WWE
KEY POINTS
- Shawn Michaels has confirmed that he had no say in roster decisions
- Mandy Rose was released from WWE because of her explicit photos that were made public
- It can be inferred that WWE higher-ups were the ones mainly responsible for Rose’s firing
WWE fans are still reeling from the sudden firing of Mandy Rose with many wondering what the truth is behind her firing, and NXT creative head Shawn Michaels offered some clarity on the situation during a media call ahead of the NXT Vengeance Day pay-per-view.
“Obviously, not the ideal situation. I will say if I’m allowed to say for the record, I didn’t fire her. I can’t fire anybody. The only thing correct about any of that is that I handle creative. It was unfortunate, I think Mandy was fantastic for us. I absolutely enjoyed working with her, Michaels initially stated in the Zoom call.
“It’s one of the things that I’ve learned, doing this job, nothing comes before the brand. We have to put those things forward and that’s what we did.”
The then-NXT Women’s Champion saw herself being booted out the door in mid-December after explicit content from her fan page was leaked to the public.
At the time, it was believed that WWE’s upper management was fully aware of Rose’s ventures outside of the squared-circle.
Rose herself later admitted that she knew she was playing with fire by continuously pushing the envelope with her content.
However, she did not hold back from letting out her frustration in an interview with the New York Post last month where she questioned the definition of racy and put forward the notion that every performer knows they are all replaceable.
Because of Michaels’ statement, it stands to reason that the call for Rose getting the axe was not from him or anyone in NXT, but likely from those in upper management–those who, as fans call them, “wear the suits.”
His admission to not having a hand in the proceedings regarding Rose’s termination perfectly aligns with the tweet that pro wrestling insider Sean Ross Sapp put out at the time.
Her firing quickly came after losing her title to rising star Roxanne Perez on the December 13 episode of NXT in a move that few expected.
Fans were quick to take Rose’s side, but it should be noted that there may be some stakeholders who have differing versions of morality clauses with WWE performers that Rose was in breach of.
Rose is an extremely solid talent that NXT had booked to perfection as its top women’s heel alongside Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne as part of Toxic Attraction.
However, few expect her to ever return to the ring after earning more than $1 million through her fan page, as she revealed in the same interview with the New York Post.
WWE
