At the moment WWE has been on a re-hiring spree as they have brought back big names from the dead which includes the likes of CM Punk and Randy Orton. Well it isn’t exactly just these two but with Nia Jax and R Truth also making their comeback it seems that WWE is now altogether a fairy land that will always shine brighter than glitters.
But this is something very new to the entire industry for the Stamford-based company. They have had a reputation of firing stars rampantly and unless you want to bask in the new-found glory of the company, here are 12 stars who were public favourites but yet found themselves in the firing line.
#12 CM Punk
Punk may have been back now but after his battle at the Royal Rumble in 2014, he was seen walking away from the company. There were quite a few factors which included the likes of being mentally unwell, working with part-timers like The Rock, Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker, such was the hurt that even putting down Ryback was no equalizer for the Best in the World. As a result, he was fired on his wedding day.
#11 William Regal
Another public figure who was so good in his work that fans believed that he was actually booking matches in real life and not on kayfabe. Well when WWE fired him for a massive shake-up that saw Triple H losing NXT, he went onto AEW and such was the craze for Regal that fans actually were persistent about getting him to fix the matches.
#10 Rusev
The Bulgarian Brute or Miro whatever you want to call him as, Rusev was someone who was a fan-magnet amongst the stars.
Remember when WWE sold a Rusev Day Calendar but only released it at the end of January? pic.twitter.com/YyILOZBAVs
Advertisement— 𝔰𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔨! the 𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔞𝔩𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩𝔰 𝔰𝔦𝔫𝔤 (@smarkmouth) December 6, 2023
His mic-skills may not have worked wonders but his real-life wife, Lana who played his manager first in WWE made up for that. Of course, Paul Heyman’s denting creative kind of pushed him to the sidelines and he never made it to the WWE ring again.
#9 Samoa Joe
One of the crowd favourites, Samoa Joe, the mean machine who would lay his counterparts to waste, Samoa Joe was released by WWE twice. In April 2021 when WWE was basking in a fortune, they let him go quoting budget cut as a reason while for the second time in January 2022 after being rehired again by Triple H, he was squashed considering the fact that it served as a punishment to Triple H.
#8 British Bull Dog
Davey Boy Smith drove insane popularity and he never knew how to stop. After capturing the Intercontinental title from Bret Hart, the fans absolutely loved how he wrestled. However, like Bret Hart made his way to popularity, Davey was dwindling slowly and steadily and in less than very little succession, he completely vanished.
#7 Ultimate Warrior was once fired by WWE
Also a similar fate, Ultimate Warriors was knocked out of the company by the growing popularity of Bret Hart.
I was 9 years old, when my Father took me to this event. I had the time of my life, even though @HulkHogan lost to the Ultimate Warrior.
Thank you @WWENetwork @WrestleMania for the memories! Namaste 💎💜❤😎🖖😁✌🍁💯👃#Wrestlemania #WrestlemaniaVI #WWE #Memories #Childhood pic.twitter.com/GhvgiQYjRp
— Jamie Roberts (@JamieRoberts001) December 12, 2023
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There was a rumour that Warrior wanted money which was also similar to the payscale of Hulk Hogan back then and for saying this, he was also suspended for a match-up. However, his firing from the company had different stories altogether.
#6 Marty Jannetty
Even though Marty didn’t drive the ticket sales but his inclusion to the mix would derive the entire WWE Universe into an inexplicable frenzy. The way things were handled however, went horribly wrong. He was there to give others a push and WWE ensured that the right things were happening a right time even though Marty lost his job countless times.
#5 Dolph Ziggler was recently fired by WWE
Dolph Ziggler’s major reason for downfall and falling out of favour with the company was nothing other than extensive injuries. Vince did want to get him back but one of his most major injuries that stopped him from playing were too many concussions. Somehow he was at the heart of it all.
#4 Enzo Amore
Well, this is another tricky move for WWE as they fired Amore over allegations that were dropped and was eventually and in fact still have not been approved by the court of law. But then WWE trying to maintain their clean image let go of Enzo Amore and the fans certainly were against this release.
#3 Mustafa Ali was fired by WWE
Another sensational young talent not used to perfection saw him heading out of the company because firstly his position in WWE never changed.
#OnThisDayInWWE 5 years ago on #SmackDown:
Even as SmackDown Champion, "The New" Daniel Bryan elevates new stars, like 205 Live's Mustafa Ali
Forgot how brilliant Bryan is as a heel @MustafaAli_X pic.twitter.com/y1GQ7B5EHD
Advertisement— On This Day in WWE (@OTD_in_WWE) December 11, 2023
Except for that title-match against Gunther, Mustafa Ali has been a shadow and still performs in the same lines even though he now treads the path of independent wrestling.
#2 Eddie Guerrero
Viva la Rasa! The man who had a catchphrase of cheat to win, well the fans were just berserk for the big man. But then WWE’s knack of firing the favourites never really receded. He was drinking too much at one point in time and started getting out of control. Despite a few attempts to bring him back, the Stamford-based company decided otherwise.
#1 Daniel Bryan was once fired by WWE
One of the finest moments in the history of Wrestlemania belongs to Daniel Bryan. He sparked the Yes Movement and allowed a crowd takeover of a ring in his protest. Talk about being cool and very few wrestlers are actually being cool about this. As a part of a Nexus Wild formation, he ended up choking Justin Roberts and the stick had to be shown.
