Shortly after he became one of close to two dozen wrestlers who were let go by WWE on Wednesday, Heath Slater took to social media to comment on his release. The former SmackDown Tag Team Champion also took this time to discuss his mindset as he spent most of his career with the company as a lower-card performer who was booked to lose far more often than he won.
In a brief video shared to Instagram on Thursday, Slater started by thanking WWE for giving him a chance to perform for the company for well over a decade and assuring his fans he and his family will be okay, thanks to the money he earned as a professional wrestler. However, Slater went on to hint he was getting a bit demoralized behind the scenes, due to his generally lowly status on the card.
“I know that my WWE family, my wife and my kids and probably a lot of the WWE Universe could see that my fire was fading, and that’s all on me. But putting everyone else over all the damn time, it can take a toll on a man.”
In addition to giving thanks to his former colleagues and his fans for supporting him in his 16-year career as a pro wrestler, Slater said he would be able to “spread [his] wings” by July 17. This, as pointed out by WrestlingNews.co , is a sign that the terms of his release include a 90-day non-compete clause, preventing him from signing with rival promotions for three months, but also ensuring he would still be paid by WWE over that timeframe.
Toward the end of his video, Slater talked about how he plans to get “legit” in shape during the coming period of downtime. He added that — for the first time in quite a while — he feels “very hungry” to prove himself once again, promising that, when he gets to return to the ring, he’ll be better than ever before. He closed the clip by joking that he needs to figure out how he’s going to “feed all these damn kids” — a reference to one of his more memorable WWE gimmicks.
Though Slater was part of a massive wave of releases and furloughs that affected dozens of WWE superstars and other employees, recent rumors suggest there might be many more to come. As previously reported by The Inquisitr , some sources believe the number of people released by WWE due to coronavirus-related cost-cutting measures could reach “well into the hundreds,” though this figure would also include those who work backstage and at the company’s corporate headquarters.
