Report: WWE Released Big Cass Due To Attitude Issues, Public Intoxication

WWE surprised many fans when they announced Big Cass’s release earlier today. Per a report from Sports Illustrated, WWE released Cass due to attitude issues backstage, which comes as no surprise to those who have followed his career.

In May, Pro Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin reported that Big Cass received heat backstage from WWE officials for going off the script by beating up a local talent who was used to parody Daniel Bryan. Cass had been harping on the size difference between himself and Bryan. Reportedly, Cass was not supposed to hit the local competitor with a “Big Boot” and punch him repeatedly, with Vince McMahon even denying him permission from doing this. However, Cass did not listen.

WWE parted ways with Big Cass today, and they did not even wish him the best in his future endeavors in their strikingly brief statement on his release. This led many fans to speculate that Cass had done something to irk WWE officials, with some fearing an especially jarring incident at the epicenter of his release. The Wrestling Observer News’s Dave Meltzer reported that Vince McMahon personally fired Cass at a meeting before SmackDown Live.

The details behind Cass’s release are in, and they shed plenty of light on why he was cut by WWE. Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso reports that Cass’s release was mostly due to “personal conduct issues”.

So what exactly did these issues entail? Well, Cass spent the majority of WWE’s European tour drinking, and a lot of these issues with his behavior stemmed from the influence of alcohol. Barrasso notes that Cass would appear intoxicated in public, though it’s unclear if this was just restricted to the European tour.

Furthermore, Cass’s release did lead to some surprise within the WWE offices, partially because his match against Daniel Bryan at Money in the Bank was impressive. I noted that it was his best match on the main roster so far and that he showed major strides as a wrestler at MITB.

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I’m curious to see if there will be stories leaked about Cass’s backstage escapades, because he clearly had to have ticked off some important producers in order to be released. He received a big program with Daniel Bryan and lengthy promo segments on television, so Vince McMahon was obviously high on him, which was noted in Barrasso’s report.

I don’t think we’ve heard the last of this story, so stay tuned.