6. Firing Eighteen Superstars In Order To Re-Hire Brock Lesnar (Who Didn't End Up Signing)
It's been a while since WWE had a mass talent cull, but they used to happen with almost frightening regularity. On July 8th 2005, WWE took the unprecedented step of letting go of eighteen performers, including the Dudley Boys (as well as Spike), recently married couple Charlie Haas and Jackie Gayda and a pregnant Dawn Marie. Naturally, the wrestling press and those posting in online forums were quick to scold the company for taking away the income of the newlyweds and mother-to-be, questioning how they could be so callous and whether costs couldn't be cut somewhere else. Why were WWE even saying 'adieu' to almost twenty talents, anyways? Seemed a bit excessive, no? Simple: because they were negotiating with Brock Lesnar, who hadn't appeared for the outfit since WrestleMania XX in March 2004 and was actually in the process in suing WWE over his no-compete clause. Obviously, Lesnar would be a big signing for them, and a big signing costs big money. Lesnar was on a $1 million per year downside guarantee (minimum) when he was a WWE star between 2002-04. The Next Big Thing had a meeting with Vince McMahon in late June, which opened the door for negotiations. WWE even ran with the story on WWE.com and were supposedly confident of signing him. Then Lesnar balked at their 'insultingly low' financial offer and the expectation that he work a full-time schedule, and the lawsuits were back on. So WWE got rid of eighteen employees, many of whom had talent and potential or were in difficult personal situations, in order to free up the funds to sign Lesnar, and then he rejects the deal? Another smart and classy move by the 'WWE family'.
