Kairi Sane, Aleister Black, Motor City Machine Guns reportedly among WWE cuts

Aleister Black
Aleister Black (Image credit: WWE)

The WWE continues to cut multiple names from its roster. News of the departures of Zoey Stark and Alba Fyre, among others, broke earlier today. Now more cuts have been identified this evening, including Aleister Black and the Motor City Machine Guns.

The latest batch of cuts was initially reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com.

Black had initially joined WWE as a member of NXT in 2016. He was called up to the main roster in 2019, but he was released in June of 2021. He spent several years in AEW in the House of Black with Brody King and Buddy Matthews before returning to WWE last April. (The initial vignette teasing his return aired one year ago this weekend.) After pairing with his real-life wife Zelina Vega, he was involved with Randy Orton’s build to WrestleMania, but was pulled from the program to make room for Pat McAfee.

Vega is also among those reportedly released. 

The Motor City Machine Guns—Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin—had been teaming for over 15 years, mostly in TNA, before finally joining WWE in 2024. They won a pair of tournaments to name top contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championships, and finally defeated Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa to win those belts in October of 2024. They lost the belts to #DIY in December of that same year. 

Other names on WWE’s cut list, according to Sapp:

  • Former WWE US and Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews.
  • Former NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar.
  • Tyra Mae Steele, who won a gold medal in wrestling in the 2020 Olympic Games under her real name, Tamyra Mensah-Stock.
  • Three-time former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane
  • Developmental prospects Malik Blade, Dante Chen, Luca Crusifino, Tyson Dupont, Chris Island, Tyriek Igwe, Sirena Linton, and Trill London.

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