WWE slashes talent including Ziggler, Ali and Elias

John Powell

WWE slashes talent including Ziggler, Ali and Elias

A few short days after making major cuts to various departments within the WWE, the company has laid off talent today. They are mostly wrestlers who have not appeared on WWE for quite some time.

Here is the list thus far:

Perhaps one of the most surprising names is Dolph Ziggler or maybe it shouldn’t be that surprising as his brother in AEW posted recently about them forming a tag team in AEW. Ziggler has been a mainstay, a dependable fixture in the WWE since debuting with the Spirit Squad in 2004. In 2008, he would adopt the Dolph Ziggler persona and rise to become a triple crown champion in WWE.

He has won:

  • NXT Championship once.
  • World Heavyweight Championship twice.
  • WWE United States Championship twice.
  • WWE Intercontinental Championship six times.
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship once with Robert Roode.
  • WWE Raw Tag Team Championship twice, once with Drew McIntyre and once with Robert Roode.
  • World Tag Team Championship once with the Spirit Squad.

On the day when the WWE announced that Australia will be hosting Elimination Chamber next year, one of the company’s most notable Australian stars is leaving the company.

Tenille Dashwood (AKA: Emma) made this post on X today after mentioning she was excited about Chamber:

This ends Dashwood’s second tour with the WWE. She began in 2012 on NXT and was moved quickly to the main roster in 2014. She would bounce back to NXT a year later and then back up Raw but ultimately she would be released in 2017.

Dashwood would make a big splash in RoH and then Impact Wrestling forming The Influence with Madison Rayne and Kaleb. They would go on to win the Impact Knockouts World Tag Team Championships.

Dashwood headed back to WWE in 2022 but besides being coupled with her real-life fiance Riddick Moss on WWE television she never received a big push.

Dashwood’s fiance Riddick Moss was also released. Moss would receive a big push in 2021 when he as Madcap Moss teamed with and eventually feuded with Baron Corbin. Following that feud Moss bounced around from angle to angle and finally disappeared from WWE television. Moss won the André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2022.

Mustafa Ali’s turbulent ride with WWE is over.

Ali (Adeel Alam) has announced that he is no longer with the company.

A former police officer, Ali joined the WWE in 2016 where he was a prominent fixture in the revitalized cruiserweight division and became one of the top talents on the 205 Live program.

Ali joined Smackdown in 2018 but he never regained the heights he had on 205 Live, even though he would never win the Cruiserweight Championship there.

In 2020, he was switched to Raw where he was revealed to to be the leader of the much-maligned Retribution stable.

He then moved to NXT. His last match with the company was on the September 5th edition of NXT in which he battled and beat Dragon Lee. The special guest referee was Dominik Mysterio.

Ali has requested his release from the company in 2022 but it was denied by WWE.

He posted on Twitter at the time: “I have a message that is much bigger than my dreams in pro wrestling. Despite my best efforts, I will not be able to deliver this message while working with WWE. Therefore, I am requesting my release from WWE.”

The guitar-rocking Rick Boogs (Eric Bugenhagen) is no longer with WWE. Suffering a number of injuries in WWE has held back Boogs’ rise. He made his debut on Smackdown in 2021 and shortly was teamed up with Shinsuke Nakamura. While challenging The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 38, Boogs tore his quadriceps/patellar tendon and was off WWE television for quite some time.

The WWE won’t be walking with Elias any more. Elias joined NXT in 2o14 as Elias Samson and soon took on the persona which would define him in WWE: a drifter musician. Elias would lose “A Loser Leaves NXT” match against Kassius Ohno paving his way to the main roster where he would simply be known as Elias in 2017. Elias would even release a record in 2018 entitled WWE: Walk with Elias and was published by WWE Music. Elias’ career in WWE when he would be saddled with the Ezekiel character which was billed as Elias’ younger brother.

Canadian wrestler Aliyah has a very spotty career in WWE. She will be remembered for beating Natalya in 3.17 seconds, the fasted victory in WWE history and teaming with Raquel Rodriguez to beat Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky to win the vacant WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.

Ever since botching that dive to the floor, Top Dolla has never been able to recover especially since it has become a running gag with Michael Cole. His Hit Row stablemates Ashante “Thee” Adonis and B-Fab appear to be still with the company.

https://youtu.be/8vMuB71q7Io

Veteran Shelton Benjamin who previously was a big name in the WWE as a member of The World’s Greatest Tag Team and Kurt Angle returned in 2017 first teaming with Chad Gable and then as a member of the Hurt Business. Once that faction was dissolved, Benjamin teamed with former member Cedric Alexander on occasion. In the WWE, Benjamin has won the United States Championship once, the Intercontinental Championship three times and the Raw Tag Team Championships three times, twice with Charlie Haas and once with Cedric Alexander.

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