Buddy Murphy Explains His Non-Compete Clause Confusion With WWE, Says He Feels Free After Being Released
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Buddy Murphy was one of the many WWE superstars that were let go from the company during their most recent rounds of budget cuts. Despite being one of the more exciting and up-and-coming superstars in the business, Murphy wasn’t kept by WWE, and will now move on in his career.
Speaking to Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp in his first post-WWE interview, Murphy spoke about being released, what his next plans are, and much more. Murphy talked about getting the call that he’d been released, referring to it like a weight being lifted. He said that he was actually on his way to the Performance Center to print something out, but ignored the call when he saw ‘WWE Inc’ on the caller ID and got his documents taken care of.
“They say, ‘once you have a child, it’s a love that you can’t explain’ and ‘when you get fired from WWE, it’s this crazy weight lifted off.’ Those were two things that I was curious to see what people were talking about. One just happened before the other. It was a literal weight coming off and I felt free. My main concern was what would happen with my visa situation. I didn’t care about the wrestling. Like I said, I wasn’t overly happy there, just sitting in the back and not being utilized, but I’ve built a life [in America]. I have animals and a house. I’ve spent a quarter of my life in the US. That was my main concern because I think I have a strong belief that I have something to offer and will land on my feet. That is what I was mainly focused on. Once a couple of days passed, I embraced it and was excited with different projects to dip my foot in,” he said. “It’s a weird and unique situation. As well as getting punched in the stomach, it was a massive shock, but also a breath of fresh air.
Murphy also spoke about the confusion regarding his 30-day non-compete clause, which strangely enough just happened to Aleister Black. Murphy said he got a similar call but believes it was a case of mistaken identity.
“I received a phone call from the office the day after I was released saying that they received an email that they messed up and my contract was only 30-day non-compete and that if I wanted to prolong it to the 90 days that they would do that for me. I thought that was weird as I was a budget cut, but you’re still willing to pay me another two months, but it wasn’t me. I had my letter, which says ‘August 31.’ August 31 is my day. When it comes to the visa situation, the more time I have,” he noted, “the better so I can get prepared. Even if they gave me an out, I would have to take it for my life. They thought it was me (who had a 30-day non-compete). I informed them that it wasn’t because I received a letter with (August 31).
“It turned to relief. It went from panic to relief on the voice (on the phone call). Then they moved on. I think they panicked and obviously they got the name mixed up. It was someone, but it wasn’t me. Maybe Buddy and Aleister got mixed up. Buddy or Black, they are both B’s. They called me, not me. You hear all the things like the trash bag thing and I’m a pretty open-minded person and don’t get affected by it. I try and see both sides of the story,” Murphy said. “I don’t think there was any malice behind the garbage bag, but it’s not a good look, I get it. Do I believe there was actual malice to upset (talent)? No, I don’t. Definitely a shitty thing to do once you’ve been released and your life is being changed.”
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