Former WWE star Killer Kross discussed various topics with WWE Hall of Famer D-Von Dudley on his YouTube channel, including the recent wave of WWE releases.
Kross said, “What I think could be happening is there is a target internally that they’re trying to hit in terms of profit generated. And if you’re on a certain type of contract, Devon is there. He’s on a contract. His contract period is coming up. There’s an allotted budget for the wrestlers. Um, this is how much money is available. … But even in a way where, like, if you were to organically get over and, as they say, grab the brass ring and outperform the contract you’re on. To me, sometimes it feels like, from a distance watching, it’s like, especially if you’re in your negotiation year, they don’t want you having any sort of leverage to be able to ask for more money because this is the number they’re supposed to hit. They’re not going to go back up the food chain and go to the number one guy at the top who says, ‘This is the number we hit.’ And say, ‘Look, D-Von’s really over and he actually is entitled to this much money based on the data and information.’ That guy’s going to get fired. So that guy is not going to go up there and question the marching orders coming down. So they’re going to have to reorganize, and you know — Rr just put him under. Try to get the crowd away from him. Maybe turn him heel so when he’s leaving nobody likes him anyway, and he lost a bunch of times, so he goes out to the market with no value.”
On how the wrestlers are not at fault for getting released:
“Like my whole opinion on the releases is like I feel bad for everyone that got released who was in the particular position of not being utilized because casual fans don’t understand that, like your hands are not really on the wheel the way you think. Like, the way you’re written, the way you’re presented, the perception of equity is based on, you know, how you’re presented. It’s not about what you can actually do. And if you don’t have the very specific opportunities to maestro the audience, then the audience can sometimes think that these performers don’t have it. And they all do. People don’t realize the vetting process that takes place by WWE. Everyone who’s in WWE is really, really good. There are no people in the company that shouldn’t be there or are there because of, like, I don’t know any other reason than the fact that they like survived a plethora of stuff that nobody saw before the cameras turned on. They’re all really good. So when people get released, and they go out there into the market, and there’s a negative perception on them, casual fans do not understand it’s really actually not their fault. They think like if they turn the camera on and they gave you seven minutes with a commercial break in the middle that you were supposed to have a WrestleMania level match and you’re just supposed to be over like it doesn’t work that way.”
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(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
