10 Most Shocking WWE Releases This Decade

1. Daniel Bryan - Released On June 11, 2010

WWE.comWWE.comWhen reading that Daniel Bryan had been released by WWE in 2010, many fans assumed that it was either a bad joke, or part of a storyline. After all, just a couple days before, Bryan took part in perhaps the biggest angle of the year when he joined seven other NXT rookies to beat up John Cena, CM Punk, and destroy the Raw set. It was an incredibly shocking moment, and Bryan apparently went a bit too far for Vince McMahon€™s liking when he choked out announcer Justin Roberts with his own neck tie. In a post Benoit WWE, choking is very much frowned upon. But Bryan didn€™t even get a warning, he was just gone. It was bizarre and appeared to be a bit hypocritical due to how much violence you see on Raw and SmackDown every week. To kick off The Nexus storyline, it seemed that the group would need Bryan since he was easily the best in-ring performer of the stable. For some reason McMahon couldn€™t just reprimand him backstage, or dock his pay. Instead, he just let him go. Of course, he eventually came back, but you must question the bosses' judgment when he so freely let a fantastic talent go. While the total dismantling of the Raw set was one of the most shocking moments of the year, for many fans, watching Bryan get fired was incredibly unfair and shocking in its own right.
Contributor

As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at." Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week. Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com