WWE has been raking in record profits over the last couple of years, but even with all of that cash flow, the company has released over 100 performers from their contracts since the pandemic began in early 2020.
The term “budget cuts” was used internally as the rationale for those cuts, despite the company reporting record financial numbers in recent months. For talent worried about their jobs moving forward, they won’t have a lot of say in the matter unless they have a “no-cut clause.” The vast majority of WWE talent do not have these clauses written into their contracts; only a select few at the top of the card have a no-cut clause.
According to a report from Fightful Select, Vince McMahon has been steadfast in his opposition to no-cut clauses being offered to talents who re-sign with the company. It was revealed last week that Kevin Owens re-signed with WWE — a deal that is reportedly worth in the neighborhood of $2-3 million per year. His new deal does not include a no-cut clause.
The Fightful report notes that some within WWE (“people of influence” is the term given) have been open to the idea of including no-cut clauses, but McMahon has ruled it out. Talent have essentially been told that the idea is a non-starter at this point.
Which Talent Will Sign WWE Contracts, Who Will Leave
There are currently rumors that Sami Zayn has re-signed with WWE, though the specifics of his deal have not been made public and this is only a rumor at this point (as reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter). One would assume that since Owens was unable to get a no-cut clause, the same would apply for Zayn.
Johnny Gargano and Kyle O’Reilly are both now free agents after their deals with WWE expired. The pair would be free to sign or appear for AEW or any other promotion as soon as they wanted. O’Reilly is expected to be the first to possibly jump ship with Gargano and his wife, Candice LeRae, expecting their first child soon.
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