Zack Ryder and No Way Jose released.
Zack Ryder and No Way Jose released.
That one has been coming. Damn, that is a spring clean.
This used to be a yearly occurrence, but it has been so long since we've seen it. Doing it while millions of others are getting laid off during this pandemic also makes you feel for them.
I mean it's possible they're just being furloughed for now?
really interesting. vince's mindset seemed to be to have as many people as possible signed to keep them from AEW, i wonder what changed his thinking exactly. it can't just be wanting to save money because they have so much money and paying their employees is such a small chunk of it, releasing these guys couldn't have been very financially significant.
This due to XFL going bust again?
Obviosuly Coronavirus has caused mass amounts of bother but XFL folding so soon with the debts it has cant have helped matters.
Most of those are barely used though tbf, only ones Im a bit shocked with are Gallows, Anderson and Rowan.
Doubt it, the statement sais these have been let go and others furloughed. Looks like they are having a big clear out.Originally Posted by Donald
right. As of now, it appears the producers were furloughed.
You'd think the likes of Shelton Benjamin, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel would do well to hang on at this rate. Although perhaps connections will help them there, idk.
it was started with mcmahon's personal money, has nothing to do with WWE's business or finances
Didnt WWE as a company have a 25% stake in XFL though?
Dunno if Bo's is gonna be good enough as his dad was let go.
ah you're right
Rusev gone also if his Twitter is to be believed.
Not surprising, any of this. WWE has carried a roster larger than it needed to for years now. And AEW had only made them even less willing to let anyone go. But fuck how can they keep everyone forever? Just keep signing and developing talent and nobdy ever retires or gets let go? It's fucking nuts. And everone they've let go on the talent side of things makes sense...except for Gallows and Anderson. Theyre going to AEW and it's going to be a big deal. Letting those guys go felt weird after the long period of courting from WWE trying to get them to sign a new deal.
Rowan totally going to AEW as well.
Hate to lose Maria. She is such a character when she isn't pregnant.
Outside of those names I HATE to see them letting "producers" go but retaining the 68 person writing staff.
Rusev
Rusev now confirmed.
Rusev and Kurt Anglefuckers.
Rusev is made for AEW.
Maybes they can bring Rowan into thr Dark Order and reunite him with Brodie.
Gallows/Anderson and Revival wouod really help make their already excellent tag division greater.
Lio Rush would work well there as well.
Other than Kurt not seeing many that are in a good place od position to bounce straight back. God knows how this virus will effect the indies as well.
Getting fired by text message. This fucking company.
Pretty sure Drake Maverick said he just got off of the phone with the guy from talent relations...
Jesus.
AEW is going to bring in The Revival, Anderson and Gallows, Rusev, Rowan, all at once.
It's gonna feel like an invasion.
Angle as manager.
Moved all the posts from the News thread into here so sorry if that makes the conversation flow a little funky.
----
Just got home from work and started reading all the names piling up on the main page. Holy shit. They haven't really done one of these big purges in a few years. Some names aren't too shocking but a few (Gallows/Anderson for example) are pretty surprising. I definitely feel bad for everybody that's being let go, hoping that some might just be temporary with the intention of bringing back when the situation improves. Ones that I'm personally bummed about because I'm a fan are Rush, Rowan, and Logan. Will be very curious to see if any of these folks pop up in AEW.
I thought pretaped stuff was done and they're back to live shows now...?
I thought they taped multiple weeks of NXT from Full Sail the same week they did Mania. I also don’t think RAW was “live” I think it was taped Monday, but I don’t believe it was 100% live. They never put the “LIVE” graphic on the screen, and it just seems to keep with the restrictions of only so many people in the building at once, commercials wouldn’t be enough time to get some people out and some people in.
Rusev
Deaonna Purrazzo released. It looks like the NXT wave is coming next.
Couple of weeks back Rusev gave $20,000 of his own money to pay WWE production workers who weren't getting paid.
2 weeks later, released via text messageMiro @RusevBUL
In Bulgaria we say “ It’s not a lot but it’s from the heart” I pledge 20,000$ to any of my WWE extended family that are sitting at home without income. WE can’t do it without y’all. Production, security, etc. LOVE YALL.
It would appear they are letting writers go as well. The writer supposedly behind the Mandy Rose/Otis angle has tweeted that she is amongst those released.
https://twitter.com/andrea_ml
Andrea Listenberger
@andrea_ml
Lots of people getting let go at #WWE today and regrettably, I am one of them. But I'm proud of the work I've been able to do since starting in Dec., and glad that the storyline I worked on resonated with so many people. That's what writing is about for me. #OtisandMandyForever
Morale is going to be so outrageously bad. Imagine having to work needlessly during a global pandemic, quarantined from your loved ones, then some of your best friends get shitcanned by text message.
the fired over text message thing comes across as callous but honestly i'd prefer to be fired by text than a phone call i wouldn't know about beforehand.
