Just moments after WWE announced plans to cut the talent roster/overall head count of some employees to save money in the current coronavirus crisis, the company has come to terms on the release of several Superstars.
Drake Maverick (James Curtin), Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra), Luke Gallows (Drew Hankinson), Eric Young (Jeremy Fritz), EC3 (Michael Hutter), Heath Slater (Heath Miller) and Lio Rush (Lionel Green) have all been future endeavored!
Some of these names are obviously more surprising than others, but none of these guys were being utilized in strong main event of even upper mid-card roles. Gallows and Anderson were part of The OC with AJ Styles, but they were portrayed as being nothing more than his incompetent lackeys for the past few months. Lio Rush was the Cruiserweight Champion up until recently, but hasn't really been seen on TV since dropping the title to Angel Garza.
The rest? Probably would have happened sooner or later anyway, we're sorry to say.
Chances are most if not all of these wrestlers will return to the independents for at least a few shows, but then AEW may come a calling. We wouldn't be surprised to see Gallows and Anderson return to New Japan, however.
UPDATE: Backstage producers Dave Finlay, Mike Rotunda, Lance Storm and Shane Helms have also been let go.