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WWE shocked the world recently by announcing the release of several of its top stars, including Braun Strowman, Aleister Black, Buddy Murphy, Ruby Riott, Lana, and Santana Garrett.
However, there have been some rumblings afterward that several high-ups in WWE are pushing for one of those names, Aleister Black, to be rehired, with many not really understanding why he was released.
But would WWE really bring back a Superstar they've recently released? Well, there is somewhat of a historical precedent for WWE releasing Superstars and then bringing them back for whatever reason.
So with that in mind, here are five examples of times WWE has quickly rehired released Superstars to help prove that there may yet be hope for fans of Aleister Black's WWE career.
#5 WWE Superstar Drake Maverick 'wins' his WWE contract back
Drake Maverick was one of WWE's best assets at the time of his release; he had killed it as the General Manager of 205 Live and had completely committed to a role as the manager of Authors of Pain on Monday Night RAW. But that didn't stop WWE from cutting him loose as part of their 2020 COVID budget cuts.
This caused a weird dynamic because Maverick had just entered the NXT interim Cruiserweight tournament to be crowned interim NXT Cruiserweight Champion. Consequently, WWE was going to allow Maverick to finish out his involvement in the tournament before letting him go.
Maverick released a highly emotional video detailing this, where his passion for the business and disappointment at the loss of his job sort of went viral, leading to a groundswell of support for him.
What this meant was that when fans grabbed hold of the incredibly emotional and honest video from Maverick addressing his release, the backing the Superstar received increased week-on-week as he was still appearing on WWE television, which ultimately forced WWE to legitimately re-hire him rather than keeping him just for the tournament.
Maverick progressed to the final of the tournament, with the possibility of becoming champion and regaining his job becoming an actual storyline. He lost the final against El Hijo Del Fantasma but shortly afterward he was awarded a new WWE contract by Triple H.
Maverick is still with WWE on NXT and is currently in a tag team with Killian Dain.
#4 Daniel Bryan gets fired from WWE for choking Josh Roberts but then returns
I'm sure this is the person many people thought about when they clicked on this article, as WWE infamously fired Daniel Bryan after participating in the iconic Nexus invasion debut, where he choked WWE commentator Josh Roberts with his own tie.
Bryan's actions, although perfectly helping to convey what was an intensely violent and shocking moment when Nexus debuted, attacked John Cena, and trashed the WWE arena, were seen as too violent for WWE's programming, and so the Superstar was released.
This led to a backlash from the WWE audience who felt that Daniel Bryan had done nothing wrong, and indeed there were many in the company, including the 'victim' of the choking, Justin Roberts himself, who didn't realize there was such a rule in place. Even the chairman of animal rights charity PETA wrote to Mr. McMahon to encourage him to bring Bryan back.
WWE was left with no choice but to bring the highly successful indie wrestler back, and he made a surprise re-debut at SummerSlam to become Team WWE's seventh member against Nexus.
Bryan would go on to become one of WWE's biggest stars so the decision to bring him back to the company certainly turned out to be a good one in the end.
#3 Emma gets fired for shoplifting and then brought back to WWE
Emma had been on the main WWE roster for a few months when it emerged she had been arrested for shoplifting. She was alleged to have stolen an iPad case while using a self-checkout machine at Walmart, so WWE asked no questions and released her from her contract in 2014.
However, while it transpired that the item Emma was alleged to have stolen had simply not been scanned properly in the till WWE was forced to consider that they had perhaps been a little harsh in terminating her contract. Especially as other Superstars in the company had committed more serious crimes and were not fired.
They released the following statement on WWE.com.
"Upon further evaluation, WWE has reinstated Tenille Dashwood (WWE Diva Emma) but will take appropriate punitive action for her violation of the law."
Consequently, WWE decided to very quickly rehire Emma, meaning that she was only fired from the company for a number of hours before she was reinstated. She would go on to do a day's worth of community service for the accidental theft and would enjoy a little while longer with WWE until she was released in 2017 for good this time.
#2 Drew Gulak opts not to renew his contract but then suddenly rejoins WWE
Drew Gulak is one of those WWE Superstars who just has it. He is technically sound in the ring, excellent at character work as evidenced by his time spent campaigning for a 'Better 205 Live', and he has a wealth of experience so when WWE just let him see out his contract it was a bit of a shock to a lot of people.
Especially as the superstar had just been given a spotlight on SmackDown in a program with Daniel Bryan that led to him challenging for the Intercontinental Title. This was a push that Gulak hadn't been offered before in his time in WWE and then all of a sudden he was gone.
But he wasn't gone for long! Just 11 days later it was announced by WWE that Drew Gulak had re-signed with WWE on a multi-year deal, it was as if WWE quietly moving Gulak to the alumni section on their website was something that never happened.
#1. Matt Hardy goes through a breakdown in WWE
In 2005 real-life drama invaded WWE's fictional drama as Matt Hardy made some very public rants against Edge and Lita. After a year of inactivity, WWE made the decision to fire Matt Hardy citing 'unprofessional conduct,' as Hardy's rants disrupted ongoing storylines.
It all stemmed from the fact that Lita had allegedly had an affair with Edge behind Hardy's back, and that it had been going on for three months whilst the Superstar was injured.
Fans heavily petitioned for Hardy's reinstatement as he's always been an exceptionally popular wrestler and the petition even garnered 15,000 signatures. This led to WWE bringing back Matt Hardy so that he could then take part in a storyline rivalry with Edge and Lita to mirror their real-life one.
Fans were behind Matt Hardy in the storyline because he was essentially the wronged party as the victim of an affair, but ultimately Edge would triumph and get the girl. That's WWE for you!
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