Reason Revealed for Wyatt Sicks, Aleister Black & Zelina Vega WWE Releases, Note on If TKO Didn’t Want ‘Dark’ Characters

WWE’s post-WrestleMania 42 roster cuts included Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, and members of the Wyatt Sicks. A new report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has provided additional context behind those decisions.

These releases were part of a broader set of roster changes following WrestleMania 42, which saw talents like Motor City Machine Guns, Kairi Sane, and Santos Escobar being let go. According to Dave Meltzer, WWE determined that the Wyatt Sicks group had reached the end of its creative direction. The faction included Uncle Howdy, Joe Gacy, Nikki Cross, Dexter Lumis, and Erick Rowan.

The report noted that the group “was over big” due to its connection to the late Bray Wyatt, but some within the company saw it as a “short-term idea” because the gimmick lacked long-term storytelling beyond the Wyatt tribute.

“It was just felt that the group had run its course. Even at first there were those who saw it as a short-term idea. It was basically a tribute to Bray Wyatt and was over big at first, but it was limiting how they could be used with that gimmick over the long haul.”

Meltzer also stated that WWE had no new creative plans for Black or Vega at the time of their releases, despite the company having recruited Black from AEW.

“The feeling was they got all out of the Wyatts they were going to get, and Black and Vega were just a decision made on who they weren’t going to do anything more with. The reality is that even though they recruited Black hard to get out of AEW, once he returned, they really didn’t have much in the way of ideas for him.”

Rumors circulated suggesting that TKO Group Holdings executives influenced the decisions by restricting “dark characters.” The report debunked those claims, calling such speculation “bulls**t” and stating that the decisions did not reach that level of corporate involvement.

“Regarding the story that the Wyatts and Black were released because TKO didn’t like dark characters, we were told that was ‘bullshit’ and that these were not decisions that even reached that level.”

The update also referenced Tony Khan’s past interest in Vega following her earlier WWE departure in 2020. However, she had “ghosted” him and returned to WWE in 2021.

“(Tony Khan) did negotiate with Zelina when she was let go the last time, but she pretty much ghosted him and signed back.”

WWE has not issued additional details about the releases beyond the initial reports.