We're officially on the Road to WrestleMania. Unfortunately, over the past week, this excitement has been overshadowed by WWE superstars losing their jobs. The following superstars have been released over the past week. These are the first reported WWE releases since back in November when Indi Hartwell, Baron Corbin, and Tegan Nox were released. While some of these wrestlers being released may come as a surprise, some of them shouldn't be.
These are the superstars who have been released by WWE in 2025 (updated as of February 12):
- Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar)
- Paul Ellering
- Cedric Alexander
- Sonya Deville
- Blair Davenport
- Isla Dawn
- Giovanni Vinci
- Good Brothers (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows)
- Elektra Lopez
When the company releases a superstar from their contract, said wrestler has a "non-compete" clause of 90 days until they can sign with a new company. With still a couple of months left, it isn't too difficult to predict where the recent superstars will end up once they're allowed to sign elsewhere, but it's safe to say that they will all land on their feet, exploring their options in different promotions.
8 Sonya Deville Is A Perfection Addition to AEW
AEW Would Be A Great Fit To Welcome Sonya Deville
Sonya Deville has spent nearly 10 years with WWE. Beginning her career as a contestant on WWE Tough Enough back in 2015. Arguably, her release comes as the most shocking. Deville, along with Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler formed the faction Pure Fusion Collective in 2024 and has been on weekly programming on Monday Night Raw ever since. In addition to that, not even two weeks ago, she was an entrant into the Royal Rumble. There haven’t been any recent signs that she could’ve been on her way out.
Since WWE and Deville have agreed to part ways, most likely it’s because they’re changing up the faction and either replacing it or getting rid of it. The company may not have had any plans to move forward for her. Plus, her contract was set to expire soon. Since it seems to be more of a mutual agreement, a new opportunity could present itself in AEW. The company could use any women wrestlers who are already established superstars, and she would be a name that the crowd would recognize. Not to mention, she was in a trio with Saraya (formerly known as Paige) in NXT called Absolution. At 31 years old, she’s sustained her fair share of injuries, but she is still young enough to recover from her bad luck in WWE.
7 The Good Brothers Are Set to Return Home to TNA
TNA's Tag Team Division Would Improve By Adding The Good Brothers
Another one of the least shocking releases in WWE was The Good Brothers. They’ve hardly been on television since they were separated from AJ Styles on Smackdown in 2024. Once they parted ways, they had a brief stint feuding with Fraxiom for the NXT Tag Team Championships but failed to win them. Since losing their title match, they haven’t been seen on any show except for Karl Anderson having a couple of matches on WWE Speed. Anderson also recently underwent surgery for his shoulder, which makes his release odd, as WWE usually does not part ways with superstars who are undergoing injury rehab.
The Good Brothers are one of the most successful tag teams in recent years, being among the founding members of the Bullet Club in Japan. They’ve spent time in pretty much every wrestling company imaginable, including both TNA and AEW, but TNA was home for them during the pandemic from 2020-2022 before returning to WWE. In their 40s, they don’t have much time left to bounce from promotion to promotion. A final return to TNA would be ideal for both. As 3-time former TNA/Impact Tag Team Champions, it would be great to return and feud with The Hardy Boyz.
6 Isla Dawn Could Hit the Independent Circuit
A Run On the Independent Circuit Could Build Up Her Return to WWE
After making a name for herself on NXT UK, Isla Dawn debuted on NXT by feuding with Alba Fyre, who would end up becoming her tag team partner. The two had a solid feud prior to joining forces. It always had that “what if” feeling if they remained solo competitors. Once they formed The Unholy Union, the two would end up winning both the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships and the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships.
Prior to her stint with WWE, she spent five years on the independent circuit. Based on her social media post, that is possible for her once she clears the 90 days. Once the dust settles, it is highly likely she will hit the independent circuit for a while to revamp her career. Most of her recent time has been spent in a tag team with little to no opportunities on the microphone or in the ring. She’s only 31 years old and has a ton of experience.
