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We're back with another edition of the daily WWE Rumor Roundup.
The biggest story of the week, unfortunately, has been WWE's massive cuts that have resulted in the release of various Superstars and the furloughs of many backstage employees.
WWE is not done yet, however, as many more talents were quietly released from the company.
Rusev was inarguably the biggest name to have been let go and there are questions with regards to Lana's status in the company. We also know how the locker room has reacted to the releases and as expected, it has not been positive.
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WWE has also instructed everyone to not mention a popular Superstar's name on TV. There was also an update on Samoa Joe's status in the company.
We've got a lot to get into in today's lineup, so without further ado, here is Sportskeeda's latest WWE Rumor Roundup:
#5 More releases revealed
WWE released 17 in-ring talents from the main roster during the first wave of cuts.
The company has yet to officially confirm any releases that have happened from NXT but a handful of Superstars from the Black and Gold brand have announced their departures on social media. Additionally, credible sources have also confirmed a few releases.
PWInsider has confirmed the releases of Taynara Conti, Cezar Bonini, Tino Sabbatelli and Mars Wang.
In addition to the aforementioned names, Dan Matha (Dorian Mak), Alyssa Marino, Aleksandar Jaksic, Nick Comoroto (Nick Ogarelli), MJ Jenkins, and Deonna Purrazzo have also been released in the past few days.
Sportskeeda's Tom Colohue reported that Conti had previously shown signs of leaving and she was added to the list based on that.
Tino Sabbatelli has been with the company since 2014, however, various injuries derailed the former NFL player's WWE career.
Deonna Purrazzo is another exciting prospect to have been released. She most recently had a few matches on the main roster but was also one of the talents who was considering to quit before the company gave her the pink slip
The rumor mills suggest that WWE will 'quietly' release more NXT Superstars throughout the day.
Here are the ten Superstars from NXT who have reportedly been released thus far:
- Cezar Bonn
- Taynara Conti
- Deonna Purrazzo
- Tino Sabbatelli
- Mars Wang
- Dan Matha (Dorian Mak)
- Alyssa Marino
- Aleksandar Jaksic
- Nick Comoroto (Nick Ogarelli)
- MJ Jenkins
#4 Update on Lana's future after Rusev's release
As reported extensively in the past few weeks, Rusev was engaged in a protracted contract dispute with the company and his WWE exit seemed inevitable.
It finally happened this week as WWE released The Bulgarian Brute along with many other Superstars.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Lana will not be released:
He hadn’t been used much of late and was involved in a contract dispute. His wife, Catherine Jo Perry (Lana) will not be cut.
Her real-life husband may have been released but that hasn't stopped the Ravishing Russian from taking shots at Rusev on social media. Lana has stuck to kayfabe and continued her storyline on Twitter, which is weird and refreshingly entertaining at the same time.
Fan speculation suggests that Rusev could be on his way to AEW, but that, as we stated earlier, is just what the fans wish to see at this moment.
While Rusev works towards possibly securing a deal with another promotion, Lana will continue to be a featured talent in the WWE for the foreseeable future.
#3 Samoa Joe update
Samoa Joe has not been seen on WWE TV ever since he suffered a concussion while filming a commercial which you can view above,
Joe hit his head during a table break spot during the shoot. Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Samoa Joe has still not been cleared from his latest concussion.
The Samoan Submission Machine has had an unfortunate history of injuries in the past year. A broken thumb kept him out of action for a considerable amount of time until he made his return at the end of last year.
Joe suffered a concussion during a match on RAW in January and he was off TV for a few more weeks.
However, another concussion spelt the end of his WrestleMania aspirations. WWE has a strict concussion protocol, which explains why Joe has not been given the green signal to wrestle.
Considering the ongoing pandemic and the tricky nature of concussions, we may not see Joe for a few more months and that's a massive downer.
However, he did great as a commentator and we feel WWE should explore that avenue again.
#2 Backstage reaction to WWE releases, update on another batch of releases
The news of WWE relating and furloughing talents and employees as a cost-cutting measure has stunned the talents, fans and the entire pro wrestling fraternity.
As expected, the talents and employees are furious.
On the latest edition of Sportskeeda's Dropkick DiSKussions podcast with Tom Colohue and Korey Gunz, Tom revealed that the locker room is angry and disappointed by the sudden cuts. There is also concern about more releases being on the horizon, however, that may not happen for the main roster as the decision lies in Vince McMahon's hands
The second that everyone was informed the cuts were going to be happening I started getting messages basically saying, ‘This is not on, this is wrong.’ The locker room is furious and it goes from top to bottom. Nobody in any way is accepting of this. There is massive disappointment, massive anger and there is still an underlying worry anyone could be next.
Tom explained that the company will asses the results of the first batch of releases and send a report to Vince McMahon. The WWE boss will then decide whether or not to conduct another round of cuts.
As of this writing, more main roster talents will not be released
It's the end for right now and it could be the end completely but what's going to happen now after they've done their initial batch of releases that they had planned ahead for and they knew what they were going to do. They had the list well before they actually told the people that the releases were coming. Now they will sit down and do the math and they will work out exactly how much that released based on this and they will look at that and say to themselves, 'Is that enough?' They will pass it to the decision-makers, they will pass it to Vince McMahon because now there is no Wilson and Barrios. It's just Vince making these decisions. They will pass it to him and say, 'Is this enough money cut?'He will then make a decision as to whether or not it is, if it isn't, more people are going to be released.
#1 WWE does not want to mention Roman Reigns' name on TV
As revealed in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE does not want Roman Reigns' name to be mentioned on TV at all.
The instructions have been in effect since WrestleMania 36, where Roman Reigns was not mentioned throughout the show by the commentators.
Roman Reigns' future is up in the air as there is no definite timeline with regards to his return. WrestlingNews.co's Paul Davis had reported a few days back that a friend close to Reigns said that the Big Bog won't be back for at least another few months.
The officials have no idea when Reigns would be able to make his TV comeback and considering the pandemic's drastic effects in the United States, we should not expect to see the Former WWE Champion anytime soon.
Reigns' uncertain future could be one of the reasons why Vince McMahon has reportedly instructed everyone to not use Reigns' name on TV.
WWE didn't explain why Reigns was removed from his previously scheduled WrestleMania match and they are continuing in the same vein going forward.
