WWE releases four surprising names

WWE released three impressive superstars and a legendary agent on Friday.

Call it Black Friday, call it the beginning of the annual WWE spring cleaning. But whatever you call it, three superstars and a longtime backstage agent were all released on Friday afternoon. Tye Dillinger, TJ Perkins, Hideo Itami, and Arn Andwerson were all released.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Tye Dillinger had requested his release. At that point, it was suggested that WWE would not be releasing any talents with the recent happenings of AEW making news and the potential fear of losing talent to this upstart promotion. However, Friday proved to be just the opposite.

TJ Perkins and Hideo Itami are also now on the unemployment list. Itami, much like Dillinger, had previously requested his release. He lost a  match on 205 Live to Kira Tozawa and then was attacked by his former partner, Ariya Daivari. The attack was how he was then written off TV.

The big surprise from the active roster was Perkins. He joined WWE in 2016 as part of the Cruiserweight Classic, where he defeated recent NXT call-up Johnny Gargano en route to becoming the first Cruiserweight Champion. His appearance this past week on 205 Live would prove to be his last.

Perhaps the biggest release of the day came outside of the ring. “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson had been in a backstage agent role since joining the company in 2001, shortly after the WCW buyout. He was one of the most influential people when it came to angles, and was even inducted into the 2012 WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Four Horeseman. As of Friday evening, it’s not clear as to what led to Anderson’s departure from the company. But that is absolutely a huge loss to the bechind-the-scenes aspect of the organization.

If this is just the beginning of their annual spring cleaning, the next couple of weeks could get VERY interesting. Especially if more NXT names get called up and the potential of another “Superstar Shakeup” happening after WrestleMania.