WWE has been in the process of signing a lot of new wrestlers while others have been re-signed to the company. One wrestler, however, might not be returning to WWE after their last appearance. Ricochet’s contract was supposedly up this week, and he was written out after an attack by Bron Breakker. The idea is that they’d have a storyline to bring him back with if he chooses to re-sign. If not, then they at least wrote him out. Meanwhile, other WWE signings are ready to take a roster spot.
Before we jump into some big WWE signings that might take place soon or those who have re-signed with WWE, we need to discuss TKO. Losing people can be a huge issue for any company, WWE included. That said, they want to be able to keep as many people as possible. That is how business works. However, TKO has been doing things bizarrely when it comes to re-signing talent.
While we knew when WWE sold off, things were going to change, we did not expect to see as many issues when it came to WWE signings or re-signings.
TKO GROUP CONTRACT PROBLEMS
A recent report claimed that TKO Group was taking their time with re-signing people to a new contract due to how they operate internally regarding finances.
Endeavor owns TKO, and obviously owned UFC beforehand. They formed the TKO Group to combine UFC & WWE under one banner to be publicly traded, as WWE was doing well on the stock market for a long time alone. TKO has done well there even still. However, the UFC has been notable for the company’s financial stance to pay as little as possible to save money. Meanwhile, they overpay to sign or keep others.
That same idiotic methodology is how WWE contracts are being handled. They are taking forever to sign people today when they used to start negotiations a year or so before a contract was up. This was not a problem for UFC fighters, because UFC is the biggest and most successful MMA promotion on the planet. While there have been many MMA promotions over the years, even today, none can offer the same spotlight or money that UFC can. That is especially true today.
Due to this, losing someone after a 3 to 5-fight contract was not as common. Plus, if you win you only increase your value. It is up to the competitor.
PRO-WRESTLING ISN’T MMA:
Pro-Wrestling is very different. There are numerous other promotions, many of which can offer similar contracts to WWE. Many are on television too. Losing a wrestler could easily happen if they are not given a proper deal. Negotiating before someone’s contract is up is good, as it does not risk them signing elsewhere before you can come to an agreement.
It seems that most of the people in Talent Relations were not grasping that issue. WWE has since removed these types of people but so many deals were coming up at the same time. Thereby creating a backlog of wrestlers who had not re-signed with the company yet. It is possible that even someone like Richochet might have re-signed if they started negotiating with him this time a year ago. Due to waiting until the last minute, they risk losing him.
Plus, when the contract ends, all no-compete clauses are gone too. That allows him to show up on another television show with another company by next week, potentially. It seems this issue is not considered by TKO, as they were so used to signing fighters and not wrestlers on weekly TV programs.
NAMES WHO HAVE OR WILL RE-SIGN WITH WWE
Chad Gable was a name rumored to be leaving at one point. While WWE might have been using him a lot lately, they did go years without utilizing him much. However, PWInsider reports that Gable is close to or already has re-signed with the company. This is big for WWE, as they are able to keep an incredibly talented wrestler. Gable has proven to be impressive in the ring and is now getting to show that much more.
Another big name that has re-signed with WWE is Natalya Neidhart. Her name was thrown around as a possible person WWE might allow to leave. While she might still be a terrific wrestler, she has not been utilized much in recent years. In fact, most of her work as of late has been on the NXT brand.
Some assume that any new WWE signings in the women’s division only hurt someone like Nattie. However, WWE has shown that they see her as invaluable. Basically, any new WWE signings aren’t threatening her job. She is sort of a wrestler/trainer. Since Nattie can still compete at a high level, she is a perfect opponent for any new woman to work with. She is also a perfect opponent for NXT wrestlers when they head to the main roster. That said, re-signing her was a big move.
Becky Lynch, while she has not re-signed with WWE yet, is rumored to be close to a new deal. Her husband Seth Rollins signed a new contract about a month ago to stay with WWE. It was reportedly much larger than his last deal. Most feel WWE will offer the same type of deal to Lynch. However, she is currently taking a break and might not be back until after the Summer.
BIG NEW WWE SIGNINGS
Italian-Japanese wrestler, Giulia, is said to be on her way to WWE. She signed with the company a little while back but was staying in Japan for a bit. Rossy Ogawa, co-founder of Stardom, was fired from the company by Bushiroad. Of course, Stardom sold off to Bushiroad a while back. Rossy stayed on to remain the leader booker of the show. However, WWE reportedly had been paying Rossy to be an “in” for them. He was giving WWE access or speaking with Stardom talent about working with WWE.
When Bushiroad finally caught wind of this, they fired him. This led to Rossy opening a new Joshi promotion in Japan, Dream Star Fighting Marigold. Giulia was already a star for the Stardom promotion, but she’s no longer under contract with them. WWE wants to keep its affiliation alive with Rossy and has basically made its partnership with Marigold public. That is especially true when both Giulia and Rossy showed up on an NXT show in the crowd.
Giulia stuck around to help Marigold launch and was set to be in WWE to take part in NXT Heatwave in July. An injury might halt her debut a bit, but she is still coming to WWE.
Another name that could be part of WWE’s Bloodline faction soon is Hikuleo. According to Cassidy Haynes of Bodyslam.net, Hikuleo wrapped up his remaining commitments with New Japan Pro Wrestling recently. He is supposedly now headed to WWE to join his brothers there. Oh, for those unaware, he is Tama Tonga’s biological brother and Tonga Loa’s adoptive brother/biological cousin.
These are both huge WWE signings out of Japan. Both should make a huge impact in WWE soon.