Saw this comment on Reddit, may if been posted here too
Jinder: released, came back, WWE Champion
Drew: released, came back, WWE Champion
Heath: released....
I don't imagine AEW is gonna be scooping guys right now either. I know the khans have money but a decent portion of their income I would think would be in the sports teams they own which are also not bringing money in.
I know people saw AEW for a lot of these guys but I'd love to see rusev and rowan in Japan personally.
Not that they're in a position to be hiring either but still.
https://www.sbnation.com/wrestling/2...xfl-bankruptcy
Ha, quite a week.Vince McMahon’s week has included:
• XFL bankruptcy
• advising Trump
• potential bribery
• a doc about allegedly
covering up a murder
• releasing wrestlers
during a pandemic
The great Vince McMahon.
It's only Wednesday...
...you know what that means.
Tony Nese don't you dare get fired.
Oh he's fucked. When they remember 205 Live exists presumably they'll all go.
No way. They need Oney right now.
The irony in all of this is that WWE are one of the firms that won't get stung hard from this. They're just out of 9 live gates a month effectively, gates that were gradually dwindling. The expense of equipment and travelling etc cut down on the flip side. They took a big knock with 'Mania not going on, but not enough to put them near a loss for the year. They were on course to take a slight knock and now they're not because they've put people out of work during a global pandemic.
The contrast with Japan is something. Representatives from all the major companies met together with the government today to discuss the situation and Hiroshi Tanahashi has even spoken to the press suggesting that pro wrestling should be the last sport they reopen.
I was wondering why Steve Corino and Adam Pearce still have their jobs. They must really like those guys...
God, what a day though.
- Rusev - Good, he deserves better. WWE failed Rusev.
- Kurt Angle - Wasn't doing anything anyway.
- Drake Maverick - Bummed, love this guy.
- Curt Hawkins - Ehh.
- Karl Anderson - Ehh.
- Luke Gallows - Ehh.
- Heath Slater - Ehh.
- Eric Young - Ehh.
- Rowan - Ehh.
- Sarah Logan - Ehh.
- Mike Chioda - Damn, guy has been w/ them forever.
- Mike Kanellis - Ehh.
- Maria Kanellis - Ehh.
- EC3 - Ehh.
- Aiden English - Loved him on commentary. Sad to see him gone.
- Lio Rush - Ehh. Like him, but he wasn't meant for WWE.
- Primo - Ehh.
- Epico - Ehh. How were these guys still employed anyway?
- Zack Ryder - Ehh.
- No Way Jose - Ehh.
- Deonna Purrazzo - Was hoping to see her flourish.
Lot of fat they're trimming, and there's a lot more than can go too. I would add on...
- Elias
- Corbin - will always be a ratings killer.
- Lashley - see Corbin.
- Lana
- Mojo - the worst.
- Bo
- Axel
- Shelton
- Aliyah - been floating around too long.
- Vanessa Borne
- Jauode
- Bononi
- Carillo
- Jinder
- Titus
- Kalisto
- Gran Metalik
- Lince Dorado
- Tamina
This company has $500 million cash reserve and still making money from live TV after Linda's bribe to the Florida Govenor. So, none of this needed to be done.
Jinder
Shelton
Titus
Bo
Curtis
Lars
Mojo
Gronk
Maryse
Arturo
Boa
Kona
Mansoor
Raul
I would totally offer these guys up to AEdub.
Nevermind friends getting fired. Some of them were actually on the shows and got canned.
They won't be there for the shows now though, where morale will surely be at an all time low.
I think Chioda I'm most irritated about. That dude deserved an actual dignified send off after a TV taping in his hometown or something down the line. He's lost his job of 31 years by text message.
Chioda has been there since 1989. My God..how do you just text that guy and say he is gone. Vince and family will hide for a few days and then be by Trump's side as they help reopen the county on May 1st aka murder people for profit.
Maybe chioda requested a release, who knows?
Putting in that much time and heart for as long as Chioda did... a firing via text would implant some serious bitterness in me for years.
Well, if anyone listened to Cornette's podcast last week, Corny's attorney, Steven P. New, actually went over how a lot of wrestlers, even though they're considered independent contractors, can file for Coronavirus unemployment.
MJ Jenkins gone too now, FUCK!
Who?
Developmental talent who was in the MYC and on NXT once or twice.
chioda should invade AEW, challenge aubrey for her role as top ref
After what has happened so far this year, it really is time for Vince to step back, IMO. Stuff has happened that was beyond his control, but I can't imagine him staying in power through all this....
