WWE let go of 25 wrestlers on Friday, April 24, in a sweeping round of releases following WrestleMania 42. Despite speculation about TKO’s involvement, Fightful reports the decisions came primarily from Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE President Nick Khan, and the talent relations department.
Sources told Fightful that most of the cuts were designed to make room for incoming talent, with the anticipated reduction of SmackDown to two hours also influencing the decision. New signings at the WWE Performance Center are reportedly set to be announced soon, which contributed to the NXT releases.
The main roster departures include the entire Wyatt Sicks faction, Alba Fyre, Zoey Stark, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Apollo Crews, the Motor City Machine Guns, Kairi Sane, and Santos Escobar. From NXT, the company released Dante Chen, Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe, Andre Chase, Chris Island, Tyra Mae Steele, Sirena Linton, Trill London, Malik Blade, Luca Crusifino, and Carlee Bright.
Fourteen of the released main roster wrestlers were primarily SmackDown performers, aligning with the show’s expected return to a two-hour format. The shift, reportedly driven by USA Network rather than WWE, is tied to upcoming 10 p.m. ET programming, including the second season of Braun Strowman’s Everything on the Menu.
SmackDown originally aired as a two-hour program from its 1999 debut before expanding to three hours in early 2025 and again in January 2026. The May 1 and May 8 episodes are still scheduled for three hours.
