Backstage Reaction To Recent WWE Releases

On Friday, Baron Corbin posted a tweet indicating that he’s done with WWE, and shortly after it was reported that Tegan Nox and Indi Hartwell had both been released.

Fightful Select reports that Baron Corbin was informed his deal would not be extended, and the belief is that his deal runs through the end of the year. Numerous independent bookers have already asked about Corbin’s availability. It was noted that although Corbin was rarely used on television throughout the year he was regularly backstage at SmackDown and worked a number of dark matches.

Tegan Nox and Indi Hartwell were released from their contracts so they will have to wait out a 90 day non compete. They will be available to wrestle for other companies at the start of February 2025. Nox had not been used on TV in six months, but was occasionally backstage at SmackDown.

Indi Hartwell’s release was said to have been the most unexpected of the three. Hartwell taped a match last week that aired on this week’s episode of SmackDown. When asked about reactions to the release several staff members and talent felt that Indi Hartwell was coming into her own recently with social media skits.

There’s no word on if talent were told of a specific reason for the cuts. The internal claim is that the three names who got cut were the extent of this round of cuts.