By Michael Heilman
This past Sunday, WWE announced the releases of Luke Harper (Jonathan Huber), Sin Cara, The Ascension’s Konnor (Ryan Parmeter), and Victor (Eric Thompson). Luke Harper and Sin Cara took to social media to request their release from WWE. No one knows why the Ascension was released other than they were not used at all. The Ascension was a successful tag team in NXT and did not do much after they were called up to the main roster.
WWE has an abundance of great talents on its roster. Some never get the chance to showcase what they can do in a wrestling ring. These wrestlers made a name for themselves with other wrestling companies on a lower tier before signing with the WWE. A majority of the WWE wrestlers have come from TNA, Ring of Honor, New Japan, and independent wrestling. WWE is known for signing big-name wrestlers to keep them away from the competition. The competition has not been able to reach the levels the WWE enjoys due do not being able to keep their wrestlers. WWE can pay large contracts and the talented wrestlers leave for big paydays.
For eighteen-years, WWE has been the lone company since buying ECW and WCW in 2001. They monopolized the wrestling world. Sure, after 2001, other companies started except for Ring of Honor, which began in 1999. TNA started in 2002 and for a while, was the closest competition to WWE. Every wrestler wanted to go to WWE to get noticed and make a lot of money. WWE didn’t have to worry about other companies signing talent and could instead take what they wanted.
Overtime, WWE became a lousy product. Since 2013 the storylines have been horrible. The promos have sounded like a robot talking instead of coming from the character. The matches have been placed on repeat mode. All you have is a basket of puzzle pieces in a box that never become pieced together to form a cohesive, entertaining product.
Things began to change in 2017 as New Japan Pro Wrestling finally made its way to the United States. Ring of Honor was at an all-time high; other companies started back up like Major League Wrestling, a revived NWA, and a rebranded Impact Wrestling. Wrestlers began to see more out there then just WWE. In 2018, former WWE wrestler Cody Rhodes along with Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson held a show at the Sears Center called “All In.” This was the Woodstock of pro wrestling. WWE took notice and tried to sign the top wrestlers that were scheduled to be there. They managed to sign Deonna Purrazzo, who was set to compete at the show.
On January 1, 2019, on an episode of Being The Elite, Cody Rhodes, Adam Page, and The Young Bucks announced a new wrestling company was forming called All Elite Wrestling. WWE thought they would not be any competition for them. However, when Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Kahn invested in All Elite Wrestling, his son Tony Kahn was named President of AEW, Brandi Rhodes was named Chief Branding Officer, and Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, Young Bucks, were all named Executive Vice Presidents.
WWE still did not take them seriously until AEW started to announce their events and roster. Former WWE wrestlers Chris Jericho, and PAC joined the company along with popular independent wrestlers MJF, and Joey Janella. Wrestlers who were in the WWE were taking notice and expressed interest in joining them. WWE released Goldust and Tye Dillinger. Both of those guys signed with AEW using their real names Dustin Rhodes and Sean Spears.
One of the most prominent wrestlers who signed with AEW was Jon Moxley, formerly Dean Ambrose, in WWE who made his debut at AEW Double or Nothing. Moxley revealed his unhappiness in WWE on Chris Jericho’s podcast, which is a must-listen. Moxley expresses his frustration with WWE on everything. He is now one of the hottest wrestlers today, not just competing in AEW, but also in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Some wrestlers in WWE now want an opportunity to go elsewhere. They see that former co-workers in WWE now have creative freedom. They can control where their character goes. Current wrestlers like The Revival are letting their contracts expire so they can have an opportunity to have their Moxley moment.
Not every wrestler who leaves WWE will join AEW. There are other companies out there that can produce stars like the NWA, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and Impact Wrestling.
While WWE will continue to sign wrestlers throwing large contracts their way, I do believe that WWE’s roster will shrink over time. Not only do the wrestlers want the opportunity to wrestle, but they also want to control their schedule and storyline, who can blame them. WWE is no longer the monopoly; they can’t take what they want, now there is competition. WWE must change the way they do business with talented wrestlers they have. If not, they are going to lose more wrestlers they have now and in the future will have a hard time signing new talent.
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