wrestling / News

UPDATEDx3: WWE Confirms Release of Tye Dillinger, TJP, and Hideo Itami, Tye Dillinger Tweets on the News

February 22, 2019 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Tye Dillinger Image Credit: WWE

UPDATE: While WWE did confirm Tye Dillinger exiting the company today, he did post a tweet following the news. He put a heart emoji after WWE, which you can see below.

UPDATE 2: Regarding the release of TJP earlier, PWInsider reports that his release was not a case of TJP requesting his release from the promotion. As noted earlier, both Hideo Itami and Tye Dillinger requested their releases from WWE.

So, it appears WWE might’ve handed TJP his walking papers here. Also, PWInsider also noted that TJP hadn’t even won a match in WWE since September 2018.

UPDATE: Tye Dillinger, TJP, and Hideo Itami would all be free to appear at AEW’s Double or Nothing show on May 25th if they are under WWE’s standard 90 day non-compete clauses (which would expire just a few days before May 25th).

ORIGINAL: As previously reported, WWE producer and backstage agent, Arn Anderson, was let go from WWE. However, it appears a group of WWE Superstars have also been let go from the company. WWE today confirmed the release of Hideo itami (Kenta Kobayashi) and also Tye Dillinger. The third Superstar who was confirmed as being released today is TJP (aka Theodore Perkins).

The statements on their releases are short. It simply says “WWE has come to terms on the release of Kenta Kobayashi (Hideo Itami),” and the same for Dillinger and TJP. There’s no mention of wishing them the best in their “future endeavors.”

As noted earlier this week, Tye Dillinger released a statement on his social media stating that he had requested his release from WWE.

Meanwhile, Itami’s WWE exit has been reported since last month. However, WWE finally makes Itami’s WWE exit official here.

TJP won WWE’s 2016 Cruiserweight Classic tournament and also became the first champion of the revived Cruiserweight division. He lost the belt to Brian Kendrick in October 2016.

After the news became official, Itami wrote the following tweet on his account:

TJP also reacted to his release and had nothing but positive things to say about WWE. You can check out that tweet below. He wrote, “Thanks for giving me a chance and letting me play for the team I grew up watching”