One of the biggest topics in wrestling this last week was about the recent WWE releases that hit last Friday and Saturday. Several names were cut from the company, leaving fans, colleagues and media members looking for answers. As more about those releases have come out, several personalities in the business have had much to say. Former NXT Women's Champion, Mandy Rose, added her input to the situation.
"There are some rumors going around that I happened to see on social media," Rose said during the Power Alphas podcast with another former WWE performer, Tino Sabbatelli. "Apparently, the people that got releases weren't putting in enough work or they were lazy.' A couple of girls, Cora and Gigi, made a comment about it on Twitter. I like that they spoke up. I think it's BS and it's so stupid because we've been there and we know how it works when it comes to releases."
Dave Meltzer reported on what he was told about the releases. He reported that he was told the words "old" and "lazy" when describing some of the names in WWE NXT that were released. Gigi Dolin and Cora Jade, two women who were prominently featured on WWE NXT but still released, pushed back against those claims, with Jade referencing being "body shamed" while in NXT.
"There is no time to be lazy at the PC," Rose continued. "You're training all week, you're putting in the work, some of these girls have been there a couple of years now. You're going to live events and traveling all around Florida. You have one day off, like Sunday, to regroup and all that. You're hustling. To stay that is so stupid."
Rose commented on the rumors about some performers being paid too much, which Sabbatelli followed.
"It's a business model with a revolving door, meaning as guys sit in their offce and they are dorks and nerds and they crunch numbers all day and they know WWE has X amount of money for their salary and X amount of money to pay. Every six, eight, ten weeks, they have layoffs. That's what they do."
Fans expressed frustration with names like Shayna Baszler, Jakara Jackson, and Dakota Kai being released. Each of those women are 30 years of age and older. However, WWE has brought back Rusev and Aleister Black, plus there's Jeff Cobb who is expected to debut soon. Each of these performers are 39 years of age and older. There's a clear double standard when it comes to age for the men and women on the WWE roster.
Mandy Rose was one of the bigger names on WWE NXT, as she was featured heavily during her run on the brand. Her 413-day reign as WWE NXT Women's Champion came to a sudden end which saw her released the next day. Rumors were that she was cut because of the adult content she was posting online as a separate business venture. Since then and during this podcast she's spoken only about doing better financially now than she was as a contracted performer in the WWE.