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WWE is like a conveyor belt. It means that for every superstar that the company signs, it is implied that there will be a list of superstars who are released.
The last big WWE release haul came back in 2016 with the company stating that budget cuts were the main reason why the releases were made. After all, there were a number of contracted superstars who had been employed by WWE but not used on the roster for a number of months.
Many WWE releases are expected, like JTG's back in 2014 or even Summer Rae's release this past week but sometimes the company fires someone that the WWE Universe was not expecting, these kind of releases are amongst the most shocking and most memorable.
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#10 Drew McIntyre
Drew McIntyre was seen as the next big thing in WWE for a long time after Vince McMahon was said to be quite impressed by the Scottish star in his early years with the company. On McIntyre's debut, Vince McMahon himself proclaimed the Scottishman to be a future world champion.
Drew didn't live up to his potential and shockingly became a member of 3MB, a group who were seen as jobbers but still adored by the WWE Universe.
It seemed that WWE was starting to build a number of trio's back in 2014 with The Wyatt Family and The Shield making waves at that point. It came as a huge shock back in the summer of 2014 when Drew was released from his WWE contract, many fans were disappointed that the company had decided to release both Jinder Mahal and Drew because it meant that this was the end of 3MB.
After a short stint in both TNA and on the Independent circuit, WWE decided to resign McIntyre and he is currently the reigning NXT Champion
#9 Shelton Benjamin
For more than eight years Shelton Benjamin was one of the most athletically gifted wrestlers in WWE. He was a part of the Money in the Bank ladder match back at WrestleMania 26 but a few weeks later, he was another name on WWE's release list.
As a former Tag Team and Intercontinental Champion, Shelton was considered to be much more than a mid-carder on the WWE roster which is why his release came as such a shock for the WWE Universe.
Shelton had only recently been moved back over to the SmackDown Brand after a lacklustre stint in ECW and it looked as though his fortunes were changing but it seems that the management saw his future in a different way.
Shelton went on to prove his worth in Ring of Honor in the years that followed before he was resigned to WWE in 2016 and was once again brought to the SmackDown Live roster.
#8 Brodus Clay
Brodus Clay had quite a successful run in WWE as The Funkasaurus before he was joined by Tensai and the duo became known as Tons of Funk.
This was where former SmackDown Women's Champion Naomi got her start in WWE before Brodus turned heel, which marked the end of the popular group. Despite his heel turn gaining a lot of attention from the WWE Universe, it seems that Clay wasn't receiving a push off the back of it as he went on a losing streak after starting a rivalry with newcomer Xavier Woods.
After being sent down to NXT and becoming a rival for Neville over the NXT Championship, it seemed as though things were finally looking up for Clay, so it came as a shock that only weeks later Clay was released from the company on June 12, 2014.
Clay has since been known as Tyrus as part of Impact Wrestling but back in August, he announced that he had been granted his release from the promotion.
#7 Damien Sandow
Damien Sandow is a former Mr Money in the Bank in the WWE. He was also a crowd favourite when WWE decided to give him the character as The Miz's stunt double.
When this storyline eventually fizzled out, Sandow began a partnership with Curtis Axel where the duo was known as "The Meta Powers" ( a parody of The Mega Powers). Sandow became a popular character following the storyline with The Miz and was gaining the loudest crowd reactions on WWE TV despite the fact that the company were obviously booking Sandow into the ground.
Whilst it was evident that WWE had nothing creative planned for Sandow moving forward, it still came as a huge shock when he was released from his contract back in May 2016. The former Tag Team Champion later went on to have a disappointing stint in TNA
#6 Jack Swagger
Jack Swagger came to WWE as a former amateur wrestler and had already been wrestling for almost two decades after catching the bug for the business when he was only five years old.
Swagger was a part of WWE for more than a decade and is a former ECW and World Heavyweight Champion as well as a former Mr Money in the Bank. Swagger started to nosedive towards the end of his WWE career, but he still became the first WWE star who was able to switch brands following the 2016 brand split and looked as though he could finally be used appropriately on the SmackDown roster.
