she made her way to the main NXT brand in 2022, it didn’t take long for Dawn to pair herself up with Alba Fyre, in turn forming the Unholy Union.That tandem would have success in both NXT and on the main roster, picking up the NXT Women’s Tag Team Titles and later memorably defeating Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles at Clash at the Castle last year.Isla has already taken to X to proclaim how the White Witch and the Unholy Enchantress may be gone, but that fans should not grieve for her, for Isla Dawn is not dead just yet.His WWE tenure was an extremely topsy-turvy one for Fabian Aichner. Introduced in the Cruiserweight Classic under his real name, Aichner impressed many in his subsequent NXT appearances, eventually signing with the promotion and becoming part of Imperium.While Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser were called up to the main roster in April 2022, Aichner was left behind in NXT and repacked as Giovanni Vinci, a classic rich playboy. That gimmick wouldn’t last long, with Giovanni rejoining Imperium at Clash at the Castle 2022 and leaving his playboy days behind despite retaining the Vinci name. And there he was, once again with his Imperium buddies, only this time on Raw… well, until he was booted from Imperium last year and moved to SmackDown.That SmackDown run was horrendous for the Italian, with the highlight being a three-second loss to Apollo Crews. While there had been talk of WWE having significant plans for Giovanni Vinci, that ultimately didn’t come to pass, with him instead being given his release.When looking at the pure in-ring talent of Fabian Aichner, any promotion on the planet would do well to swoop in and give him a look when he’s free and able to compete elsewhere.What made Elektra Lopez’s WWE release particularly surprising, is that the talent was seen on SmackDown on the very same night she was let go.On that particular SmackDown, Elektra was featured in a backstage segment with Legado del Fantasma and the Mother City Machine Guns. By the time that weekend was done, news surfaced that Lopez was one of the several talents released by WWE on that Friday night.Having signed with WWE in early 2021, what many might not know about Elektra Lopez is that she’s a second-generation wrestler, following in the footsteps of her father José Rivera. For those watching WWF programming in the 1980s, Rivera is better known as perennial enhancement talent Steve King.Before landing in WWE, Elektra had a spell in Ring of Honor, and it remains to be seen whether a potential ROH return could possibly be in the New Jersey’s future down the line.Much like the WWE exit of Sonya Deville, Carmella wasn’t released by the market leader, per se. More, this was a case of WWE instead opting to simply let the former SmackDown Women’s Champion’s prior deal expire without renewal.Fightful Select broke the news this month, with it said that Carmella’s contract expired “recently”, though no more specifics were given.’Mella last wrestled for WWE at a March 2023 live event, teaming with Damage CTRL and Piper Niven in a losing effort against Becky Lynch, Asuka, Bianca Belair, Nikki Cross, and Candice LeRae at a Madison Square Garden house show. In terms of TV, the second-generation star’s final televised match was a loss to Belair earlier that month.As well as being a former SmackDown Women’s Champion, the Princess of Staten Island’s time with WWE also saw him win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles with Zelina Vega and become a four-time 24/7 Champion.
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