WWE is apparently making one thing very clear about Max Caster’s TNA exit — don’t blame them. Despite WWE and TNA’s working relationship, people within WWE insist they had absolutely nothing to do with Caster getting dropped after his controversial Bound For Glory rap.
According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, people in WWE have said the company played no role in TNA’s decision to sever ties with Caster. In fact, most of the key people within WWE didn’t even know about the controversial rap until after TNA had already made its decision.
That shuts down any idea that WWE stepped in behind the scenes and pressured its partner promotion to do something about Caster. Based on the report, TNA made the call on its own before the situation even reached most of WWE’s decision-makers.
The controversy started at Bound For Glory, where Caster made his TNA debut against Moose. As usual, he performed an entrance rap before the match, but a line referencing Riyadh quickly became the bigger story coming out of his appearance.
Caster’s run didn’t survive the fallout. We had also previously reported that TNA President Carlos Silva made the decision to cut ties with him, ending Caster’s stint with the company after just one match.
Caster wasn’t believed to have a long-term contract either. He was working under a per-appearance arrangement, which made it much easier for TNA to simply end the relationship once the controversy erupted.
Another major detail was that TNA didn’t know what Caster was going to say beforehand. He had creative control over his entrance rap, and the Riyadh line was neither scripted nor approved by the company.
TNA ultimately removed Caster-related content and issued a public apology before cutting ties with him altogether. Some people within AEW felt TNA should have anticipated the possibility of Caster pushing things too far considering controversial freestyle raps have always been part of his act.
With WWE and TNA working together, it was always possible that questions would come up about whether WWE had any influence over how the situation was handled. This report paints a much simpler picture — TNA had apparently already made its move before most important people in WWE even knew there was a controversy.
What do you think about the latest backstage details surrounding TNA’s decision to cut ties with Max Caster? Let us know in the comments below.
