Bronson Reed was one of the mainstays of NXT, even becoming the NXT North American Champion at one time. There were plans of him to be called up to the main roster, but they never came to fruition. WWE have released Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Lana, Ruby Riott, Santana Garrett, and Buddy Murphy. The reason cited was part of budget cuts, and Strowman was being paid $1.2 million per year according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The former WWE Universal Champion signed a new contract in October 2019, so the budget cut regarding Strowman is the WWE’s biggest saving financially from all of the talent cuts in the last year plus during the pandemic. Braun Strowman was fired by WWE for a very surprising reason as well.
Previously, more details regarding WWE’s decision to release Braun Strowman from his contract had been revealed. Braun Strowman’s contract definitely played a role in him getting fired. On top of that, Braun Strowman was viewed as an ‘obsolete’ WWE Superstar and ‘two years past his prime.
That was only just the beginning as WWE continued to release several Superstars o the past few months. Their latest set of releases included the likes of Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, Ember Moon, Mia Yim and Nia Jax.
“It’s definitely not good for morale [mass WWE releases], I’ve spoken to people who are still there, it just puts people on edge, people walking around on eggshells and stuff like that,” said JONAH. “For example, when the first few rounds of cuts happened; which are never good when someone gets released. I was one of those people that never worried about it. I never thought I was going to be released.””From speaking to some of the higher ups in WWE, they always said things like, ‘You’re gonna have a job for a long time’ and not to worry,” he added. “Then when I was released, people that are close to me in NXT and WWE are now worried for themselves… I think a lot of people put their faith into the talent that, ‘Of course you’re not gonna be released, you’re too talented.’ But I don’t think it’s about that. I don’t know a hundred percent why they were doing the releases, they always cite things like budget cuts but it’s definitely not budget cuts {laughs}. I am not a hundred percent sure why but it can happen to anyone.”
H/T POST Wrestling for the transcription.
