Former WWE champions fired in shock releases as SmackDown goes on air

Several former WWE Champions and a Hall of Famer have been let go. As SmackDown got underway on Netflix last night, it emerged that Final Testament duo Akam and Rezar (AOP) and their manager Paul Ellering have been released, along with Cedric Alexander and UK wrestler Blair Davenport just three months after Indi Hartwell, Baron Corbin and Tegan Nox were cut . Former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Sonya Deville has also been informed her contract, which is said to expire in ‘a number of weeks, will not be renewed and she will become a free agent.

According to Fightful, the calls informing talent of the releases were made around the start of SmackDown. It’s believed former Cruiserweight and tag champ Alexander could end up with rival company All Elite Wrestling (AEW), with his former Hurt Business teammates Shelton Benjamin, MVP and Bobby Lashley all there as the Hurt Syndicate. Just before SmackDown started on Friday, he addressed his departure after almost a decade with the company, which began with the Cruiserweight Classic.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. ‘Thank you for the last 8 1/2 years,’ he wrote on X. ‘Being a professional wrestler has been a dream of mine since I could form memories and I will continue to do so till the good Lord says otherwise. #SeeYouIn90’. Sonya, who first appeared a decade ago on the 2015 series of Tough Enough, appeared on NXT before getting a call-up to Raw in 2017.

She went on hiatus in August 2020 after a real life attempted kidnapping at her home, but returned in January 2021 as an authority figure on screen, before later being put back on the active roster. Davenport is expected to have interest around the world from several promotions, while her release comes less than eight months after she was called up to SmackDown. She failed to make an impact on the main roster despite her clear talent, and it’s reported there were no creative plans for her on the blue brand.

The 28-year-old star, who has wrestled under her real name Bea Priestley in the past, hasn’t had a match since losing to United States Champion Chelsea Green in a Triple Threat match with Bianca Belair on SmackDown in November 2024. Meanwhile, it’s claimed AOP had ‘a bit of heat’ in the wrestling world over some outside controversies, including a planned show and promotion that never got off the ground.

The former Raw and NXT tag team champions were originally released in September 2020 before being resigned in 2022, although they didn’t resurface on screen until the beginning of 2024. They were paired with Karrion Kross and Scarlett Bordeaux as part of the Final Testament, but following the team’s feud with the Wyatt Sicks, they rarely featured on TV. I finally got on the property ladder and it was the biggest mistake of my life.

What I Rent: We pay £2,060 for our Battersea studio flat — and yoga classes are included. I bought a house with my partner — but when we broke up, he refused to sell. This £575,000 house has a ‘genius’ feature in the most unexpected place. What I Own: I quit London at 48 and bought my first home in Sussex for £325,000. Their last match was on Main Event in December as they beat LWO duo Cruz Del Toro and Joaquin Wilde.

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