Add as a preferred source on Google The recent wave of releases and pay cuts in WWE is expected to drastically change how wrestlers negotiate new deals with TKO going forward.
According to Fightful Select, sources close to talent and agents said there is little confidence that major long-term deals will actually be honored through their full duration by the company. The backstage feeling is that signing for several years no longer carries the same security it once did.
The most alarming example is The New Day. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods reportedly requested their releases after being asked to renegotiate five-year extensions they signed in 2025, with a pay cut involved. WWE granted the request, ending one of the most important runs in the modern history of its tag team division.
JC Mateo, formerly known as Jeff Cobb, and Tonga Loa also exited the company, bringing the number of departures over the past two weeks to roughly 30.
The situation extends beyond The New Day. PWInsider reported that one prominent talent was approached about accepting a 50 percent salary cut. Dave Meltzer added in the Wrestling Observer that some names recently received raises, while others were asked to take cuts, with the company’s top stars reportedly not approached so far.
The central issue now is contractual. Meltzer noted that most WWE deals allow the company to release talent before the end of the term, outside of extremely rare protection clauses.
As a result, agents are expected to push for stronger guarantees, larger penalties, or no-cut clauses in future negotiations. Without that, long-term contracts may no longer be viewed as security, but instead as exclusivity that primarily benefits WWE.