After Neville reportedly walked out of RAW last week because he was unhappy with being booked to lose to Enzo Amore again, rumors began to built that morale is low among WWE talent, with many considering an exit for the indies. It didn’t help that writer and former indie wrestler Jimmy Jacobs was fired at pretty much the same time.
Speculation followed about why real-life brothers Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt were missing from TV at the same time, and then stories emerged that Nia Jax had been granted a leave of absence for mysterious reasons. Over the past couple of days, all this has coalesced into an overarching rumor that a mass exodus of WWE talent might be on its way.
But while we still don’t know Neville’s status for sure, the larger storm clouds seem to be clearing up. Dallas and Wyatt, as well as Wyatt’s real-life girlfriend JoJo, are apparently out sick. And while Nia Jax may be unhappy with her booking, she hasn’t left the company or asked for her release.
On Thursday, Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is doing his best to put to rest these rumors about large numbers of WWE performers looking for a way out.
He points out that even most performers who are unhappy with their role in WWE would not be able to make anything like the same kind of living on the indies. Not everyone can be Cody Rhodes, building on a famous name (even if its a name WWE won’t let him actually use) and stepping right into a prominent role with the Bullet Club and Ring of Honor. And it’s even less likely that you’d manage to be Drew McIntyre, proving your worth on the indies after an unsuccessful WWE stint and then returning to greater glory at NXT. Meltzer concludes by saying that “speculation and rumors going around about a mass exodus are way overblown.”
It’s entirely possible that some Superstars might be obtaining their releases in the coming months, but you can probably safely ignore any “sky is falling” rumors and speculation about some sort of en masse walkout.
