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Bray Wyatt's release has shaken the entire wrestling world and the WWE roster to its core, and details of the backstage reactions are now making their way online, courtesy of Fightful and PWInsider.
As we had reported earlier via Dave Meltzer, Bray Wyatt's WWE release was a budget cut.
Fightful Select confirmed Dave Meltzer's report and added that John Laurinaitis, WWE's Head of Talent Relations, informed Bray Wyatt about the cut through a phone call. Laurinaitis reportedly sent a notification out to the WWE talent before his call with Bray Wyatt, and the wrestlers were left shocked.
Many people backstage in WWE were surprised by the apparent 'budget cut' as Bray Wyatt was seen as a massive merch seller for the company whenever he was active on TV.
The former world champion's name was reportedly also brought up in another recent round of releases. WWE discussed various stars, and several wrestlers were spared from the chopping block.
People within WWE are stunned over Bray Wyatt's release
It was added that WWE's creative team were relayed the message about Bray Wyatt getting overly protective about his character following a string of poor creative decisions. Members of the booking team couldn't confirm the detail as they didn't speak to Bray Wyatt directly.
PWInsider additionally reported that the reactions across the board in the WWE were that of shock as Bray Wyatt's t-shirt and action figures were a hot-seller for the WWE.
Here's an excerpt from PWInsider's report:
To say that the reaction within the company was stunned would be a massive understatement given how plugged into licensing the Wyatt character has been in recent years. The Fiend had been a massive hit for t-shirts and action figures.
WWE talent is just as stunned as fans, and more backstage details on the sudden release should ideally emerge over the weekend. Stay tuned.