5 Blair Davenport Would Become a Top Star in AEW
Blair Davenport Could Be What AEW Wanted Saraya To Be
One of WWE's biggest misses in terms of booking was with Blair Davenport. She's spent time wrestling all across the globe, including Japan, AEW, World of Sport Wrestling (British), and many more. Once she joined WWE in 2021, it was a career changer. Prior to joining WWE, she had a brief stint in AEW that didn't do much for her career. But, since then, she has established herself as one of the best in-ring wrestlers in the division. The only dilemma has been her character work.
She was welcomed to WWE NXT as the parking lot attacker, which had a lot of potential, but they never capitalized on it. She was then called up to the main roster in the 2024 WWE Brand Draft where she watched her on-screen time fall. She was teased about becoming a third member of The Unholy Union, but it never happened. A return to AEW with her revitalized character would be a great addition to the company and its starving need for women's division characters. She's also only 28 years old with a long and bright future ahead.
4 Authors of Pain Could Invade AEW Tag Division
Authors of Pain Could Help Add Giants AEW Tag Division
Akam and Rezar of Authors of Pain along with their manager Paul Ellering have been featured on WWE programming since 2016. As a tag team, they won both the Raw Tag Team Championships and the NXT Tag Team titles once each. From the moment they debuted, they were introduced as a dominant force to be afraid of. Unfortunately, they were released in 2020.
After spending a couple of years on the independent circuit, AOP was brought back to WWE in 2022. When they returned to the company, they were aligned with Karrion Kross to create a new faction called The Final Testament. This faction immediately began a feud with Bobby Lashley and his faction at the time (The Pride). Other than that, The Final Testament never really made much noise since returning to the company. Now that they’ve been released, a switch over to AEW would energize their improved tag team division even more. Possibly, revisiting their feud with Lashley (AEW Tag Team Champion with Shelton Benjamin) would be a great way to introduce them to their fan base.
3 Giovanni Vinci Fits in Perfectly With AEW's Crowd
A Revamped Giovanni Vinci Fits in AEW
Giovanni Vinci's run in WWE has to be one of the weirdest in recent memory. He signed with the company back in 2017 and joined the group Imperium (Gunther and Ludwig Kaiser). Prior to that, he spent six years on the independent circuit. Along with Kaiser, he won the NXT tag titles twice during his time on NXT. After their second reign ended, Kaiser and Gunther were drafted to the Smackdown roster without Vinci. He was then introduced in vignettes on NXT as a wealthy Italian wrestler. At first, the gimmick change worked, but WWE creatives didn't stick with it.
He was then reunited with Imperium again on Raw, just to be kicked out of the group again. He was then drafted to Smackdown with a revamp of his "rich Italian" gimmick, and slowly but surely, his career in WWE faded away. If AEW revisits the character he portrayed on NXT with a bit of a twist to it, AEW's crowd would enjoy it. In the ring, he can hang with the best of them. On the mic, he was never really given too many chances to show his personality. On AEW he would get opportunities to do both.
2 Cedric Alexander Is Bound to Join the Hurt Syndicate in AEW
All Signs Align to Cedric Alexander Joining His Former Faction in AEW
While all of these are pure speculation, Cedric Alexander signing with AEW is as sure of a thing as you can get. In addition to already spending six years in Ring of Honor, his former faction, now known as The Hurt Syndicate in AEW, is already making noise and holding the AEW tag titles. One of WWE's biggest mistakes was not allowing this faction to reach its full potential after how much hard work they put in during the pandemic.
Since Lashley, Benjamin, and MVP all left WWE, it left Alexander's solo career to fade away. They tried to resurrect it by putting him on NXT, but he still didn't work out. Now that he is released, all signs are aligned for Alexander to join the faction once again in AEW.
1 Elektra Lopez Could Go Back to Ring of Honor
The Puerto Rican Star Could Go Back to Her Roots
Elektra Lopez, known as "la Madrina" of the Legado del Fantasma faction, did not actually spend a lot of her time as a professional wrestler outside of the WWE. She got her start in Ring of Honor, where she enjoyed a decent run between 2019 and 2021, before signing with WWE.
The Ring of Honor brand, now owned by AEW's Tony Khan, has been struggling to find its identity and audience. While Lopez's options are really open, it would be interesting to see her go back to the promotion she first made a name in, and perhaps help ROH's floundering women's division with a more recognizable face.
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