WWE has released dozens of superstars from their contracts in the past few months. The company has let go stars in multiple waves, with each wave featuring at least a few surprising releases.

One such wave of releases on June 25 saw the company end the contracts of people such as Tony Nese, Ariya Daivari, Killian Dain, The Singh Brothers, Marina Shafir, Arturo Ruas, Curt Stallion, Fandango, Tyler Breeze, Ever-Rise, and August Grey.

Some of these names had a development contract with a 30 days non-compete and they have already become free agents. Others, whose contract had been upgraded had to wait until today before their 90 days non-compete clause expired.

A few such stars, who became free agents today, took on their social media to comment on this change and discuss their future after WWE.

The Singh Brothers indicated the return of their Bollywood Boys name and said that they are ready to represent the people of both India and Canada once again.

Former Sanity member Killian Dain thanked people for their support. He said that he cannot wait to get back in the ring. Though Dain also mentioned how he still has a few legal hurdles to go through before he can compete.

Other reactions included Tony Nese mentioning how his free agency has begun and Ariya Daivari saying that he is looking forward to the future. You can check out the reaction of all the stars below:

The Singh Brothers both appeared on Lilian Garcia’s podcast, Chasing Glory. During the conversation, Sunil and current WWE 24/7 Champion Samir Singh opened up about working together in WWE. They also spoke about WWE’s gruelling schedule. 

“In this business, it’s such a cutthroat business, everyone’s looking out for themselves, you know to your point, we have each other’s back no matter what,” Sunil said about partnering with his brother. “Whatever decision’s made, we will ask each other, ‘Hey, do you feel comfortable doing this?” and vice versa so it’s definitely having its pros.”

Samir added, “It’s having that confidant, best friend on the road, which is so important because, again, it does get lonely and long and, even if we fight, you know at the end of the day, you can patch it up, like we have a common goal, a common interest, we’ve been doing it together since 18, 17, dreaming about it as kids, so you have all this and it’s nice to have that.”

“You’re Just In The Forest”

Samir confessed that, despite living their dream, it’s easy to forget due to the sheer amount of travel demanded by their schedule. 

“You’re on the road four days a week, third day’s a travel day, two days off and you’re back on the road, you kind of forget you’re doing your dream job, you’re just in the forest,” he said. “And I remember Adam, Edge, when we got signed, I remember him telling us, like learn to enjoy it because once you’re in the forest, you’re so deep in that one day you’re gonna look back like, wow, did I do this? And he was so right because, even like two years in, you’re just going and then you’re like, wow, it’s pretty cool to travel the world.”

Sunil noted how “[…] for us sometimes, we’ll be talking like, ‘Can you believe it’s already been three years for us, including CWC, NXT, 205, three years already, it’s like time just flies, it goes by so fast.”

Samir then shared how it’s easy to forget to have fun sometimes, mainly thanks to internal doubts. For him, however, he’s adamant that they both enjoy the moment as much as possible while they continue living their dream. 

H/T to Wrestlezone for the transcription.

– Earlier today WrestleVotes reported that their sources noted Hillbilly Jim is one name, that’s not being talked about, that is expected to be inducted into the 2018 WWE Hall Of Fame:

Texting w/ a source regarding the 2018 Hall of Fame. The rumored names of Bam Bam Bigelow & Kid Rock seem to be correct… but a non rumored name is also set for induction this year: Hillbilly Jim.

— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) March 5, 2018

Just hours later Bleacher Report confirmed the news and even got a reaction from Jim on the news:

“I didn’t have that on my mind whatsoever,” Jim told Bleacher Report. “For a moment or two, I was knocked back on my heels. Basically, I was speechless. It was a whole lot for me to digest quickly.”

– As we’ve noted, Samir Singh has been rehabbing his knee after tearing his ACL. Following surgical repair, Singh is expected to miss 6-9 months of action. He posted the following on Twitter to update the WWE Universe on his recovery:

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. #KeepMovingForward pic.twitter.com/9FzZNuVI7i

— Bollywood Boyz (@BollywoodBoyz) March 3, 2018

– WWE has announced the following:

WWE and Snickers expand WrestleMania partnership

For the third consecutive year, Snickers will serve as the exclusive presenting partner of WrestleMania 34, one of the biggest sports and entertainment events in the world. WrestleMania, WWE’s annual pop-culture extravaganza, will take place Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans and stream live around the world on WWE Network.

