AEW has its first major round of talent releases in five-year history

On Monday night, word of AEW cuts made its way around. Sadly, it was not a cruel April Fools joke.

According to PWInsider, the company was making talent evaluations. The cuts are believed to be what is the best for AEW and the talent released. In the promotion's five-year history, this is the first time they've released talent en masse.

As of Monday night, the following were released:

• Stu Grayson

• Dasha Kuret

• Anthony Henry

• The Boys (aka The Tate Twins)

• Jora Johl

• Parker Boudreaux

• Slim J

• Gravity

• Jose the Assistant

Over the weekend, Boudreaux appeared in AAA in Mexico. He said that it was his new home. He was part of Trustbusters with Slim J. With their releases, no members of the faction are with the company.

Perhaps the most surprising release was Henry. Henry was recently injured at an independent show and had a procedure that was expected to keep him out of action for at least eight weeks. When Henry announced that his jaw was broken, he revealed that he and Workhorsemen partner, JD Drake, were scheduled to be in the AEW Tag Team Tournament that is currently ongoing. That raises the question that had Henry not been injured, would he have been cut? (The obvious question is why did AEW release an injured talent who is in the process of recovering from a procedure?)

The Boys being released is also surprising as they are part of a major storyline in ROH. Dalton Castle has been feuding with Johnny TV and Taya Valkyrie. Just a few weeks ago, Johnny "won" The Boys in the match. He has a Fight Without Honor match this Friday against Castle at Supercard of Honor. Cutting an integral part of this story days before a big show makes no sense.

Grayson was an AEW Original. He signed with his Super Smash Bros partner, Evil Uno. They were part of The Dark Order. In May 2022, Grayson left the company when his contract expired and they couldn't come to terms. He was brought back in March 2023. Dark Order was in ROH where Grayson teamed up with The Righteous against them. His last match was at Death Before Dishonor when he and The Righteous lost to Dark Order in a Fight Without Honor match.

Talent send their sympathies

Sonny Kiss tweeted her sympathies to her former co-workers.

Another former AEW signee, Fuego Del Sol shared some words of encouragement.

The Infantry's Shawn Dean is also involved with booking talent. He simply posted two emojis. His tag team partner, Carlie Bravo, posted nearly identical emojis. Trish Adora also showed her support.

Amanda Huber tweeted what many people are thinking.

She also had a Dasha Kuret appreciation post.

Lee Morairty sent a message of support.

As of this writing, none of the talent cut have released statements.

We at Daily DDT wish them all the best.