Backstage Notes on Today’s WWE Superstar Releases

– Fightful Select has more details on today’s WWE roster cuts, which included Dolph Ziggler, Mustafa Ali, Riddick Moss, Emma, and more. According to the report, Mustafa Ali’s WWE contract was originally going to expire in the spring/summer of next year. Sources within NXT told Fightful that they had no knowledge that ALi was going to be released. They also said Ali worked through an injury for his recent NXT run.

In early 2022, Mustafa Ali had requested his release from the company, which was denied. At the time, Ali wasn’t being used on WWE programming. Ali was scheduled to challenge for the NXT North American Championship at No Mercy at the time of his release.

Elias hadn’t appeared on TV for a while, and it’s said he wasn’t out with an injury. Additionally, the former 24/7 Champion was reportedly pitching ideas for his characters up until a month ago. It’s unknown how much longer was on his current WWE contract.

Riddick Moss was said to have been a favorite of Paul Heyman when he was Executive Director of Raw, and he was reportedly someone Heyman thought he could elevate to the main event level. However, others within WWE reportedly didn’t share that same sentiment regarding Moss, which resulted in him struggling to get booked.

Moss and former WWE Superstar Emma (aka Tenille Dashwood), who also had her release announced today, announced their engagement earlier in the summer. Emma had returned to WWE just under a year ago.