On Friday, WWE announced the release of the following performers from their WWE contracts:
* Hornswoogle (Dylan Postl) – One of WWE’s longest tenured performers, who has been with the company since 2006, originally coming in as Finlay’s “Little Bastard”, Hornswoogle went on to become one of WWE’s most popular performers, taking part in a storyline with Mr. McMahon in 2007 as his illegitmate child. Hornswoogle was also a mascot for DX in their 2009-2010 run, was the final Cruiserweight Champion in 2007 and a part of 3MB in the now-infamous WeeLC match with El Torito at the 2014 Extreme Rules PPV. Hornswoogle had not been used by WWE for quite some time and had been suspended last year for a Wellness Policy violation.
* Alex Riley – Riley is another long tenured performer, having been with WWE since being signed to a developmental deal in 2007. Riley was part of Season 2 of WWE NXT on Syfy in 2010, being paired with The Miz and would go on to be partners and rivals with the Miz in 2011, spawning a brief very popular babyface run on RAW in the summer of 2011. After a number of injuries, Riley would move to become an announcer for NXT for a couple of years before returning to the ring last year, however, another significant injury kept Riley out of action for some time. Riley finally returned to the ring earlier this year, but became used in an enhancement role on NXT TV before his release.
* Zeb Colter (Dutch Mantel) – Colter was signed by WWE in 2013 as the manager for Jack Swagger to spawn the “We the People” gimmick that led Swagger to compete for the WWE World Title at Wrestlemania 29 against Alberto Del Rio. Colter would manage Swagger for a couple of years, first in a tag team with Cesaro as “The Real Americans” and then towards the end of 2014 in a babyface capacity when Swagger was feuding with Rusev. Colter was taken off TV at the end of 2014 in a storyline injury angle with Rusev before returning last October, now at the side of Alberto Del Rio, to form the short-lived MexAmerica. Colter last appeared on WWE TV in December 2015 when he cut ties with Del Rio on-camera.
More releases are possible later today.