Every WWE Release Of 2021 - Where Are They Now? (Five Years Later)
77. Kalisto
Then: Kalisto's 8 year stint with the market leader came to an end on 15 April 2021. In truth, the company had long since given up on thoughts of pushing him, and he'd even made a hasty exit stage left from Lucha House Party (the faction he once started alongside Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado).
A stammering promo for WWE's social streams following the 2016 Draft had hammered Kalisto's chances of scaling the ladder further. The high-flyer tripped over his words and appeared to have nothing special to say when he was asked to comment on his jump to SmackDown.
That unfortunate promo botch definitely eroded any confidence management had in him as a singles star.
Now: Kalisto returned to his old Samuray Del Sol moniker and kept busy after being cut loose by WWE.
He popped up in AEW for a minute, worked extensively with MLW, and even went off to Japan for some work with DDT. Del Sol married all of that with independent bookings both in the United States and internationally. He's often promoted as 'Former WWE Superstar Kalisto' during his appearances there, and rightly so. Hey, there's money to be made when pointing to significant time on WWE books!
Some serious health problems did blight the man's initial post-WWE period. He had COVID-19 complications, and was hospitalised shortly after leaving. Thankfully, he's been able to bounce back from that, and the guy is roundly considered to be a credit to pretty much any show he's tied to.
A WWE comeback seems unlikely, but you never know. He has unfinished business.