Is WWE making roster cuts for an influx of new talent?

[rge2010]

We all know WWE's stock has dropped and we all know the network numbers are not as high as they first estimated, but the release of all that talent the other week wasn't just to make room on the main roster for NXT 'call ups' nor do I believe it was a 'cost cutting exercise'.

I believe that this was a move to free up revenue for an influx of new talents coming to WWE very soon.

Lets look at the evidence.

Kenta & Prince Devitt
Both have just signed with WWE after leaving Japan. While neither will be on mega money I would hazard a guess they will be on more than any of the talent released.

Brock Lesnar
I honestly think if he is in the main event at Summerslam which looks 99% certain, he will win the belt. I think WWE have agreed a lot more dates for his 'final run' in the company. Brock ahs gone on record saying Mania 31 will be his last 'for a while' so I think he will be seen fairly regular on TV until that big day. This will come at a cost.

Sting
Everything points to a Sting signing. Maybe he hasn't yet but he and the WWE are on good working terms and WWE would be stupid to pass up the chance to get the icon in their ring after many years of rejections. Sting last week said he wants Undertaker. This is going to happen but will cost.

Kurt Angle
He continues to prostiture himself to WWE and I think WWE will take the bait. Angle is sober, will pass the medicals and there is money to be made off potential feuds with Bryan, Cesaro, Lesnar etc. Angle will come at a cost.

The Rock
It won't be long before we see this man back for 'another run'. He said yesterday he would wrestle again and I wouldn't be surprised to see him involved at Mania 31 in some capacity. IWC members said he was done but he isn't.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I don't think it's to free up for new talent, I think it's a definite message to the remaining ones that their current guaranteed deals will end and things will go back to the late 80's model, where you have to work to be paid more than a minimal downside guarantee.

Guys like Drew were on more money than Jinder for example, but nuking him out sent a message to other midcard talents that they are going to take less or not be there... if they don't they'll not be renewed or released and guys like Drew will come back.

The talent WWE is acquiring are far more used to the "freelance" way of doing business. As such I don't see them on guaranteed deals, but higher paid than usual per appearance deals/downside, perhaps half over their last year's Indy money. In KENTA and Devitt's case, both have personas that lend themselves to a gimmick or merch, which is where the bulk of the money will now come.

Take Cody, he isn't going with Stardust cos he wants "push", it's cos it's a marketable gimmick he can replace his lost PPV/Network money with more merch sales... gloves, masks etc...

Vince is serious about cuts... Guys like Rock pay for themselves... the merch, attendant publicity and extra buys/subs will do that. Brock not so much cos its' not good value per appearance as his market is niche...wrestling fans and UFC fans... Rock however is the biggest star in Hollywood, everyone knows him so $10m spent on him is value.

If Brock is working more dates its for what he is getting or close to it because he has no leverage... Dana White isn't beating down his door any more and no one else can afford him... so he does 15 dates instead of 10 for the same money but gets the belt and that extra merch/sponsor money from his shorts sponsors for being the champ for a spell.

The talent coming in is the "cream" of the indy scene, guys who like Punk are going to be hungry for success, perhaps take "less" in the short to medium term and if they can get over then Vince will have no problem paying them more... but not as much as Punk got... he doesn't want another guy walking so soon so they will have to "hustle" and get over to get the big bucks... not like Punk who got a bigger deal when he first resigned and leveraged a much bigger one the 2nd time.

Vince is not going to allow these new talents to be in a position where they can call shots themselves... they may have gotten some concessions coming in but once it... they will be carefully managed to ensure they don't get too big, too rich or too popular compared to existing talents.

 

[Creepy Old Man]

See, I'm not convinced WWE wants Angle. Last time his TNA contract came up, WWE refused to enter into negotiations. He's too much of a liability. Now it sounded great when Angle declared that he'd been sober for a year, but he was then smashed on a plane, according to WWE employees on the same flight.

Angle is obviously one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, but WWE simply can't afford to have Angle getting into trouble on their PG watch. With Brock Lesnar and Sting on hand for WrestleMania, there's enough memories of yesteryear to sell the show.

