As part of their budget cut, WWE recently released quite a big stars from their roster. . Amongst the wrestlers released were Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Buddy Murphy, Lana, Ruby Riott and Santana Garrett. “WWE has come to terms on the releases of Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Lana, Murphy, Ruby Riott, and Santana Garrett. WWE wishes them the best in all of their future endeavors," read a WWE Statement.
Strowman was part of the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view in the Triple Threat with Drew McIntyre and WWE Champion Bobby Lashley in May and his release comes as a big shock. Joining the company in 2013, Strowman went on to become one-time Universal Champion, a one-time Intercontinental Champion, a two-time RAW Tag Team Champion, the 2019 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner, the Greatest Royal Rumble winner, and the 2018 Men’s Money In the Bank winner. He was one of the top faces who was heavily involved in WWE programming during the Pandemic in 2020 and the first half of 2021.
Murphy since with WWE in 2013 and was the one-time NXT Tag Team Champion, a one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion, and a one-time RAW Tag Team Champion. Taking to Twitter he wrote, “So Today ends my 8 years with WWE! What a crazy ride! Highest of Highs, Lowest of Lows, but weather I had 3 minutes or 20 minutes I put all my effort into my performances! Nothing is harder when all you want to do is wrestle but you can’t! In my opinion I haven’t even hit my peak yet and I’m excited to see what the next adventure holds. I was lucky enough to work with some of the best talent in the world and learnt a tremendous amount. But trust me… the whole world will know what I meant by ‘Best Kept Secret’ Thank you all!".