Cain Velasquez was axed by WWE after ‘backstage mistakes’ including revealing he was set for shock Royal Rumble entry
CAIN VELASQUEZ was reportedly axed by WWE for a number of “backstage mistakes” that included revealing he was set for a shock Royal Rumble entry.
The ex-UFC heavyweight champion was released from the wrestling company last week in what appeared to be due further coronavirus cutbacks.
WWE boss Vince McMahon released a host of star names, including Kurt Angle, last month as part of cost-cutting amid the global pandemic.
However, SportsKeeda’s Tom Colohue claims there were more factors behind the decision to let him go, despite him signing a multi-year contract last Autumn.
And one of those was for letting slip to Sun Sport he was due to be a surprise entrant in the 2020 Royal Rumble - something McMahon apparently wanted to be kept secret.
Velasquez, 37, debuted on the FOX SmackDown premiere to confront Brock Lesnar - the man he beat for the UFC title nearly a decade earlier - in October.
He then went on to lose to The Beast in less than three minutes at Crown Jewel in Saudi Arabia later that month in his only televised WWE match before he underwent knee surgery.
And it was a combination of the above that allegedly upset WWE chiefs. Sportskeeda claim: “The WWE believed he was well aware of his injury when he signed the contract. That rubbed some people the wrong way.
“Then he announced that he was going to be in the Rumble. Where of course he wasn’t, in the end, in the Royal Rumble.”
And these were not the only errors of judgement to let him down.
Velasquez also posted a picture of him and fellow UFC superstar Ronda Rousey while he was attending a meeting at WWE’s headquarters.
Rousey has not been seen on WWE TV since WrestleMania in April 2019, but his snap of them together was also viewed as spoiling a surprise by some.
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The report added: “He was there to talk about plans for him, contract details going forward. He wasn’t supposed to let on that he was there.
“So firstly, he doesn’t say what he should be saying. Then he says what he shouldn’t be saying. And then he shows what he shouldn’t be showing.”
It was also claimed WWE do like what they have seen in training by Velasquez and the door still remains open to a future return to the company.