With rumors continue to swirl regarding Neville’s WWE status and the former Cruiserweight Champion potentially walking out of WWE on Raw last week, there has been speculation that other WWE talents might be looking to get out of the company.



Earlier this week, a rumor was floating around that Nia Jax might have also walked out on Raw, but those rumors ended up being untrue, as the Raw star has been granted a leave of absence from WWE.



The current rumor speculates WWE talents might be asking Cody Rhodes how to go about asking for their release, as Rhodes has found much success since making the transition to the independent scene. Former WWE star Austin Aries, who also left WWE back in July, claimed on Twitter he will make more money in the “bingo halls” than he would working for WWE.



When asked about the rumors of WWE talents possibly leaving, Dave Meltzer responded with the following: Several are thinking about it, as far as asking Cody, it would make sense to do that but you'd have to ask him.

I wonder who else wants to leave....If they ask for their release, I hope it is granted.

I have a hard time guessing who would actually be successful on the indies that didn't come into the WWE as an Indy guy (so eliminate AJ, Finn, KO, Sami, Ambrose, Neville, etc.). There are guys with skill that I think are "too big" for the Indy scene like Roman (though he would thrive). But can you picture Rusev or Sheamus wresting in high schools at this point? I can't. NJPW, maybe, but not the full Indy experience.

Cody is one of the few WWE-style guys I could've envisioned being as prominent on the Indys, and it's partially because of talent, partially because he's been incredibly smart in marketing himself, and partially because of his bloodline.

I think there are potentially more 'Jack Swaggers' than 'Cody Rhodes' in the WWE. Cody Rhodes is also very fortunate, again let's not pretend he took a huge gamble.

And in regards to Aries making more money on the indys, of course. The independents need Austin Aries, more than the WWE ever did. He's much more value to an indy promotion.

You can understand a CM Punk type of walk out, when you're the undisputed best in the world, a massively successful champion and you're still playing second fiddle to the WWE archetypes and battling WWE culture.. but when you've done nothing, that doesn't fly with me.

It's a smart business move, go to WWE. Leave after a few years, get "Former WWE superstar" added to your name on the poster and get $5k (+ expenses)
per show is a comfortable living,especially if you run seminars or you're own training school. It's not WWE money, but Ex-WWE guys definitely make a comfortable living on the indies.

Bye Emma, Darren Young and Summer Rae.

Oct 29, 2017 17:01:13 GMT knox said:

Bye Emma, Darren Young and Summer Rae.

Dolph too I presume.

So much for making Darren Young great again.

Darren Young I won't miss.

He wasn't very good, and I'm sure I made a throw away comment on the previous forum, about WWE waiting for him to heal up before releasing him. I've seen a lot of fantasy booking on facebook today regarding Young and becoming a hot indy talent - I doubt it, he's more likely Impact bound, considering his profile. They'll milk him for a few months, probably put him in a cringe worthy angle or two, then quietly release him, when they realise they over financed again.

Heath Slater is the last original Nexus member standing.

You're not counting Daniel Bryan? He doesn't wrestle, but he's still with the company, in a much more prominent position than Heath.

Oct 29, 2017 21:28:30 GMT Emperor said:

You're not counting Daniel Bryan? He doesn't wrestle, but he's still with the company, in a much more prominent position than Heath.

" Retired ".

So is Otunga. 

I wonder how much interest would be in getting Stu Bennett, Ryback & PJ Black together- a neat black/white t-shirt akin to BC, invade a few indies. 

i still believe Daniel Bryan is buying time until he can leave and get back in the ring in the indies...

his wife has WWE money as well as the new Bella wine business. so they dont really need his WWE paycheck.

Oct 29, 2017 22:42:46 GMT Mistress said:

i still believe Daniel Bryan is buying time until he can leave and get back in the ring in the indies...

his wife has WWE money as well as the new Bella wine business. so they dont really need his WWE paycheck.

Austin made few good points recently. Austin got clearance to return to the ring after breaking his neck, he explained to the Doctor, he can control what happens in the ring, including the bumps - he changed his offence, etc. At the same time he made the comment, Austin was 250lbs +, Daniel Bryan is more likely a shoot 180 lbs and today, Daniel is a good couple of years older now, than Austin when he got dropped on his head. 

