The 2021 WWE Forever Purge - Part 3 of ?

[Eoae]

On 11/6/2021 at 10:20 AM, joseph2112 said:

People.can say "it's just normal corporate greed", but this goes way beyond that. Again, somebody comp me a situation where a company was making record profits and decided to slash giant parts of their work force.  

Show me a company that hired several times the number of people it needed - or could realistically use - to begin with.  You generally don't find that in profitable companies.

The reality of the situation has always been that a massive cutback was going to happen at some point.  Either business was going to drop off to a disastrous extent or someone unbiased was going to come in, look at how inefficient the company is, and lobby for changes.  Lance Storm made the point on WO this week that the WWE has cut approx. 125 people over the past 2 years and it hasn't changed the product much, if any.  It's nuts that shareholders allowed the company to get this bloated in the first place.

From a pr standpoint, I guess it would have been better if the company hadn't hired the Billie Kays and Buddy Murphys of the world in the first place?  I doubt that would do the wrestlers much good, but by hiring a couple hundred extra wrestlers, they've left themselves open to criticism when they let people go.

I'm not going to argue your larger point, but I personally have never expected my employer to keep me around if they decide they don't need me, or make my position redundant.  My parents own a family business.  I guess if I ever want a guaranteed income for life no matter what, I'll go work for them. 

 

[Custos]

A fair point @eoae but the corporate analogy is a bit apples to oranges. I don’t hire 3 Accounts Payable Officers (and don’t get the vacancy signed off by the HR director) when I have the workload for one - a clearly defined role with a clearly defined task timing.
In WWE’s case, it’s a bit more elastic (leaving aside the outrageously erratic creative direction). I’d compare it to a soap opera expanding their pool of actors under contract to (way) beyond the regular core. On the face of it, again not the most financially prudent choice, but if you’ve got the writing chops you could create all sorts of interesting and diverse storylines which may give an upside in viewership. Not to mention, you’ve got a spin-off in the works which may also benefit (NXT UK/HHH ‘world domination map’ in this analogy).

Personally, for me the shittiest thing is having people uproot their lives, relocate and cutting them within weeks. I’ve worked for a few huge multinationals (albeit not in the good ole U S of A) and there’s no way they would countenance that kind of poor planning and people management, unless the company was suddenly and unexpectedly on its knees approaching insolvency.

[Eivion]

3 hours ago, Custos said:

Personally, for me the shittiest thing is having people uproot their lives, relocate and cutting them within weeks. I’ve worked for a few huge multinationals (albeit not in the good ole U S of A) and there’s no way they would countenance that kind of poor planning and people management, unless the company was suddenly and unexpectedly on its knees approaching insolvency.

Who are the people who ended up uprooted and cut within a few weeks?

[AxB]

People like Blake Christian and Anthony Greene and Taya Valkyrie. Had to move to Florida, were only under contract for just a few months (and on TV for less time than that) and then it's future endeavours time.

[Dog]

Jordynne Grace made a tweet with similar language, and it's largely assumed she was talking about Taya Valkyrie.

[Custos]

8 minutes ago, Dog said:

Jordynne Grace made a tweet with similar language, and it's largely assumed she was talking about Taya Valkyrie.

Yes, I felt she very much hit the nail on the head as to why this particular mass release was crappy, rather than cutbacks in the abstract (assuming the intel from her and what @AxB said was accurate).

[Dog]

It's going to continue, too, with the "must show improvement within 6 months" rule -- which, honestly, makes total sense from WWE's perspective, but sucks a whole hell of lot for any prospects not native to Florida. Living on the edge twice a year, despite what Aerosmith might think, sounds like a very stressful life.

[Eivion]

13 hours ago, AxB said:

People like Blake Christian and Anthony Greene and Taya Valkyrie. Had to move to Florida, were only under contract for just a few months (and on TV for less time than that) and then it's future endeavours time.

Not sure why I assumed her and Morrison were already living in Florida.

