Backstage Details On Releases Of Former WWE Stars Aliyah, Shanky And Quincy Elliot

In the wake of the recent TKO Group merger, WWE released a number of talent on Thursday, from experienced campaigners like Dolph Ziggler and Shelton Benjamin to developmental performers like Dabbo-Kato and Yulisa Leon. Among the main roster talent releases included former WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Aliyah, who first reported to the WWE Performance Center eight years ago. After spending six years working sporadically on the black and gold brand, the 28-year-old was called up to SmackDown in 2021, but remained a bit-part player on weekly programming. According to a report from Fightful Select, Aliyah hadn't been factored into creative plans for over a year; Fight says they were consistently told Aliyah was not dealing with an injury but wasn't being considered for a role on television.

Indian behemoth Shanky is another name who was cut by WWE, despite recently competing on the Superstar Spectacle event in his home country. Fightful indicated that the 32-year-old wasn't showing progression in the ring, wasn't considered as a part of the reformed Indus Sher, and never had any concrete creative plans under Paul "Triple H" Levesque. Despite being let go by WWE, Shanky is believed to have been a well-liked member of the roster backstage. 

One name released from developmental brand "WWE NXT" was Quincy Elliot, who reportedly caused a number of headaches for the company due to a variety of social media controversies. Similar to Shanky, WWE coaches reportedly also felt Elliot's development from bell-to-bell had not improved at the necessary rate.