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WWE: Reactions to #BlackFriday talent cuts

By Samantha Schipman

WWE (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
WWE (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Once again, I regret to inform you that this is not an article you’ve already read. I just wrote this one three weeks ago. WWE is once again making roster cuts, this time on Black Friday. If you’re losing track, there have been five rounds of cuts this year and six since the start of the pandemic. One of those rounds was for digital and social staff.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, rumors of more cuts started leaking. Much like the first round of cuts, it was like a leaky faucet: a few names trickling out before a downpour of names followed.

The releases are:

-Tony Nese

-Ariya Daivari

-Chase Parker and Matt Martel (Ever-Rise)

-August Grey

-Curt Stallion

-Marina Shafir

-Killian Dain

-Fandango

-Tyler Breeze

-Sunil and Samir Singh (Bollywood Boyz)

-Arturo Ruas

-Tino Sabbatelli

WWE mishandles Kenice Mobley

The very first cut was Kenice Mobley. She was one of two Black women writers that were recently hired. On a podcast, Mobley mentioned that she didn’t know anything about the product and said the WWE Champion was “Bobby Ashley” or Lashley. Of course, this turned to faux Twitter outrage.

WWE constantly says they’re an entertainment company, not a wrestling company. They have long hired TV writers who know nothing about the product. It’s not a secret that this is happening, so the reactions on Twitter were ridiculous. They also hired Freddie Prinze, Jr. who is a wrestling fan and actor. He lasted a year as a writer. So, let’s all relax.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful says that he’s been told that Mobley’s podcast appearance had little to do with her release. It’s hard to believe that, especially knowing how WWE is. She more or less exposed their hiring practices publicly. Let’s not forget that they hired her based on what they were looking for. Mobley is an easy scapegoat after public fallout.

On Friday, Mobley’s Twitter was private. I’m not sure if this was done in relation to the backlash, her firing, or was already private.

205 Live might actually be done

They have effectively gutted the 205 Live brand. Earlier this week, it was rumored that WWE had big plans for the Cruiserweights. It appeared to be true with the arrival of Diamond Mine. On Friday, they started out by releasing the backbone of the brand, Nese and Daivari.

The releases kept coming and they’ve cut six men, eight if you count Ever-Rise. 205 Live has always had a tiny roster. As of right now, 205 Live has just four men on its roster: Asher Hale, Ari Sterling, Grayson Waller, and Ikemen Jiro.

As someone who has long championed the purple brand, this is beyond pathetic. For a show that WWE didn’t care about, 205 Live was consistently putting on great matches, had some of the best talent, and had cohesive storylines. They have always deserved much better.

Reactions after WWE releases more talent

Nese was the first Superstar to confirm their departure:

He followed up with a more serious tweet:

Daivari piggybacked off Nese’s tweet:

He also said:

Their former #205Livers also chimed in:

Bollywood Boyz comment on their release:

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/1409196390530572288?s=20

August Grey (aka Anthony Greene) had a hilarious response:

Some of his former co-workers had nice words for him:

Could AG be ROH bound?

Brandi Lauren (FKA Skyler Story before being released in the last round of cuts) made a hilarious joke before deleting it:

https://twitter.com/Carmelo_WWE/status/1408522061870514188?s=20

https://twitter.com/ashley__vox/status/1408531747353018369?s=20

Curt Stallion posted this:

Fandago’s gracious statement:

https://twitter.com/WWEFandango/status/1408503978472706048?s=20

While Tyler Breeze is yet to post a reaction, some others shared stories. He has retweeted a couple of them:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQkXsHkBy7Z/

Killian released a lengthy statement:

Nikki Cross’ response:

Prior to any kind of statement from Ever-Rise, many others spoke out about them:

On Saturday, they were back with another episode of their show:

According to Fightful Select, Ruas was originally slated to be part of Diamond Mine. There were plans for Shafir to be a female enforcer.

Marina Shafir waited until the following day to express her feelings:

Arturo Ruas also spoke out on Saturday:

https://twitter.com/AlexaBliss_WWE/status/1408534693314695183?s=20

Josiah Williams, who was recently released:

Next. Released WWE Superstar EJ Nduka signs with MLW. dark

I really hope this is the last article I have to write like this for the year, but the way things have been going for the last few months, I’m not holding my breath.

Be sure to support released talent however you can whether it’s retweets and likes, buying their merch, subscribing to their Patreon, or going to see them once they start taking bookings. This isn’t the end for many of them.

As always, follow Daily DDT for the latest.

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