10 Precise Moments When WWE Ruthless Aggression Era Careers Ended

3. Orlando Jordan

Shawn Michaels Lance Cade
WWE

Above, you'll see Gunner Scott (another trivia question answer, probably) pinning Orlando Jordan on the 13 May 2006 edition of 'B' show Velocity. Two weeks later, Orlando was let go by the promotion. He suffered quite the rapid decline for somebody that WWE once deemed a can't-miss prospect.

The 3 March 2005 SmackDown had been a banner night for Jordan - he toppled John Cena on that show to become the new United States Champion, and ended up holding the secondary prize for a whopping 171 days before dropping it to Chris Benoit at SummerSlam '05.

Jousting with top names like Cena and Benoit seemed like a distant memory by the time Orlando was flat on his back being pinned by Gunner. Reportedly, Jordan fell foul of management behind the scenes, so they punished his poor behaviour by letting him go.

Maybe they should've thought twice before dubbing him a surefire future World Champ on TV, eh?

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.