WWE has officially announced that several roster members have been released, as of yesterday night. The company earlier issued a press release informing that budget cuts were coming which could include talent releases. Following that update, a total number of 16 superstars were let go from the roster.
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Here’s the entire list of released superstars that includes former world champions, married couples, former tag team champions, NXT talents and more,
* Rusev
* Kurt Angle
* Zack Ryder
* No Way Jose
* Mike Kanellis
* Maria Kanellis
* Primo
* Epico
* Rowan
* Sarah Logan
* Karl Anderson
* Luke Gallows
* EC3
* Drake Maverick
* Curt Hawkins
* Heath Slater
* Eric Young
* Lio Rush
Apart from these on-screen talents some of the backstage WWE producers, creative team members and announcers were also released. Kurt Angle used to be one of them, as well. Here’s the secondary list which revealed some of the officials are no more staying with the company.
PRODUCERS (Furloughed or released):
* WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle (Released)
* Billy Kidman
* Mike Rotunda
* Pat Buck
* Fit Finlay
* Shawn Daivari
* Scott Armstrong
* Sarah Stock
* Shane Helms
* Lance Storm
COACHES:
* Serena Deeb
* Kendo Kashin
* Chris Guy (Ace Steel)
ANNOUNCERS:
* Aiden English
* Jerry Soto
REFEREES:
* Mike Chioda
CREATIVE:
* Andrea Listenberger
ON-AIR TALENT:
* Josiah Williams
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Vince McMahon held a meeting to announce that some major cuts were coming the company’s way, as per the new policy adopted by the company. This was a direct effort due to the current coronavirus outbreak and how badly it affected the United States economy.
WWE later released an official statement about the coronavirus and the latest impacts on the company will have to bring in several changes which are as follow,
*Reducing executive and board member compensation;
*Decreasing operating expenses;
*Cutting talent expenses, third party staffing and consulting;
*Deferring spend on the build-out of the Company’s new headquarters for at least six months
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As a result, WWE had to cut down executive and board member salaries, operating expenses, talent expenses, and third party staffing/consulting. The statement also indicated that talent cuts were coming through the following statement, “The Company also identified headcount reductions and made the decision to furlough a portion of its workforce effective immediately.”
With that being said it was just only a matter of time that some of the talents had to become free agents. For the first time, WWE has released this much superstars and other members from the company, in a cue.
It surely can be considered a black day in pro-wrestling which has been badly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic.
