Cain Velasquez Explains Why He Was Released From WWE

Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez made an appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. Velasquez is scheduled to make his return to pro wrestling in Dec. with AAA, and he talked about why he decided to make a comeback.

"I've always loved it as a kid, all the way to being there. The people and the comradery, the style of wrestling, it's fun," Velasquez stated. "I just love it. I'm just happy that I get the opportunity to do it again."

Velasquez last competed in AAA in September of 2019, and his last televised pro wrestling match was at Crown Jewel 2019. Velasquez reportedly had issues with his knee last time he was in the ring, and he discussed if he had gotten surgery for that injury.

"No, I didn't. I just wear a brace with it," Velasquez revealed. "That's kind of what I've been doing. No, I didn't get it fixed. I've been able to do a lot of stuff with it, still. I've been grappling. I've been wrestling. I'm still wearing the brace. I can do everything with it, so I think I'm just holding off a little bit on doing that."

Velasquez appeared at a WWE live event a month after Crown Jewel but did not appear on WWE TV for many months after. Velasquez was later released in April of last year, and Velasquez discussed why he was released by WWE.

"They just didn't use me. I wasn't called to go in," Velasquez stated. "At one point, they told me we were going to do something with some of the lucha guys. When that time came close, we were deep into COVID, and they were just like, 'We're just doing the shows this way. We just need these core guys right now.' They just needed me to develop a lot more, and I wasn't there, so they couldn't really use me in that way. And all the guys were living in FL. because of  COVID, they were all social distancing. They were all staying there, so that was their core guys that they were using. They just felt like they weren't using me enough and they were paying me too much, so they had to let me go. I understand that. It's business."

Velasquez was released by WWE in April of last year after signing a "lucrative" contract. Velasquez revealed the reasoning behind his release, and he talked about whether he regretted his WWE experience.

"Primarily, it was because of COVID. They had to just drop a lot of their roster in order to just keep their core guys in, and I just wasn't developed enough" Velasquez admitted. "I really needed to sit down and practice on that style of wrestling for a while. I needed to be developed a lot more. I don't [regret going to WWE]. It was meant for me to go there.

"I'm glad I got the experience of knowing what it's all about, knowing how the company works, everything. It was a great learning experience. I learned a lot from it, and all I can do is take that and learn from it the next time, if they give me another chance at doing that, and appreciating my time doing that. I love them doing what they did. They helped me out so much."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit The MMA Hour with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.