It was another dark day in the professional wrestling world. Oh, wait I’m sorry the Sports Entertainment world as there was another round of releases by WWE on Thursday. And it seems these cuts come after WWE has their quarterly earnings call. Another profitable quarter for WWE and more talent lose their jobs. Why, because they are not good enough. Nope. It’s because Vince McMahon, Bruce Prichard and the rest of that group do not know how to use the talent they acquired several years ago.
More WWE Talent Releases Because WWE Creative Is Useless
Before AEW was a thing, WWE was signing all this talent from the independent scene and putting them into NXT. And WWE’s roster at the time was one of the best in history. It could rival the Attitude Era’s roster that’s how good it was. However, despite getting over in Triple’s H NXT, that is a topic for another time, they were missed managed constantly. There is a long list of guys who have been mismanaged and have left for greener pastures in AEW, Impact, or NWA. Not because they were not good enough for the big stage, but creative did not have anything for them or did not use them in the proper way.
Vince McMahon saw these wrestlers or performers as toys. When he was tired of one of his toys or performers that were called up from NXT, he moved on to the next one. That is why a lot of these guys could not get over because Vince did not give them time to get over. Back in the 90s and early 2000s, Vince had no choice to give new performers time, because there was no developmental system like NXT to pluck from. Now he does or did now that all the talent has been let go over the past year and a half.
Take for example a guy like Keith Lee. Super over on NXT and during the 2019 Survivor Series caught the eye of Vince McMahon because of his look. He even goes toe to toe with Roman Reigns. Enters the Royal Rumble, does well for himself there and you think, ok this guy is going to make it because he is a Vince guy. Wrong after winning both the North American and NXT titles, he quickly loses both and is called up to the main roster. But instead of using the look that got him over, WWE has changed him all around.
Because WWE saw NXT not as a third brand, but as developmental, Vince and his crew wanted Keith Lee to change the way he did things in the ring. Because a big guy should not do what Keith Lee was doing. That is how Keith Lee got over. And that is the problem, changing things that work. But like I said before we can go into depth another time between the misconceptions about what NXT really was. But Lee is just one of a hundred examples that fell into that category. Do not get us started on how they ruined Karrion Kross.
Budget Cuts Really?
But it gets better because instead of honestly saying the company does not know how to use this talent, WWE cites budget cuts when there are WWE talent releases. When a company that has record profits for the last three quarters cites budget cuts something is wrong. WWE has never taken care of its talent. Not even during a pandemic and that is when the talent releases began.
CM Punk had his famous promo that is going around Twitter on John Laurinaitis.
It was called to my attention that this was in part reference to Harry Smith, who was released again today after not being used. 10 years and 3 months later. @CMPunk was both ahead of his time and right on time at the same time. https://t.co/EoAH9q02Q1 pic.twitter.com/4KLKcX4UMO
— Kate (@KateOnDeckIC) November 4, 2021
Who thought this promo from 10 years ago would carry into 2021. But CM Punk was ahead of his time. It truly is gutless to cite something that is not true. The company has money, they just do not need or want these wrestlers anymore. Not because they make too much money, because they do not know what to do with them. WWE has a creative problem and it starts at the top.
Something Has To Change
How many times is this going to go on? WWE hoarded talent because they did not want them signing anyplace else. Yet, the guys on creative and the writers, who were never involved in wrestling, do not have anything for them. It is only a matter of time before WWE has nobody left. Guys like Kevin Owens, Kyle O’Reilly, Sami Zayn, and others that do not fit the Vince look will soon be gone. WWE is not the be-all or end-all anymore. With AEW emerging as competition and Impact Wrestling and NWA out there as well, those talented wrestlers will have work soon enough.
And like those who were a part of WWE releases in the past, they are showing WWE made a huge mistake. If only they had better writers and a guy in charge who changed with the times. Instead, he is still living in the 1980s.
