10 Times WWE Bounced Back From Adversity
9. Firing A Pregnant Dawn Marie
ECW favourite Dawn Marie signed with WWE in 2002 and had a solid three-year run that's best remembered for her controversial feud with Torrie Wilson.
When Dawn left WWE, however, her departure was far more controversial than the on-screen antics she shared with Torrie and her father Al Wilson. That, of course, is because Dawn Marie was pregnant at that time of her release.
Two months after giving birth to her son in January 2006, Dawn took to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with the complaint that WWE had terminated her deal because she had fallen pregnant.
This matter would eventually be settled out of court over a year later, and the media coverage around all of this made WWE look absolutely awful – not least because this was during the height of Linda McMahon’s political ambitions.
How has World Wrestling Entertainment moved on from this situation? Well, for starters, they’ve yet to fire any other pregnant performers.
Interestingly, this year has seen WWE make plans to create a more family-friendly backstage environment, including areas and rooms tailored to be used by performers and their children.