Unfortunately, WWE is seemingly undergoing a major talent cut today as reports and social media posts from talent directly revealed the likes of Mustafa Ali, Emma, Rick Boogs, Elias and more have been released from the company. Haus of Wrestling reported last week that “major cuts” would be coming to both the main roster and the NXT roster following the formation of TKO Group Holdings.
Sadly, former World Heavyweight Champion Dolph Ziggler and former record-breaking Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin are the latest names reported to have been released by the company today. The news of both men’s releases was first reported by Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, with Benjamin taking to his X account to confirm the news in a post.
“I have been released from my wwe contract,” Benjamin wrote. “I thank @wwe staff, talent, and of course the fans for Everything. Something ends, something new Begins. Looking forward to my next Chapter.” At the time of writing, Ziggler has not confirmed his release publicly.
Despite being a member of the RAW roster, Benjamin has not appeared on the red brand in over three months. The 48-year-old competed in his last WWE match on the September 14th edition of Main Event, where he and long-time tag team partner Cedric Alexander lost to Erik and Ivar of The Viking Raiders.
Ziggler has been similarly absent from WWE programming of late and hasn’t wrestled for the company whatsoever in almost four months. The former World Heavyweight Champion last competed on the May 29th edition of RAW where he faced JD McDonagh in this Irish star’s first-ever main roster singles match to a double countout finish.