WWE announces releases and furloughs

Vince McMahon initiated a conference call with WWE employees, announcing there would be a slew of layoffs and furloughs in the company, as well as cutbacks in pay for executives and board members as a result of COVID-19. That should tell you how major missing WrestleMania was for the company.

WWE's planned headquarters move has been postponed. That was going to be a major undertaking, so that's not something they want to jump into with an uncertain financial future.

WWE put out a press release before beginning layoffs. It sounds like the building move was the biggest concern.

WWE announced the following superstar releases, covered in the order they were confirmed:
- Drake Maverick, who tweeted about the release
-- I feel sorry for Drake. He seemed like a natural fit as a character and/or a manager on Raw or Smackdown. I think he did well in any capacity. I hope he's able to show his personality in other roles elsewhere.

- EC3, who tweeted about the release
-- I REALLY feel sorry for EC3. He worked his ass off to get back in WWE and didn't get any momentum going. Great character, great look. I hope he's able to show what he's capable of elsewhere, because he got lost in the shuffle in WWE.

- Lio Rush, who tweeted about the release
-- A little bit of a surprise given how he turned his life around and showed so much potential. I think he'll be able to rebound. If he can have a long run somewhere, he could very well come back even better.

- Karl Anderson
-- I didn't see this one coming given the lengths WWE went to to re-sign him and Luke. It would make sense for AJ to drop them after the loss to Undertaker, though. I expect the Good Brothers will be picked up pretty much as soon as they're available. They've still got things to contribute to the business.

- Curt Hawkins, who tweeted about the release and the release of Heath Slater
-- Yeah can't be surprised by this one. I don't think anyone would argue he was someone they really were going to miss three years from now. I'd be a little surprised to see him sign somewhere else; it feels like he's had a good run on TV.

- Luke Gallows
-- See Karl Anderson.

- Eric Young
-- Young seemed like a natural fit to transition to producer or coach, but when cuts needed to be made, I can see how he was an obvious one.

- Heath Slater, who tweeted about the release
-- I've always found Heath very entertaining and think he was underutilized as a character. I hope we see more from him on a big stage.

- Sarah Logan
-- This one made sense, as she hadn't really made a name for herself in the company yet. I could see Impact or ROH picking her up to have a consistent run.

- Primo
-- Frankly, it was time. He and Epico hadn't been used in forever and that wasn't likely to change.

- Epico
-- See Primo.

- Erick Rowan
-- I'm a bit surprised here, since they had done so much with his character. That said, it could be that after the loss to Drew that run was over and it was just a matter of time. Not sure what's next for him at 38.

- Mike Kanellis, who tweeted about the release
-- Yeah no complaints here. I almost expect him to end up back in Impact or ROH. I've always been underwhelmed by him, but he's apparently pretty well connected to keep getting hired.

- Zack Ryder, who tweeted about the release
-- After so many years in WWE, this was kind of expected. It's not like he was going to get another big push with so many other talented people making their ways through the pipeline. I think he can still contribute to the business, though. I hope we get to see that.

- No Way Jose, who tweeted about the release
-- Can't really be surprised here. His character had a shelf life and didn't really fit in with the other stars they're signing these days. We'll see if he can recreate himself elsewhere.

- Rusev, who tweeted about the release
-- I'm already ready to see what he does come July. He's really someone who can have a great second act. People want to support him doing what he does best.

WWE announced the following producer releases and furloughs, covered in the order they were announced:
- Billy Kidman

- Irwin R. Schyster

- Fit Finlay, who tweeted about the release

- Pat Buck, who tweeted about the release

- Shawn Daivari

- Scott Armstrong, who tweeted about the release

- Sarah Stock

- Shane Helms, who tweeted about the release , twice

- Lance Storm, who tweeted about the release

- Kurt Angle, who tweeted about the release
-- Honestly he probably had a pretty big salary to not wrestle.

WWE announced the following additional releases, covered in the order they were announced:
- Aiden English

- Mike Chioda

- Maria Kanellis, who tweeted about the release
-- I didn't expect them to fire someone on maternity leave. I also don't think she had much to contribute.

- Kendo Kashin

- Ace Steel

- Serena Deeb

- Josiah Williams, who tweeted about the release

WWE announced the following Performance Center releases, covered in the order they were announced:
- Deonna Purrazzo, who tweeted about the release
-- Deonna's good. I hope she can show that somewhere else, as she wasn't getting much traction in the crowded WWE talent pool.

- Aleksandar Jaksic, who tweeted about the release

- MJ Jenkins, who tweeted about the release

- Dan Matha

- Nick Ogarelli, who tweeted about the release

- Taynara

- Cezar Bononi

- Mars Wang

- Tino Sabbatelli

- Kassius Ohno
-- He was getting to that point. They weren't doing much with him and seemingly already had enough producers and coaches.

- Mohamed Fahim

- Marcos Gomes

- Faisal Kurdi

- Edgar Lopez

- Hussain Aldagal

- Rocky

-- Honestly they probably could have dropped a good deal more from the active roster and trainees and not skipped a beat. They're paying a lot of people on a lot of contracts.

WWE also released writer Andrew Listenberger, who had been working on the Mandy Rose/Otis storyline. She tweeted about the release. That should say something about how important WWE sees that angle.

Others commented on the wave of releases:
- Natalya Tweet 1 Tweet 2 Tweet 3

- Dolph Ziggler

- Paige Tweet 1 Tweet 2

- Renee Young

- Charlotte Flair Tweet 1 Tweet 2

- Alexa Bliss Tweet 1 Tweet 2

- The Bella Twins Tweet 1 Tweet 2 Tweet 3

- Apollo Crews

- Naomi

- Xavier Woods

- TJ Wilson

- Sasha Banks

- Becky Lynch

- Mojo Rawley Tweet 1 Tweet 2

- Seth Rollins

- Dana Brooke

- Carmella

- Bayley

- Mark Henry

- Jim Ross

- Cinta de Oro Tweet 1 Tweet 2

- Santino Marella

- Bully Ray

More wrestling tomorrow.