Tuesday, March 19, 2024
EditorialAssessing the Damage & Future of WWE's Recently Released Superstars

Assessing the Damage & Future of WWE’s Recently Released Superstars

8,770 views

TRENDING

April 15th strikes again. For the second year in a row, WWE released a number of employees on this particular day.

There is a lot to unpack here for a lot of different reasons, many of which we have no answers to and may never find out why.

Let’s break down each of the released stars and the overall idea, speculation on what led to this point and where they may end up going forward.

Why Release People?

We’re told this was a budget issue. Does anyone else find that strange, considering WWE’s continued record profits and massive Peacock deal?

After a while, doesn’t that stop being the go-to excuse and the real reason is revealed? Are we going to have to wait until a future episode of Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard to hear what really went on?

John Laurinaitis was just hired for a talent relations management role. Was he brought on with this upcoming “spring cleaning” in mind to be the bad guy who dropped the hammer? Is he not at all involved? Hell, for that matter, was this his idea in the first place?

With all this, we don’t know. But what we do know is that it’s awful to hear that the excuse people are losing their job is because “the company isn’t making enough money and we have to let you go to make up some of the costs” when each quarter, WWE says “look at all the extra money we made in comparison to the last time!”

What About Downsizing, Then?

Sometimes, people leave because “creative has nothing”—a statement I think is horrendous, as it’s your job as a writer to think of something, and given the amount of repetition going on in WWE these days, the very least you can do is go through the rolodex more often and revolve names around so it’s more refreshing and not just use the same names over and over. No excuse. Give me 20 minutes and I can probably think of a program for everyone in the company to work with, and I’m sure others can do the same.

But if we take WWE at its word that this is a cost-cutting thing, surely, wouldn’t it make more sense to cut costs in other ways?

For example, 205 Live does cost money to produce. It’s nowhere near as costly as Raw or SmackDown, but then again, it also doesn’t earn as much money in return. Wouldn’t it make more sense to cut that show that relatively few people watch?

WWE’s response would probably be some company-speak way to beat around the bush, but the ultimate reality would be “No. We are a content creation business at the moment and we prioritize quantity of programming hours, rather than quality of our entertainment product. A whole extra show for 30 minutes a week that is cheap to produce and yields little revenue, if any, or operates at a loss, is okay, because we’re pumping out those hours and all we have to do is get rid of someone’s contract like Samoa Joe and that’ll save us a chunk of change.”

I don’t think WWE needs 9-10 hours of programming a week on top of all the other stuff like YouTube, the WWE Network shows, etc. Do you?

Why April 15th?

I’m very, very curious about this now that it’s happened twice. April 15th must be a particular day revolving around taxes, quarterly income reports or contracts expiring.

For this to be April 15th in 2020 and 2021 means it isn’t the day of the week in terms of Wednesday/Thursday, but the day of the week for the middle of the month.

It’s right after WrestleMania, both times around. Maybe that’s just a coincidence and their plan is to always cut people post-Mania to “get through the busy season” and then say “thanks, see ya” to anyone who is expendable.

If we see April 15, 2022 go down as another day like this, it’ll be confirmation something is afoot with that particular day and it’s either the cut-off point where contracts roll over, there’s a stock exchange reason for it, it involves taxes or it’s something with reporting income for the next quarterly report.

The IIconics

Billie Kay’s release shocked me. I had Peyton Royce down on my watch list for someone who could leave soon, but Kay was someone I thought might stick around, even though there was a good chance she could leave with Royce. Announcing Kay first and waiting a while for Royce to be released was a weird time.

They’re a package deal. They don’t have to be, but they might as well stick together. After all, they’re a tag team, best friends, practically sisters. Why wouldn’t they want to, if they could?

WWE’s loss. Both had so much more to offer. Kay was just at WrestleMania, so you can’t even say she wasn’t being used at all, like Royce.

With Royce’s husband, Shawn Spears, being in AEW, I’d assume that’s a much easier road to navigate to go there, if Tony Khan and the powers that be are open for bringing them in. They should, too. AEW can’t hire everyone, but the women’s division could certainly use KC Cassidy and Jessie McKay or whatever names they’d want to go under.

You gotta be jokin’ me.

Bo Dallas

This felt like a long time coming. Bo Dallas hadn’t been seen in over a year and he’d been a jobber most of his career, anyway.

I made a pitch several times that I thought he could have been a fantastic addition to the Robert Stone Brand as a “big acquisition” since he’s a former NXT champion. There, he could have either played a continuation of his comedic character, or, he could have restored his credibility and been a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

Where does he go from here? Maybe nowhere. He could just be happy hanging out on the farm with Liv Morgan for all we know. Or, maybe he could have his pick of the feds. I could see him being freelance, bouncing around, doing some gigs for NWA, ROH, MLW and so on, more so than being AEW’s next big signing or hopping over to New Japan.

If he does land somewhere and sticks there, though, I’d say Impact Wrestling.

Chelsea Green

AEW or Impact. It’s got to be one of those two. Given Matt Cardona, Deonna Purrazzo and Brian Myers being more on the Impact side of things, I’d lean more in that direction.

Chelsea’s had a bad go. Every time WWE started to use her, she suffered an injury that set her back months. Give her a few weeks, or sometimes just one match, and poof, she’s gone again. Time and time again.

