WWE Parts Ways With 5 Superstars and Hall of Fame Manager

WWE has either released or expressed intentions to let contracts lapse for five wrestlers and one manager on its roster. The TKO-owned company reportedly made the cuts on Friday, and it’s unclear if the company intends to send more notices, according to Fightful.

The list of affected talent includes: Sonya Deville, Cedric Alexander, Blair Davenport, Akam, Rezar and Paul Ellering. WWE officials reportedly told Deville her contract would not be renewed, while the others are said to be free from their contracts in 90 days.

Deville’s pending exit is the most prominent of the group. The former MMA fighter (real name Daria Berenato) is a former Women’s Tag Team Champion (with Chelsea Green) and has played a prominent role on TV for years. At one point she was the on-screen General Manager for WWE SmackDown and is currently a member of the Raw trio Pure Fusion Collective alongside Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark. She was also briefly a cast member for the E! reality show Total Divas, which focused on female WWE Superstars.

Ellering is another high-profile cut, mainly due to his legacy in the professional wrestling business. Ellering is best known as the manager of the iconic tag team The Road Warriors (a.k.a. the Legion of Doom), and WWE inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2011 alongside them. He saw a career resurgence in recent years as the manager for Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar).

After a well-received run on the developmental program NXT, WWE cut the tag team/manager in 2020 before new creative head Paul “Triple H” Levesque re-signed the group back in 2022. They were soon aligned with Karrion Kross as the faction The Final Testament. However, they were absent from Kross’ segment in recent weeks. AoP are one-time WWE Raw Tag Team Champions and one-time NXT Tag Team Champions.

Ahead of Friday’s roster cuts, other recent releases include wrestlers Duke Hudson, Baron Corbin, Tegan Nox and Indi Hartwell.

These talent cuts come as WWE settles into its latest TV rights agreements, including a massive long-term deal with Netflix for Raw. The company also recently moved NXT to The CW and SmackDown back to USA Network.