[Ace]

Last I knew, Taya and JoMo lived in LA.

 

[J.T.]

13 hours ago, AxB said:

People like Blake Christian and Anthony Greene and Taya Valkyrie. Had to move to Florida, were only under contract for just a few months (and on TV for less time than that) and then it's future endeavours time.

This.  Also quite a few UWN workers like Heather Monroe and Andy Brown moved to Florida so that they could work Memphis and Atlanta house shows and maybe catch the attention of scouts from AEW and WWE / Full Sail.

[odessasteps]

30 minutes ago, J.T. said:

This.  Also quite a few UWN workers like Heather Monroe and Andy Brown moved to Florida so that they could work Memphis and Atlanta house shows and maybe catch the attention of scouts from AEW and WWE / Full Sail.

Was them choosing to move of their own volition or someone telling them to move? 

[JohnnyJ]

Part of the issue is WWE is almost comically tone-deaf. Unlike most companies, HR decisions are very pubic. If you bring some kid out to Florida for $50k-$75k a year and an opportunity, you can give him/her six months severance on the way out so he/she has a soft landing. It's good for the kid and good PR.

The other issue is WWE seems to think they have a personnel problem, when they have a creative problem. So what you end up with is this revolving door of talents who are losing their livelihoods because WWE doesn't know what they are doing. 

[Just Dave]

Then you have folks like Katrina Cortez having to sell everything she owns because she had no notice and her visa is gonna expire in 30 days....

[Shartnado]

On 11/8/2021 at 8:01 AM, Dog said:

It's going to continue, too, with the "must show improvement within 6 months" rule -- which, honestly, makes total sense from WWE's perspective, but sucks a whole hell of lot for any prospects not native to Florida. Living on the edge twice a year, despite what Aerosmith might think, sounds like a very stressful life.

And it's not like they can help themselves from falling, either!

[joseph2112]

On 11/7/2021 at 12:48 PM, Eoae said:

Show me a company that hired several times the number of people it needed - or could realistically use - to begin with.  You generally don't find that in profitable companies.

The reality of the situation has always been that a massive cutback was going to happen at some point.  Either business was going to drop off to a disastrous extent or someone unbiased was going to come in, look at how inefficient the company is, and lobby for changes.  Lance Storm made the point on WO this week that the WWE has cut approx. 125 people over the past 2 years and it hasn't changed the product much, if any.  It's nuts that shareholders allowed the company to get this bloated in the first place.

From a pr standpoint, I guess it would have been better if the company hadn't hired the Billie Kays and Buddy Murphys of the world in the first place?  I doubt that would do the wrestlers much good, but by hiring a couple hundred extra wrestlers, they've left themselves open to criticism when they let people go.

I'm not going to argue your larger point, but I personally have never expected my employer to keep me around if they decide they don't need me, or make my position redundant.  My parents own a family business.  I guess if I ever want a guaranteed income for life no matter what, I'll go work for them. 

 

I hear you. Basically there's never been a company this successful monetary wise and this inept at certain segments of their business. No big successful company would ever go into a business plan saying that they are going to expand with no actual plan to do it except to hire people.

It's just one more of those "only in wrestling things" I guess

[TheVileOne]

Where was the logic behind even bringing back Eva Marie putting her back in the ring and re-signing her as a wrestler again?

[Technico Support]

6 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

Where was the logic behind even bringing back Eva Marie putting her back in the ring and re-signing her as a wrestler again?

Vince is getting up there in age.  I have good money on "he forgot they'd had her on the roster before and nobody had the balls to tell him."

We're seriously 3-5 years from Vince demanding they raid that Hogan kid from Verne.

[Dolfan in NYC]

6 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

Where was the logic behind even bringing back Eva Marie putting her back in the ring and re-signing her as a wrestler again?

As a way to introduce Viper/Doudrop and put her over as a killer?  I mean, they bring in old wrestlers to do this all the time.  

