Triple H has supervised the creative direction of WWE's main roster since he replaced Vince McMahon in 2022. The Game recently received criticism after the company's decision to let several fighters go. However, the member of the WWE Hall of Fame, John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL), considers that the reactions of some fans were unfair.
On May 2, it was reported that Braun Strowman, Dakota Kai, Katana Chance, Kayden Carter and Shayna Baszler had been fired. They also left several NXT stars, including Cora Jade and Gigi Dolin.
JBL commented on the podcast Something to Wrestle that fans should not blame Triple H for recent Roster cuts. He also defended WWE president, Nick Khan.
“The hatred I have seen on the Internet, I think is poorly directed, in terms of Hunter (Triple H) and Nick,” said JBL. “That is, it is nonsense. This is a business, and when you get old and you have high contracts, there is a 90 -day output clause in most of these contracts. I don't know what contracts contain today. There is a confidentiality clause. I know the contracts used to be like that. I assume that they are still in the same way.” (11:23 – 11:44)
JBL fought for WWE between 1995 and 2009. In the same episode of the podcast, the wrestling legend revealed that he almost lost his work after someone complained about his clothesline from Hell in the 1990s.
JBL about the difficult commercial decisions of Nick Khan and Triple H
WWE's senior executives are often the subject of scrutiny when popular fighters are dismissed or their contracts are not renewed.
While JBL understands the frustrations of fans, think that the exits are inevitable when WWE produces new promising talents every year:
“This is seen in all sports. This is seen in entertainment. This is seen everywhere. A person ages, and ends up being withdrawn or someone tells him to be aside.” (11:58 – 12:08)
In a separate episode, JBL appointed WWE former champion as the best fighter in the world today.
