One of the toughest parts of the live entertainment business is when you have to give someone their walking papers. Of course, the notion to give out pink slips for any reason in any field can be difficult, but it’s a part of capitalism. If the economy is down, if sales are sluggish, or if there’s a merger, it’s the nature of the beast that some will get cut from the payroll.
However, the vast majority of the time that simply doesn’t happen in All Elite Wrestling, and depending on the situation, it might hinder not only the organization, but the talent as well.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling for or encouraging anyone to lose their jobs. It goes without saying that it’s a wonderful moment when someone can land their dream job and get the national contract to make a full-time living in professional wrestling. However, to make room for those new contracts to be offered, there must be cuts from the roster, or at least that’s the traditional theory. The WWE machine churns out countless of hours of programming to be able to tout record-setting profits for the publicly-traded corporation through its extensive media rights deals. To fuel that engine, there’s a constant recruitment, development, and thus turnover of talent throughout the WWE system.
That is until a recent report online that suggested that the office has a temporary hiring freeze in place because of the vast amount of performers already under contract on the main roster, the developmental system, and the WWE ID program. It’s a rare situation, as you never know when the next potential top star of the future could be discovered, but at some point, even the WWE has a certain amount of resource designed to handle talent throughout the various levels of the promotion.
Keep in mind, that recruitment, developmental, and potential move to the main roster is made possible by the roster cuts that make room for a fresh group of new talent. It’s not a fun aspect of the industry, and from an individual level, you wish everyone the best going forward, but it’s a necessary process to continue to run the WWE machine.
Sometimes, it’s a blessing in disguise, as it can be exactly what the talent need to be able to find themselves outside of the ridged structure of corporate wrestling to be able to return to the company after they’ve evolved into the type of performer that can achieve to their fullest potential as a marketable star in WWE. Drew McIntyre is a prime example of this, as before he left the promotion for a few years to evolve, he was in a comedy trio playing in a three man band. Without that exit, Drew wouldn’t have the chance to completely rejuvenate his career to make a comeback as one of the top stars in the company. Cody Rhodes is probably the best example of this, as he wouldn’t be the top guy in the organization today if he wasn’t allowed to develop the American Nightmare persona outside of the WWE bubble through his work in All Elite Wrestling.
As mentioned, the turnover is much more rare in the Khan-owned organization, probably because Tony is too nice of a guy to fire anyone most of the time. In fact, on a few occasions, we’ve seen Tony quietly let the contracts expire so the talent can get paid the full amount of their deal before the decision was made not to renew it. It’s a noble gesture, it just happens to go completely against business sense, but hey, it’s not as though Tony is going to end up in the bread line because Marko Stunt got his last few paychecks before he decided to become a car salesman instead.
Still, unless the goal for AEW truly isn’t to make a profit, and that might be true, a look at the roster ahead of 2026 might be advisable for him.
The amount of talent signed to contracts on the roster has been comical for years. As time went on, just how silly it was really got put into perspective when a countless amount of those talents signed to the full-time contracts either completely disappeared from television or were regulated to the witness protection program known as Ring Of Honor. It’s literally direct from the WCW history books when wrestlers are either paid to stay home or the expense it taken for them to fly to a television taping to sit in catering during the shows. The late Lanny Poffo, the brother of Randy Savage, was signed to a WCW contract when Macho made the jump at Savage’s request. For his part, Lanny stayed in shape and ready for the call from the time that his brother arrived in the Turner organization in late-1994. At one point, Lanny was even prepared to work an undated version of the classic Gorgeous George gimmick after the rights were purchased for it. Still, Lanny was on the books, getting a paycheck for seven years until WCW folded, but the office decided never to use him. One of the other infamous Turner tales is when The Iron Sheik, on a hiatus from the WWF at the time after he was accidentally in the same car as on-screen rivalry, Jim Duggan during a traffic stop, had his six-figure WCW contract rollover for a second year because nobody in the office realized that he was still on the payroll.
During a recent media call for this weekend’s Worlds End pay-per-view, Tony Khan was asked about a few of the AEW performers that have been MIA recently, but those examples were merely a microcosm of the situation. It was no surprise that Khan didn’t answer any of the questions about the talent off the radar, but at some point, even the wrestlers themselves have to consider if getting the billionaire’s money to stay home in the short term is worth the detrimental effect it could have on their careers in the big picture. In many ways, it’s out of sight, out of money. If a wrestler isn’t featured on television as a way to showcase their skills, their stock or value to an organization is minimized. Are fans around the world clamoring for a No Way Jose comeback run? (no disrespect intended to Jose) Khan was asked about Nyla Rose, who hasn’t been seen on AEW programming in more than a year and only worked about half a dozen independent dates this year. Danhausen was also mentioned, and outside of a cameo at Final Battle last year, he hasn’t been seen on AEW or ROH programming since 2023. Yes, he suffered a torn pec muscle that year, but has worked for dozens of independent groups since he returned to the ring and is essentially a healthy scratch from the All Elite roster. Danhausen is a guy that actually knows how to work comedy in wrestling and is a very smart businessman with a slew of merchandise so it seems rather obtuse for AEW to continue to pay someone that is making money on outside merchandise when they could utilize him on television to utilize that revenue stream themselves. Keith Lee was mentioned and he’s been dealing with health issues for so long that it’s tough to imagine that he’s going to make a major return to be a commodity for the organization. Maybe getting paid for a full time national contract ti stay home is as far up the ladder that Nyla Rose can go in the industry? If that’s the case then take the cash, save your money, and enjoy the perks of the deal. But, what if it isn’t? What if being stuck in All Elite purgatory puts a ceiling on what the numerous talent that are lost in the shuffle could accomplish? Maybe Nyla could completely reignite her career in Japan? Where’s John Morrison? Does Matt Sydal still have a job? As far as we know, Jake Roberts is still under contract to appear at conventions to make money for himself rather than the company that signed him. Anthony Ogogo has worked one ROH match this year and ten matches total, what has any of that done for his career? Is Lio Rush still getting a paycheck? When is the last time anyone saw Ross and Marshal Von Erich? Is anyone looking for Action Andretti?
I’m not saying that any of those wrestlers shouldn’t have a contract, I’m asking does it really make a difference if they are on the roster?
Unfortunately, with the roster so bloated and the slapstick booking approach, the are exponentially more names that could be cut from the organization and it wouldn’t make a difference either way. That’s not a statement on their skills, but rather how they’ve been presented during their AEW career. If the entire Dark Order stable was released, would it make any measurable difference in AEW? Rhio, Emi Sakura, and Kamille show up for a few weeks about once a year. Can anyone find Scorpio Sky?
It’s very possible that some of those names could flourish if given the chance outside of All Elite Wrestling, and it seems like an overall disservice to their individual potential and the wrestling business as a whole for them to flounder All Elite purgatory. An example of success outside of being lost in the shuffle is Bear Bronson, who was completely underutilized in AEW so when he left the company, he made a name for himself in Game Changer Wrestling and was signed to a TNA deal about a month before the company debuted on AMC. When Wardlow heals up, he should get to TNA as fast as he can, if for no other reason than it could be a pipe line to WWE. The same can be said for Brit Baker. Obviously, there’s a limited amount of spot on the roster, but with TNA set to get more exposure then they’ve had in more than a decade, there are undoubtedly some AEW talents that should test the free agent market next year.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
Email [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
