"I just don't think they are right" - AEW's Bryan Danielson criticizes WWE for releasing talent
AEW's Bryan Danielson recently shared his thoughts on WWE releasing several talents over the last year. He believes that the move isn't right since the company is more profitable than ever.
On November 4th, WWE released eighteen performers, including some high-profile names like Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, and Nia Jax. The layoff drew criticism, with former WWE star Bryan Danielson not particularly happy with how things went down.
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Speaking on "The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani," the American Dragon stated that it isn't easy for him to talk about the releases since his father-in-law, John Laurinaitis, is WWE's Head of Talent Relations.
Danielson explained that since WWE has a 90-day non-compete clause for released talents, the performers should also be allowed to give a 90-day notice period if they are unhappy.
"In some ways, I feel like it’s not right. It’s hard because my father-in-law is the head of talent relations. One of the things that I’ve always had a hard time with, and I’ve been fired from WWE twice so I kind of get this – it’s one thing if somebody does something bad but like for example, if you’re under a contract with WWE and you’re not happy or you’re not happy with the company or whatever it is, if they can fire you and give you 90 days [then] you should be able to give them 90 days to be released from your contract,” Danielson said.
He was also critical of WWE initially hoarding performers to prevent them from joining AEW:
“On the flip side, if they are only firing you because of budget cuts where they are more profitable than ever, I just don’t think that’s right. They signed a lot of people to high end contracts when AEW kind of started to keep people from going to AEW or whatever,” said Bryan Danielson
Bryan Danielson on AEW not making mass roster cuts
The former WWE Champion added that contrary to WWE, AEW had released only a handful of performers since the pandemic last year. Instead of abruptly releasing talent, Tony Khan waits for their contract to expire and not renew it:
"Tony Khan, I think he’s only let go of 3 people since the pandemic started and they were disciplinary reasons. Other people who are no longer with the company, if he didn’t want them then okay their contract expired and then okay we’ve chosen not to re-sign you and then you kind of know. That’s how he kind of approaches it,” Danielson said. (H/T - WrestlingNews)
I'm very excited about this match at AEW Full Gear.
The question is, can Bryan Danielson make Miro submit? Is that the strategy? Or will he resort to kicking Miro's head off? Go for the neck. If Miro lets him.
These two are going to tear each other apart. https://t.co/0vj7U01hch
Bryan Danielson will wrestle his first pay-per-view match for AEW on Saturday night's Full Gear 2021. The American Dragon will lock horns against Miro in the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament finals.
Do you agree with Bryan Danielson's take on recent WWE releases? Sound off in the comments section below.