World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon has fired 30 WWE staff members, which include professional wrestlers, producers and development trainers.
As a result, most wrestlers broke character on social media to express their displeasure at the decision, the most relevant one was by CJ Perry, who goes by the WWE name Lana. Perry’s husband Miroslav Bamyashew, who goes by the WWE name Rusev.
The storyline, however, showed that Lana and Rusev were going through a divorce after Lana’s onscreen affair with fellow-wrestler Bobby Lashley. After Lana’s tweet, it looks like that storyline will change.
Other superstars to lose their jobs included WWE great and Olympic gold medal-winning Kurt Angle, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Lio Rush, No Way Jose, and Drake Maverick. Producers who got the axe included Finley, who has been instrumental in developing the WWE women’s division, and Lance Storm.
The firing comes the same day that US President Donald Trump asked McMahon for advice on the economy. This news comes days after the McMahon-owned XFL, a IPL-style premier league for American football teams, declared bankruptcy. Trump’s administration had even deemed WWE an essential service and called for live recordings of their Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown shows.
This is how other superstars who still have their jobs reacted
According to CBS Sport, Trump announced that he was putting together an advisory group that will reopen the United States economically, and one part of this group is dedicated to sports and sports entertainment.
Notably, President Donald Trump is a long-time friend of the McMahons, Vince and Linda McMahon, and the only President to be in WWE Hall of Fame. Linda has served as the 25th Administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019.
In a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19, a state-wide stay-at-home order has already been implemented. While WWE was not initially viewed as essential like grocery stores and pharmacies, it has since been given the green light.
