The dust hasn't even settled on the news that Duke Hudson was released from WWE, and it's only been a little over two hours since Cedric Alexander also posted on X about being released, and it seems there are several more names that unfortunately need to be added to the list.
Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp went on X to announce that WWE Hall of Famer and legendary manager Paul Ellering, as well as The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) were released.
In Ellering's case, he had been the manager of The Legion of Doom in 1992, returning again in 1998 to manage The Disciples of Apocalypse. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011 and returned to start managing AOP in 2016, before splitting from them in 2018.
AOP and Ellering had been released by WWE in September 2020 before making their return alongside Ellering in August 2023.
This leaves The Final Testament group no more, as even The Miz is now on SmackDown, meaning the group is down to just Karrion Kross and Scarlett.
Sonya Deville's release from WWE is quite the shocker, as she has had a rough couple years. In August 2020, Deville (real name Daria Berenato) was the victim of a home invasion. She would leave WWE in storyline after a Loser Leaves WWE match and eventually return in 2021 to be the assistant to Adam Pearce. Deville returned to normal active in-ring Superstar status in May 2022 and soon after winning the Women's Tag Team Championship with Chelsea Green in July 2023, would suffer a torn ACL, relinquish her half of the title, and sit out of action until May 2024 where she created a stable alongside Zoey Stark and Shayna Baszler as Pure Fusion Collective.
This is just days after Deville was part of the 2025 Royal Rumble alongside her PFC faction teammates, and sadly only days after Deville said in an interview on Talking with Natasha that her goal for this year in WWE was to win a singles title.
Blair Davenport's release is, unfortunately, not as surprising in comparison. Not only was she not booked to be in the Women's Royal Rumble this year, she hasn't even wrestled a match at all since November, which was a losing effort.
Since joining the SmackDown roster in the 2024 WWE Draft, Davenport was only used a handful of times on television, only wrestling five total televised matches and losing all but one of them.
What do you think of these releases? Should these men and women be seen next in All Elite Wrestling, or would other companies be better suited for them? Drop your thoughts and reactions in the comments below!