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Report: Former champion among two new WWE ID departures

Posted: Oct 14th 2026 By: Joseph Currier

Another former champion has reportedly departed WWE ID.

Less than a week after Laynie Luck — the longest-reigning WWE ID Women’s Champion since the title was established — revealed that her WWE ID deal was not renewed, PWInsider reports that Cappuccino Jones is gone from the program. Jones was the first men’s ID Champion and held the title from August 2025 to March 2026.

Additionally, PWInsider notes that Santi Rivera, who is from Massachusetts and got his start at the New England Pro Wrestling Academy, is gone from WWE ID.

Jones is from Oklahoma and currently holds the Texas Championship for Reality of Wrestling.

We’re now at two years since the ID (Independent Development) program was first announced. Jones was among the initial group of signees, while Rivera joined in early 2026. WWE ID deals are not full-time contracts, but they offer financial and other benefits while creating a potential pathway for a wrestler to be signed to NXT full-time. ID wrestlers frequently compete on WWE Evolve.

Jones, Rivera, Luck, Marcus Mathers, and Sam “Hardway” Holloway have all departed WWE ID recently, while Richard Adonis, Monica Monroe, Josiah Jean, and Conan Lycan have been signed.