TKO Reportedly Asked WWE To Make Cuts Due To SmackDown Returning To Two Hours And NXT Call-Ups
WWE’s recent releases are reportedly to do with SmackDown returning to two hours.
On April 24, WWE held their latest round of cut, with 25 names let go from the company. Those affected were a mix of major names and developmental prospects, though, after Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, the Motor City Machine Guns, and all members of the Wyatt 6 were among the departures, many fans noticed that the company seemed to be intentionally thinning the roster on Friday Night SmackDown. Now, more information has emerged on the amount of talent released by WWE and why they tended to come from the blue brand.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, it’s believed SmackDown’s return to two hours later this month is a major reason behind the cuts, along with the recent NXT call-ups.
“The story on the cuts being so many, there’s a couple of reasons behind it. What happened is essentially last year, they do cuts every single year, last year because they had basically just taken over the company and they were trying to be good guys and all that, right, so they didn’t order a lot of cuts last year. They kind of held back, so it’s kind of like a catch-up. Developmental, they’re adding new people to developmental. The people who they figured aren’t going to make it, those were the ones cut. So you know.
-Dave Meltzer
The main roster cuts, essentially it was two things. Number one, all of the people who were brought up from NXT that got spots, essentially they wanted to remove a similar amount of people and they went to creative. It was creative that made the call as to who. They said like: “Who are you not planning on using? Who on the roster are you not planning on using? Give us X number of names.” The number that were brought up and additional names from SmackDown, the reason being SmackDown at the end of this month, not next month, the end of this month, SmackDown is going to two hours. Therefore, there is an hour of less time of television, so therefore there is less time to put as many people on, so therefore there would be additional cuts on the SmackDown side. So that’s the story behind the number of cuts.”
In light of the news that SmackDown would return to two hours at the end of this month, Meltzer recently revealed that this is set to become a regular pattern for the brand throughout the year. Having first gone to three hours in January 2025, it reverted back to two that July, and it seems show is set to alternate its time slots every six months to accommodate for other shows to air on USA.
During the second half of the year, fans will be able to see ‘Everything On The Menu’ with Braun Strowman in the 10pm ET (9pm CT) slot that would usually host the third hour of SmackDown.
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As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on the recent WWE cuts as soon as we hear more.
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