Cain Velasquez Feels He Let WWE Fans Down Before His Release

Cain Velasquez has no hard feelings after WWE released him following his match at Crown Jewel in 2019. The former UFC heavyweight champion had been brought in to spark some excitement against then WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar.

What followed was unexpected not just by fans, but also Velasquez, as the COVID-19 pandemic prompted WWE to make budget cuts. He expressed his thoughts about the release on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.

“It is what it is. That was me going into it (WWE) and really trying to figure out what it was. It was all thrown at me at once, a whole new origination. I was there for whatever anybody needed as far as to have me build into whatever they wanted me to build into. That didn’t happen this turnaround. I’m sorry to everyone that I let down. That does hurt me as well because I expect a lot out of myself.”

The 39-year-old Velasquez faced defeat against Brock Lesnar at Crown Jewel, but would not go winless in WWE. At a WWE Live event in Mexico, it was Velasquez teaming up with Humberto Carrillo in victorious style over Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows.

WWE had a plan to use Velasquez to work with the luchadores of the brand. At that time those would include Carrillo, Angel Garza, El Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado among others.

“They didn’t use me. I wasn’t called to go in for them to use me. At one point they told me we were going to go do something with some of the lucha guys and when that time came close, we were deep into COVID. They were like, ‘we’re just doing the shows this way like we just need these core guys right now.’ They just needed me to develop a lot more and I wasn’t there. So they really couldn’t use me in that way.”

Perhaps a reunion could take place in the future between Velasquez and WWE. The heavyweight has been announced for the AAA TripleMania Regia event on December 4 in Monterrey, Mexico. On that card he will team with Psycho Clown and Pagano to take on the team of Rey Escorpion, Black Taurus and a surprise partner.