The Purge (Tony's Version)

[TheVileOne]

23 minutes ago, Matt D said:

Re: the cuts: We don't know what we don't know. People are real quick to jump and make lasting statements so they can get out there first or just to get things off their chest.

That said, of what we do know, I sure don't like it.

If they’re releasing people now, they should release Malakai and Miro.

[Nice Guy Eddie]

5 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

If they’re releasing people now, they should release Malakai and Miro.

Definitely agree on Miro

[Go2Sleep]

5 minutes ago, username said:

If they cut Henry and not Drake A.) that sucks for both of them, and B) makes it seem like they cut him for getting hurt (on an indie show, albeit by another AEW talent) which... is a real bad look.

No argument about point B, but on point A, there's a lot more potential value in Drake than Henry. Henry is a stereotype indy wrestler in a company full of dudes who built (then mostly transcended) that stereotype. Drake at least has the "mobile big man" thing going for him, which makes him more useful even if you are just going to use him as a jobber. You could also put him in a team with just about anyone else and be instantly more credible than the Workhorsemen.

Dutch and Drake, let's go.

[Serious Darius Bagfelt]

33 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

If they’re releasing people now, they should release Malakai and Miro.

No way on earth he would release anyone that would get a job with the competition 

[TheVileOne]

2 minutes ago, Serious Darius Bagfelt said:

No way on earth he would release anyone that would get a job with the competition 

You mean like CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Brian Pillman Jr.?

[Serious Darius Bagfelt]

2 hours ago, Kevin Wilson said:

Its interesting these are coming out as 'releases' as TK has historically not released wrestlers but rather let their contracts run out. Not to say these aren't early contract releases but I wonder if they are wrestlers that were on per-appearance deals or if he is changing his thought process.

Or his TV rights conversations aren't bearing the fruit he imagined. These are drops in the bucket releases. He probably wants to see the online backlash he gets before he does anymore

[Nice Guy Eddie]

4 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

You mean like CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Brian Pillman Jr.?

To be fair, Cody and Pillmancito weren't released. 

[Nice Guy Eddie]

30 minutes ago, Go2Sleep said:

No argument about point B, but on point A, there's a lot more potential value in Drake than Henry. Henry is a stereotype indy wrestler in a company full of dudes who built (then mostly transcended) that stereotype. Drake at least has the "mobile big man" thing going for him, which makes him more useful even if you are just going to use him as a jobber. You could also put him in a team with just about anyone else and be instantly more credible than the Workhorsemen.

Dutch and Drake, let's go.

Dutch and Drake with Vincent as their mouthpiece would make a pretty awesome team. 

[Craig H]

49 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

If they’re releasing people now, they should release Malakai and Miro.

Malakai just got involved in an angle with Copeland...

[colonial]

Didn't realize some of them were under contract and/or still under a deal. I think Jora Johl worked one ROH show but hasn't been seen on AEW in a year. Cagematch lists his last match as November, so I'm curious if he's hurt or moving on with his life. (honestly believed he worked on a per-match deal)

Didn't understand the Grayson re-signing -- turns on DO, joins The Righteous then vanishes without a trace. 

Dasha was a surprise release, as I thought she was a good B-show ring announcer.

[just drew]

I don’t think there’s much to read into these releases. Just housekeeping. 

[hammerva]

1 hour ago, Just Dave said:

I don’t think there’s much to read into these releases. Just housekeeping. 

While I agree in terms of the talent (although I still stand on guys like Anthony Henry), the timing is extremely suspicious.  Especially from a guy that openly admits that he doesn't "release" people he just waits until their contract expire.  I have a hard time believing the contracts expired that night a couple hours after interview with person people are tired of hearing about.  

[Casey]

1 minute ago, hammerva said:

While I agree in terms of the talent (although I still stand on guys like Anthony Henry), the timing is extremely suspicious.  Especially from a guy that openly admits that he doesn't "release" people he just waits until their contract expire.  I have a hard time believing the contracts expired that night a couple hours after interview with person people are tired of hearing about.  

I’m gonna need some clarification on this conspiracy theory that an interview with Punk on YouTube caused Tony Khan to get on the horn and call some dude who hasn’t wrestled in a year and release him. Or two people who were glorified accessories in another person’s gimmick. Or a ring announcer. The list goes on.

I swear the mere mention of Punk for some people just causes their brains to immediately scramble.

