What to do when WWE releases you

By Javeon Mathews

Special to Niagara Frontier Publications

Just this year, WWE has released over 80 men and women from the company, which includes wrestlers and backstage aids. From big-named talent to developmental rookies not ever given a chance, tons of these releases have been shocking and frustrating to the wrestling audience.

Alyx, a wrestling journalist and youtuber says “You gotta understand, this is the end game for some of these talents. They always had dreams of working for WWE and then it gets crushed and I feel so bad for them”

The number of individuals who were in a major storyline before getting fired is astronomical. The mass talent exterminations happened on April 15, June 25, Aug. 6, and most recently Nov 4.

Karrion Kross and Keith Lee, after dominating the developmental rosters and moving up to the main roster brand of “Monday Night Raw”, went under character changes that lost their appeal of what made them popular in the first place. After suffering the effects of the main roster both superstars never recovered. Since “advancing” to the main roster, having their characters changed, and not being as popular as they once were, both of them were released along with their finances.

People such as Franky Monet, now going back to Taya Valkyrie, were hired this year and immediately fired only a few months later without getting a fair shot at success

Many of these released wrestlers didn’t get to show their true talents due to bad bookings and not being on TV.

WWE released a plethora of talents and the entire industry was shocked. However, WWE has always termed these releases as “budget cuts.”

Alyx continues saying “I don't get how they don't even get a shot to fail. It's one thing if you try them out and it didn't work but you [WWE] didn't even give them a shot, and they're gone”

A huge number of The wrestlers fired were people who didn’t have a chance to make a name for themselves, rarely on television to show an audience what they are capable of. Lackadaisical Fans skip over these names because they don’t know who they are.

Kavite Devi was the first Indian native female wrestler ever and got to compete in the first-ever Mae Young Classic. After that, she was rarely seen on television again.

Being released from the WWE is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it can elevate a person's career. Now that they are gone from the restricting WWE system, they have more creative freedom to do whatever they want.

Wrestlers have a chance to succeed in other promotions benefiting themselves and other companies. Of course, not every wrestler will succeed, but at least the wrestlers have a fair opportunity, too.

Wrestlers can’t immediately go back to wrestle because of WWE has a 90-day non-compete clause worked into their contracts: they're to protect both the talent financially and themselves as a company from any huge storyline or competition complications.

The question is what do wrestlers do when they are fired from the biggest wrestling organization in the world:

•Find another career path beyond wrestling.

Wrestling takes a toll on your body and not every wrestler can wrestle for their entire life. Getting a secondary career outside of wrestling can help support the family and pay the bills.

•Work for All Elite Wrestling

All Elite Wrestling has quickly captivated the wrestling world, peaking fans' interest and bringing some of the best wrestling in today’s wrestling era. Tony Khan’s promotion has renovated the wrestling scene rivaling WWE programming, financially and in entertainment. wrestlers such as Ruby Soho formerly known as Ruby Riott, and Malakai Black formally known as Aleister Black, who was fired and overlooked in WWE, have been reinventing themselves and peak interest in their new home.

•Work for Impact Wrestling

 Impact Wrestling, despite its shaky past, has continued to create wrestling stars under the radar. Despite not being as mainstream as other wrestling promotions, Impact Wrestling can give life to wrestling characters who have been squandered elsewhere. Just recently, the IInspiration (Jessica McKay and Cassie Lee) and Mickie James revitalized their careers after being disrespected and lost in the shuffle in WWE.

•Work for other indie promotions

 It's not the 1970s anymore. There are thousands of other wrestling companies everywhere around the world. Wrestlers can go to New Japan Pro Wrestling such as Buddy Murphy now going by Buddy Matthews and Bronson Reed now going by JONAH .Express more creativity like Mickie James, producer for National Wrestling Alliance. The wrestling landscape is so massive that anyone can make a name for themselves anywhere.

•Make more money

Wrestlers can make more money. With fewer travel dates and the choice of third-party platforms, wrestlers have the opportunity to make more money than they ever could in WWE.

•Rest and relax

With fewer travel dates, wrestlers can take time off to heal nagging injuries, spend time with their family and find other career paths beyond wrestling.

Even as writing this article, it looks like these releases have not stopped. Speculation is more releases to come in the near future to the detriment of fans. Wrestling fans are on high alert their favorite could be out of a job by the end of this year.

“I don't like the fact that we have to wait until this happens [people get released] before we could start caring about WWE … any time WWE is hot is when people get released now that's how bad it is” Alyx concluded with.

If a wrestler is released from WWE, it's not the end of the world. Serve the 90-day non-compete clause and weigh the better options for a successful future endeavor.

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