— According to a report at Sports Illustrated, the decision to release Emma, Darren Young and Summer Rae was made this past Friday and announced on Sunday, a day before they were to fly out for Raw and then subsequently the European tour. The decision was apparently made by Vince McMahon during his “routine budget meeting.”
— Emma’s release was the one that caused the most surprise she was recently wrestling Asuka on a WWE PPV, but according to this story, the writing was on the wall for a while as she had heat backstage within the company, particularly on the writing staff.
— Not only did she have enemies on the staff, but she rubbed people the wrong way by voicing her opinions strongly on Twitter. While Emma had a lot of respect backstage among her peers, her release is viewed by some in the company as “addition by subtraction in the locker room” and somewhat of a statement by management.
— Despite her release, the door remains open for a possible return down the road.