Former WWE Superstar Miro has revealed that he was fired by the WWE for protecting his co-workers during the global pandemic.
In March 2020, the whole world shut down in response to the deadly corona virus sweeping the globe. Offices were shut, people were forced to stay inside and various restrictions were placed upon society. However, the same could not be said for professional wrestling.
Both WWE and AEW continued shooting their weekly TV show, albeit without a crowd in attendance and various levels of safety precautions. While those in All Elite Wrestling seemed positive about the situation, the former Rusev revealed that things weren’t as safe-feeling as they would have liked.
Why Was Miro Fired By WWE?
After signing for AEW in 2020, Miro appeared on Talk is Jericho to discuss how his WWE career ended and the circumstances behind his firing. The former United States Champion stated that he knew he was fired once he received the text from Mark Carrano saying he “needed to talk”.
He also said that the reason he was fired was because of the way he tried to protect his co-workers during the pandemic. While COVID-19 was rife, he was not okay about how the boys were being treated at the time. He said they were “scared to go to work”, and that somebody leaked their worries to the office. Miro was given the blame for the low morale and was punished for it by losing his job.
Speaking to Chris Jericho, Miro said about why he was fired;
“I got a text message the day of. It said, ‘Miro, we need to talk.’ I actually had the feeling, so I wanted to call [Mark] Carrano. I was like, should I text him, but I was at the vet. It was like, okay, I’ll take care of the dogs first, and the next thing you know, I got a text message. ‘Hey, we need to talk.’ I knew right away. So I called him. He told me, ‘I’m so sorry,’ and I really lashed out for five minutes. I did lash out because there’s just so much. It was just much over the years.”
“I was getting some of the boys around because we were not okay about how everybody was treated in the pandemic situation. We felt scared to go to work, and once again, it was probably ten of us talking, somebody leaked it to the office. From us 10 people that were talking, somebody leaked it to the office and to the dirt sheets, and once that happened, I knew right away they’re gonna fire me because they’re going to blame it all on me of course because I’m the guy, but it doesn’t matter.”
“They fired me. I lashed out because I think we’re on the path of doing something good because I do want to protect the boys. We all wanted to protect the boys and the girls. That didn’t work out, and that’s why I felt like they cut me underneath because I was just so angry man.”
Miro had good reasons to be concerned about WWE’s safety protocols during the pandemic, considering they didn’t conduct a single COVID test until June. They were also upset at wrestlers letting the fans know when they contracted the illness – Renee Young was reportedly chewed out by management for tweeting out that she was ill.
Miro, then known as Rusev, was released as part of the budget cuts by WWE at the start of the pandemic. This was assumed to be to get the company ready for a sale. This was because they had just recorded record profits due to the billion dollar deal with Saudi Arabia. With Vince McMahon’s return to the company seemingly signalling the sale of the company is imminent, Miro may have been mistaken about why he was fired and it was simply a budget-cutting measure for the Bulgarian Brute.
