Report: Extent Of WWE Stockpiling Talent Revealed
Tons upon tons of unused wrestlers...
Last week, Dave Meltzer reported that one of the reasons WWE Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson were fired by the company was because they had a different vision to Vince McMahon as to how to take the company forward.
Barrios and Wilson favoured a more conservative strategy in 2020 to maximise profit and share price, while McMahon insisted upon heavy spending so that WWE could try and stockpile available free agents and retain existing Superstars whose contracts were coming up.
The company currently has lots of Superstars on the main roster who are just paid to sit at home. Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel of The B-Team have not been on WWE TV since October 31 when they wrestled in the WWE Tag Team World Cup at Crown Jewel, EC3 hasn't been seen since September 30, and Titus O'Neill last wrestled on the November 25 episode of Monday Night Raw when his match with Bobby Lashley ended in a disqualification.
Now, Meltzer has reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE currently employs 300 Superstars, of which 187 are regularly featured on TV or house shows across Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK. This means that 113 wrestlers are paid by the company to just sit at home so they can't be signed by other promotions.
For the avoidance of doubt, Meltzer penned: "The company currently has 960 employees and if you imagine they are stockpiling talent, the talent roster now consists of 300 wrestlers, of which roughly 187 are either used on television or house shows on one of the four brands as well as those who aren't being used due to injuries, maternity leave or other reasons. So there are now more than 100 people under contract who are training that are not even being used on shows yet."
Barrios and Wilson favoured a more conservative strategy in 2020 to maximise profit and share price, while McMahon insisted upon heavy spending so that WWE could try and stockpile available free agents and retain existing Superstars whose contracts were coming up.
The company currently has lots of Superstars on the main roster who are just paid to sit at home. Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel of The B-Team have not been on WWE TV since October 31 when they wrestled in the WWE Tag Team World Cup at Crown Jewel, EC3 hasn't been seen since September 30, and Titus O'Neill last wrestled on the November 25 episode of Monday Night Raw when his match with Bobby Lashley ended in a disqualification.
Now, Meltzer has reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE currently employs 300 Superstars, of which 187 are regularly featured on TV or house shows across Raw, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK. This means that 113 wrestlers are paid by the company to just sit at home so they can't be signed by other promotions.
For the avoidance of doubt, Meltzer penned: "The company currently has 960 employees and if you imagine they are stockpiling talent, the talent roster now consists of 300 wrestlers, of which roughly 187 are either used on television or house shows on one of the four brands as well as those who aren't being used due to injuries, maternity leave or other reasons. So there are now more than 100 people under contract who are training that are not even being used on shows yet."
Written by Aidan Gibbons
Editor-in-Chief of Cultaholic.com Twitter: @theaidangibbons
