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The wrestling business is a hard place to become part of and an even harder place to stay involved in. WWE Superstars have to be at the top of their game for years to retain a high position in the company and not become part of the conversation when budget cut meetings roll around.
Many superstars are unable to do this and are inevitably released from WWE, as seen earlier this year when the company made mass releases due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This doesn't mark the end for several of these stars, though, since many have seen it as a wake-up call and have been able to be re-signed a few years later.
Of course, this isn't always the case, several of the stars on this list were fired for some much more interesting reasons as well.
#5. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre
It is hard to believe just six short years ago Drew McIntyre was one of the Superstars who was handed his release papers and told that he was free to leave. McIntyre had been part of the company for several years at that point, been seen as "The Chosen One" and then dropped back down through the ranks and ended up as a member of 3MB.
McIntyre and Jinder Mahal were both released, and Heath Slater was left alone, splitting the group completely.
McIntyre saw this as a wake-up call and worked hard in several other promotions before getting the call from NXT to make his WWE return.
In an interview with Fightful last year, McIntyre revealed that his release came as a huge shock, but he understood because he didn't see where his character could go at the time.
"When I got fired that day. I got the phone call, I was a little surprised. I think the person on the phone was a little surprised; the fans were a little surprised. But to be honest, there was no way I could logically transition into anything serious. And I don’t think it would have panned out if I did. I think I had to go away, apply the lessons I learned outside of the nonstop WWE environment. Cause this place never stops. We’re always creating content. It’s very difficult to re-invent yourself, you know, within this world if people know you a certain way."
McIntyre is now WWE Champion and has dominated the company since his return.
#4. WWE star Mickie James
Mickie James hasn't been seen on WWE TV in a number of months and, interestingly, went undrafted in the recent WWE Draft. The reasoning behind the former Women's Champion's absence is reportedly because James is struggling with a broken nose.
As a veteran, James has spent the last three years of her career pushing forward the younger generation after making her return to WWE back in 2017. Ahead of her return, James worked for several promotions, including Global Force Wrestling and IMPACT Wrestling.
Mickie James initially made her WWE debut back in 2005 and defeated Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 22 for the Women's Championship the following year. James was then seen as one of the best female wrestlers in the company for a number of years before her shock release back in 2010.
PWInsider reported that James was fired after a number of backstage issues, including holding up travel because she was late, substandard performances, and issues with her weight. James also had musical aspirations that WWE reportedly were not fans of.
#3. Former WWE Champion Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan is now one of the most popular wrestlers on SmackDown and definitely has a date with Roman Reigns and that WWE Universal Championship in his near future.
That being said, there was a time when Daniel Bryan was fired from WWE before he could even make an impact. Back in 2010, when The Nexus made their WWE debut, they attacked everything in sight, including the stars who were positioned at ringside.
Bryan attacked Justin Roberts and was seen on camera using a tie to choke him, WWE decided that this was too much and released Bryan from the company.
Wade Barrett later revealed the real reason why Bryan was fired during a recent interview with Inside The Ropes.
“It was a silly thing to fire him for, but I believe one of the main sponsors of WWE made a complaint that they didn’t like how horrific it was and how lowdown disgusting it was. The only way Vince could respond to that was to fire Daniel Bryan for it.
The backlash from fans lead to WWE rehiring Bryan only months later and allowing him to come back at SummerSlam, stepping into a huge feud with The Miz. Bryan has since gone on to become a former World Champion and even returned from retirement back in 2019.
#2. Current WWE 24/7 Champion R-Truth
R-Truth has become one of the most entertaining Superstars in WWE over the past few years and has come into his own as 24/7 Champion, a title that he has now held a record 45 times.
Truth's career hasn't always been a straight forward one since the current Champion was fired from WWE back in 2002. Truth then went on to work for IMPACT Wrestling before making his return to WWE back in 2008.
During a 2019 interview with Edge and Christian on their Podcast of Awesomeness, Truth revealed that he actually thanked Vince McMahon for firing him when he returned in 2008.
"My second run back I was more than happy that I had that time away. I felt like a grown man when I came back. I actually told Vince that. He looked at me like I had two heads," Truth claimed. "I told him, hey man, thanks for firing me 5 years ago. He was like, huh? I told him that I had time to grow up and I needed that and that I wasn't ready for working for WWE the first time around."
Truth is now one of WWE's longest-tenured athletes and looks as though he is genuinely having fun being part of the company.
#1. WWE star Shelton Benjamin
Shelton Benjamin is currently one-fourth of The Hurt Business and is looking to become a RAW Tag Team Champion in the near future. Like many other current WWE stars, Benjamin is in his second stint with the company after returning in 2017.
Benjamin's first run with WWE was a lucrative one that saw him lift the Intercontinental Championship on three occasions and the Tag Team Championships twice. Benjamin became known as The Gold Standard, but back in April 2010, he was shockingly released from his WWE contract.
In an interview with Blackvoices.com following his release, Benjamin revealed that he didn't know why WWE fired him.
Honestly, I'm still wondering that myself. What I think it boils down to is that I'd been there for so long and they had such high hopes for me. For me to continue in the position that I was in I would have gotten to the point where family would have lost faith in me. I think while I'm still young every now and then you need to completely disassociate yourself from the company to freshen yourself up. It would be one thing for me to say I am gonna leave and take three months off and when I come back I'll be fresh and new, but it's a total other thing to disassociate yourself from the company completely. The point that they didn't resign me doesn't really bother me because I felt like I needed to go and near the end of my career work for me wasn't fun."
Benjamin continued to work on his craft outside of the company and was able to turn WWE heads once again a few years ago, before being re-signed.