Snickers’ presenting partnership of WrestleMania is highlighted by custom content produced by WWE for Snickers, which will feature Superstars and the brand’s popular “‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry”‘ campaign. The creative will appear across WWE’s global digital and social platforms, which includes the No. 1 sports channel and No. 2 channel overall in the world on YouTube, on the award-winning WWE Network, and on WWE’s flagship TV programs — Monday Night Raw and SmackDown LIVE — on USA Network, a long-standing Snickers partner.

As part of the agreement, Snickers will have promotional activity at WrestleMania Axxess – WWE’s four-day, interactive fan festival, presence at WWE Live Events leading up to WrestleMania, retail promotions, as well as custom digital and social content, including a branded WWE.com and YouTube series hosted by WWE digital correspondent Cathy Kelley. Snickers will also leverage WWE’s Instagram page, which has more than 14 million followers – the most of any major sport – with a sponsored Instagram story on the day of WrestleMania.

“We’re thrilled to partner with WWE for a third consecutive year as the presenting sponsor of WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans,” said Michael Italia, Senior Brand Manager, Snickers Brand. “The animated personalities of WWE cannot afford to be hungry in the ring, which makes our partnership that much more of an authentic extension of our ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ campaign. We’re eager to connect with WWE’s passionate fan base in person and across social media this year, as this event continues to grow in attendance and engagement.”

“As one of the biggest sports and entertainment events in the world, WrestleMania will again provide Snickers a global platform to deliver their award-winning ‘You’re Not You When You’re Hungry’ campaign,” said John Brody, WWE Executive Vice President, Global Sales & Head of International. “Our continued WrestleMania partnership with Snickers is a result of innovative and entertaining collaborations that engaged our passionate fans worldwide.”

Additionally, Snickers will be the presenting sponsor of the WrestleMania block party at Champions Square outside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, which is free and open to the public, and will include fun-filled entertainment areas with music, games and food.

Snickers is also currently conducting a retail sweepstakes on U.S. military bases that will give 25 winners free access to stream WrestleMania on WWE Network.

Last year, Snickers’ WrestleMania 33 presenting partnership resulted in nearly three3 billion impressions for Snickers across WWE’s global platforms, including video content integrations within Monday Night Raw and SmackDown LIVE on USA Network, digital and social media, WWE Network, live events and retail appearances by WWE Superstars. WrestleMania 33 was the most-social event in WWE history, and set a new Orlando Citrus Bowl attendance record of 75,245 fans, which led to the highest-grossing event in the stadium’s history at $14.5 million.

– Samir Singh recently underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL he suffered during a ringside altercation with Bobby Roode. The incident occurred during Jinder Mahal and Roode’s United States Title Tournament Finals clash. There has been no official word on Singh’s return but the usual timetable for an ACL tear return is around 6-9 months. Singh recently took to Instagram to thank Dr. Jeffrey Dugas after undergoing surgery in Alabama:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Beb34mWHI-U/?utm_source=ig_embed

WWE finally acknowledged the injury yesterday during SmackDown Live, and also released the following statement:

Samir Singh suffers injury

Samir Singh revealed on Instagram that he recently suffered a torn ACL and will be out of action.

Singh underwent surgery last week and is already rehabilitating for his return to the ring.

Stay tuned to WWE.com and Singh’s social media for more news on his recovery as it becomes available.

– Hideo Itami will be taking on former NXT Superstar Roderick Strong in the first round of the new WWE 205 Live tournament. The tournament will last up to WrestleMania 34 where a new Cruiserweight Champion will be crowned. Itami took to Twitter to comment on his match-up with Strong:

It is MY turn.
I’m going to get this opportunity.#205Live #Cruiserweight championship tournament.

See you next week @roderickstrong pic.twitter.com/aasQDahnXq

— KENTA aka Lil’K (@KENTAG2S) January 31, 2018

We noted last week that it appeared Samir Singh suffered an injury during the ringside angle with WWE United States Champion Bobby Roode in the tournament match with Jinder Mahal.

Samir missed weekend WWE live events and was not at tonight’s SmackDown but took to Instagram during the show and revealed that he tore his ACL and underwent surgery.

No word yet on a timetable for Singh’s return but the usual recovery time for a torn ACL is 6 to 9 months. This is the same injury that Big Cass is currently recovering from after suffering the injury in August 2017.

Below is Samir’s full post on the injury:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeUOScvnFIc/

Samir and Sunil Singh, collectively known as the Singh Brothers recently talked to Sportskeeda while promoting WWE’s upcoming Live Event in India. Below are some highlights from their interview:

Being attacked by Jinder Mahal:

“We deserved it! We deserved it. We let him down! 2-on-1 against AJ Styles; we had a huge opportunity. AJ is one of the best wrestlers in the world, probably in the last few decades. He truly is Phenomenal, and it was an opportunity of a lifetime. And we let The Maharaja down. And he [Mahal] had every right to put us in our place for that. Lesson learned, brother. Lesson learned.”

