Another round of WWE releases wasn’t a surprise and neither were most of the names, and since it came so soon after their merger with Endeavor it appears the reasoning was simply more cost cutting.
The timing was curious as it was buoyed by the announcement of the WWE returning to Australia for the Elimination Chamber and Smackdown’s new TV deal with the USA Network.
Recent WWE Releases Were Based on Cost vs. Returns
It makes sense since with two big positive headlines the negative ones wouldn’t get as much notice, especially with so much of the news about the WWE being negative over the last year and Vince McMahon centric.
Still, the releasing of talent on the heels of laying off roughly a hundred office personnel had some of us scratching our heads since it’s not time to the standard release season.
The reason
According to Wrestlingnews.co, the WWE was planning to cut back up to $100 million from their expenses after their merger with UFC.
While the releases the last couple of years were most likely to widen the WWE’s profit margins to appear more enticing, this time they were to help streamline things.
Since forming their new company, TKO Holdings Group, there was going to be some crossovers of different people in different position between the WWE and Endeavor, so the extra positions were removed to cut back on costs.
In many ways, it’s a easy formula to follow but it’s difficult when dealing with it on a personal level. As far as the wrestling talent goes, each had their fans and they’ll be missed, but the WWE was hardly using them for a while now or they were misusing them.
According to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it came down to how much the company was investing in their talent vs. how often were they used and would they be used in the future.
In short, were they going to be a good investment for the company to make.
“The key to the releases were talent making main roster money but not being used on the main roster and with the idea that they were not going to be used in the future.”
Meltzer even quoted a WWE official who reportedly told him “It’s time in vs. how much money you are paid vs. return on investment.”
In the end, it’s just business. As for who will go where now, we’ll have to wait for their non-compete clauses to run out.
Let the speculation begin!
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