News broke earlier this week that the WWE had released Arn Anderson, T.J. Perkins, Tye Dillinger and Hideo Itami.
The most surprising of all the releases was Arn Anderson, as he had been a producer with the company for a long period of time. According to Dave Meltzer in the most recent edition of The Observer, Anderson was fired after a backstage altercation with Vince McMahon surrounding a happening at a recent house show.
According to Meltzer, Vince and Anderson often didn’t see eye to eye, as Anderson would often agree with wrestlers who criticized the creative direction. Anderson was apparently well liked by others, including Triple H and John Cena. Meltzer went onto speculate that had Cena still had a more active role with the company, he likely would have cooled off the situation before it escalated to the point that it did.
Meltzer notes that Anderson will likely find a home as a producer for AEW and that he isn’t particularly upset to have been shown the door.
The releases of both Tye Dillinger and Hideo Itami appear to have been amicable. According to Meltzer, both simply requested their releases and were granted them. For Itami, it is likely that he returns to Japan and wrestles full time overseas, while Tye Dillinger is almost a lock to join AEW.
On the other hand, Meltzer stated that TJP was released for disciplinary reasons. He believes that the feeling backstage was that Perkins simply “had to go” even if the WWE isn’t necessarily looking to cut bait on wrestlers. Meltzer noted that it wasn’t a lack of creative ideas for TJP that led to his release, as many other wrestlers who aren’t on television are being held to their current deals. It is unknown whether TJP will sign an exclusive deal with another organization or if he will float around the independent scene.
Credit: The Wrestling Observer.
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