WWE has released a lot of Superstars and employees so far in 2021. More than 50 of them at this point. Some of them were expected, even long overdue, while others felt as if they came completely out of the blue. Braun Strowman, for example. The Monster Among Men competed in what was a pretty great match for the WWE Title just a few weeks before he was shown WWE's door.
As much of a headscratcher as Strowman's release was, if framed in a certain way, WWE's justification for doing so sort of made sense. Despite the multiple billion-dollar deals Vince McMahon has struck in recent years, the company is trying to cut the budget. Strowman was probably taking home quite a lot of money, and that money will now remain within WWE. Or at least it will once the former Universal Champion's non-compete comes to an end.
RELATED: NXT Star Bronson Reed Breaks Silence On Recent WWE Release
Following the most recent batch of releases, Strowman's is no longer the most baffling. The Monster might have been released to save money, but that reasoning cannot be applied to Bronson Reed. Reed's salary isn't public, and nor should it be, but since he was on an NXT deal, his wage would not have compared to Strowman's. It also won't be comparable to quite a few people still employed by WWE that should have arguably got the chop before him.
Dropping The Title
Take money out of the equation entirely and Reed's departure still doesn't make any sense whatsoever. 2021 has very much been Reed's year in NXT. A year that led him to what was a pretty emotional North American Title win just three months ago. However, that reign only lasted a little longer than a month.
Reed lost that title to Isaiah Scott, but the manner in which he lost the championship suggested things were about to get better for Reed. The Aussie star had been competing in dark matches on the main roster alongside his duties as NXT North American Champion. Losing the title in such a quick and unexpected fashion made it appear almost nailed on that McMahon had seen Reed in his dark matches, liked what he saw, and wanted him on the main roster.
Reed then proceeded to miss a few weeks of NXT TV, further suggesting he was done on the black and gold brand and was set to debut on either Raw or SmackDown. Toni Storm, Tegan Nox, Karrion Kross, and others started to show up on the main roster, but no sign of Reed. In hindsight, Kross being allowed to keep the NXT Title while Reed had to drop the North American Championship might have been a red flag.
Reed then unexpectedly returned to NXT. However, even that could be viewed as Reed saying his goodbyes before making the big step up. A match against Adam Cole, arguably the biggest star in NXT history. Reed even lost that match, perhaps doing the honors for Cole on his way out the door.
Still Waiting For The Main Roster
The waters became seriously muddied after that. It remained unclear whether Reed's match with Cole was the start of something or the end of it. Reed continued to be left off all WWE programming, not returning to NXT or making his debut on Raw or SmackDown. Again though, that still made sense. All the NXT Superstars debuting at the moment, it would have made sense to hold back on introducing Reed to make sure he didn't get lost in the shuffle.
That thinking makes even more sense when you consider the kind of wrestler who tends to catch McMahon's eye. Reed is a big guy, charismatic, plus he's from a country with a wrestling fanbase that has a lot of potential for growth. Not to mention the memo McMahon reportedly handed down to NXT following the latest releases. Going forward, McMahon wants the black and gold brand's focus to be on younger and bigger stars. We've already covered big, and Reed isn't exactly past his prime. 32 years old and seemingly ready to go. For some reason, WWE didn't see it.
As for the group of 12 WWE let go that Reed was a part of, Triple H reportedly had no say in who was included. The decisions were made by McMahon, Bruce Prichard, and John Laurinaitis. Made on the basis that the trio didn't see a future for them on the main roster. If anything, that just makes the fact Reed is no longer a WWE Superstar even more confusing. As hard as it is to understand for the fans, that won't compare to what has been going through Reed's head since his release. If he was told nothing more than budget cuts, which appears to be the case with all WWE releases, then Reed must be trying to make sense of all this just like the rest of us.
