7 Most Shocking WWE Superstar Releases Of 2017

Alongside The Ascension and American Alpha, The Vaudevillains now sit that great tradition of promising NXT tag teams who were never given their chance on the WWE main roster.

In the case of Simon Gotch and Aiden English, it seems like they were given up on remarkably quickly. They didn't make it beyond the first round of the inaugural SmackDown Tag Titles tournament back in 2016, and 50% of their act was then seen crying backstage early the following year.

It's little wonder that the duo had thus far struggled to get over, but it was the source of some surprise when reports that the company had abruptly decided to release Gotch surfaced back in April. What had Gotch failed to do that English hadn't?

In the immediate aftermath of the news, it was suggested that the 35-year-old had asked for his release himself in order to have a run on wrestling's independent scene, but these were quickly quashed by the man himself. No, it seems WWE just decided, for whatever reason, they no longer liked him. It's a fickle business.