00:00The real reasons WWE released talent. Did Triple H know or have a say? One release name
00:06is quitting wrestling altogether and more. I'm Luke Owen and this is the WrestleTalk
00:12News.
00:15On Thursday it was reported that WWE had released 10-12 backstage names from the company, most
00:20notable of which was Christine Labrano, who oversaw the creative strategy from Raw, SmackDown
00:25and NXT and reported directly to Triple H. When we talked about this on Friday's WrestleTalk
00:31News, I noted that WWE often have a post-WrestleMania spring clean of sort, releasing both backstage
00:38and on-screen talent from the company. However, at the point the episode came out, I said
00:43there had been no report of talent being cut, just backstage personnel. I did however sort
00:49of predict that if WWE did release on-screen talent, they'd wait until late on Friday
00:54so it gets lost in the weekend news cycle. Well, I didn't have to record a video on
00:58my phone after a few glasses of wine, but I did have to do one on Saturday morning in
01:03my pyjamas.
01:05WWE released the following names. Braun Strowman, Shayna Baszler, Dakota Kai, Caden
01:09Carter, Katana Chance, Cora J, Gigi Dolan, Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, Wolfgang, Riley Osborn,
01:15Oro Mensah, Jakara Jackson, Javier Barnell and Eddie Thorpe. As is standard, main roster stars
01:20will have a 90-day non-compete, while NXT talent will have a 30-day non-compete. Dakota Kai
01:26posted to social media, gonna take a little time, but just know, we are far from done.
01:31I've been ready, let's go.
01:34There is some early speculation that AEW will have interest in Dakota Kai once her non-compete
01:39is over. Fightful Select report, Dakota Kai already has gained the interest of outside
01:43companies and top agents in pro wrestling, as they expect her to have plenty of offers.
01:49Kai's old damage control stablemate Eoskai posted,
01:51She is so much sweet, strong, kind, smart, wonderful and beautiful woman. My dearest and
01:56best friend, I love you, everyone loves you.
02:00Fightful also report that Baszler, who only re-signed with the company last year, was helping
02:04out in NXT recently, and her release was a big surprise.
02:08Sean Rossapp also reports some in NXT knew Jakara Jackson's release was coming, as they
02:12split her from Lash Legend this week.
02:15Korra J posted of her time in WWE, dropping out of high school at 15 to chase my dreams
02:19was scary, but I'm so thankful it worked out for the time it did. I got to live out
02:24so many childhood dreams, go so many places, do so many things, and most importantly, I
02:30met some of the most important people in my life that I know I'll have in my corner forever.
02:35Unfortunately, it didn't go how I envisioned, and I'm disappointed by a lot of things, but
02:40I can look back with no regrets, and I know I did everything with love and passion, and
02:45always stood up for myself even in the times I was scared.
02:48Roxanne Perez posted photos of herself and Jade calling her a WrestleSoulmate for life.
02:53Sean Rossapp noted that he expects Korra Jade, who is only 24, to be back in WWE at some point
02:59down the line. She has revealed that she'll be going back to her old in-ring name of Elena
03:04Black, and has set up an email address for bookings, which is, incredibly, a Yahoo email
03:09address. I've not seen anyone use Yahoo email since the mid-2000s.
03:14Regardless of the email host, it should be noted that this is for booking purposes only.
03:20After quite innocently posting her actual email address to Twitter.com, Korra Jade had
03:26to clarify, this is for bookings and inquiries only. You weird ass insensitive f**ks. I dread
03:34to think what was in that inbox.
03:36And it won't just be AEW interested in some of these names, as Fightful Select also report
03:40those we spoke to in MLW said that there will likely be interest from their side with a few
03:45of the women who got released.
03:47Following that initial dozen or so names, it was then reported that WWE had also come
03:52to terms with the release of Danny Palmer, and it was then reported that Shotzi would
03:56also be finishing up with the company. However, unlike the others, it's been reported that
04:00Shotzi was informed that her contract, which is up in less than 90 days, would not be renewed.
04:06She posted a video to social media which seemed to indicate that she knew this was coming,
04:10and her profile was moved to the alumni section of WWE.com.
04:14She posted to Twitter, I am more than grateful for the wild ride, can't wait to see where this
04:19crazy journey takes me next. I hope to make all my believers proud.
04:23Charlotte Flair, who was partnered on screen with Shotzi for a period of time, posted thank
04:27you for those months on SmackDown and long talks.
04:30Fightful Select report, we're told she pretty well saw the writing on the wall and prepared
04:35the promo that aired last week. She's said to be excited for her future and optimistic
04:40about what she'll do. Shotzi's also made a joke that her last match in WWE was on speed,
04:46saying can't wait to wrestle for a lot longer than three minutes.
04:49The same cannot be said for Danny Palmer, as Fightful Select report, those that we spoke
04:53to don't believe that Danny Palmer will continue in wrestling. She was an athletic recruit
04:59and has spoken about her athletic career coming to an end as a result of the release.