Learning from WWE Hall Of Famer Shawn Michaels:

“Yes. We’re very lucky. When we started in NXT, the (WWE) Performance Center, Shawn Michaels had just moved. And we kind of gravitated towards him, and he took a liking to us. I think he saw a lot of Marty [Jannetty] and Shawn in us. Because we were known as ‘The Bollywood Boys’ at that time. Even our gear was a lot like ‘The Rockers’ with the tassels and the bright colors. A lot of our tag team moves were like The Rockers, so he took a liking to us. And I would say Shawn really helped us get to this point. And the cool thing is that he’s the greatest of all time, in our humble opinion. So, to have him there and pick his brain, and ask him questions—We’re like, ‘Hey, what do we do here?’, ‘What do we do there?’. And even to this day, he’s still willing to [help].”

Their goal as a tag team:

“Our goal since we were kids was to one day become WWE Tag Team Champions. It would be great to be the first ever WWE Indian-born Tag Team Champions. Jinder was the first WWE Champion — Indian-born. So, that could be a great historic moment for India. Absolutely, the goal is to one day become WWE Tag Team Champions, and the only way that happens is when you start wrestling as a tag team. If that opportunity comes up, great, but right now our focus, our main priority is making sure Jinder becomes two-time WWE Champion.”

On last week’s episode of SmackDown Live, The Singh Brothers failed to defeat WWE Champion AJ Styles in a 2-on-1 Handicap match. As a result, Jinder Mahal attacked both The Singh Brothers and hit them with the Khallas. Some speculation began going around indicating that one Singh Brother may have been injured during the move as he landed awkwardly on his arm.

That speculation was only furthered when Sunil Singh missed WWE’s house shows this weekend and Samir Singh was wearing a sling. Per a report from Dave Metlzer on his Daily Update, both Singh Brothers are fine and are not suffering from injuries:

“Neither Singh Brother was injured and the one that missed some shows this weekend was also due to a non-injury related matter”

Doing my best @iamsrk pose in Merida, Meixco?? #WWEMerida @WWE pic.twitter.com/DF5VYhOAWt

— Bollywood Boyz (@BollywoodBoyz) December 3, 2017

– After losing the WWE Championship to AJ Styles during last night’s SmackDown Live, Jinder Mahal attacked one of the Singh Brothers in frustration. Below is a fan-made video of Mahal throwing one of the Singh Brothers into the barricades:

@WrestlingInc Jinder's reaction to losing the match tonight… pic.twitter.com/Ece7RfeeRp

— Wrestling Royalty (@WrestlingRoyal1) November 7, 2017

– Below is a video of The New Day celebrating Kofi Kingston’s victory over Sami Zayn during last night’s episode of SmackDown Live. In the video, the trio also mocked Raw roster for making them look foolish during the main event of this week’s episode of the Red-Branded Show:

It’s worth mentioning here that according to a report, the New Day will be working with the Raw Brand for the remainder of the UK Tour and they are expected to appear on Raw again in near future.

We noted before how the Singh Brothers appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast where they talked about a lot of topics. Below are some more highlights from their appearance on it:

Sunil Singh on advice from Shawn Michaels for being lackeys of Jinder Mahal:

“Well, Coach Michaels told us, he was like, ‘if you guys have one or two bumps in a match, make sure they remember you.”

Sunil on his bump during the recent Punjabi Prison match:

“Looking back at it now, it’s crazy it got approved. It happened. I did, I did [suggest the bump for the match]. I suggested it to Randy and he was like, ‘oh, that’s a real cool idea.’ And thanks to him, a lot of things have happened for us. I remember talking to Shawn the week before and he gave really good advice. He was like, ‘as like a father-figure, I would say don’t do it, but as a guy trying to make a name for himself,’ he’s like, ‘I’ve done crazier things.'”

Sunil on eventual split with Jinder Mahal:

“Right now, we understand our spot. We’ve got to bump well. We’ve got to sell well. obviously, we’ve got to realize that the lifespan of something like this is not forever. We were brought up [to the main roster] for a specific reason, to help Jinder. And eventually, it’s going to be ‘you guys have to part with him.’ It’s going to happen, so for us, we know we have that Bollywood thing in the back pocket. It’s kind of like it could be brand spanking new. It [has] never been done on cable television.”

