Vince Russo thinks Sheamus’ WWE exit says a lot more about TKO finally learning the wrestling business than it does about WWE doing him dirty.
Speaking on The Coach and Bro Show, Russo said the big-money deals handed out before TKO fully understood WWE’s roster are now being looked at differently. In his mind, Sheamus may simply be one of the names caught in that shift.
“We have been talking about this for a very, very long time — TKO versus WWE. Those contracts were given out by WWE. Triple H had a lot to say about those contracts.”
Russo then brought up Sheamus’ long connection to Triple H, suggesting that kind of history may have helped him get taken care of under the old WWE system.
“And Coach, you and I both know it’s good ol’ boy… I think Triple H is the one who found Sheamus in the gym somewhere. So you go all the way back to that history, and they’re boys. Of course Triple H is going to make sure he’s taken care of.”
That is where Russo believes things changed. TKO may not have known exactly what every wrestler was worth when it first took over, but he thinks the company has now gotten a better read on who is actually profitable and who needs a new number.
“Now we are seeing TKO smarten up a little bit to the wrestling business. They got involved in the booking, and now I bet you they’re seeing a lot of guys on the books that, you know, three years ago, they didn’t know what the guy was worth, so it was okay.”
Russo said that once TKO got more educated on the roster, restructuring deals became the obvious move. Then he made his own stance clear, as he is definitely on TKO’s side.
“But looking at it today, where you’ve got a little bit of an education, man, bro, we’ve got to restructure this deal. I’m on their side on this one.”
That lines up with the larger conversation around Sheamus right now. His WWE profile was moved to the Alumni section, and the word is that his deal expired after he turned down a restructured offer for less money.
We had previously reported that TKO is treating WWE contracts more like a sports franchise, where older talent on big deals may not keep those same numbers if the company sees them as past their peak. Russo’s take is even more direct: TKO looked at the books, figured out who was making money and who wasn’t, and started adjusting.
Sheamus gave WWE nearly two decades, but Russo doesn’t see this as some shocking betrayal. He sees it as new ownership looking at an old deal and deciding the math no longer worked.
Do you agree with Vince Russo that TKO is right to restructure deals like Sheamus’, or should WWE have done more to keep him? Let us know in the comments below.
