COVID-19: Rusev, Kurt Angle and other superstars released by WWE

Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has announced the release of several superstars from its rosters as a cost-cutting measure.

A total of 19 wrestlers, including Kurt Angle, have come to terms with the WWE which is currently trying to deal with the economic slowdown because of COVID-19 which has brought the entire world to a standstill.

Kurt Angle released a statement on Twitter and said: "I wanted to say thank you to the WWE for the time I spent there.

"I made many new friends and had the opportunity to work with so many talented people.

"To the superstars, continue to entertain the WWE Universe as well as you possibly can. They're the best fans in the world."

Last week, WWE was deemed an "essential business" in Florida and the company had resumed live tapings of its shows in the state.

WWE resumed live televised shows on Monday and the organisation is producing new content for fans with the use of their training facility in Orlando.

The other wrestlers who have been released by WWE are Rusev (Miroslav Barnyashev), Drake Maverick (James Curtin), Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona), Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra), Luke Gallows (Drew Hankinson), Heath Slater (Heath Miller), Eric Young (Jeremy Fritz), Rowan (Joseph Ruud), Sarah Logan (Sarah Rowe), No Way Jose (Levis Valenzuela), Mike Chioda, Mike Kanellis (Mike Bennett), Maria Kanellis, EC3 (Michael Hutter), Aiden English (Matthew Rehwoldt), Lio Rush (Lionel Green), Primo (Edwin Colon) and Epico (Orlando Colon Nieves).