Many names were recently released by WWE in an effort to cut costs during the COVID-19 pandemic and in some cases, this meant letting go of long-time members of the WWE team.
According to a report in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Former lead Director of WWE television programming, Kerwin Silfies was a part of the furloughs made by WWE on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Kerwin's furlough was first mentioned by Conrad Thompson on his podcast with Jim Ross.
Silfies first joined WWE in the mid-1980s and although he wasn't with the WWE consistently for the entire length of time, his name is credited in the build of some legendary WWE Superstars. Bruce Prichard has credited Kerwin with a lot of the direction for the vintage Mr. Perfect vignettes from the 1980s. Marty Miller has been the company’s main television director.
Reportedly, this cut comes as a result of WWE releasing a lot of older employees. This is attributed to the higher salary the tenured employees have as well as the travel involved with the jobs that have to do with television, potentially putting the older employees at a greater risk.
Silfies is not the only longtime employee released by WWE. Mike Chioda, who was a referee for WWE starting back in 1989, was also released by the company on April 15. See a full list of cut names at this link.
