Of the 18 talents let go by the company last week, the firing of Taya, aka Franky Money, was one of the more surprising ones. An 11-year veteran who holds the record for the longest ever IMPACT Knockouts Title reign, it seemed as if Valkyrie was ready to be immediately plugged into Raw or SmackDown. Instead, the Canadian was sadly released by WWE.
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The current belief is that La Wera Loca is one of those under a 30-day non-compete clause, meaning she should become a free agent as of 4 December.
Where Taya turns up next remains to be seen, but one has to imagine that the powerhouse will have no shortage of offers, with her being a great 'get' for whichever promotion picks up Valkyrie.
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Thursday saw Taya Valkyrie released alongside Karrion Kross, Scarlett, Keith Lee, Mia Yim, Nia Jax, B-Fab, Ember Moon, Eva Marie, Harry Smith, Oney Lorcan, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Trey Baxter, Jessi Kamea, Katrina Cortez, Zayda Ramier and Jeet Rama.
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.