Sunil on WWE not being as glamorous as people think:

“The one thing I’ve realized being in the WWE, it’s not as glamorous as people think it is. You’re literally looking at the world from a bus. it [has] been cool living your dream and traveling the world. And then, you realize a lot of people don’t get to do that.”

You can check out some more highlights from this interview, including a story about how The Singh Brothers were once kicked out of Raw here.

Quotes via WrestlingInc

Sunil and Samir Singh, collectively known as The Singh Brothers appeared on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho podcast and talked about their career and more. Below are some of the highlights from the podcast:

Sunil Singh on once showing up on Raw without being booked and getting kicked out of the show:

“We were trying to get booked, get noticed, this is 10 years ago, so long-story-short, we’re sending our stuff, ‘no’ is the answer we’re getting, so we’re like, ‘you know what? Screw it. We’re going to buy a plane ticket, and fly to Toronto’ and we flew to Toronto not booked for the Monday Night RAW TV show as extras. So we got told, ‘hey, you’re not supposed to be here. You have to leave the building.’ And on our way out, that’s when we bumped into [Jericho] at catering.”

Sunil on getting his start with the legendary Hart family:

“I got my start in 2004 with the Harts in Calgary [Alberta] maybe a month before they sold the Hart House, so I showed up not knowing they were going to sell the house. That’s our gimmick – we just show up, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to make it. I showed up and the most I learned, I think, was the ‘tackle, drop down, get it again’ spot. I had Bruce [Hart] teaching me and Ross. The very first bump I took was from T.J. Wilson and my first bodyslam was from Nattie. Harry [Smith] was down there. Everybody was down there. That’s how we all know them and I spent about two-and-a-half months down there.”

Sunil on getting paired as a team and their main roster debut:

“You know they talk about ‘timing is everything’ and timing was everything for this. Totally unexpected. Dude, we were finishing up yoga class at the PC when I saw a missed call from a 203 area code.  so I see the missed call. I call the number back. It was travel saying, ‘hey, you guys are needed for Tuesday on TV’ and we were like, ‘oh cool.’ And this goes back to the 205 [Live], that we were doing. We thought we were going back. And we’re like, ‘alright, cool.’ And long-story-short, that Tuesday we show up and they smartened us up to the whole deal.”

Sunil on Jericho being the first person who advised them to work as a team:

“[Jericho] called it! Remember? When we first came up from 205, like the RAW before the very first 205, me, Gurv, and Jinder were just in catering, we were standing and talking, and [Jericho was] like, ‘you guys should be a team!’ and you just walked away.”

Chris Jericho on how he should be booking WWE in response to the comment from Sunil:

“I’m a prophet and I’ll tell you the reason why. I called John Cena back when no one thought anything of it. I called The New Day as the biggest babyfaces in the company when they were trying to make them, well, they were trying to make them s–tty babyfaces. I said, ‘they’d be way better as heels than babyfaces. Then Enzo [Amore] in the cruiserweights. I called that one. Then, you guys being a team. I should be booking this place, man!”

Quotes via WrestlingInc

The Singh Brothers are an integral part of Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship reign, and although they’re currently heels on WWE TV, they previously worked as babyfaces in NXT as The Bollywood Boyz. They got their big break in WWE as competitors in the Cruiserweight Classic and were soon regulars on NXT and 205 Live.

Once brought up to the main roster they aligned themselves with Jinder Mahal and assisted him in capturing the WWE Championship from Randy Orton. The brothers recently appeared on WWE Superstar Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk Is Jericho, to talk about their run in the professional wrestling world. Simir discussed some rather blunt advice that he and his brother received while working at the WWE Performance Center as The Bollywood Boyz:

“I think a big thing actually, we realized we needed to turn heel” Because the whole Bollywood Boyz thing was so babyface — so 1980’s. Me and Gurv [Sunil] were going back and forth and Shawn Michaels had just started at NXT and watched one of our PC Live matches and he pulled up aside and was like, ‘you guys need to go heel.’ He’s like, ‘if you’re gonna stay a babyface you’re dead in the water.”

Sunil then noted that Michaels compared what The Singh Brothers were trying to do was similar to what he did with Marty Jannetty, however, it worked back in the 90s – but not today:

“He said ‘I see what you guys are trying to do it was like what Marty (Jannetty) and I were doing back in the day. But it worked in the 90’s — it’s not gonna work in today’s wrestling”

You can check out The Singh Brother’s interview on Talk Is Jericho at this link here.

Former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian took to their podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness, to talk about WWE Champion Jinder Mahal’s current title run and push into the main event picture. Edge and Christian talk about why they enjoy seeing a fresh face with the title, and “The Rated R Superstar” talks about his past relationship with The Singh Brothers.

