WWE has had its share of talent releases over the course of the summer, but no bigger one may have came on July 31 when the company announced the release of Bray Wyatt. Fans, talent and colleagues alike were shocked by the news that Wyatt was suddenly let go and further details have been reported about how Wyatt was given the news and what may have been the reasoning behind such a drastic decision.
According to Fightful Select, it was John Lauirinaitis who made the call to Bray, citing that the release was to to budgetary reasons. A notification was also sent out to the roster minutes before the news was made public who were also told it was in regards to budget cuts. PWInsider also confirmed the Lauirinaitis news and added that Johnny Ace is in the middle of moving back to Connecticut currently.
A source both from Fightful and from PWInsider said that this left the roster stunned because Wyatt has been a major merchandise mover when Bray/The Fiend has been a presence on programming. The Wrestling Observer reported that their were future plans ahead for Wyatt in August before his release, but a PWInsider source pointed the blame of Wyatt’s release directly at WWE President Nick Khan and CFO Kristina Salen who are reportedly obsessed with keeping their books out of the red and unlike the past, little leniency with the two has been shown when it comes to cutting costs. PWI also notes that Vince McMahon has given Khan plenty more rope when it comes to making big executive decisions such as this, more than he has done in the past, so there was likely less butting of heads when it came to such a decision. Regarding the relationship between McMahon and Wyatt, it was reported by some of PWInsider‘s sources that the two ran very hot and cold with one another.
In addition to all that, Fightful heard that WWE creative was relayed a message that Wyatt was getting protective of his character after poor booking decisions and ideas were presented to him. However, many members of the creative staff didn’t speak to Bray directly about such matters and weren’t sure if this was just scuttlebutt.
