WWE under TKO went on a firing spree after WrestleMania 42, laying off as many as 30 wrestlers from the main roster, NXT, Evolve, and the developmental system. Yet another wrestler has officially confirmed he was part of the 2026 budget cuts.
The following names were let go in the post-WrestleMania 42 cuts:
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- Kairi Sane
- Aleister Black
- Zelina Vega
- Uncle Howdy
- Nikki Cross
- Dexter Lumis
- Erick Rowan
- Joe Gacy
- Alba Fyre
- Zoey Stark
- Apollo Crews
- Santos Escobar
- Alex Shelley
- Chris Sabin
- Andre Chase
- Dante Chen
- Tyra Mae Steele
- Sirena Linton
- Tyriek Igwe
- Tyson Dupont
- Trill London
- Luca Crusifino
- Malik Blade
- Chris Island
- Francois Prinsloo
- Carlee Bright
- Tonga Loa
- JC Mateo
- Kofi Kingston
- Xavier Woods
Francois Prinsloo, who was recruited to the Performance Center for the NXT Brand last year, was among the latest round of releases. He was a former discus thrower who represented South Africa in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Earlier today, Francois Prinsloo took to his Instagram handle to express his gratitude to WWE. In a lengthy post, he wrote the following message:
“WWE has been nothing but a blessing for me. It has easily been one of the hardest challenges I’ve had to face and yet I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Through this journey I was able to learn a lot about myself, the world and the beautiful people in it. WWE showed me a world I never knew that I would fall in love with, introduced me to amazing people that I will never forget. It reignited my passion and talent for acting and speaking. WWE also showed me how much further I could push my limits…or rather how much further I want to push them now. It’s opened my eyes to so much more and has inadvertently…made me hungrier.”
Francois Prinsloo also thanked the coaching and medical staff for helping him recover from injuries.
“There’s a long list of people I want to thank, but for now I’ll shorten it. Thank you to the amazing coaches I had the pleasure of working with.Thank you to the medical stuff and their unending diligence to help me through my slew of freakish injuries. Thank you to S&C for getting me in the best shape of my life. Thank you to the great athletes, friends, classmates and opponents I got to meet, wrestle or learn from and finally….Thank YOU, for your support and encouragement ❤️ It’s been fun and hard, but hardest of all is having to accept my journey getting cut short before I could really start 🖤 But I wise man once told me : “the wolf climbing the mountain is always hungrier than the one at the top,” and unfortunately, I’ve been left starving… but we’ll talk more about that later. More life🫡💯🙏🏾#wwe.”
You can check out his Instagram post below:
Triple H chaired the meeting with Nick Khan, Ed Koskey, and Bruce Prichard to make the call to cut the aforementioned wrestlers.
The New Day was an exception, since they refused to restructure their deals to TKO and decided to walk away.
There’s no word yet on whether Francois Prinsloo will continue wrestling.
We at Sportskeeda Wrestling wish them the best in all of their future endeavors.
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Edited by Sidharth Sachdeva