Time, age, injury, an expectation to deliver... I don't know. 

Everything about DB is speculation when it comes to his health. We have no real idea what the difference is between his personal doctors and the WWE doctors.

I think it's all but certain he'll wrestle again and from what little we do know, I think it's a mistake. There's no reason to fuck with brain bleeding and lesions.

If he does insist on wrestling, I really hope it's a goodbye tour to leave on his own terms. WK match in NJPW, short run in ROH, and a hair vs mask match in CMLL. I doubt it though.

Daniel Bryan will never be cleared. WWE, Indy Japan, Mexico... never. his neck is a major liability. At best he has a Bret Hart v Vince encounter. No more.

Last I heard, DB himself said doctors cleared him but WWE doctors won't. He'll be in the ring again. Even for just 1 match.

I love how smug workers and fans are at the idea of workers not needing the WWE anymore. And it's true, to an extent.

However, I would be concerned if I was a worker, as the WWE is the gateway. It's safe to assume, fans of independent wrestling were WWE fans first and foremost - now, some will argue they were never fans of the WWE, in which I will say, stop being a mark.

As a worker, you want the WWE to be healthy. Because eventually you want those 10 year old WWE fans to become 20 year old ROH fans.

But more and more Indy stars are realizing WWE isnt the endgame in the wrestling world. Look at Joey Ryan. Signing with WWE means he would be making 2/3 less than what he makes on the Indy circuit. It is possible to survive without the WWE.

I was always a bigger WCW fan. It was my #1 company and always will be. WCW led me to the indies.

Nov 3, 2017 23:50:21 GMT Mistress said:

But more and more Indy stars are realizing WWE isnt the endgame in the wrestling world. Look at Joey Ryan. Signing with WWE means he would be making 2/3 less than what he makes on the Indy circuit. It is possible to survive without the WWE.

I was always a bigger WCW fan. It was my #1 company and always will be. WCW led me to the indies.

Although WCW, was still a mainstream company, and at one point, the number 1 company in the world. 

And people can argue the point about the likes of Joey Ryan all they want - Joey Ryan hypothetically adds zero value to the WWE, he wouldn't make the company money, so in turn, doesn't get paid exceptionally well. He is, however, value to an independent promotion. He's paid to main event indie shows - he'd be a curtain jerker in the WWE. 

WWF/E, was the introduction to wrestling for many of us, and most likely, new fans of professional wrestling today. The 10 year old kid today, isn't watching ROH or NJPW, nor any of the indies unless his/her parents are wrestling fans, he's most likely watching WWE. As this child matures, and his interest grows, he discovers he likes a guy like Nakamura and maybe discovers NJPW. Or he discovers through the WWE Network, he likes RVD and maybe discovers ECW. 

Look at the damage the industry took when WCW and ECW went out of business. The industry hit a slump within a few years as two of the three pillars of the attitude era were gone. You can argue poor booking, creative problems, etc WWE simply fell out of popularity for whatever reason. The rate of new fans signing up slowed down. There was never been a healthy alternative. The audience for professional wrestling dwindled. 

Think of Wrestling as a Shopping Mall. Now, there's two major draw cards in this mall - maybe a Supermarket, and a Department store. This is the WWE, if these businesses aren't healthy and aren't successful, people stop going to this mall ( casual fans stop watching wrestling ) All the independent businesses on the peripheral of these major retailers suffer because there's less interest in shopping there, there's less foot traffic ( less interest in the industry ) And most likely there isn't that introduction, or discover of these niche businesses, because you couldn't care less. 

Nov 2, 2017 22:52:01 GMT Ace Levy said:

Daniel Bryan will never be cleared. WWE, Indy Japan, Mexico... never. his neck is a major liability. At best he has a Bret Hart v Vince encounter. No more.

His neck was not the biggest concern, it was his head.  He's had several concussions.  And in this culture of head prevention, WWE doesn't want to take anymore chances.