For quite some time, there were rumors circling around regarding WWE contemplating to grant releases to a few superstars. Last night, WWE announced that it has come to terms with eight superstars, and they’ve amicably parted ways. WWE announced their departures via WWE.com.
“WWE has come to terms on the release of WWE Superstars Damien Sandow, King Barrett, Santino Marella, Cameron, Hornswoggle, Alex Riley, El Torito and Zeb Colter as of today, Friday, May 6, 2016. WWE wishes them the best in all of their future endeavors.”
While this isn’t the first time that a host of talent has been released at the same time, it did come as a surprise that superstars such as Damien Sandow and Zeb Colter were granted their release.
A promising future – what could’ve been
One of the stand-out names in the list is the former WWE Intercontinental Champion, King Barrett. Barrett has been with the company for 9 years, and saw a meteoric rise as the leader of the Nexus faction. At one point, Barrett was seen as the future of the company, and even came close to winning the WWE Championship. After winning the first season of NXT, Barrett was on his way to superstardom, but could never break through the proverbial glass ceiling.
While Barrett has been a part of the League of Nations, he announced that he had informed the organization about his intentions to not renew his WWE contract once it expires in June. Barrett was then unceremoniously kicked out of the League of Nations by the other three superstars, and hasn’t been seen on WWE programming since.
Damien Sandow – the fan favorite who never got his due
Whether he was working alone as “The intellectual savior of the masses”, or with Cody Rhodes as a tag team specialist, Damien Sandow won over the WWE Universe with his unmatched charisma and his flamboyance. Sandow’s panache and penchant for making the fans laugh out loud made him a firm fan favorite, with the WWE Universe rooting for Sandow to climb the proverbial ladder and reach the upper echelons of the organization.
During his run with Cody as “The Rhodes Scholars”, Sandow won the Money In The Bank Ladder match to earn the opportunity to challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship, but was unsuccessful in his attempt when he was defeated by John Cena. However, this didn’t halt Sandow’s momentum, as he then started impersonating other celebrities. This led to Sandow being recruited by The Miz as his stunt double, and Sandow once again surprised everyone by playing his role to perfection. Sandow began receiving loud receptions from the WWE Universe, causing The Miz to turn on Sandow, firing him in the process.
While Sandow has been rarely featured, he still remained as one of the most popular superstars.
More releases to follow?
While the string of releases has caused uproar among the wrestling fraternity, there may be a couple more names added to the alumni list in the near future. As earlier reported, Ryback was sent home by Vince McMahon earlier this week, and was asked to stay home till both the parties could resolve their differences.
Ryback has been unhappy with his role in the company for a while, and hinted at a possible exit when WWE toured Dubai last month. Ryback has been trying to climb the proverbial ladder, but the fact that he had to settle for a match on the pre – show of WrestleMania broke the proverbial camel’s back. Ryback also issued a lengthy statement via his social media account, talking about needing to take a step back from the industry. Here’s the message in its entirety.
“Today I sit and fly home and for the first time in years feel absolutely free. I will start by saying I did request to be taken off of WWE television until myself and Vince could get a yes or no on a new deal. This has been going on since my IC Title run and had been nothing but a major strain on my life as all I ever wanted to do was work for WWE. I was told to head home until we agree or not agree to specific terms and contrary to reports
No comments:
Post a Comment