It was previously reported that Dustin Rhodes was released from his WWE contract back on January 19, which freed him up to go to AEW for a match with his brother Cody at Double or Nothing on May 25. In the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was confirmed that Rhodes was let out of his contract on that date, and was given a 90-day non-compete clause that ended on April 19. It added that Vince McMahon himself was said to be against letting the former Goldust leave the company, but Triple H actually talked him into it.

WWE hadn’t done anything with Dustin in some time, as he was coming off double knee surgery and he’s fifty. His contract was said to be expiring soon anyway and the belief was that he would end up in AEW one way or the other. WWE could have frozen it and continued it for eight months due to his time off, but obviously this didn’t happen.

WWE has let people leave the promotion like Tye Dillinger, Dustin Rhodes and KENTA, with the belief being that WWE is releasing people they think won’t help the opposition. In KENTA’s case, it’s believed that he will be going back to Japan. Meanwhile, names like The Revival, Sasha Banks, Luke Harper and Mike Kanellis have not been released.