Arn Anderson gets candid about the recent WWE releases.
On Wednesday, April 15, 2020, WWE released a long list of names that included talent, producers, and more. Now, former WWE producer Arn Anderson is opening up about his feelings regarding the releases and comparing this incident to a similar occurrence years ago where seventeen names were released following WrestleMania.
On his podcast, Anderson candidly spoke about the response he was given by those in WWE when he asked why they let so many names be released in the past without having them “do business” on the way out. Also, Anderson spoke about his disagreement with WWE releasing so many names on April 15 when they were on track to have a strong first quarter financially.
“Well, I've seen it before. I couldn't tell you the year, but one year after WrestleMania, there were 17 guys let go and there was no pandemic. There was no Coronavirus," Anderson began. "Then you ended up getting to TV, 'Okay, 17 guys got fired. Who are we gonna beat today? We got all this TV to produce, who are you gonna beat? Should've never let those guys get out of here without at least doing business on the way out. And you know what the answer was? 'No, they're just fake an injury and we're not paying them for six months?' That whole theory just stinks to high heaven."
He continued, "When you got a world crisis now like we have and things are the way they are and things are shut down... for all these people, and a lot of them were very good friends of mine, for a lot of these people do lose their job, it just breaks your heart. The reality of the matter is, which I read and I'm sure it's accurate. [Before] cutting all these guys, the company was in line, even with all the things that have happened in the last six weeks or eight weeks, the company was still on a pace to have their highest-earning year. Now, unless that's a bald-faced lie coming from an independent source, why did you need to cut all these guys if you're in line to have your biggest year yet? Look at those TV contracts and you look at the Saudi Arabia deal. You're talking to a whole bunch of money. That being the case, that all those people had to lose their job at the worst time possible, it breaks my heart. It's a shit deal. Could it have been avoided? You tell me."
WWE released their Q1 earnings on Thursday, April 23, 2020. See a full breakdown at this link.
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