10 Most Shocking WWE Releases Ever

4. Mike Chioda

Braun Strowman Blood
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Chioda-2012.jpg

Unless your name ends in McMahon (and even then you might just wish to leave of your own accord as Shane did in 2009), there's seemingly no job for life in WWE. Beloved timekeeper and expert can-chucker Mark Yeaton was hoofed, Bruce Prichard had to leave and completely reinvent his public perception to come back, and even jack-of-all-trade ex-wrestlers (more on that later) seemingly never make it to pension age.

Mike Chioda looked like an exception, until WWE's brutal reminder to never say never in pro wrestling.

As with Braun Strowman, budget cuts were cited and it was assumed that Chioda's 30+ year run with the company had resulted in a contract too great for them to want to fulfil any longer. As covered extensively following his 2020 departure, Chioda was more than just the most high profile man in the middle for the company, working on the crew ahead of and after live events and television tapings.

All that experience, knowhow and skill was deemed surplus. What chance did an Alistair Black or Santana Garrett ever have?

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett