AS I SEE IT
Bob Magee
Pro Wrestling Between the Sheets
PWBTS.com
WWE fired a total of 26 talents from main roster, NXT, and
developmental in its yearly post-Mania massacre (so far that
we know of.....).
The first surprises came with the releases of Aleister Black
and Kairi Sane, with Sane involved in an angle being bullied
by Asuka for the past several months with now no apparent
payoff. Black just recently returned from AEW but failed to
catch on. His wife, Zelina Vega, was also released.
The cuts started April 24, which, while common post-
Wrestlemania, were larger than normal in the first set of
announcements, consisted of Alba Fyre, Aleister Black, Alex
Shelley, Andre Chase, Apollo Crews, Chris Sabin, Dante Chen,
Dexter Lumis, Joe Gacy, Kairi Sane, Luca Crusifino, Malik
Blade, Nikki Cross, Rowan, Santos Escobar, Tayra Mae Steele,
Tyriek Igwe, Tyson Dupont, Uncle Howdy, Zelina Vega, Carlee
Bright, Tanga Loa, JC Mateo, Francois Prinsloo, and Zoey
Stark.
Then on May 4, the most shocking announcement came with the
releases of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods of The New Day.
Except these weren't releases in the usual sense. This came
from a mandate by TKO to WWE to shed millions of dollars in
talent payroll. Both members of The New Day were, in fact,
asked to take pay cuts and refused. This happened in light
of the news that one talent termed "while not upper echelon
but "somewhat pushed" accepted a 50% pay cut. Then, Sean
Ross Sapp reported that they weren't the only ones...and
that multiple talent have been asked to take pay cuts. Many
have accepted.
But this came in the light of obscene TKO corporate bonuses,
including CEO Ari Emanuel whose, total 2025 pay package
jumped to $67.4 million (including a $3 million salary and a
massive stock-heavy bonus package). COO Mark Shapiro had
total compensation of over $42 million (including a $12.5
million bonus). WWE President Nick Khan received a $10.75
million bonus for 2025, in addition to salary and stock.
Board of Directors member Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson received
$900,000 in royalties and a $30,000,000 restricted stock
unit award, fully vested.
Then, TKO announced its financial results for the first
quarter of 2026, announcing that they earned $1,597,000,000
in revenue with a net income of $249,800,000. WWE revenue
was at $475,700,000.
Ari Emanuel, Executive Chair and CEO of TKO said. “TKO is
off to a formidable start in 2026, with strong results and
continued momentum across each of our businesses...“We are
reaffirming our full-year guidance, and today’s incremental
$1 billion share repurchase authorization underscores our
conviction in TKO and its long-term value.”
Mark Shapiro, President and COO of TKO said: "TKO’s first
quarter results reflect the strength and durability of our
premium IP. Our media rights portfolio is firmly in place,
our financial incentive packages continue to scale, and
demand for our premium live events and experiences is
healthy...with UFC Freedom 250 at the White House and On
Location’s FIFA World Cup partnership, TKO will take center
stage this summer, crowning moments for audience growth,
cultural relevance, and our business trajectory.”
Deeper into the report, it was announced that Nick Khan has
signed a new deal to remain WWE President through 2030.
So imagine you're a wrestler. You've spent most of your
professional lifetime in WWE...or just started what you HOPE
will be a lifetime. Suddenly, your dream is taken away from
you. It's taken away to line the pockets of executives and a
soulless corporation.
Then you hear the news above. Those running your company are
awarding
Then, if it wasn’t enough, WWE engaged the services of
Stream Enforcement, a bot service that scours for live
streams and identifies potential copyright strikes from
content creators.
The use of the Stream Enforcement resulted in a lot of
content creators getting hit by copyright claims and
takedown notices from WWE for their reaction videos. The
move was galling considering that WWE used content creator
reaction videos IN WWE TELEVISION BROADCASTS, and invited
several of the same creators for the WrestleMania 42 stage
unveiling in Las Vegas.
So WWE used these creators to attract attention from
creators making small sums of money from reactions to RAW,
Smackdown, NXT and PLEs...showed it on air ON WWE TV to get
over the WWE product as being cool with the IWC, then
suddenly pivoted to attack these same creators.
Coincidence or not, it's been noted these takedowns come
ahead of the Club WWE launch.
We'll see if that becomes part of the equation starting
tonight on RAW. Will joining Club WWE (read: making TKO even
more money from fans) be a requirement to do this reviewing?
Tune in...
Until next time...
If you'd like to contact me, you can do so at my
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