5 Superstars who WWE fired more than once
The topic of WWE Superstars’ futures has dominated wrestling news more in 2020 than any year in recent memory.
In 2019, various WWE Superstars were granted their releases throughout the year – from Goldust and Tye Dillinger to The Ascension and Luke Harper – but nobody could have predicted the mass number of departures that followed in 2020.
After Matt Hardy and The Revival’s exits earlier in the year, over 20 Superstars were released from their contracts in April 2020 as a cost-cutting measure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Needless to say, getting fired by WWE on one occasion is a career-altering moment for any Superstar, but did you know that plenty of people have been let go by the company more than once?
Excluding Superstars who left WWE at the end of their contracts, let’s take a look at five people who were fired by the company at least twice.
#5 Curt Hawkins
Curt Hawkins was released from his WWE contract in June 2014 after an eight-year association with the company.
Two years later, the former Edgehead returned to WWE television as a member of the SmackDown roster and he became one of the biggest losers (literally) in WWE history when he suffered 269 consecutive defeats.
The two-and-a-half-year story came to an end at WrestleMania 35, where Hawkins and Zack Ryder defeated The Revival to win the RAW Tag Team titles.
One year later, Hawkins was fired for the second time by WWE, while Ryder’s 15-year WWE run also came to an end.
Hawkins admitted in an interview with Chris Van Vliet in May 2020 that he did not envisage leaving WWE, especially as he had helped out in a different role as a producer in 2018 while he was injured.
“I mentally was like, ‘Okay, this is my life,’ you know? I signed this long-term deal, this is where I’m going to be, the seeds have been planted for a career out of the ring with WWE. So I was really cemented. And mentally and in my heart, it was being a part of this WWE family for a long time to come, you know?” [H/T 411mania]
Hawkins and Ryder have confirmed that they will no longer team together on the independent scene or for any other wrestling companies in the future, unless they are asked to face a legendary duo from the past.