I penned an article last week citing the notion, as well as the track record, of corporate suites that ruin pro wrestling. With the development of a few more exits from the WWE, it provided more proof that TKO uses a paint-by-numbers approach to the very unique genre of sports entertainment.
As I said earlier this week when I discussed the two dozen cuts from the roster, it’s not surprising when this happens since it has become an unfortunate annual tradition after Wrestlemania where management purges talent that are middle of the road in terms of their importance to the card. Ultimately, this is a necessary step toward moving more wrestlers up to the main card. It’s not fun when someone loses their dream job, but it’s simply the nature of the beast. Those same people that got released previously had a spot because someone got fired before them. Still, this year, there were some surprising names, even if the round of post-Wrestlemania releases were expected. The Wyatt Sicks, despite solid merchandise numbers, were axed. Aleister Black, who re-signed with the company just a year ago after a rocky tenure in All Elite Wrestling, and his wife, Zelina Vega were also released. Kari Sane, who was involved n a current angle with Asuka, was fired as well.
The bottom line is, nobody was safe from TKO’s efforts to pad the profit margin ahead of the next conference call when they can tout the financial success of Wrestlemania 42.
Just a week later, four more talents are gone from the WWE, revealing a possible short-sighted approach to the actual management of talent, as well as the perception of the role of the roster from the higher-ups at TKO.
While The New Day of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were secondary figures among the current WWE landscape because, quite frankly, they haven’t been given much to do after their heel run yielded a rather forgettable tag title run last year, many would’ve thought that they were a pair they would remain under WWE contract until they decided to retire. That’s not a favor job, either. Kofi and Xavier were one of the most entertaining acts of the modern era, and they can still go in the ring. Yes, Big E’s injury was a major dent to the presentation of The New Day, but that’s not a jab at either of the remaining members, but rather to point out that each member of the trio was an important part of the overall package.
At the very least, and this is far from their ceiling, even at this point in their careers, The New Day could be good utility workers for the office to use when they need to plug the team in some where because of their cache with the audience. Kofi had a nearly 20-year run on the main roster, and Woods inked a deal with the company more than 15 years ago. That type of credibility means something to the fan base, if not the TKO executives. This is another example of one of the old school pro wrestling troupes, one that existed for good reason, that doesn’t have any value to the Endeavor conglomerate. Kofi is known as a great guy behind the scenes, and you don’t hear anything negative about Woods either. Kofi’s title run was cut short to add more sizzle to Brock Lesnar that wasn’t needed, but the fans respect him for his accomplishments over the past two decades. At 44 and 39 respectively, Kofi and Woods theoretically have a few more years left in the ring, but the bigger picture is that since The New Day is so beloved by the audience, they would be great in the goodwill ambassador roles after they retire. You would think that this would be an easy decision with how many different sponsors TKO is trying to juggle, and how effective those guys would be as representatives, but the literal bottom line is all TKO is concerned with the next time the corporation reports earnings to investors.
According to The Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez, the decision to release the tag team was “mutually agreed upon” when TKO asked the duo to restructure their contracts, but Kingston and Woods declined. If I had to guess, specifically because the negotiations ended with their releases, I’d say that TKO asked them to take a pay cut. Keep in mind, the WWE has touted record-setting profits for the past several years because of the media rights deals so it’s tough to imagine that The New Day contracts were a burden for the corporation. The office is going to have to be very careful with how the narrative of this story unfolds, as they could be in danger of ending up with another R-Truth situation where the fans protest because one of the beloved stars were released. The fact that TKO essentially didn’t want to pay the tag team the amount they were already signed for doesn’t paint the company in a favorable light. If The New Day don’t have a non-compete clause, it would probably serve the WWE best if they landed somewhere else ASAP to prevent the fans from revolting to attempt to prompt their WWE return.
Someone should tell Mark Shapiro there was a reason that guys like Hillbilly Jim and Jimmy Hart were kept in the fold for years.
I have to be honest, I was really surprised that Jeff Cobb was cut from the roster just a year after he signed with the company. Truth be told, the office didn’t really give him too much to do on an individual level and it looked like he did well with what he was given as a member of the Solo Sikoa stable. If I had to guess, and this is just a guess because I really don’t see the logic behind the release, Cobb was somewhat of a victim of circumstance, as WWE brass might’ve seen him as expandable or replaceable, particularly with Talla Tonga being a younger performer that could work in a similar role, as far as with the Sikoa faction. Ar 43, Cobb might be toward the latter portion of his prime, but his career is far from over. I wouldn’t advise a jump to All Elite since we know what happens with the vast majority of talent there, but a return to New Japan might be a win-win situation. The Japanese league needs more depth on the roster, and Cobb has more to offer than what he was given the chance to show in WWE. Tonga Loa was also released, and considering that his in-ring blunders were probably the most memorable part of this stint with the promotion, it’s not too surprising that he was given his walking papers. I’m not sure where he goes next, but New Japan might be the answer for him, too.
Speaking of the Sikoa faction, it’s not impossible that the group could continue with its remaining members, but the fact that two of them were fired at the same time would suggest that the stable isn’t a priority for the organization. It’s an odd scenario because Solo and Tama Tonga have a current role on Smackdown, but these releases would suggest that the writing team only has a minimal investment in the direction of their characters.
As I said earlier, and this might be the biggest takeaway from this group of releases, TKO is taking a short-sighted approach to how they handle talent.
This isn’t a ground-breaking notion, but wrestlers aren’t actors. They aren’t interchangeable, if they were, the business wouldn’t have down periods when the search for the next crop of stars takes place. You can’t assume, “we have other tag teams on the roster so we can cut The New Day,” or “The Samoa family tree will keep us supplied with islanders, we can fire Cobb.”
This is one of the smaller details of the impact of such a management style, but JC Mateo and Xavier Woods had new Mattel figures showcased as a part of Wrestlemania week. The figures are almost near the production stage, which is why there were among the upcoming products so they are essentially too far along in the process to be canceled from the line. Generally speaking, Mattel doesn’t even consider working on a figure of a current performer unless they have a specific amount of time left on their WWE contracts, specifically to avoid this type of situation. On the flip side, a situation where a product for a talent is in stores, but the performer isn’t in the company to indirectly promote the sales of the product is something that has happened several times in AEW. Obviously, that’s not a pattern that TKO should emulate for any of its merchandise. The more macro view point is that if TKO continues to attempt to manage the pro wrestling venture as if it’s any other entertainment commodity, it could sour a portion of the audience.
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
