It was announced by Bryan Alvarez that WWE had parted ways with a number of their talent.
Most striking from this list are: Eva Marie, who had just returned to the company with a strong initial push; Keith Lee, who had just been rebranded as “Bearcat” Lee on RAW, with a number of almost-squash matches; Harry Smith, who was yet to debut on TV reportedly due to COVID; B-Fab, who had just been moved to the SmackDown roster with Hit Row, and according to Alvarez signed a contract a week ago.
Sean Ross Sapp revealed that Scarlett Bourdauex who was yet to appear on main roster TV has a 30-day non-compete, as is typical for NXT deals. Frankie Monet announced the same for herself on social media.
The official reason given has been budget cuts, as revealed in an email from the head of talent relations John Laurinaitus. Although it is well known that a combination of their televisions deals with USA and FOX, their 10-year contract with the Saudi Arabian Sports Authority, and recent streaming deal with Peacock has WWE firmly in the financial black.
Bryan Alvarez also highlighted WWE had announced millions of dollars in profits earlier today.
A number of released talent have already taken to twitter to highlight their frustration, while former WWE talent has also chimed in on the situation.
