Rumor Mill - WWE's Network blamed for roster cuts, corporate bloodletting expected

Yesterdays purge of almost a dozen expendable WWE performers (including Brodus Clay, Evan Bourne, Teddy Long, Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal, Aksana and JTG) caught everyone by surprise, even though the writing should have been on the wall that major cuts were imminent.

After many years of relative prosperity where WWE could afford to carry a bit of deadwood in their ranks, their wrestlers had been lulled into a false sense of security. Releases only occurred when contracts expired or sackable offenses were committed. As long as you played by the rules, your job was safe. Until today.

Unfortunately such niceties can't continue in a company projected to lose a whopping $45-52 million this annum and whose cash-in-hand is rapidly running out to fund such heavy red ink. This is clearly a time where any excessive or unnecessary spending by WWE had to be ruthlessly eliminated regardless of the lives ruined in the process.

Not just in the wrestling ring, but also on the corporate sides of things too, as Dave Scherer of PWInsider.com has just reported that more cuts and redundancies are expected in all areas of the promotion:

"There is a lot of talk that the cuts/releases are not done and that there will be cuts on the administrative side of the company as well, perhaps as soon as tomorrow. Potential cuts loom across pretty much all departments. The word making the rounds is that the current state of the WWE Network, its success or lack thereof, is what is precipitating cuts both in talent as well as potentially in office staff. That wouldn't bode well for state of the Network base when they release the current subscriber numbers at the second quarter earnings conference call."

A final note from Scherer on the WWE wrestler cuts is apparently those that got the chop were unhappy that Triple H left his corporate lackey Mark Carrano to break the news to them and didn't handle the situation personally:

"We have heard that Mark Carrano, who works in Talent Relations under Triple H, is the man who made most, if not all, of the calls to the released talent today. It is fair to say that at least some of those let go would have appreciated that the call came from Triple H himself."