10 WWE Releases That Could Have Been Easily Avoided
8. Shawn Spears
If you've been fortunate enough to only witness Shawn Spears' enigmatic appearances on AEW and nothing else, you're probably scratching your head at the concept of WWE willingly letting this star go for free.
Well - hold onto your hats for this one - as it turned out, Vince McMahon wasn't exactly sure how or where to place the former Tye Dillinger when he arrived on the main roster after his crowd-pleasing run on NXT in 2017.
As shocking as it is to believe, a passionate pro wrestler who wasn't carved out of granite somehow found themselves rudderless in the company, despite doing whatever they could to create lemonade with the rancid fruit frequently on offer.
If WWE had just allowed Spears to flex his creative muscles in the way he has been allowed to inside Tony Khan's company, perhaps they could have unearthed a new engaging mid-card heel with a fire in his belly.
Instead, he was released from the chains of WWE creative in 2019 and forged his 'Chairman' gimmick in AEW, quickly becoming a buzz-worthy talent after one controversial steel chair headshot to Cody Rhodes.
We're not for a minute suggesting that Spears needed to butcher the rest of WWE's roster to get over. However, a few substantial victories and/or angles could have saved a deeply disappointing run on the SmackDown brand.