Throughout the decades, WWE has been home to colourful characters. There seemed to be no limits as to how light or dark one wrestler may go. However, it has recently been reported that TKO was behind the recent releases because of their dislike of 'dark' characters.
A backstage rumor making the rounds among WWE talents points to a power player within TKO Group Holdings as the driving force behind the post-WrestleMania 42 releases of several dark-character acts, according to PWInsider's Mike Johnson.
"I don't know if there's a pattern but I can tell you there's been a story bouncing around among talents that someone in the TKO realm isn't a fan of the darker characters and that's been the blame placed on why The Wyatts; Aleister Black; Zelina, etc. were all cut," Johnson said on the latest PWInsider Q&A. "One person even suggested to me that Undertaker being The American Badass and not The Deadman in appearances is proof of that outlook."
Johnson stressed that PWInsider couldn't independently verify the claim but noted the account had been relayed to him multiple times over the past week.
The most provocative element of Johnson's report involves The Undertaker. Per the sources relaying the rumor, TKO's apparent resistance to supernatural characters is evidenced by the Hall of Famer's recent appearances in his biker "American Badass" persona rather than the iconic Deadman character he retired in 2020.
The Deadman gimmick is among the most decorated in WWE history, winning the Wrestling Observer's Best Gimmick award five consecutive times. The American Badass version, which Undertaker originally adopted in 2000, strips away the supernatural elements in favour of a more grounded, human presentation.
It is worth noting that a separate report indicated TKO didn't mandate the 24 April cuts; with Triple H and Nick Khan identified as the primary decision-makers. Per that account, the reductions were driven by budget considerations rather than a directive from TKO's ownership level.
Those two reports are not necessarily contradictory. A preference expressed at the TKO level could influence creative direction without constituting a formal mandate for specific releases. Johnson himself didn't name the individual within TKO said to hold the anti-dark-character view.
While this is going on, they tried their hand at AI; with disaster written all over it.
During a discussion on Wrestling Observer Radio following reports from WWE’s internal town hall, Dave Meltzer clarified that the company didn’t just explore AI for analytics. At one point, WWE experimented with using artificial intelligence to actually help generate storyline ideas and structure shows. Meltzer explained that the test wasn’t theoretical — it was a real attempt to see whether AI could assist writers in building wrestling programs.
According to Meltzer, those early attempts quickly showed that the technology wasn’t ready to handle the creative side of wrestling. The results reportedly produced ideas that simply didn’t make sense in the real world of storytelling or live production.
That revelation adds important context to WWE’s broader use of artificial intelligence, especially after company leadership previously explained how AI is being used to measure fan engagement across different markets. While AI is helping identify which superstars connect with certain audiences, Meltzer stressed that creative decisions still fall squarely on human producers and writers.
He addressed speculation that AI might already be influencing storylines fans see on television, pushing back on the idea that technology is responsible for creative successes or failures.
Although it is currently unknown which specific AI tool WWE uses for its creative process. Although it could be expected that Meta AI is used based on their partnership with another TKO brand, UFC. “He cited the use of AI for data and analytics on WWE and UFC consumers, as well as minor uses to enhance broadcasts,” the report from POST Wrestling read.
Also, on the recent episode of WWE NXT on 28 April 2026, WWE released an AI footage of Zaria and Sol Ruca, which received backlash on social media, who called out WWE for their poor AI content.
With the new AI usage comments by Shapiro, fans also might be interested in knowing that Triple H, who almost left WWE before WrestleMania 42, has now reportedly signed a new long-term contract.
Instead of replacing writers, AI is now being used more as a brainstorming tool — something that can offer suggestions but still requires human judgment to shape into workable ideas.
I'm quite shocked that the higher ups don't like a certain character. There shouldn't be any limits. They should allow wrestlers to express themselves. Certain wrestlers should accept that their past personas will be passed on to the future. I'm pretty sure fans will accept the personas of the wrestlers.
I believe using AI is just plain lazy. If people are tired at what they do, they should look elsewhere for a job. AI can't solve all problems. Sometimes, a human is needed for some real intellectual thinking and idea formulations.