As noted earlier, there are more details on the recent WWE NXT releases in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Dave Meltzer noted that the recent cuts led to morale issues, something that hasn’t been a problem in the past. Generally, the talent has been happy working there but that is not so much the case now with so many people getting cut this year.
Meltzer added that the cuts were based on a new company directive for the product and there is a behind-the-scenes power struggle among people who are worried about their positions if/when Vince McMahon steps down and Paul “Triple H” Levesque takes over.
As noted earlier, Triple H and Shawn Michaels did not have a say in who got cut last Friday, which is surprising since it’s always been thought that Triple H would handle the wrestling side of things and Nick Khan would handle the business affairs. McMahon, Bruce Prichard, and John Laurinaitis were the ones to make the call on who would be let go.
It was thought that Triple H was seen as untouchable but that changed after NXT lost the war to AEW and it gave some of his detractors who felt like they could be replaced some ammunition.
There was a feeling within the television business and within WWE that the WWE brand would be strong enough to propel NXT to be the number 1 wrestling show on Wednesday’s but the opposite happened and AEW won almost every week.
Meltzer noted that people within the company said that the releases last Friday seemed like a power grab with people looking out for their future while treating the released talent as pawns.
Another thing that was noted by people in the company is that there was a feeling that Triple H stocked up on too much talent that has no real potential on the main roster and many independent names were signed to keep them away from AEW.
