The WWE Goes On A Releasing Spree

Wrestlemania season is over and normally after the show of shows, the WWE goes on a bit of a releasing spree. This year is no different but the amount of releases has been above the norm as Vince McMahon was forced to cut costs, due to Covid-19. These cuts came one day after the state of Florida announced that WWE was an essential business, which means they are able to continue and not have to follow stay at home orders.

The WWE has not missed a beat so far as all of their shows have gone on as planned, including Wrestlemania. Their events have gone on without fans, of course, but still, they have gone on. Many of the events over the past month or so have been taped but this week, the WWE has gone back to having live shows. It is a step in the right direction but we still have a long way to go before we get back to having fans in the stands. Watching Raw and Smackdown without any fans took a bit to get used to but I was finally used to it by the time Wrestlemania was shown.

On Wednesday, the WWE announced that it was making cuts to the roster and also reducing the salaries of some of its executives in order to help improve cash flow. Most of the wrestlers released were small players in the game but there were some bigger names as you can see from the is below.

Lio Rush

Heath Slater

Drake Maverick

Curt Hawkins

Kurt Angle

Luke Gallows

Karl Anderson

EC3

Eric Young

Aiden English

Sarah Logan

Mike Chioda

Primo

Epico

Eric Rowan

Mike Kanellis

Maria Kanellis

Zack Ryder

No Way Jose

Rusev

The three that are the most shocking to me are Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and Rusev. You can also throw Kurt Angle into the mix as he is a WWE Hall Of Famer.

Anderson and Gallows are apart of a group called the OC, which also includes AJ Styles. The three were just involved in a Boneyard Match against the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. It was an epic match which took about eight hours to film. The Undertaker won the match but all three members of the OC had their moments.

Rusev is really a shocker. Yes, he has been on the shelf of late, but he is also one of the biggest fan favorites and is married (in real life) to Lana, who is still on the roster. In a storyline that has taken place of the last few months, Lana left Rusev for Bobby Lashley and eventually married on an episode of Raw. The two are beginning to have some cracks in their relationship show, which means a split up is coming and Lana would go back to here real-life hubby, Rusev. How will the WWE spin that story now, with Rusev no longer on the roster? We shall see.

Heath Slater didn’t do much in the WWE the last couple of years but he is also good for a laugh and I will miss him. Eric Rowan was a beast but still, I can see why they got rid of him. He just hasn’t been much of a player for the WWE of late. Sarah Logan is a notable loss from the woman’s side as she once was a member of the Riott Squad, plus she was in the Elimination Chamber match in February and this past week on Raw, she faced Shayna Baszler. One other name I would like to mention is Mike Chioda, who has been a referee for the company for many years. He will be missed.

Now, we have discussed some of the key losses but maybe they didn’t have to go if Vince got rid of some of the other big contracts on the roster, who do not participate that much at all.

$3m Goldberg

$10m Brock Lesnar

$15m Tyson Fury

$5m Cain Velasquez

That is per year and 33 million dollars could have been saved last year. I like Goldberg, but he getting older and only shows up once a year or so. In Fact, he just had a match at Mania, in which Braun Stroman beat him for the title. Reports after the show were that the WWE had to get the title off of him as his salary per match is just too much.

Brock Lesnar finally lost his title but when he did have it, he would not have very many title defenses or even appearances on Raw. I would like to see him out of the WWE, personally. Tyson Fury is a boxer and was in just one match while Cain Velasquez, is from UFC and has also been in one match. Both were in Wrestlemania 35. The last two are not even wrestlers and some good men lost their jobs because of them. That is very frustrating.

As I write this, I am also getting unconfirmed reports that NXT may now be cutting the majority of its roster. Will that happen? It remains to be seen. One thing for sure, the WWE will have a new look and feel to it in the coming months.