WWE roster cuts: Aleister Black, Kairi Sane among numerous releases made after WrestleMania 42 By Lila Roberts | April 26, 2026 WWE announced a significant wave of roster releases on Friday, April 24, 2026, just days after WrestleMania 42. The departures included several high-profile names from both the main roster and NXT, marking one of the largest post-WrestleMania talent reductions in recent company history. Among the most notable releases were Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, and Kairi Sane. Black and Vega, a married couple who had been regular fixtures on SmackDown, were particularly surprising departures given their recent in-ring momentum. Black had won his last three matches leading into WrestleMania 42, defeating Sami Zayn, the then-United States Champion Randy Orton in a non-title bout, and Matt Cardona. His return to WWE in April 2025 marked his second stint with the company after a productive run in AEW. Kairi Sane, who returned to WWE in 2023, had been prominently featured in an ongoing feud between Asuka and Iyo Sky as part of the Damage CTRL faction. Her release came shortly after reports surfaced that she and Asuka were being positioned for a larger storyline direction, though Asuka remains with the company. Perhaps the most emotionally resonant departures came from the Wyatt Sicks faction. The group, which debuted in 2024 as a tribute to the late Bray Wyatt, saw all its members released: Uncle Howdy (Bo Dallas), Nikki Cross, Joe Gacy, Erick Rowan, and Dexter Lumis. The faction had recently been active in the WWE Tag Team Championship picture, with Gacy and Lumis holding the titles prior to their release. Nikki Cross addressed her departure on social media, writing: “Goodbye and thank you, WWE. I’m really excited for whatever my next chapter will hold. Thank you all for the continued love and support. A special thank you to Robbie Brookside and William Regal for helping this dream come true. Thank you to the wrestlers, coaches, producers, and all the backstage crew who make all this possible. To the amazing girls in the locker room…” Joe Gacy, who spent 15 years in Combat Zone Wrestling before joining NXT in 2020 and making his main roster debut in 2024, won the WWE Tag Team Championship once with Dexter Lumis. Lumis, who had two separate runs with WWE (2019–2022 and 2022–2026), was off television for much of 2023 and early 2024 before returning as part of the Wyatt Sicks. Erick Rowan, a two-time WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion with Luke Harper and Daniel Bryan, was a original member of the Wyatt Family in the 2010s. He left WWE for four years before returning in 2024 and joining the Wyatt Sicks upon his return. Other names released in the wave included Zoey Stark, Alba Fyre, Apollo Crews, Santos Escobar, Andre Chase, Motor City Machine Guns (Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin), and Dante Chen. The cuts affected talent across multiple brands and highlighted WWE’s ongoing efforts to refresh its roster following major premium live events. The releases were first reported by professional wrestling journalist Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com, with confirmation coming from various talent via social media and interviews in the days following the announcements. As of April 26, 2026, WWE has not issued an official statement detailing the exact number of releases or the reasoning behind the decisions, though such moves are typical in the company’s post-WrestleMania evaluation period.
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