(93.7 The Fan/AP) - Olympic Gold Medalist, WWE Hall of Famer and Pittsburgh native Kurt Angle has been released by World Wrestling Entertainment.
The WWE made the announcement Wednesday.
I wanted 2 say thank you to the WWE for the time I spent there.I made many new friends and had the opportunity to work with so many talented people. To the Superstars, continue to entertain the WWE Universe as well as you possibly can. They’re the best fans in the world. #itstrue
— Kurt Angle (@RealKurtAngle)
April 15, 2020 In addition to Angle a large number of wrestlers were released according to WWE.com
“WWE has come to terms on the release of Kurt Angle, Rusev (Miroslav Barnyashev), Drake Maverick (James Curtin), Zack Ryder (Matthew Cardona), Curt Hawkins (Brian Myers), Karl Anderson (Chad Allegra), Luke Gallows (Drew Hankinson), Heath Slater (Heath Miller), Eric Young (Jeremy Fritz), Rowan (Joseph Ruud), Sarah Logan (Sarah Rowe), No Way Jose (Levis Valenzuela), Mike Chioda, Mike Kanellis (Mike Bennett), Maria Kanellis, EC3 (Michael Hutter), Aiden English (Matthew Rehwoldt), Lio Rush (Lionel Green), Primo (Edwin Colon) and Epico (Orlando Colon Nieves). We wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”
While crowds are unable to attend WWE events, the company continues to operate in a closed off set in Florida.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
declared WWE and other wrestling organizations in the state are an “essential service”.
Pro sports were added to a list of businesses permitted to stay open in an April 9 memorandum to include “employees at a professional sports and media production with a national audience ... only if the location is closed to the general public.”
The amendment allows World Wrestling Entertainment, run by CEO Vince McMahon in the Orlando area, to continue putting on shows — without fans.
WWE announced Wednesday it made
various moves to cut costs and improve cash flow, including: reducing the salaries of executives and board membes; decreasing operating expenses; cutting talent expenses, third party staffing and consulting; and deferring spending on the construction of the company’s new headquarters for at least six months.DeSantis, a Republican, said at a news conference Tuesday that people are “champing at the bit” for new entertainment to boost morale while housebound. He also would like to see other sporting events, maybe NASCAR races without an audience or a redo of the Tiger Woods-vs.-Phil Mickelson golf match.
“If you think about it, we’ve never had a period like this in modern American history where you’ve had such little new content, particularly in the sporting realm,” the governor said.
Other reports claim that when WWE is finished releasing talent and backstage officials the number of those fired/furloughed could be in the hundreds.
All I can say is wow at this point. The number of people, staff + talent, let go will be in the hundreds when it’s all set and done. Well into the hundreds. A dark day in WWE history.
— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes)
April 15, 2020 ___Listen to 93.7 The Fan on the RADIO.COM AppTell your smart speaker to "play Ninety Three Seven The Fan"Receive email updates from 93.7 The FanFollow 93.7 The Fan: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
