Following the announcement that WWE had agreed to be acquired by The Endeavor Group, with the intention of merging WWE and UFC to form a new publicly traded company, there has been concern about talent releases and employee layoffs.
As PWMania.com previously reported, Endeavor COO Mark Shapiro stated that employee layoffs would occur because Endeavor already has people in certain WWE departments who can handle things. It makes no financial sense to have two groups of people doing the same thing.
The acquisition is expected to be finalized later this year.
Dave Meltzer was asked on Wrestling Observer Radio if WWE cuts talent, does he see WWE releasing Drew McIntyre before he retires. McIntyre and the company are at odds over his contract because they disagree on the deal. McIntyre’s WWE contract is set to expire in less than a year. He’s also reportedly dissatisfied with the creative process.
“I would doubt it, but it’s always a possibility. They haven’t talked about doing cuts with talent. They haven’t really said. They’ve said production, and they’ve said creative there’s gonna be no cuts. There’s gonna be lots of cuts in office people. I don’t anticipate cuts with talent. I don’t think with Drew. I’m going to say no,” Meltzer said.
