Today, (Wednesday 15th) WWE released a huge number of wrestler’s in what can only be described as heartbreaking and utterly couple of hours. The reason for the mass release was to save WWE $4,000,000 a month, that is the gut-wrenching thing, a company that is worth $5.71.000.000.000 (the number is a ballpark and from Forbes) and the only way was to release a lot of wrestlers, producers, a writer and an announcer.
I’m not going to list who I think should’ve gone or what WWE should’ve done instead, I’m merely acknowledging what’s happened. WWE is not what you’d call a snow-white company, everything that they’ve done and continues to do is public knowledge, for instance, Linda McMahon’s Super PAC pledged $18.5.000.000 to the state of Florida April 9th, the very day the company was considered essential to remain open during the Crononvirus outbreak, and statewide lockdowns. This meant that RAW, SmackDown and NXT could go back to weekly live shows instead of the previous pre-taped shows. Now, the money was from the McMahon’s pocket, and of course, that money can be spent however the McMahon’s see fit, but with the mass releases, it leaves a bitter after taste in many mouths. As I mentioned above though, this isn’t a “what WWE could’ve/should’ve done.”
Before the releases were announced, Fightful released a report from a WWE Press Conference to announce what the company were doing going forward with all the unrest around Coronavirus. They announced that:
Executive and board members would get reduced compensation
Operating expenses would decrease
Talent expenses would be cut, third party staffing and consulting
The company’s new headquarters build would be deferred for six months
Not long after this report from Fightful was released, names came thick and fast. It felt like a punch to the gut seeing names appear, yet they didn’t stop, this panned roughly 21/2- 3 hours. Names like Zach Ryder and Heath Slater who have been with WWE for 15 and 16 years retrospectively were a massive shock, their tenure with WWE was long and both had dedicated a lot of time to WWE. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson who, less than two weeks ago headlined night one of WrestleMania 36 along with their partner AJ Styles in his match against The Undertaker. Lio Rush who so recently won the Cruiserweight Championship and was the figurehead of NXT’s final invasion (old school WWF style on top of a tank) before Survivor Series last year. Mike and Maria Kanellis whilst Maria was on maternity leave (real classy that one)
Referee Mike Chioda who had been with WWE since 1989 was released, which was another massive shock to everybody. Producers; Lance Storm, Shane Helms, Mike Rotunda, Dave Finley, Shawn Divari, Billy Kidman, Pat Buck, Sarah Stock and Billy Kidman are said to be furloughed not released (information from Pro Wrestling Sheet). Andrea Listenberger who worked on the wonderful Otis/Mandy Rose storyline confirmed her release via her Twitter, Aleksandar Jaksic and Deoona Purrazzo also confirmed their releases. Drake Maverick released a truly heartbreaking video on his thoughts and Rusev’s farewell was short but still sad to read. There are more names than this that were released and there could well still be more to come.
With wrestling on hold, it’s not known where these names will end up but one thing is for certain, wherever they end up, they will be a great addition to that company.
h/t to Fightful, Jeremy Lambert, Sean Ross Sapp Pro Wrestling Sheet and Josiah McDonald for the information
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