5 WWE Superstars who were fired live on TV

If you haven't had the chance to catch this week's RAW, then you'll have missed the firing of the Man-Beast, Rhyno.

The final original ECW World Champion lost his spot on Monday Nights after budget cuts led to Acting General Manager Baron Corbin forcing the Man-Beast and his tag partner Heath Slater to face off, with Slater winning and saving his job.

Things don't seem to be much better for the One Man Band though, as according to the GM-Elect, Slater will now be working as a referee.

But Rhyno, who announced his retirement not long after the broadcast, isn't the first Superstar to be fired live on TV, and more than likely will not be the last.

Over the decades of WWE TV, there have been plenty who got the pink slip live.

Here are five WWE Superstars who were fired live on WWE TV.

5. Cody Rhodes

Rhodes cries after losing his job

After Randy Orton captured the WWE Championship at Summerslam 2013, things quickly changed in WWE.

Triple H established himself as the undisputed master of the show, and with his wife Stephanie by his side and Orton as champion, they formed the Authority.

One Superstar who took umbrage at this new Authority was Cody Rhodes, who spoke out against the unfair treatment at the pay per view of former champion Daniel Bryan.

Perhaps Cody should've kept his mouth shut, as he was forced to defend his career against Orton. Rhodes lost, and was promptly fired.

In his best promo in WWE, Rhodes spoke about the hard work he and his family gave the company, as well as his wife Brandi.

Rhodes his job back at Battleground alongside his brother Goldust, and he showed glimpses of his brilliance, which fans would later see after his actual release in 2016.

4. Jim Ross

Ross as a RAW Commentator

Many fans would struggle to think of a performer who has been more mistreated on air than Jim Ross.

Whether he's being sucker-punched by Tazz in 2000, or being burned alive by Kane in 2003, it seems Good Ol' JR always gets the short straw.

In November 2005, this bad luck continued, as Jim Ross was called to the ring by Linda McMahon.

Saying she was unhappy with being stunned by Steve Austin the week earlier at WWE Homecoming, Linda, alongside Vince and Stephanie, fired the commentator, saying he hadn't properly apologized for Ross' best friend's actions.

In actuality, the firing was to allow JR to face some real-life health issues he was facing at the time.

After returning at WrestleMania 22 and Saturday Night's Main Event, JR would make his way back to RAW full-time in May 2006, after Joey Styles quit the show for ECW.

3. Eric Bischoff

Bischoff desperately pleads his case to the honorable Judge Vince McMahon

But by 2005, Eric Bischoff's power was waning, as several Superstars hoped to see Easy-E fired from the show.

Listening to his employees, Vince McMahon hosted the "Trial of Eric Bischoff", where Superstars would plead their cases, either for or against the RAW General Manager.

In December 2005, this all came to a tipping point. Bischoff was found guilty by Judge McMahon before being AA'd by then WWE Champion John Cena.

Adding insult to injury, Judge McMahon then dumped the newly-unemployed Bischoff in a garbage truck, which was then driven away.

In reality, Bischoff would stay under WWE's payroll, making sporadic appearances a year later, before leaving the company for other ventures in 2007.

2. Daniel Bryan

Bryan lost his job after choking Justin Roberts

It seems baffling to think there was a time when WWE did not want Daniel Bryan, but in 2010, Bryan was quickly fired from the company, all over a tie.

After attacking Monday Night RAW with the other rookies of NXT Season 1, Bryan choked announcer Justin Roberts with his necktie, an act seen too extreme by WWE.

After deliberating on the matter, Wade Barrett came out the next week, saying Bryan had shown remorse for the attack, with the Brit saying Bryan had been kicked from the group.

In reality, Bryan had actually been kicked from the group and the entire WWE, who saw the choking as too violent for their PG rating.

After a month or so back on the indies, Bryan returned at Summerslam 2010, defeating the Nexus and starting one of the most incredible careers ever.

1.Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett returned in 2018

Jeff Jarrett may have received the worst firing on WWE TV, as like Daniel Bryan, his firing was actually real.

The story of Double J's firing goes back to 1999, when Jarrett left the company for WCW, allegedly threatening to take the Intercontinental Title with him, unless Vince McMahon paid him a lot of money.

Whilst Jarrett has refuted the story, when WCW folded in 2001, Jarrett was not offered a job with the WWF.

Instead, in a historic RAW moment from the March 26, 2001 episode, McMahon appeared, with screens showing both WCW and WWF content, with the WCW one featuring Jarrett.

Mocking Jarrett's character of spelling his own name, McMahon publicly fired the former WCW World Champion, with Jarrett forming TNA Wrestling the following year.

In 2018 though, it seems the hatchet has been buried, as Jarrett was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.