Former WWE Star Convinced Talent Release Will Happen Soon Despite Assurances

Pro wrestling fans have come to know WWE as the top company in the industry, and its success is mainly built on the work of its talent between the ropes.

However, there are some huge layoffs coming after their merger deal with Endeavor Media.

In the company's efforts to allay fears of talent being released due to the incoming budget cuts, WWE CEO Nick Khan had already confirmed in a recent interview that their batch of releases worth around $50 million will not affect the onscreen product.

However, former WWE star John Morrison does not completely believe such statements and is instead convinced that there will be some names who see themselves on the unemployment line as he told the MMA Hour's Ariel Helwani.

"I think there's a hiring freeze right now. I think they're going to end up letting a bunch of guys go. I think salaries are going to get cut," Morrison stated.

Morrison made his name in the industry with WWE as one of its featured attractions from 2002 to 2011 before deciding against re-upping his contract to focus on healing from his injuries and his frustrations with the creative team.

After spending the next seven years on the independent scene and with other organizations, he found himself back in WWE two years later before being released from the company as part of the company's efforts to save money during the pandemic.

According to The Smackdown Hotel, WWE has 240 active talents between its three main shows and countless others still waiting for its first matches on TV.

While there are no assurances as to which talents are safe, it can be assumed that rarely used talents or those sidelined due to injuries like Akira Tozawa, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Tommaso Ciampa and Xyon Quinn may find themselves on the block.

But as Morrison would later point out, the rise of All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as WWE's main competitor plus Impact Wrestling, at least in North America, may give such talents another place to shine.

"I'm really glad AEW is around to balance that out a little bit, because if they weren't, there would be no leverage, and nowhere else to go, and WWE and UFC would be this weird monopoly that just wrings the money out of the livelihood of the fighters and wrestlers and I always think that sucks," Morrison explained.

WWE being bought out by Endeavor was a surprising development that happened way too quickly in the eyes of many fans, but with how finicky WWE's upper management can be at times, there is no security of tenure for those currently on the roster despite Khan's assurances.

It remains to be seen whether Morrison's prediction will come to fruition as WWE has tended to say one thing and do another at times.