 

[wwesux]

STING won t wrestle neither will ANGLE not with hectic schedules like wwe has

 

[wwesux]

We all know WWE's stock has dropped and we all know the network numbers are not as high as they first estimated, but the release of all that talent the other week wasn't just to make room on the main roster for NXT 'call ups' nor do I believe it was a 'cost cutting exercise'.

I believe that this was a move to free up revenue for an influx of new talents coming to WWE very soon.

Lets look at the evidence.

Kenta & Prince Devitt
Both have just signed with WWE after leaving Japan. While neither will be on mega money I would hazard a guess they will be on more than any of the talent released.

Brock Lesnar
I honestly think if he is in the main event at Summerslam which looks 99% certain, he will win the belt. I think WWE have agreed a lot more dates for his 'final run' in the company. Brock ahs gone on record saying Mania 31 will be his last 'for a while' so I think he will be seen fairly regular on TV until that big day. This will come at a cost.

Sting
Everything points to a Sting signing. Maybe he hasn't yet but he and the WWE are on good working terms and WWE would be stupid to pass up the chance to get the icon in their ring after many years of rejections. Sting last week said he wants Undertaker. This is going to happen but will cost.

Kurt Angle
He continues to prostiture himself to WWE and I think WWE will take the bait. Angle is sober, will pass the medicals and there is money to be made off potential feuds with Bryan, Cesaro, Lesnar etc. Angle will come at a cost.

The Rock
It won't be long before we see this man back for 'another run'. He said yesterday he would wrestle again and I wouldn't be surprised to see him involved at Mania 31 in some capacity. IWC members said he was done but he isn't.

as a wwe mark you will say some jibberish ok here goes there is no need for STING/underfaker WM match to happen they are old,out of shape ,exhausted prone to injuries with gut bellies sticking out . The streak ended and its over now there is no point for any of this match to happen just for the sake of pleasing 45% of fans who want to see it
The fans don t want and they will listen to the fans
Underfaker can barely walk up after the beating HHH gave him and Brock last year maybe you will get your dream match of these 2 clowns in a wheelchair WM match when STING and undertaker are both on wheelchairs lol geeeeez get over it! Its like watching Flabby RIc flair vs Hulk Hogan for 100th time! I rather see STING not job but beat Chris Jericho that would be the best match both are from WCW

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The way I see it, the streak being broken actually increases the likelihood of an Undertaker v Sting match. The thing the Lesnar victory has done is create uncertainty - no one knows (if he wrestles again) if the Ubdertaker will win or lose, whereas beforehand it was more a case of how entertaining the match can be (usually very in recent years) before Undi's inevitable victory. There wouldn't be much point in Sting signing on for that as he's not good enough at this stage in his career to steal the show, but take away the predictability and you take away the pressure of putting on a match of the year contender, and promote the thought that Sting might win.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'd say that it's probably a bit of it all really. Since WWE has publicly stated that the talents released is due primarily to budget cuts, that's going to be what they stick with because, as a publicly traded company, it'd be a lot of legal trouble since releasing over a dozen employees from the roster can impact stock prices. It's a factor in determining for shareholders to buy or sell stock or for people who aren't stockholders to purchase shares themselves. In all honesty, I do think it's a viable reason because this was the first time in about 3 or 4 years that there'd been any significant talent releases from the company.

Obviously, with so many vacancies on the roster, it does leave room to bring up new talent. To be perfectly honest, I don't know why they bothered keeping so much dead weight around. Talent like JTG, Curt Hawkins, and others have been around for years doing, hardly being used and getting paid for it. JTG & Hawkins, for instance, hadn't been on television except a very, very small handful of times over the past few years. Just seems like a waste of money. Personally, I think there are a few more on the roster that could go like Rosa Mendes, Eva Marie, Hornswoggle, Khali, Zack Ryder, etc.

 

[TDFG]

Even if Angle were to pass a WWE physical I don't know if WWE would be that keen on signing Angle, if the story about the pic of him on a plane is anything to go by, interest in him has probably slipped even more.

WWE has RVD, Y2J, Brock Lesnar, HHH etc. as part time talent, they don't need anymore.

The roster cuts were for a reason, they had a swelled roster that hasn't really been trimmed since the brand extension came to an end. There were guys getting paid for not a lot really and outstayed there welcome with all due respect.