WWE Releases John Morrison, Hit Row & 4 More Wrestlers

The bloodletting continues with Hit Row, John Morrison topping the list.

John Morrison
WWE

It looks like the 18 WWE superstars released earlier this month were not the last to get axed this year... or even this month.

Fightful.com reported that eight more wrestlers were bounced from the company Thursday, including former tag and United States Champion John Morrison and the remaining trio of Hit Row, which was just called up to the main roster from NXT last month.

According to Fightful, in addition to Morrison, Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis and Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, WWE also released Tegan Nox, Drake Maverick, Shane Thorne and Jaxson Ryker. Fightful said in its report that the ubiquitous "budget cuts" were given as the reason for the releases.

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The release of Maverick is especially crushing considering he was initially released last year, then rehired to NXT after issuing a tearful commentary online. He spent much of his latest spin on the main roster leading the 24/7 mob in futilely chasing Reggie around backstage for the title.

The remaining members of Hit Row have had a hell of a roller coaster ride. The group was drafted to SmackDown last month, appearing a couple of weeks later as a quartet. The only female of the bunch, B-Fab, was let go as part of the 4 November releases. Hit Row only got a couple of onscreen appearances as part of the blue brand and didn't really have much of a chance to prove themselves.

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For Morrison, he joins his wife Taya Valkyrie (Franky Monet in NXT), who also was part of the releases earlier this month.

Who knows if this will be the end of the massive bloodletting that has taken place in WWE this year? In releasing nearly 80 performers this year alone, WWE has cut at least one wrestler every month this year.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.