10 Recent Times WWE Wrestlers Were Written Off TV (& Why)
Sheamus #Sheamus
Wrestlers being written off television is something that takes place regularly, and is done for a variety of reasons. While it might not seem like a wise idea to have someone no longer appearing on television for some time, the fact is that more often than not when WWE takes someone out of the television product, there is an underlying reason.
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There’s a wide variety of reasons as to why that could be the case, and recently there have been plenty of examples where WWE’s creative team has made that call. Sometimes audiences are well aware of what the reason was for them being pulled from television, while other times it can be a little less clear.
Nikkita Lyons
One of the most recent wrestlers who has been written off television is Nikkita Lyons, with the NXT star being the latest wrestler who has been attacked in the NXT parking lot. This is a place that WWE uses a lot to write off NXT stars with mystery attackers often being put in.
Nobody knows who ‘attacked’ Lyons yet, but she was seen laying there and hurt which is how the company has taken her off television. However, the reason behind that was because Lyons is legitimately injured as she is dealing with a torn ACL right now.
Matt Riddle
Matt Riddle is another wrestler who was recently written off television, and this was done courtesy of an attack from Solo Sikoa. It was done to put over The Bloodline star, who wrapped a chair around the head of Riddle and delivered a hip attack in the corner of the ring.
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However, while it certainly made Sikoa look dominant, the reason behind this was that Riddle entered rehab. He has been dealing with issues in his personal life that needed to be addressed, and that was one of them, which led to WWE giving him a break.
Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair may have recently returned to WWE television, instantly winning the SmackDown Women’s Championship on her comeback, but she spent a large portion of the year on the sidelines. Flair was written off television after her I Quit match against Ronda Rousey last year.
On television, it was described as an injury that kept her on the sidelines, but that isn’t the truth. Instead, Flair was taken off television because she was getting married to Matt Riddle. This allowed her to take time away from the ring to truly enjoy that period of her life.
Sheamus
Charlotte Flair isn’t the only WWE Superstar who tied the knot recently, as Sheamus also got married in 2022, which required him to take some time off work. To make that happen the company decided to push The Bloodline with their dominance as they attacked the Celtic Warrior.
Sheamus had his arm trapped as The Usos slammed a chair down on it onto the steel stairs, creating a great impact. It worked as a believable reason for him to be off television, but the reality was that Sheamus was getting married.
Two Dimes
Two Dimes wasn’t just written off WWE television, he ended up being killed off which had to be done because he was being released from the company. He now works for AEW, but after a policy violation, which was a failed drug test, the company chose to cut ties with him.
Rather than just have him no longer appear they came up with a creative way of taking him out as Tony D’Angelo and Stacks looked at water hearing a splash, which was described as Two Dimes going to the fishes.
Ezekiel
The Ezekiel character was something that did end up getting over with fans despite how unique it was, with audiences finding a lot of humor in the gimmick. However, the transition from Vince McMahon’s creative to Triple H’s saw this character be written off television after an attack from Kevin Owens.
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The reason behind this was because Triple H wanted to change the gimmick, reverting him back to being Elias. That is exactly what WWE did, as this was the last time Ezekiel was shown in the ring.
Rey Mysterio
WWE recently wrote off Rey Mysterio for a one-night-only situation at the 2023 Royal Rumble premium live event. This had to be done because Mysterio was dealing with an injury and wasn’t healthy enough to compete, but that isn’t what WWE said at the moment.
Instead, he just never appeared when his music hit. However, later on, Dominik Mysterio appeared and had his father’s mask, hinting at the fact that he had attacked him backstage to continue that storyline.
Cody Rhodes
The reason Cody Rhodes was written out of storylines in 2022 was quite an obvious one due to the pectoral injury that he sustained. While he managed to grit his teeth through the Hell in a Cell match against Seth Rollins, that wasn’t going to be something he could do regularly.
Rather than just having him leave after that match though WWE decided to run an angle by having Seth Rollins attack him with a sledgehammer. It worked well in terms of injecting heat into the departure while truly hammering home the injury message.
Becky Lynch
After SummerSlam in 2022, Becky Lynch cut a promo while having her arm in a sling. It was done to push her babyface turn, but it also saw Damage CTRL attack her in the moment, and that ended up writing her off television for several months until her WarGames return.
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This took place because Lynch was legitimately injured and she needed to take some time away from the ring. WWE opted to write her off via an attack from the new faction in WWE at the time, and that was something that worked well for everyone involved to get the best from the situation.
Edge
Edge made his comeback to WWE at the Royal Rumble recently, but he hadn’t been seen for several months following his I Quit match at Extreme Rules against Finn Balor. WWE used that match as a storyline reason for getting him off television which was because he had filming commitments.
Edge got into the acting business during his retirement years, and he has continued that ever since returning. He is going to be in the upcoming Disney+ series, “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” where he will play the role of Ares, which is why he was taken out for a while.