 

[The Natural]

 

[NoFistsJustFlips]

1 hour ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

As a way to introduce Viper/Doudrop and put her over as a killer?  I mean, they bring in old wrestlers to do this all the time.  

 

Those are some of he rosiest rose colored glasses I've ever seen my man lol.

Can you cite an example in recent memory of them bringing someone back that was utterly incompetent in the ring as a means to put someone over a monster? They bring in older stars that once had value. Eva was a failed experiment. You would then assume that her coming back in was to give her a second shot to get over and become a star... not use that failed run as a rub for someone else. Someone else named Doudrop by the way. Ain't no killer ever gonna get over with the name Doudrop.

Also also, if this were a case of them bringing in an old wrestler as a way to introduce Doudrop, why was she on a contract? Like generally any old stars that come back to give someone the rub (think Dibiase in NXT for Cameron Grimes) they are on a per night deal. Because once the story ends they don't need them anymore. So why would they need to release Eva if that's all they brought her in for?

Sorry, doesn't pass the sniff test.

[StuntmanCrowley]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10017689-bray-wyatt-to-star-in-feature-film-after-being-released-from-wwe-contract

 

Looks like Bray has his first project post WWE.  A movie role in a flick described as "Ichi the Killer meets Xanadu"

Strange combo, but I'm in for it.

[kafkonia]

That sounds... amazing?

But Callosum are an fx company, not a movie studio.

 

EDIT: They're the company that made the Fiend's mask, Hunter's Skeletor get-up, the Bludgeon Bros gear...

Edited November 11, 2021 by kafkonia

[thee Reverend Axl Future]

I would/will surely watch that movie, but my expectations are low. Horror film fans, whether nerds or professionals, rarely make effective horror movies - rather they make horror movies about horror movies, flexing and showcasing their knowledge as homages and originality as over-the-top effects, to the sacrifice of story and elegance. See: Zombie, Rob.

In fact, this post-modern/meta creator output is one of my dislikes of modern (for too much of indy) wrestling. Everything gets too precious and self-referential - leave something up to the audience instead of trying to get them involved. I DON"T WANT TO BE PART OF THE SHOW I WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED.

Sorry, I get aggro and negative.

[RIPPA]

From the new WON

Spoiler

The story behind the releases of Dorado & Metalik is that both asked for their release after being asked to lose on Main Event to Garza & Carrillo on 9/13 in Boston. The story behind it is that there were those in the company who viewed this as punishment for Dorado, who was booked to lose the fall (usually that would be Metalik when the team would lose) to a makeshift team. At the time there were no plans for Garza & Carrillo and Dorado was hot after the match and asked to talk to Vince. As you can imagine, that wasn’t viewed well, wanting to talk to Vince over the result of a match on Main Event that almost nobody would ever see outside of Canada. Dorado was the one who asked out first after this match and Metalik agreed to do it as well. We were told that Metalik had wanted out but he was not the kind of a guy who would have asked out. The belief is that more likely than not they would not have survived this round of cuts either way. Both were not given their releases at the time, but it was not a good sign when neither was mentioned in the draft, which kind of showed how the company viewed them after they asked out. And then they were let go in the latest set of cuts. The ironic thing is that the company had no plans for Garza & Carrillo and this match may have saved their jobs because those who actually watched the match thought the two looked good together and it led to the decision to actually go heel with Carrillo and make them a regular team

 

[Technico Support]

12 minutes ago, RIPPA said:

As you can imagine, that wasn’t viewed well, wanting to talk to Vince over the result of a match on Main Event that almost nobody would ever see outside of Canada.

Calling a wrestler petty for refusing to do a meaningless job...

.....after specifically assigning that meaningless job as punishment.

Vince: "Go ahead and eat this pile of shit!  It's punishment!" 

Dorado: "No way!  I'm not eating a pile of shit!"

Vince: "Why are you so uncooperative?"

Motherfucker is so petty, no wonder their viewership is free falling.

Edited November 12, 2021 by Technico Support