Of course, the man is the unquestioned ruler of wrestlingland. He will continue to run that steamtrain until it falls off a cliff.
They have the money and the library to keep the company in cruise control while the world defends itself. I would push hard for all talent to go home and stay sharp until things start to blow over.
But they really need to have a sitdown w/ him. The product has been beyond stale for years and has been in dire need of a tuneup from the ground up. Vince just doesn't know how to bring the show back to anywhere near its former glory. The writers are shit and the status quo is mediocre. And keeping the shows going is IMO putting them in danger.
They're not gonna go up and release 19 or so people if they had the money to keep them.
Well they do have the cash and they just did. HHH should immediately resign as head of talent. He lost the Wednesday Night War and there needs to be some McMahon blood on deck as well. Vince needs to go away.
Eh, let all these accountants for Vince keep telling us what the real situation is lol.
This always happens during big releases. All these sudden fans of people nobody gave a shit about and/or wanted to see them leave are coming out the woodwork to chastise the WWE for doing what they were wanting WWE to do this whole fucking time.
It's a damn shame it really is. But the fact that so many of you are in the know is overwhelming. To those of you who are in the know, what kind of severance did the talent receive? What kind of compensation? I'd like to believe these men and women are going to be taken care of for the time being.
Just like any (many) other businesses during the Covid19 crisis, they're tightening the belt. I mean, even hospitals are laying off people (mostly due to elective surgeries being cancelled). Some of these businesses have to look at a long-range financial picture, as business people, not just as fans worried about week-to-week program progression.
Metzler confirmed the $500 million and the fact they have their TV deal plus advertisement money from that deal. So, it's not like the McMahons and their garbage board are going to go broke any time soon. Hiring people like Gronk for millions while people who actually wrestle are out the door seems really dumb right now.
Looking at the list of the people out today, I'm not sure what to make of it in terms of what could be potentially coming next. If you note who was let go, you'll see most of the acts were from Raw.
One of the only good storylines they've had in recent memory and they release the writer responsible for it.
We're going to see Rusev, Rowan, Harper and Gallows, Sarah Logan, EC3, and Lio Rush tearing up AEW by this time next year. Guaranteed.
Rusev is the perfect "big fish, small pond" ex-WWE guy. Hell, if he wanted to, he could probably be a killer monster in Japan.
A guy the size of Eric Rowan will never not have a place in somebody's organization. I know I said AEW, but man, Rowan could be the new monster for Impact wrestling. Or again, MLW could scoop him up. He's a little limited for Japan, but even then he could probably get a few shots there.
Gallows and Anderson, whatever tag-team name they decide on, are as wide-open as it gets in terms of possibilities. I'm picturing them as heels wrecking the Young Bucks, QT Marshall and Dustin, The Ambiguously Gay Best Friends, and So-Cal Uncensored. They could be the sort of team AEW wanted with The Butcher And The Blade.
Sarah Logan is a fantastic female talent who always felt like she was just on the bubble of becoming something cool and fun in the Big 'E. But they just never let her. I don't care what she calls herself, Logan becoming some kind of woodswoman survivalist and tearing the head off of RIHOOOO in AEW has potential.
EC3, if he can still use that name, is going to be a major player somewhere. For some reason, I'm feeling MLW. Honestly, if they wanted to give MJF a tag-team partner in AEW, EC3 would be perfect. They could say "He (EC3) comes from a rich wrestling family, that's best not mentioned."
Lio Rush is a little, athletic dude who does flippy-dippy shit and the internet already loves him. Jim Cornette hates him, and we all know anybody Jim Cornette hates is automatically over in AEW. Just like anybody who comes out of a box. Look forward to Lio Rush vs. Sammy Guevara until the sun burns out.
Last edited by Spudz Mackenzie; April 15th, 2020 at 10:53 PM.
Three PC coaches, Kendo Kashin, Ace Steel, and Serena Deeb, have been furloughed.
I guess its a bit somber to say but Lio Rush wasn't ready.
Shocking stuff. Spud being chucked was a shock. He made lemonade from piss and shit.
Pissing himself on live TV when their two-bit prop wouldn't work, the whole 24/7 title chase/reign, even adding a bit of fire to 205live which they clearly don't give a flying fuck about... without all that the guy has a great brain for the business and now they've chucked him whilst spending shitloads on cunts like Gronk and oh my god fucking fuck this stupid company. WWE Network subscription cancelled. That's it, I'm done.
Drake's video is one of the saddest things in wrrstling I have ever seen. I hope he finds work quick (unless there's a no compete clause for a while). Lovely bloke.
My sub ends on Saturday.
Ooh, been keeping that one dry have we stocky? Not really the time for that.
