
Despite several WWE stars not being released despite cryptic social media posts, others have reportedly been let go on Friday ahead of “WWE SmackDown.” According to Fightful Select, internal memos went out in the company indicating Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, Dakota Kai, Braun Strowman, Shayna Baszler have all been released.
Kai just recently shared in what appears to be a now-deleted post to X (formerly Twitter) that she missed wrestling and her fans, but wasn’t injured. Strowman had just been featured in a feud with new United States Champion Jacob Fatu. His final match came on “WWE SmackDown” on April 18 where he teamed with LA Knight against Fatu and Solo Sikoa.
Carter and Chance were last seen on the Women’s Tag Team Championship number one contender’s gauntlet match on the April 11 episode of “SmackDown.” Baszler hadn’t been used much on WWE television following the release of Pure Fusion Collective leader Sonya Deville in February, but she and tag team partner Zoe Stark were also in the gauntlet match. She most recently competed at Bloodsport WrestleMania weekend.
Reports did not indicate whether or not there would be more releases. The last round of WWE talent cuts came in February and reports emerged while “SmackDown” was on the air and continued into the following Saturday. Deville, Blair Davenport, the Authors of Pain and Paul Ellering, and Cedric Alexander were released at the time.