By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The following wrestlers were released (or informed their contracts will not be renewed) by WWE on February 7-8, 2025.
-Giovanni Vinci
-Luke Gallows
-Karl Anderson
-Isla Dawn
-Akam
-Rezar
-Paul Ellering
-Blair Davenport
-Cedric Alexander
-Sonya Deville (the company will not be renewing her contract when it expires later this month)
Powell’s POV: I will update this list if there are additional cuts. WWE never pushed the AOP duo of Akam and Rezar on the main roster as aggressively as they were pushed in NXT. But of the cuts, the news that Deville’s contract won’t be renewed surprises me the most. The Pure Fusion Collective faction has been underwhelming, but Deville is a good talker and did an especially good job when she was positioned as a co-general manager. Credit to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com and Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com for news on some of the releases. I will have more to say about the cuts during my Smackdown audio review later tonight for our Dot Net Members (including our Patreon patrons).
Deville just couldn’t catch a break. Every time she seemed to be gaining momentum she’d have an injury or something crazy like the stalker breaking into her house. She seems like a perfect fit for TNA after some time off and maybe she can reinvent herself a bit and work her way back up to WWE.
Didn’t they just re-sign Alexander around the time Lashley and Benjamin left? Too bad to see him go. Deville and Ellering too
I hope they find work but not sorry to see the end of the Final Testament. Kross is much more interesting as a shit stirrer than the faction thing.
I think Deville is great on the mic; I feel bad for her
Why Sonya?
And didn’t they just make a big deal out of trading Davenport from NXT to Raw or Smackdown?
Which members of management will be cut when these lawsuits play out?
I hope Cedric goes to TNA. I’m not sure what NXT expected of him. He was never going to get a steady push surrounded by charismatic D1 athletes. He did really well in his vet/enhancement role.
Mostly a list of people I have forgotten about.
Face it if you didn’t make the Rumble (aside from injury or tag teams in a program) chances are you need to get your resume updated
I’d be even more worried as a female superstar as there are 20 NXT wrestlers more than ready to take your place
I’m not ragging on WWE for the cuts because quite honestly they have kept a lot of these people on the payroll far past their expiration date so at least they had a steady paycheck