WWE has released:
- Emma. As much as I enjoy Emma's work, and as much as I wish we got to see more of her, I could see WWE thinking they'd gotten all they could out of her. Not being able to execute the Emmalina character had to have played a role, as well. It is a shame they lost their Australian hype girl, but I expect Billie Kay and Peyton Royce will take up that role before too much longer. I'd like to see her in Impact if they're willing to use her.
- Darren Young. WWE probably saw him as a combination of injury prone and someone who had been in the company long enough to have made more of an impression than he did. Rather than keep him in the same place they always used him, they decided to cut him loose. Impact and ROH should definitely take a look at him; he has the opportunity to reinvent himself and come back as a more valuable player. It won't be easy, but I think he might have a shot at it.
and
- Summer Rae. Summer hadn't been used in a long time after an injury put her on the shelf. They could have paired her with Rusev or Breezango given her history as a character, but they likely didn't see her as someone valuable enough to keep using. I'm not sure what her next role is, since she's not really known for her ring work.
-- I'm a little surprised there were only three releases. WWE usually makes a larger sweep of the roster. There are definitely talents more or less filling space on live events.
-- Emma tweeted after her release. Sasha Banks, Billie Kay, Peyton Royce, and Paige wished her well, with Paige also giving a shoutout to Summer Rae.
-- Lio Rush joked about Emma leaving, leading to burials from Murphy, Bray Wyatt, and Peyton Royce. Lio apologized, which led to a shot from Jack Gallagher. I get what Lio was going for with his joke, but given where he is on the totem pole, he needs to be doing everything he can to respect and honor the people in the company who came before him. I hope this is a lesson for him and for others that will be in NXT after him.
NBA's Los Angeles Clippers posted photos of WWE Night, Darren Young's final booking with WWE. This makes me wonder if WWE was going to do releases on Friday, but realized they had already booked Young for that date and wanted him to go ahead and work it.
Nia Jax's absence has been at least partially due to nagging back issues. I hope she rebounds soon.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. While doing seasons would help with talents not becoming overexposed/stale so quickly, I don't think it would offset the amount of revenue they'd lose from so many fewer episodes, so many fewer live gates, etc. Same for moving back to two hours. WWE's definitely in a bind, but there's not such an easy way out.
2. If they do something like that, WWE needs to give us a lot more reason to care than "which man is the better wrestler?" If there's a bigger rivalry going on over, say, unfinished business from Japan or something with Karl and Luke involved, and one of them is at least somewhat heelish and underhanded, it might work. But the appeal of seeing which man can kick out of more finishers is limited.
3. The booking and build would be key. I wouldn't mind seeing a feud where Roman, Joe, and the Usos face AJ, Finn, Anderson, and Gallows, but it would need to be a good storyline bringing it all together (as we saw with the recent Shield reunion).
Nothing to add to 4.
5. There's a difference between cursing during a big injury/moment of genuine surprise vs. cursing during a promo. WWE is likely only concerned with the latter.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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