05:05We'll get more into the why of these releases in a moment, or at least the reported reason
05:09why, but the broad strokes is this. Money. These WWE releases are cost saving
05:15measures, saving millions of dollars in contracts. So really, they're just business decisions.
05:22So the question some fans have is, did Triple H or Shawn Michaels know in their creative capacities
05:27on the main roster in NXT that these releases were coming, or did they even have a say?
05:32As noted earlier, Jackson's release was potentially foreshadowed by the creative call to split
05:37her away from Lash Legend, which would indicate that Shawn Michaels did know it was coming.
05:42And Shawn Ross Sapp said on his Fightful podcast, if Triple H wanted to keep these people, they'd
05:47still be there.
05:49One of the more interesting names in the releases is Riley Osborn. Osborn hasn't been on NXT
05:54since the split of Chase U back in November, but has been featured recently on Evolve.
05:58However, all of those matches were taped far in advance, and Osborn has revealed via Instagram
06:04that he underwent surgery on March 7th. So he's been released while injured.
06:10Karl Anderson revealed that he was also injured when he was released from WWE this past February.
06:15In speaking about Riley Osborn specifically on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said
06:20his situation was one of those where it had to do with non-wrestling things. There was just,
06:27not political, that's not the right word. There were just certain things that happened with
06:31him, and it kind of led to them taking him off television. Meltzer adds he was not cut
06:37over talent.
06:38Which brings us to the big overarching question of the video. Why did WWE release these talents?
06:45As mentioned earlier, the headline reason is cost saving. And Dave Meltzer adds WWE main
06:51roster cuts were due to age and salary relative to how they were being used. NXT cuts were due
06:56to lack of development or training. These are the same reasons that were given for cuts
07:01earlier this year and last year.
07:03Speaking about Braun Strowman in particular, Meltzer said his salary was high and one person
07:08told me they felt he was paid more than how they were using him I guess is the best way
07:13to put it, but salary played a part in this.
07:16Strowman was previously released from WWE in 2021 reportedly for the same salary reasons.
07:21An interesting historical note is Strowman was released for the first time on the same
07:26day as Aleister Black, who had his return WWE match on the same day that Strowman was
07:31released for a second time.
07:33So that's the reported main roster reason, age and money, and the NXT reason is one we've
07:39heard before. WWE cut talent who they don't think are progressing to the level they want
07:44as quickly as they'd like. Meltzer adds that this was the reason for many, but not all,
07:49of this round of NXT cuts, adding some were perceived as not working hard in training.
07:55He continued, at this point if the feeling is you're not working hard in training, I
08:00saw the term lazy, the ones who are lazy are gonna be gone, and the ones who didn't stand
08:05out are gonna be gone.
08:07However this claim has been somewhat disputed by Gigi Dolan, who replied, when I wasn't
08:12traveling to work for either of the two companies I was working for, I trained very hard three
08:18to four days a week, bumping my ass off and doing cardio drills with one of the best slash
08:24toughest coaches I've ever worked with. And worked out every single day, with live events
08:29every other weekend. So yeah, I don't want to hear this lol, the way my body feels says
08:36otherwise.
08:37Dolan comments certainly seem to be in relation to the idea that some NXT talents have been
08:41branded lazy. And Cora Jade replied to Dolan's reply in support and added,
08:46plus can't forget having to go to my own gym outside of work after strength and conditioning
08:51that wasn't doing anything for me other than get me body shamed by my bosses, co-workers
08:57and fans.
08:58Jade doesn't name these bosses or co-workers, but comments like this are never a good look
09:04for WWE. Some even expect that WWE will announce the long-rumined Evolution 2 in the coming days
09:10as a PR move against this negative publicity.
09:13Given the new relationship, it will be interesting to see if any of these released names end up
09:17in TNA, which would also likely see them continue to do work with NXT. But TNA themselves have
09:23been crossing many T's and dotting several lowercase J's on new contracts.
09:28Having recently signed former WWE star Indy Hartwell, Fightful Select are reporting that
09:32TNA have also signed British wrestlers Harley Hudson and Mila Grace. Hudson had previously
09:37won a TNA gut check, but was unable to appear with the company due to visa issues. Apparently,
09:42it was Gail Kim, who is no longer with the company, that kept in touch with Hudson and
09:46according to Fightful Select, she'd been pushing internally for TNA to help speed up
09:51the process and bring her over for a year. They add that Hudson has actually been under
09:56a TNA contract for a while. Similarly, Mila Grace has also reportedly been with TNA since
10:02last year, and like Hudson, was pushed for heavily by Gail Kim. Both have been working
10:07dates in Europe and internationally. Grace did a spot at a recent Hustle show in London,
10:11as well as OTT, Eve, Noah and Marigold, while Hudson did some dates with Raya Cabaret, Eve,
10:16Burning Heart and ICW. If you're looking for something a little bit lighter in terms of
10:21wrestling stuff, myself and Oli Davis did our best to predict WrestleMania 42, that's
10:27next year's WrestleMania, way too far in advance. Check that out by clicking the video
10:32on screen.
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