WWE had 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.Â
Previously, more details regarding WWE’s decision to release Braun Strowman from his contract had been revealed. Braun Strowman’s contract 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.
Strowman made his return on a previous week’s episode of Monday Night RAW. He then powerbombed Otis on Smackdown this week.
According to PW Insider, McIntyre has been very ill with bad food poisoning. In spite of that, he powered through the aforementioned segment, but was replaced by Braun Strowman during WWE live events.
The word making the rounds is that McIntyre has been very ill with bad food poisoning but gutted his way through SmackDown (including getting an IV treatment to help him get through the show) but the company made the decision to pull him from the road so he could rest. They tapped Braun Strowman to make the Smackdown live events this weekend in McIntyre’s place, surprising fans with Braun’s first live events since returning to the company.
