WWE Rumors: Vince McMahon Reportedly Didn’t Consult With Executives Prior To Releasing Multiple Superstars

WWE sent shockwaves through the wrestling industry back in April when several employees and superstars were released from their contracts. According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s Dave Meltzer, per WrestlingNews.co, Paul Heyman and Bruce Prichard — who were the executive directors of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown, respectively, at the time — didn’t have any input on the matter.

Heyman and Prichard’s responsibilities as executive directors involved them overseeing the creative aspect of both shows. This involved deciding which superstars received pushes. While all decisions must be approved by Vince McMahon, most fans and pundits assumed that he’d have run the mass releases past the creative team first.

The releases also meant that the creative team had to start booking on the fly, which could have had a negative effect on the company’s product. However, Meltzer told the Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s forum that nothing they could have said would have changed the WWE chairman’s mind. The journalist also noted why Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were among the wrestlers to go.

“These cuts were all Vince. In the end, all cuts are, but these were not cuts asked for and rubber stamped by Vince, these were Vince cuts who then came to others after and told them. Nobody even got names until after Vince made the decisions. Perhaps Paul & Bruce could have argued, and perhaps they did and perhaps they didn’t because you have to be very careful picking your spots. But when it comes to guys Vince had buyers remorse on the size of the deal, they weren’t changing his mind.”

As The Inquisitr reported earlier this week, there were rumors circulating that AJ Styles was mad at Heyman for not doing more to try and keep Gallows and Anderson employed. However, the latest development suggests that Heyman didn’t even know they were being cut until it happened.

Styles denied those rumors, but he did accuse Heyman of being a liar in general. Gallows and Anderson reportedly aren’t fans of the former executive director of Monday Night Raw either, and they’re expected to share their thoughts on him when their 90-day non-compete clause is over.

Gallows, Anderson and Styles were underutilized on Monday Night Raw, so perhaps this is why there were rumors going around that Heyman didn’t fight for two of The OC members to keep their jobs. Heyman was fired from his role not long after they left the company, however, suggesting that McMahon didn’t feel the need to consult him on anything.