7 Most Shocking WWE Superstar Releases Of 2017

Austin Aries is probably the wrestler on this list who is most sorely missed from WWE programming. Specifically, 205 Live, where - alongside Neville - the former Ring of Honor star managed to produce one of the year's best feuds.

That's part of what made his release so shocking. It seemed just a few months ago like he was at the very top of his game, putting on the calibre of matches that you would normally associate with the very top of the card on the freaking pre-show.

But it's bound to rankle a little when you're an established wrestling name - 39-year-old Aries has already held both the ROH and TNA World Titles - and you are still stuck in a dead-end role as a buffer for the cruiserweights (whose own futures with the company seem a little precarious themselves).

The plaudits he was earning from fans, it seems, weren't enough to offset the nagging sense that he could be having more fun back on the independent scene, which probably explains why the self-proclaimed "Greatest Man Who Ever Lived" felt emboldened to give the creative team a piece of his mind.