For many years, WWE carried out its own version of "spring cleaning" by releasing several talents in the wake of WrestleMania, its biggest event of the year. As WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett points out, however, that annual tradition now seems to be a reoccurring one as waves of cuts come every few months.
"WWE is a completely different organization than they were pre-Endeavor," Jarrett said on the "My World" podcast. "The pipeline of NXT, bringing people up to the other brands, and the TNA relationship, I don't think they're going to carry anybody on their roster. Matter of fact, I think more is coming. I would say more is coming. There is no more post-WrestleMania [releases] and then take a deep breath and then you're good for another 12 months. I think those days are gone. I think every couple of months that's just going to be the nature of the beast because of the way they operate now."
In September 2023, WWE officially merged with the UFC to form TKO Group Holdings, with Endeavor serving as the parent company. Through this move, Nick Khan was named as WWE President, while Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel became CEO of TKO; Mark Shapiro serves as TKO President and COO. According to Jarrett, Emanuel and Shapiro are "bottom-line" driven, with a strong focus on turnover. As such, he foresees more cuts coming as a way to further boost profits and income not only for WWE, but TKO overall as well.
The most recent round of releases occurred earlier this month. Affected talent include Isla Dawn, Blair Davenport, Cedric Alexander, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "My World" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
