At this point, I am thrilled for anyone that gets their release from the WWE. The practice of stockpiling talent just so nobody else can use them and compete leads to wrestling careers going nowhere and people sitting off TV for 6 months at a time.
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Iām not sure what was wrong or depressing about anything you listed.
I assure you that everybody you listed that you saw at that show (especially Dudleyās and Hardyās), had a guarantee in terms of pay, had flights and hotel paid for them, and made lots of extra money at the merch tableā¦
Big Time consistently brings in some big names, and I imagine takes care of those talents.
Gibson and Morton have managed to continue working for an extra 30 years past their expiration date on TV, and seem to be enjoying themselves at some level, or else they would have stopped a long time ago.
Itās going to be on a lot of the talent released, if they want to continue to work, to make the most of this change in their lives. Iām sure there will be those who hit the ground running trying to make the most of it and reinvent themselves, while others will rely on their 15 minutes of fame on TV. People will get our what they put into it.
Just like their is nothing wrong with actors from obscure slasher movies, enjoying multiple weekendās a month, appearing at horror conventions, making money signing autographs.
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WWE is one company, sure itās the biggest company but there are so many other opportunities for talented people all over the world with more creative freedom and, most importantly, the ability to do things other than wrestling to make money.
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Yeah, Iām sure they want to be exacerbating the damage 40+ years of wrestling has done to their bodies in their 60ās working for a few hundred bucks. Itās absolutely nothing to do with them needing the money.
The thing for me as well is that thereās no reason people should be not doing anything. By my count this company tapes 8 hours of in-ring television every week, plus this upcoming Evolve show and all of the non-wrestling content they produce. There is more than enough time to feature all of their wrestlers, they just donāt want to.
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Agreed, fans look at it from the perspective of āwhatās better for me as a fanā not āwhatās better for the performers and their familiesā.
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Yes, because RnR Express is working a crazy style on these random shows?
No, they probably donāt even bump anymore.
Also, they are doing their jobs, that they enjoy doing, and making money doing it. What is your genuine issue with this?
My issue is your bullshit narrative that these nobodies will make more money outside of WWE than they were whilst part of WWE and that two 60 year oldās are still wrestling because they love beating their 60 year old bodies up as opposed to they need the money.
Where did I ever say this?
Jesus man, you want to disagree with every post I make so badly, youāre making shit up.
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Yep! I remember when I was told I called him a homophobe, then when I asked to show the post (because I never said it) he stopped responding to me. King of the strawmanās.
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I donāt think anyone is arguing that the people released today (Joe apart) are incredible wrestlers that will all sail into daveās hall of fame, but calling a bunch of people who have lost their jobs nobodies and basically saying they signed up for it by working for WWE is salty even by your standards, man. I say this with no ill will, but ninety percent of your posts are snarky, bitter and hostile to people in wrestling or your fellow posters. Chill out, dude.
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Heās managed to successfully derail two threads today for no reason, other than to be contrarian. Itās fucking annoying.
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Iām going to have to disagree with you here, not just to do it for the sake of arguing, but because youāre incorrect. I was surprised that these two guys that I used to watch on Superstation TBS at 6:05 Eastern on Saturday nights as a 12 year old kid in the 80ās still had the gas in the tank to put on a good match. I fully expected a 5 minute walkthrough match. These guys went bell to bell and still bumped like it was 6:05 pm in ā85. Same thing happened with Lawler and Funk in a 6 man tag with the R&R Express at another BTW show. Funk was with R&R Express and Lawler was with Brian Christopher and Doug Gilbert. I didnāt expect Lawler and Funk to do much of anything but hang on to the tag rope and cheer lead (especially Lawler post heart attack). I was wrong. They were all over the floor hitting each other with anything that wasnāt nailed down. It was jaw dropping to see the physicality of these two broken down dinosaurs.
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One question I have to askā¦how the hell have Blake and Cutler been released while Jason Rykar is still on TV every week. Guys sucks in the ring, sucks on the stick, and heās a dick.
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It sucks even more when it appears that he got the forgotten sons pulled from TV in the first place. Then he got put back on TV and they got cut.
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I donāt get why so many people are distraught over these releases. Yes itās sad to lose your job but if anything WWE did these guys and gals a favour by releasing them. They were all just floundering there. Why would you want continue seeing these people in awful 24/7 segments and corny backstage scene with celebrities and āLegendsā. Thereās so much better creative out there, Iām sure they will all find their spot.
Joe is the most interesting one to me, I didnāt think he was an amazing commentator but he was really useful for interviews and promos. Heāll no doubt find somewhere.
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Hands up. My mistake Mark. I confused you with TheBenjamin.
Well isnt ābudget Cutsā like their way of saying we are over the luxury tax and donāt want to take the cap hit?
Talent budget may be full. Would that shock anyone?
Also for the āTalent should be treated like real independent contractorsā argument. This would mean WWE can pay them on a use basis and talents sitting there would not have been paid for months. No Dallas wouldnāt have seen a dime for over a year if he was paid for usage. And nobody would ever get fired theyād just not be used in perpetuity. So isnāt this kinda just that but under a questionable employment status
Also if King Corbin Or Nia Jax got released would people feel sad for him or her. Based on pleas to never see these people on TV again I suspect this is very subjective
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I feel like if this were not a wrestling industry situation and like, we stepped back and tried to use this argument about any other person in any other industry - oh hey, why would you want that job that has an easier work load and you get paid a good amount to do it and donāt have to be thrown out into a world that is far from secure just because people who when it comes down to it, will have no problem moving on from you if you do disappear, seem to think itāll be helpful - we might find some of the reactions wrestling fans have to releases a bit strange?
Like itās a fairly easy response pattern - this is kind of the natural order of how the wrestling business works, āso Iām not shocked by itā. Iāll be glad for the people who do want to do something new having that chance. Iām going to be aware and have empathy for those who donāt have the same plan for their careers as nameless, faceless fans on the internet who might not have any clue what their dreams and goals are in this world. And in general, āwill just hope this works out for everyoneā. But Iām not going to pretend like itās a blanket āthis was a favor to people to lose their jobā isnāt just an overgeneralization based upon how a chosen few have recovered from similar events and that for quite a few of these people, this could always be the end of the road and or a path that is far harder on them than it otherwise would have been.
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Well fortunately this is a wrestling industry situation where being released by a major company can often make you an in-demand talent. And yes I agree perhaps not everyone that was released will find consistent work but as someone has already eluded to on this thread, it is not WWEās obligation to house talent that canāt find work. If you are a talented performer who wrestling fans find engaging you should have confidence to enter free agency.
Could they have kept all these performers and still meet their financial targets? Absolutely. But I donāt fault them for trimming their roster if thatās what they want to do creatively or otherwise.
I would be more mad at how they used this talent, or more to the point how they didnāt use them.
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