WWE Releases Curtis Axel

Is this a sign that more WWE releases are to be announced?

by Andrew Pollard
Curtis Axel paul Heyman Payback 2013
WWE.com

Ever since WWE made a huge number of cuts on April 15 – a day that is already being referred to as Black Wednesday amongst wrestling circles – there have been constant rumblings that there are still more WWE releases yet to be announced. And now, the company has announced that Curtis Axel has left WWE.

Having trained under the tutelage of Harley Race and Brad Rheingans, Joe Hennig – the son of the legendary ‘Mr Perfect’ Curt Hennig and the grandson of the likewise legendary Larry ‘The Axe’ Hennig – joined WWE in 2007 as a 26-year-old work-in-progress.

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After spending three years in the Florida Championship Wrestling developmental system, Hennig got his big break on main WWE television at the 2010 Hell in a Cell PPV when he and Husky Harris joined The Nexus.

The highlight of this third generation star’s time with WWE was likely his five-month reign as the Intercontinental Champion in 2013. It was during this period that Joe Hennig dumped the awful Michael McGillicutty name, became a Paul Heyman guy, and took on the Curtis Axel moniker as a way to pay homage to his heritage.

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In the years since that IC Title run, audiences have seen AxelMania running wild, have been treated to the delights of The Social Outcasts, saw The Miz get his Miztourage, and then saw Axel and Bo Dallas’ B-Team act bring the Minnesota native a second stint as a WWE Tag Team Champion.

The last time that we saw Curtis Axel on WWE programming was on the February 28 edition of SmackDown. There, he lost to Daniel Bryan as part of the burgeoning rivalry-turned-friendship between Bryan and Drew Gulak.

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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.