Reason for Aleister Black, Wyatt Sicks WWE releases revealed | Exclusive
An update is available regarding what led to several recent WWE departures.
Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, and The Wyatt Sicks (Uncle Howdy, Joe Gacy, Nikki Cross, Dexter Lumis, and Erick Rowan) were all part of WWE’s post-WrestleMania 42 roster cuts revealed earlier this month.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer wrote that WWE felt they had “got all they were going to get” from the Wyatts and didn’t have much in the way of ideas for Black or Vega.
Meltzer wrote:
“It was just felt that the group had run its course. Even at first there were those who saw it as a short-term idea. It was basically a tribute to Bray Wyatt and was over big at first but it was limiting how they could be used with that gimmick over the long haul.”
Meltzer later added:
“The feeling was they got all out of the Wyatts they were going to get and Black and Vega was just a decision made on who they weren’t going to do anything more with. The reality is that even though they recruited Black hard to get out of AEW, once he returned, they really didn’t have much in the way of ideas for him.”
Regarding rumors that WWE made the releases due to TKO not wanting “darker” characters on WWE programming, Meltzer wrote:
“Regarding the story that the Wyatts and Black were released because TKO didn’t like dark characters, we were told that was ‘bullshit’ and that these were not decisions that even reached that level.”
Meltzer later wrote that AEW had reached out to Zelina Vega the last time WWE had let her go, which was in November 2020, but she “ghosted” the company.
Meltzer continued, “(Tony Khan) did negotiate with Zelina when she was let go the last time, but she pretty much ghosted him and signed back.”
The full edition of this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter is available here for subscribers.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.