Armstrong is an experienced referee who was also a great wrestler for years. They're short on refs, so it's strange that he was cut over a less experienced referee, plus they recently teased inducting his father, "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, into the WWE Hall of Fame. Haas had been off TV for a long time, so it was inevitable.
Meanwhile, in one of those "only in wrestling" stories, Dave Meltzer is saying that WWE figured that after her "Celebrity Apprentice" stint, Maria would get various mainstream gigs like Stacy Keibler did after her run on "Dancing With The Stars" run, so they released her before that would happen. Umm, ok.