Released WWE Star Backstage At SmackDown

Which former Intercontinental Champion was backstage at last week's SmackDown?

by Andrew Pollard
Curtis Axel
WWE.com

As per Mike Johnson over at PWInsider, former WWE superstar Curtis Axel was backstage at last week's SmackDown taping.

That blue brand offering emanated from Minneapolis, Minnesota's Target Center, and, with Axel being a Minneapolis native, he was visiting friends on that 30 July show.

The Axe Man was one of the WWE stars released on 30 April 2020 last year as part of one of the company's many rounds of "budget cuts" that continue on to this day - with 13 further talent released as recently as this past Friday.

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Having signed with WWE in 2008 - just a year after he began his wrestling training - the real-life Joe Hennig was with the promotion for 13 years by the time he was let go. During that time, we saw Hennig become Michael McGillicuty, then Curtis Axel; winning the Intercontinental Championship and having two runs as Raw Tag Team Champion by the time all was said and done.

Since departing WWE last year, the 41-year-old Hennig has kept out of the spotlight and has made zero further wrestling-related appearances. As it stands, the last match of this hugely underrated talent's career was a February 2020 loss to Daniel Bryan on an episode of SmackDown.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.