WWE stunned fans today with the announcement of a number of talent releases including Samoa Joe, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.

In a statement to their website today, WWE said, “WWE has come to terms on the release of Samoa Joe, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, Mickie James, Chelsea Green, Tucker, Kalisto, Bo Dallas and Wesley Blake as of today April 15, 2021. We wish them the best in all of their future endeavors.”

The news of today’s releases comes a year to the day after WWE made headlines for a mass number of releases of talent and other backstage figures that is now know as “Black Wednesday.” Sean Ross Sapp of Fighful.com reports that, “[WWE Head of Talent Relations] John Laurinaitis has been making the calls to talent and citing budget cuts as the reason for the WWE releases.”

Wrestling Twitter had a lot of thoughts and opinions on these releases and what the future holds for these wrestlers. Shortly after the news broke, “Samoa Joe” became the number one trend on Twitter. Here are some notable comments from fans, wrestling media and other wrestlers.

WrestleMania: 10 Interesting Facts About ‘The Showcase of the Immortals’

• WrestleMania almost wasn’t WrestleMania

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  Legendary WWE Hall of Fame ring announcer Howard Finkel is credited with coining the name “WrestleMania,” but before landing on that perfect name, Vince McMahon wanted to call his annual showcase “The Colossal Tussle.”

• WrestleMania 35 was the first WrestleMania to be headlined by women.

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  It took over three decades for women to headline “The Showcase of Immortals,” but it finally happened in WrestleMania 35 when Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey faced off in a Winner Takes All Triple Threat match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship and the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.

• Run-DMC provided a WrestleMania first.

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  The iconic rap group was the first act to ever perform at WrestleMania outside of the singing of the National Anthem and “America the Beautiful” when they performed “WrestleMania Rap” at WrestleMania 5. Many other acts have performed at WrestleMania since including Flo Rida, Diddy and Motorhead.
• WrestleMania 2 is the only WrestleMania to happen on a weekday.

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  Up until WrestleMania 36, which saw the event split into a two-night affair, WrestleMania 2 was the only WrestleMania to not take place on a Sunday. Instead, it took place on Monday, April 7, 1986.

• WrestleMania 28 holds the record for most PPV buys.

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  The WrestleMania that billed the "once in a lifetime" match between The Rock and John Cena saw 1,217,000 PPV buys, which is the most PPV buys for a single WrestleMania ever. Of course, that “once in a lifetime” tag wasn’t exactly true, and The Rock vs. John Cena would headline WrestleMania 29.

• “Macho Man” Randy Savage has the record for most WrestleMania wins in a single night.

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  OH, YEAH! WrestleMania 4 featured a 14-man tournament for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. Savage would end up winning the title defeating Butch Reed, Greg Valentine, One Man Gang, and “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.
• Longest match in WrestleMania history.

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  The legendary iron man match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII still holds the record for longest WrestleMania match clocking in at one hour, one minute and 52 seconds.

• Shortest match in WrestleMania history.

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  The shortest WrestleMania match happened in recent history at WrestleMania 32 when The Rock squashed Erick Rowan in just six seconds.

• Most losses at WrestleMania.

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  Triple H may be one of the most prolific wrestlers in WWE history, but he also has the notorious honor of having the most losses at WrestleMania with 13. Yikes!
• Total attendance at WrestleMania.

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  Overall, a combined 1,956,981 fans have attended WrestleManias 1-38.

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