Vince needs to be removed at this point. This company is still being run like it was decades ago. The world has moved on.
Taking Saudi blood money, bribing elected officials, firing employees by text whilst having hundreds of millions in the bank.
I despise WWE and their business practices.
Though I will say there were some people there who had been hanging on well past their sell by dates.
Mike Kannelis - sucked, did nothjng
Maria Kannelis - used WWE to get two years maternity pay, horrible person
Zack Ryder - should have left years ago, but has no self respect so picked up a pay cheque to fund his action figure addiction
Curt Hawkins - bland
The optimist in me thinks that a few or all of these folks had contracts up soon anyway, and since they are contractors and not employees that they may have been told that they'll be welcomed back once house shows are up and running again, whenever that may be.
That opinion on Maria is shite. What is she meant to do, resign and go on welfare to support her children? Have an abortion because having a baby while under contract to WWE would be mugging them off? Come on. The world isn't black and white.
I don't think anybody is debating the talent let go, most of which were surplus to requirements. It's releasing them from a contract when there's no guarantee that the wrestling industry will be able to continue anytime soon with an audience, drastically reducing the opportunities for any of these people to work elsewhere. All while having more than enough capital to ride the wave while taking the financial knock like everybody else is. Lio Rush gets released 6 months ago and he's working and feeding his family. Lio Rush gets released yesterday and he's got to figure out how to pay his mortgage next month.
Be interesting to know if they got nice severance packages though.
Curious how so many are bitching about WWE doing what a fair few companies of size are doing, which is in an extremely unkind economic climate, letting go or furloughing those that are considered “non-essential”.
Im sure some of these names will be back when the time comes. And some won’t. That’s simply the way it is.
Also, I’ve seen here and there a few comments about “Well I bet this guy goes tears it up in AEW, they wouldn’t misuse talent like this shit organization.” Sounds awfully familiar to around 10-15 years ago with THAT hot upstart company that wouldn’t dare misuse the talent WWE has deemed unworthy.
This is the most love I've seen Drake Maverick ever get. Love when people get released and suddenly everyone cares about them.
I always loved Drake.
No, but she signed a new contract and THEN told them that she was pregnant. That was gaming them for sure.
good, thats great
I was sent this earlier today....
Spat all my food out..
Didn't know it was April Fools Day again..
What the fuck dude.
She leveraged a company well known for its many other malpractises. I say good on her really.
oh my god
romford pele in disliking women shocker
which is weird because he always hates on the saudi shows.
sounds like he belongs there.
(it's not a shocker, guys)
Maria K earned the right to use WWE for her maternity leave. Even if she didn't do anything too great in her last run, in her initial run she did every embarrassing "shake your ass in a bikini and hit each other with pillows" lingerie diva thing they asked of her. WWE literally made her look like an idiot. And all for what? To be let go, back then?
Then she comes back with her husband, who could have been a big deal, and who blew it with his drug addiction. She knew with him on the mend, there's nothing for her to do. Mike got Phantom Zoned even after he kicked the crack, and she used WWE to pay for her pregnancy. They used her like shit before and weren't going to use her for anything again. So fair play to her. She got hers.
Honestly, Mike Bennett is the one they're losing out on. The dude has like 15 years of experience in the wrestling business, he's a former World Champion, he's a solid in-ring hand, he can do comedy. He's a Jack of a lot of trades. And God damn, when he kicked the crank, he got himself in the best shape of his wrestling career. Maria K is a bimbo you can take or leave, but Mike Bennett-Kannelis should have been something.
when these mass releases happen, people always say that the other big american company will pick up the guys, which is mostly true.
i like seeing what guys go to njpw. it really puts some of these guys in a totally different element and have them up their game. or fall of the earth.
You belong in a septic tank.
She joined the company and barely did 3 months in 3 years. She blatantly used them - so yeah I'm not crying tears for her.
Apparently that means I hate women according to troll owl boy (let's be honest he has never been near a real woman has he)
I wouldn't be surprised if a few come back. That Cody ear cusping gif has been getting a good workout though.
As Spudz covered they did make her do some stupid shit as well. She took advantage of the employment law like any other job wanting financial security during her pregnancy and she got it. That doesn't maker her a horrible person, just smart.
What does it say when the WWE release the Greatest Tag Team in the World?
“Taking advantage” of an obscenely profitable company that majorly underpays its employees is a good thing
Indeed.
how dare she. she should have just not signed a contract when she knew she was pregnant. that greedy wench. shoulda just stayed home and grown the baby like a lady should
wow i can't believe you are wishing death on people. hopefully you never have someone you love in a septic tank. top work
Praying for my Shelton, he just signed a new deal not so long ago too.
praying for him to leave, i hope
His momma will look after him.
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