WWE Releases: Pandemic to Now - Last Updated 29/04/22

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

Apr 29, 2022 22:57:02 GMT -5 mistery said:

Dave mentioned in the daily update that from what he understands, the Dakota Kai cut was also because "after several main roster tryouts they didn't see her as main roster material" and that they are going to be cutting names who have "long tenures in NXT". Saying that Dakota spending nearly 10 years in NXT sealed her fate apparently. There was a lot of pushback from a lot of the coaches and low/middle management, but the higher ups saw no value in her at all.

Keep in mind not counting Candice since she is on maternity leave and is probably gone soon anyways, Roderick Strong and Io Shirai are the next most tenured talents on the show.

Yeah, so much of the talent is not gonna trust the company till Hunter and Steph are in charge, or Vince sells.

Like Hunter didn't get why Blue Pants was over, or why Enzo and Cas got so over as quick as they did, but he said "f*** it, I don't get it, but the crowd loves them, they're getting more time."

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Apr 29, 2022 23:35:20 GMT -5 Rave said:

Apr 29, 2022 19:40:17 GMT -5 Final Countdown Jones said:

The high chaos state of WWE right now, where you can be in the middle of a program people like or even fresh off a world title match, and just get cut for "budget reasons" without warning, can't possibly be good long-term for the fanbase's interest. But that's just the norm now. Come watch our show where every few months we'll purge a decent chunk of the cast, which will include people midway through a plotline you enjoy. This won't be an obstacle to your ability to get invested at all.

I'm having late Chikara flashbacks, this was a reoccurring issue. The second half of 2017 in particular suffered from it. Of course, that wasn't "budget cuts", that was Mike Quackenbush's assholery driving people away.

I even called it out more than once. It's nigh-impossible to get invested in anything if one doesn't know who's going to be around from month to month, and people certainly aren't going to try.

I mean earlier than that Cesaro vs. Eddie Kingston for the grand championship... which ended with a thud because Mike didn't make sure that Cesaro was signed until the end of the tournament... so midway through he leaves to go to WWE... and the entire Tournament misses it's main storyline.

[EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese]

Apr 29, 2022 23:43:11 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

Apr 29, 2022 23:35:20 GMT -5 Rave said:

I'm having late Chikara flashbacks, this was a reoccurring issue. The second half of 2017 in particular suffered from it. Of course, that wasn't "budget cuts", that was Mike Quackenbush's assholery driving people away.

I even called it out more than once. It's nigh-impossible to get invested in anything if one doesn't know who's going to be around from month to month, and people certainly aren't going to try.

I mean earlier than that Cesaro vs. Eddie Kingston for the grand championship... which ended with a thud because Mike didn't make sure that Cesaro was signed until the end of the tournament... so midway through he leaves to go to WWE... and the entire Tournament misses it's main storyline.

F***, this’d be what, 11 years ago now? No wonder people are thirsting for Castagnoli to show up in AEW. Other than all the other reasons, I suppose.

Where is it the ol’ Swiss Superman anyways? I know he’s gone from WWE, but I figured that because it was just the end of a contract, he’d have popped up somewhere else by now.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

Apr 29, 2022 23:47:47 GMT -5 EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese said:

Apr 29, 2022 23:43:11 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

I mean earlier than that Cesaro vs. Eddie Kingston for the grand championship... which ended with a thud because Mike didn't make sure that Cesaro was signed until the end of the tournament... so midway through he leaves to go to WWE... and the entire Tournament misses it's main storyline.

F***, this’d be what, 11 years ago now? No wonder people are thirsting for Castagnoli to show up in AEW. Other than all the other reasons, I suppose.

Where is it the ol’ Swiss Superman anyways? I know he’s gone from WWE, but I figured that because it was just the end of a contract, he’d have popped up somewhere else by now.

pretty sure he showed up on Adam Cole's Twitch stream at least once. He might just be spending a few months off to recover from the WWE schedule he was working.

I can't imagine he doesn't get an offer of any kind from AEW whenever he wants to get going again.

[EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese]

Today's releases leave WWE with the following televised win/loss records:

Dakota Kai: 39-48-1 (44.32%)
Dexter Lumis: 17-16-2 (48.57%)
Draco Anthony: 1-9-0 (10.00%)
Harland: 5-1-0 (83.33%)
Persia Pirotta: 5-6-0 (45.45%)

The other releases did not work a televised match.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Trying Dakota out so many times and having her employed for almost 10 years just to come out and say "We don't see her as main roster material", like they won't even TRY and give her a single chance to fail, they just cut her, after all that

That's a f***ing sick and twisted joke, I am really rooting for her wherever she ends up next. She will absolutely be treated with better respect by default than what WWE gave her, and absolutely wasted with her

Harland and Pirotta are really worth stash pickups too if anyone is interested in them. Like for the Nightmare Factory or even potential ROH depth when they start putting the roster together, they might not be bad ideas. It might be worth monitoring if WWE keeps releasing talent or if this is the end for now... I have a feeling it isn't and they're spacing it out a bit.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Apr 29, 2022 23:47:47 GMT -5 EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese said:

Apr 29, 2022 23:43:11 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

I mean earlier than that Cesaro vs. Eddie Kingston for the grand championship... which ended with a thud because Mike didn't make sure that Cesaro was signed until the end of the tournament... so midway through he leaves to go to WWE... and the entire Tournament misses it's main storyline.

F***, this’d be what, 11 years ago now? No wonder people are thirsting for Castagnoli to show up in AEW. Other than all the other reasons, I suppose.

Where is it the ol’ Swiss Superman anyways? I know he’s gone from WWE, but I figured that because it was just the end of a contract, he’d have popped up somewhere else by now.

My fantasy booking idea is he eventually shows up in AEW and helps Joe against Lethal, Dutt, and Satnam, and swings Satnam to a huge pop

I would probably do this on the PPV or the Pre-Show to the PPV but either way I'd mark if they did it

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Apr 29, 2022 23:43:11 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

Apr 29, 2022 23:35:20 GMT -5 Rave said:

I'm having late Chikara flashbacks, this was a reoccurring issue. The second half of 2017 in particular suffered from it. Of course, that wasn't "budget cuts", that was Mike Quackenbush's assholery driving people away.

I even called it out more than once. It's nigh-impossible to get invested in anything if one doesn't know who's going to be around from month to month, and people certainly aren't going to try.

I mean earlier than that Cesaro vs. Eddie Kingston for the grand championship... which ended with a thud because Mike didn't make sure that Cesaro was signed until the end of the tournament... so midway through he leaves to go to WWE... and the entire Tournament misses it's main storyline.

Ah yes back when Icarus became the defacto "They lost to him in their last matches so they left in shame" for both Claudio and Sara Del Rey...

[Jedi-El of Tomorrow]

Apr 29, 2022 23:51:14 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

Apr 29, 2022 23:47:47 GMT -5 EoE: Workin On My Night Cheese said:

F***, this’d be what, 11 years ago now? No wonder people are thirsting for Castagnoli to show up in AEW. Other than all the other reasons, I suppose.

Where is it the ol’ Swiss Superman anyways? I know he’s gone from WWE, but I figured that because it was just the end of a contract, he’d have popped up somewhere else by now.

pretty sure he showed up on Adam Cole's Twitch stream at least once. He might just be spending a few months off to recover from the WWE schedule he was working.

I can't imagine he doesn't get an offer of any kind from AEW whenever he wants to get going again.

He's been streaming a lot recently.

He even finally hit the button on himself! He and Cole were playing Fall Guys, and Cole invited Colt to join because Colt loves that game and is a master. They did squad shows to get Swiss a crown. At one point, Swiss kept pushing the buttons to skip the intro of the level and accidentally quit. So instead of 4 on the squad in that round, there were 3. After a little while of telling what happened, without any hype at all, he just hit the button on himself.

[thehottag]

Seems the only way to ensure that you're safe from being fired is to ask WWE if you can go.

