If WWE Was Being Honest About Unhappy Talent

WrestleMania, to its creative detriment, is the endurance festival aimed at talent who have endured the year-long schedule. It is a thank you of sorts; the talents get mainstream exposure, a handsome payday, and the opportunity to perform in front of the largest crowd of the year.

This Kickoff gambit is no longer working; no less than three performers have requested their release in the one and a half weeks following WrestleMania 35. The striking, definitive trend of 2019 is multiplying. The timing is telling; morale is plummeting during what is, historically, a time of celebration and renewed opportunity.

Sasha Banks attempted to walk out over ‘Mania Weekend, feeling let down by WWE’s decision to strip the Boss and Hug Connection of the Women’s Tag Team Titles she effectively dreamt into existence. Luke Harper has astutely followed the successful precedent set by Tye Dillinger; in publicising his desire to leave, he appeared to thank WWE in a heartfelt message. The subtext reveals otherwise. It reads like a challenge: you released Tye, so release me.

Alexander Wolfe was more cryptic in his Twitter missive. Irrespective of where he lands, NXT or the Independent circuit, his “Goodbye #WWE’ sign-off reads like a desperate plea to go somewhere, anywhere, that isn’t a main roster show on which he is conflated with an entry-level Indy talent cosplaying as security. That Miz angle really was something. Wolfe and the rest of SAnitY found themselves right back where they started from, staring both their past and future in the face.

This is a strange subversion of the old “spring cleaning” practise; in 2019, the roster is purging itself. It’s all backwards. This becomes a theme. This all feels inevitable, weirdly, even if it represents a remarkable paradigm shift few saw coming.

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