Heath Slater Blames COVID for WWE Career Ending

Heath Slater still remembers the exact moment he got the call from WWE that his time with the company was over. After signing a five-year deal in 2019—believing he was set for the long haul—he was one of the first names cut during WWE’s mass pandemic releases in 2020.

Speaking to Buff Bagwell, Slater detailed how he saw the writing on the wall before it even happened.

“So we’re getting a Fox deal. AEW is opening up. They’re saying, you know, they want to double a lot of people’s contracts. Double. To where you’re like, oh shit. That’s nice. So about 15 of us signed this new contract to where we won’t go nowhere. Five-year contract. Sh*t, five years at this, I’m set. I’ll take it. Boom. Next thing you know, nine months later, COVID hits.”

Then came the moment that changed everything. “I text my buddies. I’m like, hey, baby, is this true? Is this happening? They’re like, ‘yeah. I think it’s the list.’ I said, shit.”

Instead of panicking, Slater spent the afternoon outside playing with his kids—but when he picked up his phone again, he saw the dreaded name: Mark Carano.

“I look on my phone. Mark Carano. I said, damn it. I knew it. I called Carano up. He was like, ‘Hey, pal.’ I was like, ‘You tell me after all these years, COVID takes me out?’ He was like, ‘Hey, pal. Bro, I’m sorry. I literally have like 30 more calls to make.’ I said, damn, bro, what the f*ck? He was like, ‘I know, it’s crazy. I know. I’m sorry.'”

But the real twist? The guy making all those cuts, Carano himself, eventually got fired too. “You know what really blows my mind? Is that he got to fire everybody. Everyone. Then he was the last one to get fired.”

After leaving WWE, Slater had a solid three-year run with TNA, but now he’s a free agent, and fans are waiting to see what’s next.