WWE shocked the wrestling community this week after releasing several superstars and other personnel, and the company still appears to be cutting people. According to Sportskeeda , NXT superstar Taynara Conti — and other talents from the black-and-gold brand — were let go on Friday.
The report states that Conti had previously asked for her release, which is why she’s among the latest batch of cuts. The superstar was believed to have left the company months ago after being absent from television, but she made some appearances on subsequent shows and disproved those rumors.
Conti was signed to NXT in 2017 and competed in the first two Mae Young Classic tournaments. However, she struggled to find a consistent role on WWE television afterward. While she did show some potential, her release won’t shock many fans given the current situation, one which has seen some more established veterans having to part ways with the company.
Citing PWInsider , Wrestling Inc. also revealed that Tino Sabbatelli, Cezar Bononi, and Mars Wang have been added to the list of employees to lose their jobs. This is unsurprising, given that none of the released talents were household names in the company as yet. However, their releases indicate that the many WWE workers’ futures are uncertain at the time of this writing.
Sabatelli is a surprising release, as he was being tipped for big things at one point. He was part of a very promising tag team with Riddick Moss –who is now a member of the Monday Night Raw brand — but his progress was derailed after he got injured. He’s been on the sidelines ever since.
Dan Matha, Aleksandar Jaksic, and MJ Jenkins were also released earlier this week, but the company appears to be dropping development talents quietly. The company’s website previously reported which main roster stars have been cut, but the same courtesy hasn’t been extended to the former NXT talents at this time.
The Sportskeeda report claims that WWE plans on cutting 40 percent of staff members as the company contends with economic uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic. More names are expected to be revealed in the coming days, but that’s all speculation for now.
WWE’s decision to lay off staff has been met with a lot of criticism, but former Universal Champion Seth Rollins defended the decision. As noted by The Inquisitr , he said that he’s “upset” by the negativity being hurled toward the company, even though he sympathizes with those who have lost their jobs.