It’s no big secret that WWE officials have been trying to lock talents into longer deals in order to keep them from going to AEW, or other promotions, but that hasn’t stopped certain wrestlers from publicly requesting their release.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter notes that the public release requests have not worked out well for talents, as Luke Harper was frozen out for months and only brought back for a few weeks so he could partner with Rowan against Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns.
Mike Kanellis was removed from TV after asking for his release, and Maria was also removed from TV even though she didn’t request to be released, but the storyline they were doing doesn’t work without Mike.
Sin Cara also recently requested his release.
WWE stopped giving releases after names such as Shawn Spears and Dustin Runnels added value to AEW, and KENTA added value to NJPW.
However, it’s being reported that WWE may be giving releases to some talents with the idea being that they won’t be going to AEW, or if they did that it wouldn’t help them. It’s also being said that there’s a chance Sin Cara’s release could be granted.
