Throughout the week, WWE has confirmed the releases of three talents, including Tye Dillinger, Hideo Itami and TJP, aka TJ Perkins.
It was also reported this week, but not publicly confirmed by WWE, that Arn Anderson had been released from the company, after the Hall of Famer had been working for years as a backstage agent and producer.
According to Wrestling News, Arn Anderson was released from WWE following some kind of incident at a recent live event, and after mounting tensions between him and Vince McMahon had boiled over.
“There was a loud argument between Arn Anderson and Vince McMahon last week and that was what caused his firing from the company, according to two sources familiar with the matter,” reads the WN report. “We were told that Anderson has a reputation as a straight shooter and would often times question things on the creative side of the company.”
[lawrence-related id=881888]On a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, host Dave Meltzer explained further that Arn Anderson would often times take the side of the talents when issues of creative came up, and that would generally lead to tension between Anderson and Vince McMahon.
“Everyone is pretty much keeping quiet on what it was but it was an incident with Vince,” said Meltzer. “I know people who were siding with Arn, I know people siding with Vince. I don’t know the whole details of the incident other than it was something at a house show that evidently wasn’t handled well and Arn took the blame for that.”
Cody Rhodes commented on the release of Arn Anderson and somewhat corroborated reports of AA being “one of the boys”, as Rhodes Tweeted “love AA. I stole all of his catchphrases & use them on a daily basis. He went to bat for young talent & at the same time is essentially responsible for all of the current top guys & “golden circle”. He’s not corporate, but that’s a compliment. Can’t take wrestlers outta wrestling.”
With regards to TJP, Dave Meltzer confirmed that the former Cruiserweight Champion was indeed released from WWE and did not request his release as was the case with Hideo Itami and Tye Dillinger. Meltzer added TJP’s release was done for disciplinary reasons, but no further details were revealed.
It’s worth noting that WWE has been very careful lately about not firing talents, as the company does not want ex-stars signing with rival promotions who are gaining steam, such as Ring of Honor, New Japan and the recently announced All Elite Wrestling. This might explain why WWE held onto Neville for so long despite the former Cruiserweight requesting his release back in October of 2018.
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