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Yesterday was a tough day for everyone in WWE. The coronavirus outbreak has caused financial chaos across the globe for several industries. Sports and entertainment have been hit hard due to the restrictions of the pandemic. The financial climate forced WWE to release a number of personnel yesterday and these include wrestlers, producers, coaches, and staff.
Several notable Superstars were released and these included Rusev, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Lio Rush, and Heath Slater. Referee Mike Chidoa, who has been with WWE for decades, was also let go.
We might eventually see a number of these Superstars in other promotions like All Elite Wrestling. However, according to a WWE latest news from Fightful Select, we will not see anyone appear in another promotion right away.
The Fightful report states that all released wrestlers will have non-compete clauses attached. For RAW and SmackDown stars, the non-compete will go on for a period of 90 days. As for NXT stars, their non-compete clauses will last just 30 days in comparison.
A number of WWE Superstars reacted to the releases. Former WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins had the following to say:
Today is an extremely difficult day for our industry as a whole, but especially our WWE family.If we start fighting amongst ourselves, it's only going to make things worse. So I encourage everybody to come together on this, unify and lift each other up.
Bayley also had a similar message for fans, calling it a "tough day for the wrestling family". She went on to encourage everyone to stick together and to be there for each other.
Becky Lynch also called it a tough day and added the following:
When this hardship is over, I hope we’re all reunited working together to make some magic in front of the fans who make it all worthwhile.
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