WWE's business was booming throughout 2024, but not everyone stayed on the company's roller coaster throughout the year. Some got off by choice, others were forced to leave.
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00:00WWE's business was booming throughout 2024, but not everyone stayed on the company's roller
00:06coaster throughout the year. Some got off by choice, others were forced to leave.
00:12After initially announcing his retirement as WWE CEO in June 2022, Vince McMahon returned
00:18to the board of WWE's parent company, TKO, in January 2023. That return lasted almost
00:24exactly a year. He resigned from his position on January 26, 2024. That was just one day
00:31after Janelle Grant, a former WWE employee, filed a lawsuit naming McMahon, former head
00:37of talent relations John Laurinaitis, and WWE itself as defendants. The suit accuses
00:42McMahon of sex trafficking and abuse, and in May, it was revealed he is under federal
00:47investigation.
00:49With the legal issues ramping up for McMahon, another return to WWE seems unlikely, but
00:54he's reportedly set to launch a new entertainment company.
00:58Former women's champion Becky Lynch hasn't been seen on WWE TV since May, when she lost
01:03a steel cage match to Liv Morgan. That's when Lynch became a free agent, and reports indicate
01:08she notified WWE ahead of her contract expiring that she planned to take a hiatus, though
01:14Lynch has made some subtle overtures that she could end up elsewhere.
01:18"...so it's either WWE or BUS?"
01:20"...yeah, I just don't know."
01:24Or that she may be outright retiring, she hasn't made any concrete statements about
01:28either option. The women's Grand Slam champion did appear on a live panel at Vulture Festival
01:32in Hollywood on November 17, where she teased a wrestling return.
01:37"...if you think that the way I'm gonna go out after the career that I've had is with
01:41Dominic Mysterio slamming a door in my face."
01:46But Lynch stopped short of saying when or where that return might happen.
01:51In August, Bobby Lashley and MVP's WWE contracts expired, and they opted to take their talents
01:57elsewhere. They joined Hurt Business stablemate Shelton Benjamin, who was released from WWE
02:02in 2023 in AEW.
02:05Former WWE champion Lashley had not been factored into creative plans since WrestleMania 40.
02:11The company reportedly offered him a new contract, but he, quote, wasn't excited by the details.
02:15There were reportedly no major discussions about bringing MVP back into the company.
02:20He, with Benjamin, debuted in AEW at the end of September. Lashley debuted on Halloween
02:25to ramp up a feud with former champion Swerve Strickland and solidify the group, now called
02:29the Hurt Syndicate, in AEW.
02:33High Flyer Ricochet also left WWE after his contract expired on July 1. He went on to
02:38sign a multi-year deal with AEW. He made his debut there during the Casino Gauntlet match
02:44at All In in late August. Ricochet has said he left and signed with AEW to have fun again
02:49and create art, after many fans thought he was creatively stifled within WWE. He said
02:55it was hard leaving after six years, but wanted to be part of AEW. He was written off of WWE
03:00TV in June when he was put through a windshield by Braun Breaker and was taken away in an
03:06ambulance.
03:08After a lot of ballyhoo, NXT roster member, and controversial 2021 Olympic gold medalist,
03:13Gable Steveson was finally released in May. Steveson signed with WWE in 2021, but continued
03:19wrestling in college while making very sporadic appearances on WWE television. He was released
03:25after the company didn't think he was making enough progress. A jeering fan reception during
03:29his sole televised match against Baron Corbin at the Great American Bash in 2023 likely
03:35didn't help.
03:36Steveson's real-life brother, Damon Kemp, a member of the No Quarter Catch crew, also
03:41didn't have his contract renewed. He departed WWE in August and started taking independent
03:45bookings. It was reported that the brothers' releases were unrelated.
03:50Drew Gulak became a magnet for controversy toward the end of his tenure with WWE, and
03:55his contract was not renewed in May. Gulak left the company after former WWE star Ronda
04:00Rousey made accusations of him being inappropriate with her backstage.
04:04This guy grabs the string of my sweatpants, and nobody else reacts as if this is abnormal."
04:11Gulak addressed the allegations, saying he was reaching for a handshake, but he was subsequently
04:15written off TV after being killed by the D'Angelo family. Gulak was reportedly not released due
04:21to the incident with Rousey, but rather as part of talent cuts across the brand.
04:26News hit of three WWE stars being released in April, while an episode of SmackDown was
04:31on the air — former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal, Zion Quinn, and Xia Li. Mahal hadn't
04:37been particularly active of late, but he had recently been booked in a World Heavyweight
04:42Championship match against Seth Rollins. He lost the match — Quinn and Li lost to Breaker
04:47and Natalya, respectively, in their final matches — shortly after it was revealed
04:51that Indus Cher's Veer and Sanga had also been released.
04:55The release of Cameron Grimes, who had worked a few times on the main roster after seemingly
04:59graduating from NXT, came just days after the main roster cuts. The former North American
05:03and Million Dollar Champion posted an emotional social media video confirming the news.
05:08Von Wagner was also on the list of names released, as WWE reportedly felt that his five-plus-year
05:13tenure in the company had not led to what they expected. A few weeks later, the company
05:18opted not to renew the contract of another NXT roster member, Scripps, who was also known
05:23in the company as Reggie.
05:25Dijak was technically drafted to the main roster earlier in the year, but was released
05:29before he could make his first main roster appearance without the name T-Bar. The company
05:33didn't offer the former Retribution member a new contract after his deal expired on June
05:3828th. Dijak has implied that there were multiple factors as to why he wasn't re-signed, including
05:44WWE being in a transitional period creatively.
05:48In early August, Odyssey Jones was just getting on his feet on the main roster after years
05:52in the company, entering a storyline with The New Day. However, Jones mysteriously disappeared
05:57from TV after just a couple weeks. According to reports, Jones was taken off television
06:02after WWE learned about a domestic violence claim against him. The 30-year-old's profile
06:07was removed from WWE's website, and his last match came alongside New Day against The Final
06:12Testament on August 19th.
06:15Another set of WWE releases came just ahead of a taped episode of SmackDown on November
06:201st. Three members of the roster were let go — former United States Champion Baron
06:25Corbin, former NXT Women's Champion Indi Hartwell, and Tegan Nox. Reports stated Corbin was informed
06:31that his contract would not be renewed, and the other two were simply released. Corbin
06:35had most recently been working in a tag team with Apollo Crews on SmackDown. His release
06:39ended a 12-year tenure in WWE.
06:42Hartwell had two runs with the company beginning in 2019, winning the NXT Women's Tag Team
06:47Championships alongside Candice LeRae, and later the NXT Women's Championship. Nox,
06:52who started in NXT in 2017, had not been featured on WWE television or live shows for a while
06:58prior to what ended up being her second release from the company.
07:02Commentator Kevin Patrick, who had been leading the broadcast team on SmackDown, was released
07:06in January after nearly three years with WWE. Multiple sources said it just wasn't working
07:12out. A much longer-tenured member of the commentary team, Jerry The King Lawler, saw his broadcast
07:17contract expire at the beginning of the year, ending 31 years off and on behind the announce
07:22desk. The WWE Hall of Famer remains under a legends deal, however. He notably hadn't
07:28been full-time behind the commentary desk since 2020 due to health issues.
07:32In June, host and interviewer Kayla Braxton announced she would be leaving WWE after eight
07:37years. It was reported she was finishing up on a verbal agreement, as her contract had
07:42already expired. Braxton went on to reveal that she felt like she had done everything
07:46she could do in the company.
07:48Fans got a big shock in October when beloved ring announcer Samantha Ervin posted to social
07:52media that she had left the company after three years. Many fans speculated as to whether
07:57Ervin's time with WWE was coming to an end because her fiancé Ricochet had signed with
08:02AEW. Ervin said she wasn't going to AEW and wanted to go back to her singing career.