#3 Daniel Bryan
You may be looking on in bemusement at this selection, but we never specified when the releases happened - so ha. Daniel Bryan was given the boot way back in mid-2010 after choking Justin Roberts with his own tie during the Nexus invasion angle. Of course, he was hired back a few months later; and as we all know, the rest is history.
Also read: 5 of the best non-WWE tag teams today
Had Bryan not been re-hired in time for SummerSlam, it would've been interesting to see how much longer he would've spent on the indies before Vince caved in and was forced to give him a second chance. Either way, we'd probably still be celebrating him as the legend that the leader of the Yes Movement is to this day.
Come on, open your eyes and see.