WWE Has Already Released A Major Part-Time Star

WWE released a plethora of superstars, producers and other backstage personnel a couple of weeks ago, and as more names who were let go are being made public, a surprising one has been added to the list.

According to Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Wrestling Inc), “WWE has reportedly released former UFC champion Cain Velasquez” after the MMA star-turned-wrestlsigned what was described by WOR as a “giant contract” just last year. It was only in October 2019 that Velasquez reportedly signed a “lucrative, multi-year deal with WWE” that was expected to result in the two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion becoming the next big part-time special attraction for WWE.

Well, that didn’t last very long.

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Velasquez’s lone televised match came against his former UFC foe Brock Lesnar in a clash for the WWE Championship at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia last October. At WWE’s latest special overseas event, Velasquez lost to “The Beast” in surprisingly lopsided fashion in a match that lasted just two minutes and left fans wondering why WWE would bring in Velasquez on a lengthy contract only to job him out in his first match back. That may have been because WWE originally wanted to do Lesnar vs. heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury in a huge crossover match at Crown Jewel instead before ultimately settling on Velasquez, who appeared to be the backup plan in this scenario.

Fury, of course, would ultimately go on to face Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel, and he famously received an incredibly massive payday to work the event. WWE has reportedly been dishing out hefty paychecks to part-time stars for its Saudi Arabian events, and it’s widely believed that Velasquez joined that list as a well-paid part-timer who would only wrestle a handful of times a year, if that. In December 2019, it was reported that Velasquez was, along with Fury, one of the two superstars in consideration to face Lesnar on the grand stage of WrestleMania 36, with the speculation being that the match would be for the WWE title and that Velasquez could potentially win the Royal Rumble to get there.

In fact, WWE reportedly informed Velasquez that he would be in the 2020 Royal Rumble without having any concrete plans in place for him to participate in the 30-man over-the-top-rope battle royal. With WWE’s WrestleMania 36 plans largely being thrown into disarray due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Velasquez never returned to WWE programming at all, and there was dread among critics about the thought of Velasquez getting involved in a major storyline in route to WrestleMania 36. For whatever reason, Velasquez simply didn’t seem to catch on with fans during his brief stint with WWE the way that company officials undoubtedly were hoping he would, and WWE reportedly forgot about him in recent months. And that was all she wrote.

Despite being a trained professional wrestler who has shown great potential as an in-ring performer, Velasquez was viewed by many as an “outsider” and another MMA crossover star who was going to come to WWE and take the place of a full-time star. However, Velasquez’s WWE career is over and done with just as quickly as it began, as he has joined the list alongside a number of other marquee stars—including Kurt Angle, Rusev and Zack Ryder—who were let go by WWE due to the company’s COVID-related budget cuts.

Whether WWE will consider bringing Velasquez back in the future is up for debate, but with the company already having its fair share of part-timers, it wouldn’t be surprising if Velasquez’s blink-and-you-missed-it WWE career is already over for good.