Did the WWE release nine superstars to make room for Sting?

Every year, the WWE tends to trim down it’s roster post-Wrestlemania. More often than not, the names are full of developmental talent or people that you haven’t seen on TV in what feels like forever.

However, this batch of releases includes some bigger names that have been on TV on a fairly regular basis. Leading many to ask, with the recent rumors of Sting inking a deal with the WWE, were these nine superstars (and one ref) given their walking papers to make room for the future WWE and current TNA hall of famer?

Let’s take a deeper look at the releases and see if we can logically make such a conclusion.

WWE Superstars Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal were released on Thursday

Photo Credit: WWE.com

Jinder Mahal & Drew McIntyre

I’m grouping Mahal and McIntyre together here as they are a part of the comedic jobber stable, 3MB. While 3MB may not be your cup of tea, the WWE needs a group like this.

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Heath Slater makes every wrestler that steps into the ring with him look like a million bucks. He even had a great run a couple of years ago losing to former WWE superstars and allowed crowds to get a full dose of nostalgia by not just seeing their old favorites, but see them look great in the ring.

So when RAW moved to three hours, they decided to give Heath a posse and extend their jobbing capabilities. Mahal and McIntyre had been floating around in WWE limbo before that, but once they joined Heath’s new band, they got new life. The trio thrived in their role and happily went out as sacrifices in singles, tag team, and even trio competition.

Hornswoggle, another superstar that has floating around in creative nothingness, got attached to the group as well. This led to two consecutive matches against El Torito in PPV kickoff shows, which, incidentally happened to be two best of such matches in kickoff shows by a mile. It wasn’t just Hornswoggle and El Torito making them great, but the entirety of 3MB throwing caution to the wind and performing incredible spots along with Los Matadores.

They hit their stride, crowds were digging the matches they were involved in, and now its has been taken out behind the shed and shot offscreen.

I’m glad Heath, who is without a doubt the best worker of the group, is still with the WWE, but parting ways with Mahal and McIntyre is a shock considering what they have brought to the table recently.

Aksana

If the WWE handed out an award for “most improved wrestler”, Aksana would win in a landslide.

Aksana was originally brought in as a sultry, “look at the hot diva” role borne of the Attitude Era past. I mean, just listen to her “I think a porno is about to happen” entrance music, if you don’t believe that was the original idea.

In ring, she was a mess. We are talking just-a-cut-above Eva Marie bad. However, she started to turn that around and developed some legitimate ring skill. Go watch one of her recent matches and then go check out one from a couple years ago if you don’t believe me. The difference is night and day.

Now, that being sad, she was never going to be in the top tier of divas. She was, however, turning into a solid wrestler that the WWE could throw into the ring without fear that she would make a mess of things.

Well, Naomi might disagree, but I personally think Aksana saved us all from the WWE pushing a diva using an “my ass is a weapon” gimmick.

Still, in a division that is in dire need of heels to put out in the ring to face off against Paige (or the Total Divas cast whom they can’t turn heel with any good logic), the WWE has just gotten rid of a good option. Now, the WWE is either left with trying to bring up some NXT divas or run Paige v Fox for a couple more months.

WWE’s Tyson Kidd against Evan Bourne.

Photo Credit: WWE.com

Evan Borne

Borne hasn’t been on TV in quite a while; however, I still believe his release should definitely be noted with a raised eyebrow.

Borne was on TV regularly and even had a solid Tag Team Championship run with Kofi Kingston as the team of Air Boom. That was, until he violated the WWE wellness policy twice and then became injured in a car accident in 2012.

Evan has reportedly been healthy for some time now and even appeared at a NXT show in March 2013. Considering that was right before Wrestlemania, it’s understandable that the WWE creative didn’t have anything for him to do. However, as time crawled on the omission continued to seem a bit odd.

Considering the current NXT champ, Aaron Neville, is a high-flier getting a good look and push, I find it hard to believe the WWE can’t find anything for a guy that can do one of the best shooting star presses I’ve ever seen:

Brodus Clay

The Funkasaurus gimmick definitely had a glass ceiling, this idiotic bit at Wrestlemania pretty much killed all the momentum Clay had. Even after that disaster, the WWE tried to revive Clay’s character on a couple of different occasions.

One of these was packing him together with Tensai as the team Tons of Funk. Tensai was another gimmick that fell flat so the WWE tried to kill two birds with one stone in this case. It had some moderate success, allowing the duo to wrestle in some mid-card matches in what was, at the time, a revitalized tag team division that needed more competition.

Later though, the team, and the tag division, grew stale. The WWE had Brodus turn heel by creating a rather nonsensical feud with a debuting Xavier Woods. The heel turn, and to be frank, Xavier’s debut, never turned out like the WWE had hoped and Brodus disappeared from TV, only recently re-appearing on NXT as a challenger for Neville’s belt.

Brodus Clay is one of those powerhouse wrestlers that the WWE tends to try and find a spot for. A stint in NXT could have completely revitalized him and allow people to forget he was ever the Funkasaurus.

The release may not be the most surprising, but it is strange the WWE has seemed to throw the towel in here.

Theodore Long

Long’s dismissal is most notable for the longevity he’s had in the WWE as he’s been with the company since their purchase of WCW in 2001.

Teddy is probably best known for creating tag team matches while GM of Smackdown any time four or more guys started arguing in the ring. It became so predictable and well known, that it practically became a WWE meme and spawned its own supercut on YouTube.

Typically, the WWE finds something for people like Teddy to do, even if they only appear on TV once or twice a year at best. With the WWE Network also now in existence, I’m shocked Teddy isn’t counting down his favorite tag team main events just to keep the joke running.

The Others: Curt Hawkins, Camacho, Yoshi Tatsu, and referee Marc Harris

These four names are more of what you typically see in a WWE housecleaning. You have one referee and three guys who just haven’t seem to pan out like the WWE has wanted.

These are they guys whom usually spawn the “WWE just isn’t using them right” arguments. You could potentially see a path for these guys to do something, but its clear the WWE has other talents that they’d prefer to focus on. Sometimes the WWE drops the ball here (see: Ethan Carter III, formerly Derrick Bateman while in the WWE, now in TNA), but more often than not, these aren’t guys that fans or the WWE are going to miss.

So did they do this all for Sting?

Full disclosure: I’m a huge Sting mark. I can’t help it. His feud with Hollywood Hulk Hogan and the nWo drew me in to pro wrestling. That’s something that has stuck with me and I am always brought back in to whatever he does.

For example, Sting being a part of TNA wrestling got me interested enough to check out the promotion in 2006. I knew nothing about them at all, but thanks to Sting being a part of it, I was introduced something new and fun as I bored of WWE in those days. Sadly, TNA has since lost my interest and I was happy that Sting finally ended his time with them so he’d get a shot with the WWE.