[Matt D]

This speaks for itself honestly, and invites no positivity towards the company. Just going to embed the last tweet in the thread. Before this he notes that he is thankful for the opportunity, for those who championed him (Daivari, Behrens, Coleman):

 

Edited April 2, 2024 by Matt D

[Zakk_Sabbath]

11 hours ago, hammerva said:

For some reason Dasha Kuret was released today.  Apparently this won't be the only one in AEW 

This one is the biggest WTF for me - she couldn't have cost *that* much. I guess in the end, Bobby Cruise just had better hips?

[Craig H]

Yeah, Dasha is the other release that sucks. She’s awesome. I don’t know why they never used her more.

[just drew]

8 hours ago, TheVileOne said:

You mean like CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Brian Pillman Jr.?

The only reason BPJ is getting this treatment is to show less established AEW performers that they’ll be given a look in nXt. That dude is as mid as mid gets.

[TheVileOne]

20 minutes ago, Just Dave said:

The only reason BPJ is getting this treatment is to show less established AEW performers that they’ll be given a look in nXt. That dude is as mid as mid gets.

So in other words, it does make sense to let people go who might get signed to WWE?

[Technico Support]

9 hours ago, Go2Sleep said:

Henry is a stereotype indy wrestler in a company full of dudes who built (then mostly transcended) that stereotype.

Dutch and Drake, let's go.

I seriously got Anthony Henry and Kevin Blackwood mixed up constantly.  Young white guys, similar builds, lots of tattoos, penchant for weird hair color...

9 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Dutch and Drake with Vincent as their mouthpiece would make a pretty awesome team. 

Vincent and Dutch are all up on their cult shit and Drake is just a good ol' boy who likes bowling and is weirded out by these freaks but is still their friend would be pretty fun.

[NikoBaltimore]

My initial reactions:

The Boys-I know you can put anybody in the gimmick yet these were the two that actually made the concept work.  So that sucks.  But cutting them was likely planned out for at least a month since Dalton lost them to Johnny TV on a random ROH show.
Dasha Kuret-This baffles me.  She was a beloved announcer and unless there's somebody replacing her it seems odd that Roberts would do all the AEW shows.  Yeah, there's Bobby Cruise but I can't see them using him for anything other than ROH.
Jose The Assistant-Kind of makes me wonder what's going on with Rush and Dralistico at this point but to be fair Jose was fine but not that to whoever he was with.
Jora Johl-Didn't know he was signed.
Anthony Henry-Since the injury happened outside AEW I'd rather not speculate on anything.  Was never gonna be a singles star but had a really fun team with Drake.  It sucks but oh well.
Gravity-His match with HoB sealed his fate and honestly he was only worth it for the Pac match as a joke.  But that was about it.
Stu Grayson-Was wondering about him recently but since he wasn't on TV since the Righteous stuff it was a matter of time before he either left or they cut him.
Parker Boudreaux-Will not miss him at all.  He had a presence about him at points but nothing else.
Slim J-This sucks a lot.  The guy is only 38 and maybe with a better gimmick might have had a better chance.  I really hope he finds a way to recover because of the people cut he's the one I feel really bad about.

I would hope that the reasons for the cuts are relatively benign but it's hard to put a positive spin on a business move like this.  I'd much rather see a contract run out like apparently TK preferred but it's odd that they would change course like this.

[Stefanie Sparkleface]

I can't imagine, if you're going to cut one of the ring announcers, why you cut Dasha unless she wanted to go.

That stinks.

[BrianS81177]

Maybe Dasha wanted to wrestle again? Didn't she have a match or two in the early days of AEW?

[just drew]

14 minutes ago, TheVileOne said:

So in other words, it does make sense to let people go who might get signed to WWE?

Nah. Don't help your competition make their team better. BPJ didn't renew his deal. He wasn't let go early. Don't make it easy for Hunter. Just do a better job keeping some of the (alleged) malcontents in your tv rotation. 

[colonial]

6 minutes ago, BrianS81177 said:

Maybe Dasha wanted to wrestle again? Didn't she have a match or two in the early days of AEW?

She teamed with Rachel Ellering in that womens tag tournament that aired on YT during the pandemic. 

[TheVileOne]

16 minutes ago, Just Dave said:

Nah. Don't help your competition make their team better. BPJ didn't renew his deal. He wasn't let go early. Don't make it easy for Hunter. Just do a better job keeping some of the (alleged) malcontents in your tv rotation. 

I've seen no evidence of a drive to do so by Tony Khan or the AEW brass, so let 'em go especially if they want to leave.

Edited April 2, 2024 by TheVileOne