WWE lets go of 22 wrestlers after WrestleMania in a tough wave of cuts
Just one week after WrestleMania, WWE has released 22 wrestlers from their contracts.
The big event didn’t disappoint—Cody Rhodes kept his WWE Championship by beating Randy Orton in the main event on Saturday night. Then, on Sunday, CM Punk faced Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship, with Punk coming out on top.
As the excitement from WrestleMania 42 fades, WWE revealed their latest wave of releases. Usually, WWE lets contracts run out and chooses not to renew, but sometimes they do release wrestlers earlier from both the main roster and NXT.
This time, 22 wrestlers have been let go, according to a report from Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp. The list includes Kairi Sane, who was NXT’s Female Competitor of the Year in 2018, and Zelina, the 2021 Queen of the Ring, who shared how she found out about her release.
Zelina, who joined WWE in 2017 and has been chasing titles since then, opened up about the moment she got the news. She said, “Usually, when someone calls, it shows ‘Stamford calling’, and that always makes your heart jump. But this time, it said TKO, so I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s a big hint.’ I found out at 5:09 pm.”
Australian star Rhea Ripley, who joined WWE in July 2017 and has been a fan favorite, is the current WWE Women’s Champion and was named Pro Wrestler of the Year in 2025 with Thunder Rosa. She shared her feelings on social media about the releases. Ripley said, “Today’s been really sad… I feel so bad for my friends. It’s the worst time of the year. Now, go out there and prove them all wrong!”
Here’s the full list of the wrestlers who were released: