WWE Rumors: Cain Velasquez Released By Company After Just Two Matches, Per Dave Meltzer
Just seven months after signing with WWE to solidify his move to pro wrestling after a successful mixed martial arts career, Cain Velasquez has reportedly been released by the company.
According to Cultaholic, Dave Meltzer revealed on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that Velasquez was let go by WWE, though further details on the rumored move were not disclosed by the veteran combat sports journalist. The news of the former UFC heavyweight champion’s release came close to two weeks after WWE announced that it would be parting ways with dozens of employees — including 33 wrestlers — due to budget cuts related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“Well released, yeah,” Meltzer explained, as quoted by Cultaholic. “They haven’t used him since Saudi Arabia. He was on a giant contract so, yeah, that’s pretty much it. It was a multi-year deal and it was like everybody else they signed to a giant deal, and then now that they are cutting back, one of the things in those deals is they have the right to cut people.”
It's finally happening.@BrockLesnar and @cainmma are striking up a storm at #WWECrownJewel! @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/PcX3TC2wnH
— WWE (@WWE) October 31, 2019
With the show formerly known as SmackDown Live changing networks and getting moved to Friday nights, Velasquez was a key part of the blue brand’s move to Fox, as the 37-year-old set up a WWE Championship match against his old UFC rival, Brock Lesnar, by attacking him on the debut episode of Friday Night SmackDown on October 4, 2019.
Both men were scheduled to face each other later that month at the Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, but Velasquez was booked to lose that match in just two minutes due to a nagging knee injury.
Velasquez’s second WWE match took place on November 30, 2019, at a house show in Mexico, where he and Humberto Carrillo teamed up to defeat Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, as reported by WrestlingNews.co. That marked his final booking for the company, which, per Cultaholic, didn’t utilize him in any matches despite the fact that he was cleared to return to the ring in February. This meshed with rumors dating back to December of last year, which suggested WWE didn’t have anything scheduled for the former MMA standout following his lone televised match against Lesnar.
Velasquez isn’t the only major WWE name whose release was reported this week by Meltzer. As noted by The Inquisitr, longtime WWE employee and Hall of Famer Gerald Brisco was allegedly furloughed by the company after serving for 36 years in a variety of backstage roles, though further details of this move were not available at the time of writing.
