10 Wrestlers Who Never Recovered From Their WWE Release
3. Tully Blanchard
A founding member of The Four Horsemen and former WWE Tag Team Champion, Tully Blanchard is pro-wrestling royalty. Regarded as one of his era’s finest technicians, he was a slick, charismatic heel and a cornerstone of the NWA’s success through the 1980s. Though rarely featured in the main event singles scene, Blanchard became synonymous with the NWA Television Championship, introduced wrestling to the concept of the “cool heel,” and was a tag team specialist while working with Arn Anderson.
A pay dispute led to Blanchard and Anderson leaving the NWA for WWE in 1988, and they were soon joined by fellow Horseman Barry Windham, and manager J.J. Dillon. As The Brain Busters, Anderson and Blanchard were paired with Bobby Heenan, and defeated Demolition to win the WWE Tag Team Titles in mid-1989.
Sadly, this is as good as it got for Blanchard in WWE. A break-up angle was teased that November, but Blanchard tested positive for cocaine as it was taking shape, and was quickly released from WWE. This effectively ended Tully’s career as a high-level professional wrestler, and he struggled for appearances throughout the 1990s. Once regarded as the glue that held the Horsemen together, Tully did make a one-night-only WCW appearance in 1994, but his failed drug test deprived the sport of one of its greatest performers.