The coronavirus pandemic hit the wrestling industry hard last year, and after WWE stopped touring the company released a number of talents due to budget cuts. The releases have continued in recent months, and WWE has released some shocking names such as Braun Strowman, Lana and Aleister Black.
Eric Bischoff recently discussed the releases on 83 Weeks, and the former Raw General Manager noted that he thinks WWE’s stock price is one of the reasons why so many talents are being let go.
“I think, if I’m involved in some of the decisions to try to get that stock price up, I’m looking at talent roster, which is a significant part of expenses in WWE. I’m thinking to myself, ‘Wait a minute, we’re not gonna be touring the same way we used to. I need to start making good decisions. We have 300 people under contract, perhaps that’s too many.’ Maybe there was a reason for it. Maybe the emergence of AEW a couple of years ago. The awareness of the unknown and not being sure what AEW was gonna mean or not sure what that impact was gonna be. I would agree that locking up some talent, or perhaps paying more for that talent than I might otherwise pay, makes sense.
But now we know what AEW is, and that’s not discouraging in any way. I think [WWE] probably went, ‘OK, we need to shore this business model up and make some adjustments.’ The world is a different place. I’m more convinced now than I was last week that what WWE is doing is aggressively managing their business model…..I think when the dust settles, we’re gonna see WWE stock price back to where it was pre-COVID and a new touring model that makes more sense in the long run. I don’t think WWE is going anywhere, at least not in the near future.”
Stay tuned for more updates on WWE releases as they become available.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHOVlPMaRcA
H/T 411Mania.com
