A high level WWE official expects WWE releases to be a “regular occurance moving forward,” according to Fightful.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, the official noted while more departures will happen, they personally think 2021 will be an outlier in terms of frequency and the level of talent being let go. It was also said mass releases hadn’t been discussed for nearly four years from summer of 2016 until the beginning of 2020.
As noted, 12 NXT Superstars and one referee were released from the company — the latest in a string of releases over the past year. The report noted it’s a collaborative effort on deciding who gets let go, but Vince McMahon can personally stop any from happening.
The WWE official said “it’s business” is the line being given within the company.
They also recalled WWE being in “talent stashing” mode back in 2018 where WWE looked to collect wrestlers, develop Performance Centers around the word, and then provide talent (native and international) with some traveling between each territories.
After about a year, that plan was slowed and a lot of talent was “parked” as NXT on USA becoming the focal point. Then the pandemic happened and that really put a stop to international plans.
This morning, Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast retweeted last night’s list of NXT releases and responded, “and more to come.”
