Dave Meltzer has provided an update on the thinking behind several of WWE’s post-WrestleMania 42 roster cuts, dismissing the theory that TKO’s distaste for darker characters drove the decisions while explaining the specific reasoning behind each departure.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer addressed the releases of the Wyatt Sicks, Aleister Black, and Zelina Vega, writing that the common thread was simply that WWE felt it had exhausted what it could do with each act.
On the Wyatt Sicks, Meltzer wrote: “It was just felt that the group had run its course. Even at first there were those who saw it as a short-term idea. It was basically a tribute to Bray Wyatt and was over big at first but it was limiting how they could be used with that gimmick over the long haul.”
He also noted that the creative ceiling was apparent from early in the group’s existence and that the outcome was widely anticipated internally.
“The feeling was they got all out of the Wyatts they were going to get and Black and Vega was just a decision made on who they weren’t going to do anything more with. The reality is that even though they recruited Black hard to get out of AEW, once he returned, they really didn’t have much in the way of ideas for him,” Meltzer wrote.
On the widespread theory that TKO had driven the releases due to a preference against darker characters on WWE programming, Meltzer was equally direct in shutting it down.
“Regarding the story that the Wyatts and Black were released because TKO didn’t like dark characters, we were told that was ‘bullshit’ and that these were not decisions that even reached that level,” Meltzer wrote.
Meltzer also provided an interesting footnote regarding Zelina Vega’s history with AEW, noting that Tony Khan had reached out after her first WWE release in November 2020 but never received a response.
“He did negotiate with Zelina when she was let go the last time, but she pretty much ghosted him and signed back,” Meltzer wrote.