There were then reports in March 2017 that Swagger had asked for his WWE release and been granted it. This was later denied by WWE but the company themselves released a statement a few days later stating he had been released from the company. Considering the potential that Swagger once had it was incredible to see that WWE had allowed him to sink so low. Since then, Swagger has been picking up bookings on the Independent Circuit.
#5 Alberto Del Rio
Alberto Del Rio has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past year, but before he made his return to WWE in 2015, Del Rio was fired from the company back in 2014 for his "unprofessional conduct."
As a former World Champion, this release came from out of nowhere. Since the WWE Universe had just witnessed Del Rio's efforts to win the Money in the Bank contract at the gimmick based event a few months earlier, they were shocked that WWE had decided to part ways with a talent of his calibre.
It was later reported that Del Rio had struck a member of WWE's backstage staff after they told what was deemed a racist joke and the company decided that this was a sackable offence. Incredibly, Del Rio agreed to return to the company less than a year later and became United States Champion, only to be released from his contract early once again in September 2016.
#4 Wade Barrett
Wade Barrett was once considered to be Britains best chance of having a World Champion in this era during his stint as apart of the biggest wrestling promotion in the world. Barrett was part of a number of groups whilst he was with the company including The Nexus, The Corre and The League of Nations. He was also a former five-time Intercontinental Champion.
Barrett had a number of gimmick changes in the last few years of his career including Bad News Barrett and King Barrett before the superstar himself seemed as though he had lost the passion for the business.
Barrett was released from his WWE contract on May 6, 2016, and it was later revealed that Barrett had opted to not sign a new contract in August 2015. He was released early since his current deal didn't run out until June 2016.
Barrett is currently on hiatus from wrestling so that he can focus on his blossoming acting career.
#3 Emma
Emma has been released from WWE on more than one occasion, but the last time the company released the Australian star, she was resigned within an hour of the announcement.
Emma accomplished a lot in NXT as both a face and heel character before she was moved to the main roster and even though Emmalina was deemed a failure, she was still able to bring back her heel character with a varying amount of success.
Emma was never allowed to hold a Women's Championship or able to make history alongside the other women on the Raw roster, as WWE focused on the likes of Bayley, Alexa Bliss and Sasha Banks instead of her throughout 2017.
Emma opened a feud with Asuka when she made her debut at TLC, but after back to back losses to The Empress of Tomorrow, it seems that the company decided that there was nothing for Emma to do moving forward. Emma was released from WWE on October 28th, 2017 along with Total Divas star Summer Rae and former Tag Team Champion Darren Young.
#2 Daniel Bryan
Daniel Bryan is now the General Manager of SmackDown Live and a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but his wrestling career could have been very different back in 2010 when one huge mistake cost him his job.
Bryan was part of one of the biggest angles of the year when The Nexus made their debut on Raw and attacked John Cena and CM Punk, the seven stars were obviously told to create as much mayhem as possible and Bryan took it way too far when he decided to choke ring announcer Justin Roberts with his own tie, something that was not considered acceptable on a PG show.
Bryan was released from his WWE contract back in June 2010 and The Nexus continued to wreak havoc without him until he returned at SummerSlam a few months later after learning his lesson and going on to become one of the biggest stars of the past decade.
#1 Austin Aries
Austin Aries turned quite a few heads when he made his debut on the NXT roster back in March 2016. Aries managed to climb through the ranks but after suffering an orbital socket injury at a live event a few months later, he was put behind the commentary desk for 205 Live events.
Aries was later able to move over to the Cruiserweight Division and despite challenging Neville a number of times for the Cruiserweight Championship, he was unsuccessful on every occasion.
Aries challenged Neville at WrestleMania when the duo was a part of the kickoff show and this was one of the reasons that Aries was said to be unhappy with his position in the company. Aries found out that he wouldn't be receiving any royalties for his match at "The Showcase of the Immortals" since he wasn't included on the DVD.
There were a number of conflicting reports following Aries release back in July that stated that Aries was unpopular backstage and was actually fired and didn't ask for his release. Aries' non-compete clause ran out in October 2017, which means he is now free to make a return to Impact Wrestling.
