5 Wrestlers who have been fired twice by WWE
WWE's latest round of budget cuts took place last week and saw the release of eight main roster superstars. The most surprising names were John Morrison, Tegan Nox and the three members of Hit Row.
WWE has released eight members of its roster, per @SeanRossSapp
— John Morrison
— Top Dolla of Hit Row
— Ashante Adonis of Hit Row
— Isaiah Swerve Scott of Hit Row
— Tegan Nox
— Drake Maverick
— Shane Thorne
— Jaxson Ryker
They join Keith Lee, Karrion Kross, Bray Wyatt and many other stars on a long list of talent who were let go this year. All of them are very talented in the ring and they can easily succeed in any other promotion.
The company has released numerous stars from their contracts over the years. Many of them ended up returning while others thrived elsewhere. There have been rare occasions where WWE re-hired a star only to fire them again later on.
Let's take a look at the five wrestlers who have been fired by WWE more than once.
Former WWE Women's Champion Mickie James
Mickie James is often regarded as one of the greatest female wrestlers of all time.
She's nothing short of a legend who has inspired many young female fans to fall in love with wrestling and pursue a career in the industry. She has had a successful career in WWE and IMPACT Wrestling, where she is the current Knockouts Champion in her fourth reign.
On April 22, 2010, Mickie James was released by WWE due to the company's desire to "move in a new direction with their women's division." She made her comeback in late 2016 at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, where she took on Asuka for the NXT Women's Title.
On April 15 earlier this year, the former WWE Women's Champion was released once again alongside several other stars including Samoa Joe, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. The Samoan Submission Machine, however, was re-hired by the company shortly afterwards.
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Mickie James opened up about her release.
"I was like so grateful to be able to go back and have the opportunity to kind of wrap up my story there and kind of bow out in a good graceful kind of way because I felt like the first time I left was on such weird terms and I did some amazing stuff when I came back," said James. "I really did, but it wasn't shocking because I kinda was in this space where I felt it coming. I kind of felt it already coming but it was just disheartening. It was disappointing, I should say, moreso than anything."
It wouldn't be shocking if Mickie James returns to WWE sometime in the future to be rightfully inducted into the Hall of Fame.