Is the empire crumbling before our eyes?

[JRH]

6 minutes ago, NintendoLogic said:

The IRS gimmick came about because Vince was mad about being audited.

.

Which makes it kind of funny considering when Rotundo returned to WCW it was as VK Wallstreet, an obviously blatant shot at Vince.

[Robert S]

On 4/25/2025 at 10:36 PM, JRH said:

Which makes it kind of funny considering when Rotundo returned to WCW it was as VK Wallstreet, an obviously blatant shot at Vince.

Even better was Virgil (an obvious shot against Dusty Rhodes, Vince at that point really had it out for Dusty considering Akeem "the African Dream") being called Vincent in WCW.

[JRH]

3 minutes ago, Robert S said:

Even better was Virgil (an obvious shot against Dusty Rhodes, Vince at that point really had it out for Dusty considering Akeem "the African Dream") being called Vincent in WCW.

And then WCW named him Vincent when he came to the company. Of course, this goes WAY back, according to Death of the Territories, JCP had a jobber named Vince McMann in the early 80s (footage of that is one of my lost media white whales).

[sek69]

My favorite was when JCP would use jobbers that looked like pasty white shapeless versions of Hulk Hogan.

[El-P]

Three more plaintiffs in the "ring boy" lawsuits.

Allegations of abuse including by Pat Patterson and, well, Koko B. Ware.

People still being in denial about Patterson probably won't take this one well. Koko certainly is a new name in the game. Details are pretty awful, as usual.

There you go.

[C.S.]

As expected, WWE released or didn't renew the contracts of a bunch of wrestlers.

• Kayden Carter
• Dakota Kai
• Braun Strowman
• Shayna Baszler
• Katana Chance
• Cora Jade
• Gigi Dolin
• Eddy Thorpe  
• Riley Osborne
• Jakara Jackson
• Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang)
• Oro Mensah 
• Javier Bernal
• Shotzi
• Dani Palmer

Office personnel and a host for shows like The Bump were also cut.

[El-P]

"Record gates, record profits"

I wonder how Shayna Baszler feels about that one after being the butt of a lesbophobic (with transphobic subtext) joke at that roast, just a few days after she played good soldier and defended WWE presence at Bloodsport.

Maybe TNA can pick Cora Jade, so she can be used in NXT while not being paid by WWE anymore.

I guess Braun is gonna Control his Narrative again.

A bunch of people in creative is hysterical too. I guess they were the one responsible for that shit-ass Cena heel turn booking and Mania match. I coudn't be Triple H, don't you know he works 8 HOURS A DAY doing creative ? This guy is such a genius and hard worker.

Anywoo. Check out Backlash to see great WWE action involving MAGAhead influencers in big matches.

(can't WAIT to see how AAA is gonna be a shit show)

[C.S.]

Jakara Jackson and Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey, and Wolfgang) added to the above list.

[C.S.]

Two more.

Oro Mensah 
Javier Bernal

They were jobbing in EVOLVE too, so I guess it's not a surprise.

[C.S.]

EVOLVE wrestler Keanu Carver just shot on MAGA Samoans. Has he already been released?

 

https://x.com/KeanuCarverWWE/status/1918503223658172534

[The Thread Killer]

That man is clearly an unparalleled wordsmith, and is destined to go down as one of the greatest orators in Pro Wrestling history.

[C.S.]

1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said:

That man is clearly an unparalleled wordsmith, and is destined to go down as one of the greatest orators in Pro Wrestling history.

Without a doubt. The fact that he's not teaching promo classes at the PC is a major missed opportunity.

(Actually, his promos seem decent enough in EVOLVE, believe it or not.)

[El-P]

Seems about as well put as anything else, really. Point has been made.

Fun fact, quite a bit of people getting released now were sent to TNA beforehand. It's gonna be funny now to have TNA idiotic fanboys act like WWE is not sending mostly people seen as "scraps", while talent sent to TNA will take it as a sign of impending WWE career death. 

[sek69]

Some of these releases are puzzling. Gigi Dolin should have been on the main roster years ago, and Jakara Jackson has tons of potential (not to mention her team with Lash was really starting to click). I suppose Cora Jade got the "injury prone" label, but she seemed like someone who they were priming to be one of the next top level NXT folks. Then you have RIley Osborne who didn't even seem to get a chance to show their worth.

[El-P]

If Karl Fredericks had not left NJPW, he would have been part of that main event at Dontaku day 1. Instead his status is now "former NXT guy who hasn't done jackshit for three years". He probably was paid better (although lower NXT contract aren't exactly big money either it seems) but not sure it was the best career move in retrospect. 

(BTW, Jeff Cobb still has not debuted, so WWE basically fucked NJPW over with his quick-ass departure. How surprising ?)

[JRH]

And it doesnt look like the women's division will be getting any bigger, Naomi has been talking in interviews about how she may be winding down her career soon.

[C.S.]

Speaking of Naomi...

