Jim LaMotta

After several months of laying on a crate backstage without saying a word, looking like a total doofus and everything that a solid baby face shouldn’t be, Johnny Gargano sprang up to challenge CM Punk for the WWE championship last week on Smackdown in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.

The annual purge of talent from the WWE roster is usually around Wrestlemania each year, prompting some discussion about where performers will go next, who was underutilized, etc. But, as we’ve seen since the WWE merger with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to form the TKO corporation a few years ago, the conglomerate takes a much more direct approach to its talent relations.

“The Butcher” Andy Williams | AEW Life is so fragile. In the professional wrestling business, an industry often built upon the larger-than-life performers, we often see so many death-defying maneuvers and over-the-top spectacles that it becomes routine that the grapplers that take the bumps and bruisers are back to their feet to continue the bout after thrilling moments in the ring.