Kairi Sane was among the recent group of talent released by WWE and her departure elicited an overwhelming negative response from fans. Dave Meltzer then reported that Sane had shown some interest in moving back to Japan which many equated to Sane asking for her release, prompting the standout wrestler to publicly clarify the rumors by stressing that she never asked out.
On this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer tried to clarify his report noting that WWE’s belief that Sane would like to move back to her home country Japan factored into the decision to release her. Meltzer wrote:
“The biggest surprise on the list was Kairi Sane (Kaori Housako, 37). She was in the middle of a program where they were teasing her eventually standing up for herself against the bullying of Asuka and getting back together as a team with Iyo Sky. But the angle was dropped cold.”
“While most were surprised, we were told part of it was the belief she wanted to move back to Japan at some point and with that knowledge it was part of the decision making.”
Meltzer added that wrestlers are rarely given specific reasons for their release other than the vague “budgetary reasons” so it’s unlikely this report will ever be truly validated.