Probably in poor taste, but also savage and hilarious.

https://x.com/TheTrinity_Fatu/status/1918683085467435124

[C.S.]

Add Shotzi to the list.

[The Thread Killer]

I have seen a lot of people complaining about these releases online, especially about the cuts made to the Women’s division. 

You never want to see anybody lose their job of course, but let’s be realistic here. There are approximately 30 roster spots for women on the WWE “Main Roster.”

Even with these cuts made over the past 24 hours, there are still 45 women in the WWE developmental system, on the combined WWEID/Evolve and NXT rosters. And that’s not counting women they can poach from TNA or other free agents they can sign like Mariah May. That’s just insane. They literally have more prospects than they do roster spots.

At some point, they are just going to have to make some room, and that’s obviously what they are doing here. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a good thing, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing either, especially if you are not a fan of WWE. You have to guess that Tony Khan will be scooping up a lot of the talented women who are cut from WWE, especially because ROH has such a strong focus on women’s wrestling.

[El-P]

This is a bullshit excuse. They are making an *obscene* amount of money. You could argue even the top stars are underpaid considering what WWE is making (hell, even CM Punk basically admitted this during Mania week). They don't release people because they "don't have anything for them" or because "the roster is cluttered". They fire people, including in the creative and production departments, which is always undersold for obvious reasons, to cut cost and make a little bit more money, to look good in front of the shareholders. End of story. They could just not renew them at the end of their contract if they don't have anything for them (which is the case for Shotzi). Oh, I forgot, WWE doesn't park people. 😎

And let's not even talk about people getting fired by WWE and getting hired by TNA aka WWE feeder system to the feeder system, just not on the WWE's paycheck.

From the names that have been released, it's also obvious that there are not anyone AEW would be super interested in, which of course is on purpose, and TK is probably (hopefully) way past the point of jumping on anyone coming from the WWE system. Some of them might be hired, but it's not like AEW doesn't have a strong women roster either at this point.

Also, interestingly enough, another LGBT+ person in the "gone" department.

 

[C.S.]

Dani Palmer too.

I guess anyone promoted to EVOLVE is at risk (yes, promoted, because it's the best show WWE has by a mile).

[Big Pete]

16 hours ago, The Thread Killer said:

I have seen a lot of people complaining about these releases online, especially about the cuts made to the Women’s division. 

You never want to see anybody lose their job of course, but let’s be realistic here. There are approximately 30 roster spots for women on the WWE “Main Roster.”

Even with these cuts made over the past 24 hours, there are still 45 women in the WWE developmental system, on the combined WWEID/Evolve and NXT rosters. And that’s not counting women they can poach from TNA or other free agents they can sign like Mariah May. That’s just insane. They literally have more prospects than they do roster spots.

At some point, they are just going to have to make some room, and that’s obviously what they are doing here. I’m not saying it’s necessarily a good thing, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing either, especially if you are not a fan of WWE. You have to guess that Tony Khan will be scooping up a lot of the talented women who are cut from WWE, especially because ROH has such a strong focus on women’s wrestling.

Tend to agree and a lot of the talent that's been released have received multiple chances to get themselves over and just couldn't deliver.

It's just the nature of the beast.

 

16 hours ago, El-P said:

Oh, I forgot, WWE doesn't park people. 😎

As TTK alluded to, I think these recent releases show they're keen to bring in new talent and give them the space to shine.

[El-P]

Sure. Like Hikuleo... We're getting near the one year point of him being signed. Not even *one* match. 😂

[PeteF3]

We're not asking for WWE to employ people indefinitely. We're asking them to honor the fucking contracts they signed talent to. ("But--but, the contract allows for a 90-day termination clause, so they're honoring them!" Shut the fuck up with that bullshit.)

If they want to do what they did with Shotzi and just not renew her contract when it expires, that's fine and dandy. You need turnover and you could argue that WWE should actually be more aggressive with doing that instead of less.

Also, personally, in the abstract I don't give much of a fuck about how much either company "benches" people except selfishly when it happens to people I really like. If they don't want to use someone, they're free not to as long as they're honoring the contract. But calling out WWE when they do bench people is more than fair after Nick Khan confidently declared that they don't do that.

[El-P]

8 minutes ago, PeteF3 said:

We're not asking for WWE to employ people indefinitely. We're asking them to honor the fucking contracts they signed talent to. ("But--but, the contract allows for a 90-day termination clause, so they're honoring them!" Shut the fuck up with that bullshit.)

If they want to do what they did with Shotzi and just not renew her contract when it expires, that's fine and dandy. You need turnover and you could argue that WWE should actually be more aggressive with doing that instead of less.

Also, personally, in the abstract I don't give much of a fuck about how much either company "benches" people except selfishly when it happens to people I really like. If they don't want to use someone, they're free not to as long as they're honoring the contract. But calling out WWE when they do bench people is more than fair after Nick Khan confidently declared that they don't do that.

This. 200%.