You can check out the highlights here:

Christian on Mahal winning the WWE Title being a nice surprise:

“I think it’s good. I think it’s a good surprise. I mean, I like it when there’s… it’s hard to shock people, especially when people want to know, like, spoilers and stuff like that. People seem to want to know stuff that’s going to happen before it happens sometimes instead of just enjoying it and following the ride and just seeing where it takes you. So it just was legitimately one of those ones where you didn’t know which way they were going to go on it and I like it. I think it’s different and I think it’s one of those ones too, even speaking from personal experience, that you sometimes you’ve just got to throw that person in that spot and see if they can sink or swim, if they have it in them to step up and be believable in that spot.”

Edge on fans always complaining about what’s different and new:

“Put the person in the situation and see how they do. Jinder’s a good dude. He’s a nice guy and the only way to prove and get to that next level is to be given a shot. Now, people always complain they want something different, they want something new, and when it happens, they complain about what is different and new. Now, these are broad paint strokes, but it generally seems to be the case where Kevin Owens becomes champion and they complain about how he’s used as champion. But you were complaining he wasn’t champion. Now he’s champion, you want to complain about how he’s used as champion? I get it. You’re passionate about the product. I’m passionate about it too, but I like to let things play out, having been in the industry. From being inside the industry, I understand you need patience to see things play out. And that’s what I would advise all of the folks who might be worked up about this. Let’s see how it plays out. I think he’s going to do good. I think he’s going to step up. And guess what. If he doesn’t, it’s not going to happen for long.”

Edge on why fans should give Mahal’s title reign a chance:

“I know the knee-jerk reaction from a lot of wrestling fans is, ‘huh? Why?’ Settle down. Relax. I’m going to be Uncle Edge here and try and talk you off the ledge. Here’s how I’m looking at this. You can say it’s a business decision because WWE is breaking ground in India. Well, okay. Then, it’s a good business decision. If you want a billion people to latch onto the product, then maybe put the 6’5″, 240 lbs. Indian dude as your world heavyweight champion. Just saying.”

Christian on liking Mahal’s pairing with The Bollywood Boyz (The Singh Brothers):

“The thing is too, they’ve surrounded him. They put an entourage with him, which is great. It gives him a little bit more of a presence, a little bit more of an aura. So yeah, I mean, give the guy a chance. And he’s either going to make it or he’s not and it’s on him.”

Edge on his past encounters with The Singh Brothers:

“And a shout out to the entourage, The Singh Brothers. We’ll have them on the show at some point, but really, really good guys. I go back with them a little bit, back when they were out in [British Columbia, Canada] and I was out there filming some stuff. They got in touch with me through Paul Lazenby, who is a complete moron.” Edge continued, “they got ahold of Paul and they found out I was in town, so they just wanted to pick my brain, so we went and hiked this mountain called The [Stawamus] Chief and they just picked my brain the entire time. I was like, ‘okay, I like these guys.’ They went out of their way to try to find out if they could just get into contact with me and get some ideas. So from that point, I’ve stayed in contact with them and just tried to give them advice along the way.”

“They’re great guys, good head on their shoulders, and it’s great to see them being put in that mix. And again, sink or swim. Yeah, so it [has] been nice to see and it’s different and it’s fun and I always liked that.”

H/T Wrestling Inc. for the transcriptions

Last night at Payback, Jinder Mahal and the tag team formerly known as the Bollywood Boyz interfered in the Bray Wyatt vs. Randy Orton match. Their actions ended up costing Orton the bout, though not the championship, as it was not on the line.

The Bollywood Boyz now going by “the Singh Brothers” is a subtle homage to Jinder Mahal’s family history in pro-wrestling. Singh was also the last name given to the members of a controversial faction from the 1980s.

https://youtu.be/WQQ1ywQ5kn8

Karachi Vice

Karachi Vice was the name Bruce Hart gave to the Great Gama Singh’s stable in Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling. Singh’s father had immigrated from India to Calgary in the 1960s. He would play the role of the evil foreign menace in the territory for years. Jinder Mahal is the Great Gama Singh’s nephew.

There were two other Singh’s in Karachi Vice: Makhan Singh (played by Mike Shaw/Bastion Booger) and Vokhan Singh (played by Gary Albright, who married into the Anoai’i family). The stable would feud with the likes of Owen Hart, Bruce Hart, Brian Pillman, and Chris Benoit.

While Jinder’s push has seemingly come out of the blue, the company is full-blown behind it, especially considering what it could mean to their exposure in India.