It is very surprising, but maybe not for the reasons anyone else will discuss here.
First of all, Maryse was employed first and foremost for her previous career as a nude model and her relationship with Playboy. Even though the WWE is mainly PG now, Maryse offered a vital link to this medium should the WWE ever choose to go this way. Realistically, Kelly Kelly is the only person who WOULD agree to obtain this sort of publicity for WWE.
At several points, the WWE were keen to build the Divas division around her, to rival the TNA Knockouts division. The Divas division never game close to the Knockouts division, but it showed that they had a lot of faith in her to use her alone.
Maryse does nearly as a many publicity events for WWE as the Miz or John Cena does.
Literally thousands of male fans want to sleep with her so badly that they have no idea that she is a rubbish performer in the ring or on the microphone. Seriously, her English was worse than Carlito's. And she botched spots in literally every single match she ever had. But a lot of people were willing to pretend that she was an amazing athlete just to see her on TV. Remember Sable in the late 1990's?
The reason why Maryse got so few oppourtunities in the ring is because she didn't want them. She wasn't interested in performing in matches, hence why she never ever improved. But the WWE were willing to build NXT around her out-of-ring exploits.
When people bombarded a WWE forum with nude pictures of former WWE employees, they managed to keep word quiet that Maryse also featured in these photos. Why go to such lengths for 1 specific woman, whenever news of any person could damage the company?
And recently, she had this business with a stalker. The WWE went to great financial expence and legal risk just to keep ONE individual safe. Not just at arenas, but in her personal life too. I would like to think that the WWE would've done the same for any other member of it's roster, but let's face it, Sable and Maryse were the only two.
As poor as her English is, her native French is excellent. She was a vital publicity piece in both Canada and France. Sure, WWE still has Natalya for the Canadian market, but what about the French populations of either country?
After all of this, the WWE chose to let her go. Personally, when I watch WWE or TNA, I hope for some wrestling. And the removal of any individual who isn't interested in wrestling is a good move in my book. Let's face it, Maryse had nothing compared to Melina, Mickie James, Jillian Hall or Gail Kim. So good riddence to her.
However, I am confused as to why the WWE chose to let her go now.
