WWE Releases Kurt Angle, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson And More

The WWE announced some deep roster cuts on Wednesday. While the full toll of the talent releases are not yet known, Kurt Angle, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and other big names were among them. This is huge news as the company looks to cut costs during the coronavirus shutdown.

Angle is the biggest name let go in the wave. The 51-year-old has been retired since losing his final match to Baron Corbin at WrestleMania 35. Since his retirement from in-ring activity, Angle had worked as a backstage producer and made sporadic appearances on TV. Given the number of backstage people released on Wednesday, it's not surprising that a big-name non-performer like Angle was let go.

Gallows and Anderson have been a prominent tag team since they debuted with WWE back on April 11, 2016. They are two-time Raw tag-team champions and were a huge part of angles involving A.J. Styles and Finn Balor. Before arriving in WWE, the two men had become incredibly famous for their tag team work in Japan, where they were cornerstone members of the Bullet Club.

The duo was first paired up by New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2013 and were immediately successful, winning the IWGP Tag Team titles three times. They are great on the mic, excellent in the ring and will not be out of work long. In fact, AEW might come calling for the pair as soon as the company is hiring again.

Other names released on Wednesday include EC3, Curt Hawkins, Heath Slater, Lio Rush, Drake Maverick, Eric Young and more. Here's a full list of what's known so far: