Report: ‘Hundreds’ Of WWE Releases Expected

Yesterday, April 15, was a truly devastating day for the world of wrestling, as WWE decided to release dozens of wrestlers, producers and backstage staff in an attempt to cut costs amid the global pandemic.

The majority of reports suggest the company did not have to do this, and in fact would only be saving around $4 million a month, which is about the same as the company pays Goldberg for one match.

As a reminder, here is a list of everyone who lost their job yesterday, courtesy of WWE.com.

WWE has come to terms on the release of Kurt Angle, Rusev (Miroslav Barnyashev), Drake Maverick (James Curtin), Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona), Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra), Luke Gallows (Drew Hankinson), Heath Slater (Heath Miller), Eric Young (Jeremy Fritz), Rowan (Joseph Ruud), Sarah Logan (Sarah Rowe), No Way Jose (Levis Valenzuela), Mike Chioda, Mike Kanellis (Mike Bennett), Maria Kanellis, EC3 (Michael Hutter), Aiden English (Matthew Rehwoldt), Lio Rush (Lionel Green), Primo (Edwin Colon) and Epico (Orlando Colon Nieves). We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.

A number of producers, including Kurt Angle, Finlay, Lance Storm and Hurricane Helms were furloughed, meaning they haven’t been released, but will not be paid until further notice.

Unfortuntely, it looks as though the eventual number of releases is set to grow massively, as WrestleVotes reports the final number will likely be in the hundreds.

All I can say is wow at this point. The number of people, staff + talent, let go will be in the hundreds when it’s all set and done. Well into the hundreds. A dark day in WWE history.

— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) April 15, 2020

It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean hundreds of wrestlers, but hundreds of staff throughout the company. Having said that, we are expecting another wave of wrestlers being released, possibly once filming for this week’s SmackDown has come to a close.

If you want to support those who have been released, please head over to their personal stores or prowrestlingtees.com to buy a t-shirt or some merch.

 

• Releases
• Drake Maverick
• Vince McMahon
• wwe

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