After several major WWE layoff seasons, the first big AEW layoff season has begun. Colliding with the RAW 04/01 episode, AEW started announcing several names that faced the axe.

Numerous names such as ‘the next Brock Lesnar’ to Andrade’s former partner, and even lesser-used wrestlers were all released from the already stacked roster. Reports revealed all the names that have been released now.

Which AEW talents found themselves at the short end of the stick?

The releases came soon after CM Punk’s infamous interview with Ariel Helwani, where he revealed and spoke about a lot of backstage scenarios from AEW. Although nothing confirmed on this has yet come out, fans already started speculating on this. While the speculations continued over the internet, AEW kept releasing several names. Talents such as The Boys, Dasha, Jose The Assistant, Jora Johl, Anthony Henry, Gravity Stu Grayson, Parker Boudreaux, and Slim J were all released by the company.

The entire wrestling fraternity is buzzing right now with the nature of the releases. Moreover, fans expect these talents to get hired somewhere. While Parker Boudreaux was one of the hottest names in the business for a few years owing to his resemblance to Brock Lesanr, his popularity has taken a nosedive.

The other names on the list are extremely talented and could soon find an alternative to Tony Khan’s wrestling promotion. But why exactly did these wrestlers face the axe?

What was the main reason behind these AEW releases?

As soon as the news of the releases came out, rumors rose about CM Punk being the main reason behind this. However, the rumors soon shut down as solid evidence failed to appear. Another popular belief behind these releases amounted to the relevancy and importance of the talents.

Tony Khan didn’t use any of these talents and wrestlers on television regularly. Moreover, these stars always found themselves lingering on the undercard of the roster. A waste of resources and finance, Tony Khan and AEW found it better to have them released rather than have them floundering without purpose.

Now, as free agents, these talents have a chance to revamp their gimmicks and careers. Perhaps they can take inspiration from the cases of two popular stars who found themselves on the cutting floor in WWE once. The Stamford-based promotion released Zack Ryder aka Matt Cardona or Cesaro. Both these wrestlers took a bet on themselves and changed their careers for good.

Read More: 2 Signs That Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Day 1 Raw Appearance May Have Been a Ploy to Get Potential Presidential Bid Noticed

We would like to wish all the best to all of these names and hope for their better future.