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Apr 30, 2022 0:55:48 GMT -5 thehottag said:

Seems the only way to ensure that you're safe from being fired is to ask WWE if you can go.

Well Dakota said she had no intentions of renewing her deal but her deal was up soon... I guess the real lesson is "Don't ask WWE to cut you when you have like two years left"... at least Mustafa Ali's doing something as a babyface now...?

[dpg]

Impact has been trimming out it's own roster recently, for a refresh. Can see them grabbing Shaw, as it's essentially the same character as he was when he left, and they have room.

[Bo Rida]

Apr 29, 2022 17:46:27 GMT -5 thehottag said:

It is literally impossible for anyone to create a cohesive narrative under these conditions.

Imagine you were writing a series of books, & between each release your publisher makes you remove several characters with no explanation.

This is why we need somewhere that they can control their narrative.
Maybe someone could create a promotion called CTN?

[Andew9001]

Apr 30, 2022 1:14:14 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Apr 30, 2022 0:55:48 GMT -5 thehottag said:

Seems the only way to ensure that you're safe from being fired is to ask WWE if you can go.

Well Dakota said she had no intentions of renewing her deal but her deal was up soon... I guess the real lesson is "Don't ask WWE to cut you when you have like two years left"... at least Mustafa Ali's doing something as a babyface now...?

After what happened with Black and Harper it would never surprise me if he was gone in a few weeks.

[ThankGodForSidJustice]

Not calling someone up because you don't think they are main event material is such a dumb reason. Like if you don't think she's a main eventer fine honestly I don't think Dakota is either but at the same time I doubt they see Tamina and Dana Brooke as potential main eventers and yet they've both had main roster spots for years. Every roster needs depth, midcarders, people who can consistently give you a good match, and an influx of new blood here and there to prevent things from getting stale. Dakota is someone who could've provided all of those things. On top of that it seems like she was a very nice person who was really well liked and respected by her peers so I'm sure she would've been good for backstage morale as well.

[carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army)]

Apr 30, 2022 2:56:58 GMT -5 ThankGodForSidJustice said:

Not calling someone up because you don't think they are main event material is such a dumb reason. Like if you don't think she's a main eventer fine honestly I don't think Dakota is either but at the same time I doubt they see Tamina and Dana Brooke as potential main eventers and yet they've both had main roster spots for years. Every roster needs depth, midcarders, people who can consistently give you a good match, and an influx of new blood here and there to prevent things from getting stale. Dakota is someone who could've provided all of those things. On top of that it seems like she was a very nice person who was really well liked and respected by her peers so I'm sure she would've been good for backstage morale as well.

Not "not main event material." "Not main roster material."


(It's code for she didn't give them boners.)

[JoDaNa1281]

Apr 29, 2022 18:29:04 GMT -5 Richard said:

Apr 29, 2022 18:26:18 GMT -5 Ringmaster said:

That's simply not true.

Especially with Impact mostly doing taping to taping deals which doesn't leave a lot of room for people.

That's not...how their contracts work at all.

[Heartbreaker]

I honestly am not too mad about Dakota. I felt her release was coming. She's been on NXT for almost five years and the way they booked her was always pretty bad. Plus she turns 34 soon and in WWE (women) years that makes her 65. I'm sure she'll end up in Impact or AEW. Even if AEW's women's division is poor, at least she's making decent money and can continue streaming on Twitch. Hopefully her and Persia don't have too much trouble with visas... It's awful when anyone loses their job, but it's way worse for international talent.

Getting rid of Malcolm Bivens and Dexter Loomis, now that f***ing sucks. They were fun characters. Now I'm very worried for Cameron Grimes. He is the NXT Northern American Champion and that title is cursed.

[A Platypus Rave is Correct]

I really can't wait until Indie shows up again and her husband and best friend are just not mentioned...

[Heartbreaker]

Apr 30, 2022 4:06:39 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave is Correct said:

I really can't wait until Indie shows up again and her husband and best friend are just not mentioned...

I will laugh if they pair her with Duke Hudson.