10 Wrestlers WWE Gave Up On In 2020

5. Rowan

Eric Rowan
WWE.com

In his own words, Rowan was "blindsided" by his WWE release in April, and felt "banished" by his now-ex employer. The official reason reported was budget cuts due to the ongoing pandemic, but this former Wyatt Family member and lover of big, fake spiders didn't see it coming at all.

WWE didn't care - they wanted to move on.

So, he was cast out after Drew McIntyre squished his on-screen pet. Recovering, Rowan rebranded himself as 'Erick Redbeard' and sent out feelers for indy bookings. The problem is that those dates are thin on the ground at the moment due to COVID-19, and there's no news on when that'll change.

WWE may have figured that Rowan's usefulness had expired. Or, perhaps they thought that their own spider angle was so horrible that he'd never recover from the embarrassment. One thing's clear: Rowan was willing to try, and he felt bitter about his release.

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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.