New details on WWE’s recent roster cuts | Exclusive
Dave Meltzer has addressed what led WWE to release so many members of its roster recently.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer stated that one reason there were so many cuts made this year is because, in 2025, TKO felt it was too new as WWE’s ownership group and did not want to look like “bad guys” by cutting a large number of people.
“Last year, because they had basically just taken over the company and they were trying to be good guys and all that, they didn’t order a lot of cuts last year. They kind of held back. So it’s kind of like a catch-up,” Meltzer said.
Meltzer noted that TKO went to WWE creative and requested that the number of roster cuts this year reflect the number of NXT call-ups, as well as SmackDown moving back to two hours.
Meltzer continued:
“The main roster cuts, essentially, it was two things. Number one, all the people who were brought up from NXT that got spots, essentially, they wanted to remove a similar amount of people. They went to creative. It was creative that made the call as to who. They said, ‘Who on the roster are you not planning on using? Give us X number of names,’ which would be that number, the number that were brought up, and additional names from SmackDown.”
“SmackDown is going to two hours. So therefore, there is an hour less time of television. So therefore, there is less time to put as many people on. So therefore, there would be additional cuts on the SmackDown side.”
Meltzer also noted that everyone who is going to be cut as part of this round of releases has been notified. However, he said not all of the names have necessarily become public yet.
The full episode of Wrestling Observer Radio is available for subscribers here.
Ian Carey is the editing manager at F4WOnline and a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His work has appeared in award-winning publications including NOW Magazine and The Huffington Post. He joined the F4WOnline team in 2019 and moved into the editing manager role in the summer of 2026. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Ian has covered professional wrestling for more than 15 years.