WWE was recently acquired by UFC owner Endeavor and is now part of TKO Holdings, a multi-billion dollar company that could change the face of combat sports and sports entertainment as we know it.
With the deal done, some big changes have already taken place at WWE with a number of Superstars released by the company yesterday morning. Unfortunately, we now have another thirteen names to add to a list we're hoping doesn't get any longer!
The biggest star here is Dana Brooke, a main roster talent who tried again and again to make her mark, all without the support of WWE's creative team. Maximum Male Models' Mace and Mansoor are also gone, as are Jinder Mahal's old running buddies, Dabba-Kato and Shanky.
In terms of NXT talent, we'll be saying goodbye to Quincy Elliott, Bryson Montana, Yulisa León, Daniel McArthur, Kevin Ventura-Cortes, Alexis Gray, Brooklyn Barlow, and Ikemen Jiro.
We'd heard WWE was looking to cut back on $50 million - $100 million in expenses following the merger and a lot of names we don't know from behind the scenes have also been fired this week.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer says, "The key to the releases were talent making main roster money but not being used on the main roster and with the idea that they were not going to be used in the future."
According to one insider, the decision for the cuts came down to, "It's time in vs. how much money you are paid vs. return on investment."
Main roster stars will have 90-day non-compete clauses in their contracts meaning they won't be free until December 20. For NXT talent, it's only 30 days. AEW is bound to be interested in some of these names, but it's hard to say who right now.
Brooke has yet to comment on her release, though recently took to Twitter to express an interest in facing Becky Lynch for her NXT Women's Championship. That echoes Emma sharing her excitement for WWE's Elimination Chamber PLE in Australia, only to learn she'd been fired a few hours after it was announced.
Here's the full list of Superstars released by WWE over the past 24 hours or so.
-Dolph Ziggler
-Elias
-Mustafa Ali
-Shelton Benjamin
-Top Dolla
-Riddick Moss
-Emma
-Aliyah
-Rick Boogs
-Quincy Elliott
-Bryson Montana
-Dana Brooke
-Mansoor (Mån.sôör)
-Mace (Ma.çé)
-Shanky
-Dabba-Kato (Babatunde/Commander Azeez)
-Yulisa Leon
-Daniel McArthur
-Kevin Ventura-Cortez
-Alexis Gray
-Brooklyn Barlow
-Ikemen Jiro