She’s obviously talented, has a great look and has made a name for herself. Undeniably, she’s a valuable asset to another company that will look at her as a steal, while WWE looks at her as expendable.

Kalisto

I thought Kalisto was gone months ago, but he ended up sticking around. Most recently, he was cutting a promo about how the clock was ticking to earn his way into the WrestleMania card for next year, and with each continued thing he’s done, I figured “maybe he’s not going anywhere like I thought.”

He recently has gotten into the best shape of his career. The guy looks phenomenal. But maybe that was a sign that he was leaving and wanted to go out with a bang as much as he could?

This is a loss for morale that we don’t even know. Kalisto has a lot of friends backstage who are going to miss him a ton. Just check out how often he’s goofing off on UpUpDownDown, how he’s one of the closest people to Sasha Banks, etc.

No idea where he goes. Anyone would be lucky to have him.

I’m also wondering what this means for Gran Metalik, who has expressed interest in leaving WWE before, and Lince Dorado, who seemed to be the least likely to move on, but could just get cut for budget reasons all the same.

Mickie James

Ridiculous. How does someone like Mickie James get the run that she had after her return?

The woman is one of the best to ever do it, can still go, looks phenomenal and could have been an asset as both a top star OR someone putting over other talent and working with the younger superstars.

This is absurd. I know she’s had her frustrations, as she’s vented them, and I don’t blame her.

I’d imagine the best place for her would be NWA. Her husband, Nick Aldis, is there, so that makes that easier. Plus, she can be the big fish in a small pond and work with some people like Thunder Rosa, Serena Deeb, etc.

Mojo Rawley

Saw this one coming, unfortunately. Mojo Rawley perpetually never made it anywhere and the most he was ever used was when he was a proxy for Rob Gronkowski.

Once that Gronk ship sailed, he disappeared and we haven’t seen him. It was only a matter of time.

Spread your wings. Maybe you’ll be the type of guy who comes back in a few years better than ever and ready for a world title reign. Who knows?

I could see him in Impact, NWA or ROH, or possibly the indies in general.

Samoa Joe

Again, absolutely 100% ridiculous. This is the biggest WTF and the one that I’m the most disappointed in.

If he isn’t ever getting cleared to compete, why wouldn’t you want to keep him on commentary? The guy was great at that!

If he’s able to wrestle again, USE HIM AS A WRESTLER! He’s one of the best, he’s able to work with people bigger or smaller, always maintains credibility and is a veteran who is still fresh on this roster.

Samoa Joe should have had a match with John Cena, Undertaker, Triple H, and so many others. And you know what? He should have been a world champion AND a tag team champion. They should have Triple Crowned this guy, or even Grand Slam Champion.

I really, really want to hear what he has to say about this and to hear how WWE justified letting him go. This one just floors me and I’m so annoyed about it.

Where does he go? I’d assume AEW. Maybe ROH. There’s a chance Impact, but I’m not feeling it. Then again, it’s not my choice, especially since if I had it my way, he wouldn’t be on this list.

Tucker Knight

With his “freedom baby” tweet, I’m assuming he’s cool with this. That’s good to hear. He must have requested his release and WWE granted it to him, since it’s easier to let go the people who want out, rather than fire the people who want to stay (like seems to be the case with some others).

Does he have something lined up? Where? I have no idea and I doubt anyone else does outside of his immediate circle (which is okay; it’s not our business in the same regard).

I’d have to imagine he’s not going to be the first person AEW tries to grab, but you’d never know. More so, I can see him being an NWA guy, working the indies, or maybe moving on to an entirely different career.

Nobody says you have to stay a wrestler. For all we know, he could be super passionate about refrigeration units. Snitsky runs a military supply store. Tito Santana became a teacher. Rick Steiner is a realtor. Tucker could be the type of guy who just wants to run a bait shop. I’m curious to hear his side of the story that he’s looking forward to telling.

Wesley Blake

The writing was on the wall a long time ago. If Murphy couldn’t even get past the point where he’s clearly saying “I want out” (and, by the way, how is he not on this list?) then Wesley Blake wasn’t going to make it past this round, either.

Steve Cutler was released and Blake’s partnership with King Corbin went kaput. That was the backup plan to The Forgotten Sons, which was the backup plan to BAMF, which likely wasn’t the game plan from the start.

I fully expect to see Blake show up on some episodes of AEW Dark and Dark: Elevation as one of those guys in the Florida area who can come in for a match here and there.

What’s Next?

I still think this isn’t over. Last year, The Revival were released a few days before the big round of cuts and then, some NXT talent was let go two days after. I fully expect to hear some more names over the weekend, likely from NXT.

I don’t want anyone to lose their jobs, so I’m not wishing that on anybody. But, if I’m going to make a guess for who may be on the chopping block or be actively quitting and requesting their release on their own accord, I’d say to watch out for: Aleister Black, Cedric Alexander (and possibly Shelton Benjamin), Chad Gable (almost guaranteed), Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado, Kona Reeves, Murphy (practically guaranteed), Nikki Cross and possibly Killian Dain, Vanessa Borne, Wild Boar and maybe even an official “no longer under contract” from Ronda Rousey.

I want to know more. So the next thing is to hear what these Superstars have to say, which may not come for at least another 90 days, if not much longer than that.

What are your thoughts on all this? Keep the discussion going in the comments below!

- Advertisment -

LATEST NEWS

- Advertisment -

No data available

Related Articles