A new report claims WWE planned to debut Santana Garrett on SmackDown before deciding to release her instead.
When WWE releases a handful of Superstars, it is always somewhat shocking. However, this week's batch was something else. The sudden release of Superstars like Braun Strowman and Aleister Black left the WWE Universe shook. Ruby Riott, Lana, Santana Garrett, and Buddy Murphy were also shown the door. Some of that group wrestled as recently as this past Monday on Raw, while others were involved in active storylines.
No offense intended to Garrett, but her name being among that six is probably the least surprising. The former NXT Superstar was yet to make her full debut on the main roster and didn't have a very high spot when she was still on the black and gold brand. However, according to PWInsider, WWE had plans to properly debut Garrett on SmackDown before deciding to go in the complete opposite direction.
The same was said of Vanessa Borne who was part of the NXT batch of releases last month. According to Chelsea Green, who was among the group released before that, there were plans to debut all three of them together like some sort of Pussycat Dolls/Charlie's Angels-inspired trio. Those plans were obviously scrapped and WWE couldn't find anything else for the three of them.
While Garrett never made a full move to the main roster, she did appear on it sporadically. Garrett wrestled Bianca Belair the night after WrestleMania 36 on Raw. She also made an appearance during the women's Royal Rumble match this year. That would actually be the last match she wrestled in WWE. She also wrestled four times in NXT between her Raw debut and this year's Rumble.
The dust still continues to settle when it comes to this week's releases. There are currently mixed reports regarding when the six stars will be allowed to show up in other promotions. The math dictates that their 90-day non-compete clauses come to an end just days before All Out. However, a new report claims WWE thought ahead and made sure the clauses won't end until after that show, negating the chance for any of them to make shock debuts.