Released WWE Wrestlers Hit By 90-Day Non-Compete Clauses?
When will WWE's released wrestlers be allowed to compete once more?
All WWE wrestlers released as part of this Wednesday's mass cuts are under 90-day non-compete clauses.
This is according to a new report from PWInsider and means that even if the market hadn't been ravaged by an unprecedented global health crisis, the men and women let go from WWE wouldn't be able to appear for another major wrestling company until 15 July at the earliest.
Appearances for smaller independent groups and at conventions and signing sessions should be possible before then, though the vast majority of these events won't be running at the moment.
90-day non-competes are standard whenever WWE lets a wrestler go. Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder of The Revival left without them as part of their mutually agreed releases last week, but this is a luxury afforded to few. In addition, performers who let their contracts expire aren't under non-competes, hence why Matt Hardy debuted for AEW so soon after leaving WWE.
The current global situation makes it extremely unlikely that other wrestling groups will be looking to acquire talent anytime soon, with promotions like AEW, NJPW, and Impact Wrestling all losing considerably bigger percentages of their revenue than WWE.