WWE Rumors on Potential Roster Cuts, Trial Contracts and NXT Developmental Ages

Photo credit: WWE.com

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

WWE Reportedly Considered Other Releases

Before releasing 18 Superstars on Thursday, WWE reportedly considered making other cuts as well.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Michael Perry of Ringside News), WWE discussed the possibility of releasing any veteran wrestler who hasn’t been used lately on the main roster or in NXT.

Several fairly significant names were among Thursday’s cuts, including Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, Ember Moon, Eva Marie, Franky Monet, Nia Jax, Mia Yim and Scarlett.

WWE has made wide-ranging cuts on multiple occasions this year, and the potential is present for them to continue since WWE still has a large roster between Raw, SmackDown, NXT and NXT UK.

While a few of the wrestlers who were released Thursday were relatively young and new to the company, most were veterans in their 30s who did not have substantial or consistent roles on television.

The pro wrestling free-agent market is receiving a massive infusion of talent between WWE’s releases and the news that Ring of Honor is allowing its entire roster to take bookings now and become free agents by early next year.

All Elite Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Impact Wrestling figure to be the main beneficiaries, although they can ill afford to bloat their rosters to the point WWE did previously.

WWE Reportedly Considering Changing NXT Contracts

WWE is also said to be considering making a significant change to the contracts it offers wrestlers in NXT.

According to Meltzer (h/t Perry), WWE is discussing the idea of offering everyone except top prospects 60-day trial contracts. How the wrestlers improve over the duration of those deals would determine whether they are offered full-time contracts.

That could prove to be a wise move on WWE’s part since it would prevent the company from having to make a long-term investment in someone it was unsure about.

Over the past several months, WWE has released multiple Superstars who were under contract for less than a year. The trial period would conceivably make that a less frequent occurrence.

WWE appears to be focused on bringing in young athletes with little-to-no pro wrestling experience in an effort to mold them and build them from the ground up.

Since rebranding to NXT 2.0, NXT has heavily featured those types of wrestlers and gotten away from the independent veterans who used to populate the roster.

There is no telling whether the new contract strategy would help WWE in terms of identifying talent, but it could prevent the company from having to make so many cuts at the NXT level.

WWE Only Wants to Sign Young Wrestlers

It is no secret that WWE has been targeting younger prospects lately, but Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live recently provided some specifics on that subject.

According to Alvarez (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), WWE only wants to sign women if they are under 25 or even 23 years of age.

Alvarez also said WWE is targeting men who are 27 or younger and at least 6’2″.

Based on the recent NXT programming, there is no question that WWE has been trying to highlight younger women, such as Gigi Dolin, Jacy Jayne, Indi Hartwell, Persia Pirotta and Cora Jade.

At the same time, WWE hasn’t shied away from using women in their 30s, either, including new NXT Women’s champion Mandy Rose, Raquel Gonzalez, Io Shirai and Dakota Kai.

WWE has been cutting talent more than it has been bringing it in recently, meaning it won’t become clear whether the reported mandate is in effect until more Performance Center recruits are signed.

There is little doubt that WWE is reshaping its roster and refocusing on how it wants to develop talent, and it may not be until years down the line that it becomes apparent whether that was the right move.

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