WWE announces layoffs two days after Florida deems company an 'essential business'

As part of sweeping changes amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, World Wrestling Entertainment announced Wednesday its decision to lay off a number of employees, including wrestlers and producers such as Kurt Angle and Rusev.

The company said in a release that it would reduce executive and board member compensation; decrease operating expenses; cut talent expenses, third party staffing and consulting; furlough a portion of its workforce; and defer spending on the build-out of the its new headquarters for at least six months.

These moves come two days after WWE was deemed an "essential business" in the state of Florida.

Along with Angle and Rusev, the WWE released Drake Maverick, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Heath Slater, Eric Young, Rowan, Sarah Logan, No Way Jose, Mike Chioda, Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, EC3, Aiden English, Lio Rush, Primo and Epico.

Angle was among those who shared his thoughts about the company's decision on social media.

"I wanted [to] say thank you to the WWE for the time I spent there," Angle wrote on Twitter. "I made many new friends and had the opportunity to work with so many talented people. To the Superstars, continue to entertain the WWE Universe as well as you possibly can. They're the best fans in the world. #itstrue"

"The only thing I wanted to do in life was wrestle," Ryder posted to his 2.2 million Twitter followers. "I'm grateful I spent 14 years living my dream in WWE. Thanks to my fans & everyone who believed in me. As I was getting released, I was looking at this photo & smiling. I'm #AlwayzReady & beyond excited for the future. #NotThere"

Maverick conveyed his emotions in a two-minute video.

"I'm very fortunate that WWE is still allowing me to compete in the NXT interim cruiserweight title tournament, but it's very likely that those will be the last matches I ever have," Maverick said as he fought back tears. "There's a lot of people I'm not going to get a chance to say goodbye to that I really loved and I really cared about who made me a better person."

No Way Jose expressed his appreciation for his time in the squared circle.

"I want to just take this time and say 'thank you' for everybody who reached out to me so far - there's a lot of you," No Way Jose said in a video posted on Twitter. "Thanks for whether you cheered for me, booed for me, danced with me, thought I was silly. Thank you for making it all worthwhile."

"Hopefully this ain't the last time you see me. You never know, but with this pandemic, everybody just stay safe," he implored. "It's affecting lives all over the world. Just stay safe. Take care of yourself. Take care of your loved ones and just take this thing seriously."

WWE says this week's moves will create an estimated monthly savings of $4 million.

The company is still putting on live shows without an audience and is allowed use its Orlando, Florida, training facility and Full Sail University in Winter Park to offer new content under Florida's stay-at-home order, which runs through at least April 30.

On Monday, WWE CEO Vince McMahon took another financial hit when the fledgling XFL filed for bankruptcy. The submitted documents revealed that WWE actually owned 23.5 percent of Class B interests in the XFL, despite McMahon's insistence that the company would have no involvement with the new football league.

McMahon's net worth dropped from $2.9 billion in 2019 to $1.9 billion in 2020, according to Forbes. WWE stock also has dropped to $40 per share after nearly reaching $100 a year ago.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that McMahon was one of more than 50 executives and leaders he planned to consult as he sought to reopen the United States economy. McMahon's wife, Linda McMahon, was appointed by Trump as the administrator of the Small Business Administration, where she served for more than two years before resigning in 2019. She is now chairwoman of America First, a pro-Trump super PAC. Trump was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.