WWE released upwards of 25 employees back in April, with Vince McMahon suggesting the coronavirus pandemic had forced his hand.
Most of those cut were in-ring talent and producers, with high-profile names like Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Rusev and Kurt Angle all leaving the company.
Some have since signed deals and appeared with other promotions - notably, FTR have joined AEW and The Good Brothers (Gallows and Anderson) debuted at IMPACT's Slammiversary event.
While COVID-19 was named as the obvious reason for WWE making mass cuts, but reports are starting to surface that suggest some wrestlers were let go for other reasons.
Dave Meltzer has claimed that in addition to high pay being a factor, some stars were let go for publically or privately complaining about the Saudi Arabia travel issues.
Following last November's Crowl Jewel PPV, more than 175 employees were stuck onboard a plane that didn't take off for over six hours.
Both the airline and WWE released false statements claiming a mechanical fault was to blame for not taking off, but those were quickly disproven.
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Instead, rumours suggest McMahon cut the live feed of the PPV in Saudi Arabia as WWE hadn't been paid on time and subsequently, the Crown Prince ordered wrestlers to be taken off the plane.
These travel issues caused major upset amongst employees and led to many criticising the company publically and according to Meltzer, could have led to some releases.
"The guys who had given the company bad publicity over Saudi Arabia, which was Rusev and Karl Anderson and Joe Hennig (Curtis Axel) [were let go]," Meltzer said on WOR, per Wrestling News.
(Photo credit: WWE)
"The other one was Andrade but Andrade is in the Flair family so he was safe. There was a lot of bitterness because WWE sees it one way.
"The reason that there was a problem [with Saudi Arabia] is because guys said there was a problem.
"There are all those tweets out there which WWE couldn’t deny and it led to this lawsuit as a matter of fact."
(Photo credit: WWE)
WWE are currently fighting a case from shareholders who believe that dealings with Saudi Arabia have been misrepresented.
An anonymous employee has provided details about what allegedly happened in November and now according to Meltzer, it could have led to some losing their jobs.