There have been rumors of WWE talent and staff being released after WrestleMania as the company looked to cut costs during WrestleMania week in preparation for the sale.
One person working behind the scenes believed that releases (talent, backstage, office staff, or all three departments) were due as soon as this month, WrestlingNews.co reports.
According to sources, at least one person has been preparing for life after WWE. We don’t have confirmation that releases are on the way, but some people in the company believe that people will be cut, particularly those who haven’t been seen in a significant role on TV in recent weeks.
Aside from the expected cuts as a result of the sale, there is also concern about Vince McMahon becoming more involved in creative. Despite Nick Khan, Triple H, and Vince himself indicating that Vince would only be in charge of the big picture, Vince was said to be heavily involved in the creative on Monday night’s RAW.
Multiple outlets reported today that changes made by Vince McMahon over the weekend and at RAW have resulted in a drop in morale, and it’s believed that multiple wrestlers are already exploring what their options would be if McMahon continues to be involved with WWE programming on a regular basis. According to Fightful, at least two talents, including one near the top of the card, have stated that if “this is a trend moving forward,” they will likely request their release.
Another talented reportedly said that they will just “ride out” the rest of their contract with the company.
Fightful also noted the following about talent being frustrated over the situation; “There were several that said they didn’t even think the changes were creatively poor, but the entire dishonesty of the situation considering that over a dozen of these people had previously been fired under Vince McMahon was a depressing blow.”
While there were many changes Monday night and during WrestleMania, keep in mind that Vince McMahon was in town because it was the company’s biggest weekend in its history. If Vince is not backstage on SmackDown or RAW next week, there will be fewer rewrites and chaos behind-the-scenes.
More will be revealed in a few days when SmackDown goes to Portland, Oregon. Stay tuned to PWMania.com for more.
