WWE Rumors: ‘SmackDown’ Tag Team ‘Desperately’ Wants To Leave Company, Per Bryan Alvarez

With mere months remaining before the rumored expiration date of their WWE contracts, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson (aka The Revival) reportedly asked late last month to be released from the company, only to see this request turned down once again.

According to a report from WrestlingNews.co, the rumored release request was discussed by veteran wrestling insider Bryan Alvarez on a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Live. This, as pointed out by the publication, marks at least the second time The Revival requested to be let go from their WWE contracts, with the first reported instance taking place in January 2019.

“Last week, The Revival asked for their release again,” Alvarez stressed. “They were not given their release. They desperately want out.”

Unlike many WWE superstars who ask to be released before their contracts expire, money doesn’t seem to be at the heart of the issue for Wilder and Dawson. According to WrestlingNews.co, the promotion has offered contracts “in the high six figures” to the Friday Night SmackDown stars, in an attempt to prevent them from joining rival company All Elite Wrestling. Instead, the main sticking points for both men appear to be their lack of creative direction, as well as WWE’s perceived lack of emphasis on tag team wrestling.

“Tag Team Wrestling doesn’t draw money…” pic.twitter.com/si0VPAgVt9

— Uncle Dax FTR (@DaxFTR) January 31, 2020

In relation to the latter concern, Dawson took to Twitter on Thursday, sharing a two-second clip featuring himself and Wilder reacting comically during a backstage segment and a caption that emphasized how WWE seems to disregard its tag team divisions.

Since getting called up to the main roster after a dominant run in NXT, The Revival has been one of WWE’s more successful tag-team pairings in recent years, with the duo having the rare distinction of winning both Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Championships. Multiple reports, however, have alleged that Dawson and Wilder were given comedy gimmicks by WWE as punishment for their original release request, as well as their reluctance to re-sign with the company.

Although it’s not a definite sign that they may indeed be leaving WWE soon, The Revival notably took the pin on this week’s Friday Night SmackDown, as John Morrison and The Miz won a four-way match to become the No. 1 contenders to The New Day’s SmackDown Tag Team Championships, as recapped by Cageside Seats.

Despite The Revival’s apparent unhappiness with WWE, there’s a good chance the promotion will refuse to let them go before their contracts expire, WrestlingNews.co concluded. While Dawson’s deal is rumored to be expiring in April 2020, previous reports suggested Wilder’s contract was extended by a few weeks to make up for the time he missed due to injuries.