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Wrestling is a career that doesn't have a lengthy shelf-life attached. Most aspiring performers are aware of this when they decide to step into the career. Many stars, such as Ric Flair and The Undertaker, were able to have lengthy careers and reach legendary status. Others, however, find it hard to latch onto a character that can have longevity and, at some point, they become surplus to requirements.
WWE releases many stars from their contracts on a regular basis and will enforce their 90-day noncompete clauses which prevent them from immediately moving to another company. Others become problems for WWE in the backstage area or break rules that cause the company to make the decision to end their employment.
Here are just five former female wrestlers that the company has made the decision to fire in recent years.
#5. Melina
Melina was once seen as one of the best female wrestlers in the company when Mickie James and the former WWE Women's Champion were carrying the Women's Division throughout 2007. Melina had the technical ability and flair in the ring, but according to many reports from fellow wrestlers, outside of the ring, she was a bit of handful.
Melina caused a lot of issues backstage in WWEaccording to SEScoops and at one point was even kicked out of the Women's locker room by Lita, who is reportedly usually one of the most laid back stars.
Melina obviously didn't learn from this and was fired from the company in August 2011. To make matters worse, the company then had to ban her from events since she would continue to show up at shows alongside her then-boyfriend Johnny Nitro. Melina herself admitted this on her social media account, where she confirmed that the company had fired her.
#4. Cameron
Cameron was a complete product of WWE's Performance Center, since the former superstar had no experience in a wrestling ring before she made her WWE debut. She would go on to partner with Naomi as The Funkadactlys during her time on WWE TV and was even part of the debut season of Total Divas.
Following The Funkadactyl's split, Cameron was left with no future storylines in WWE and seemingly made a big mistake when she decided to make comments about the company on Youtube.
"For the people who don’t know, I wasn’t happy with my position in WWE. I was coming to ‘TVs’ and I just wasn’t doing anything. I know that I didn’t have the best in-ring skills, because I was brought up early. I’m really honest about that, I can keep it one-thousand percent. I wanted to go back down to NXT. I’m like ‘I know this may mean I might lose my spot. I know this may get me fired,’ but I rather walk away knowing that I did everything I possibly can, than nothing at all and I walk away with regret.”
Cameron was released from WWE not long after making this statement and the star went on to explain how the company fired her.
"I get this ‘ding’ [on my phone] and Mark [Carrano, WWE Senior Director of Talent Relations] says ‘Can you call me?’ And I just knew, so I called him and he told me. It was shocking, but at the same time, that’s just where we were. I’d given my all and things just weren’t progress, so, it hit me, and I thanked him for my time. This is one experience I’m never ever going to forget, unfortunately, it’s not a fairy tale ending.”
#3. Emma
Emma was one of the women who helped to kickstart the Women's Revolution during her time down in WWE NXT, but sadly she wasn't able to be part of it since the company released her a few months before the movement officially began.
This wasn't the first time Emma had received that phone call from the company though, since she was actually fired early in her career after she was accused of shoplifting at a local store.
Emma was fired back in 2014 for, according to TMZ, stealing an iPad case from Walmart in Connecticut. The company reacted the same day and announced that her contract had been terminated. WWE made a U-turn just hours later and announced that Emma was no longer fired. The star was then able to continue to perform for another three years before she faced release once again.
Emma was released from her WWE contract in 2017 in a budget-cutting measure that also saw Darren Young and Summer Rae released.
Emma has since revamped her character and performs under the ring name Tenille Dashwood on the Independent Circuit and Ring of Honor.
#2. Dawn Marie
Dawn Marie was part of WWE at a time when women were used as eye candy and would be put into some shocking and controversial storylines. Dawn was put into a lesbian angle with Torrie Wilson at one point that led to Dawn marrying Torrie's father and then him dying on their wedding night.
It was an odd angle, but it was the way that WWE once was. That being said, Dawn Marie wasn't as athletically gifted as the female wrestlers in the company at present. Marie was signed based on her storytelling ability rather than her in-ring ability. Her time in ECW certainly helped along those lines, too.
Marie announced that she was pregnant back in 2005 and WhatCulture confirmed that she was almost immediately released from WWE with the official reason being given as "creative had no ideas for you." Marie obviously felt that she had been fired for reasons beyond her control and went on to sue WWE and filed a complaint in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Of course, this was a PR situation that WWE wanted to avoid in future and has since supported many other women through their pregnancies.
#1. Mickie James
Mickie James still works for WWE at present as part of the commentary team on Main Event. The former six-time Women's Champion has had quite the career in WWE - which includes a seven-year absence after she was fired in 2010.
According to a report by PWInsider, James was fired after causing a number of issues backstage, the most recent was arriving late on the European Tour and forcing all other stars to be held up.
The report went on to state that "That was considered the straw that broke the camel's back dating back to her being disciplined by being sent to SmackDown! due to substandard performances and issues with her weight."
James went on to perform for a number of companies outside of WWE before she was contacted to make her return in a match against Asuka for the NXT Women's Championship at NXT: Takeover: Toronto in the fall of 2016. James then re-signed with WWE in January 2017 and was sent to SmackDown, she has remained a part of the company since.
