10 WWE Superstars Who Have Been Released The Most
1. Marty Jannetty (6)
'Party' Marty Jannetty is WWE's P45 poster child, such was his preternatural proclivity for getting sacked for his, let's call it 'exotic' lifestyle.
The Rocker's first awkward conversation with talent relations came in 1992, shortly after Shawn Michaels famously flung him through the Barbershop window. The original plan was for Jannetty, having missed the chance to win the vacant world title at Royal Rumble '92, to exact revenge on his ex-partner at WrestleMania VII. He ended up missing that too, thanks to a six month house arrest for attacking a police officer. WWE released him that March.
Once his time was up, Marty made a comeback later that year. Attempts to revive the Michaels programme once again proved abortive; a terrible Royal Rumble '93 match between the pair was attributed to Jannetty's apparent intoxication, and he was once again let go.
Third time's a charm, and when Jannetty was given yet another chance in May '93, he took it, sharing an unforgettable Intercontinental Champion contest with his great rival. So the story goes, Shawn had blamed their previous stinker on his partner's problems - a claim Curt Hennig later convinced Vince McMahon was bogus. By way of apology, Jannetty earned the IC title.
Just as things were starting to look up for Jannetty, the past came back to haunt him. During a 1990 match in Florida, Jannetty accidentally broke the neck of prelim worker Chuck Austin. Left paralysed by the incident, Austin sued Jannetty, though the case dragged through the courts. Upon the 1994 verdict, Austin was awarded $26.7 million in compensation, and Jannetty was quickly disappeared from WWE.
He was quietly brought back in 1996. Given his run of terrible luck, you'd think Jannetty would be happy just to have secure work. Yet, having seen his equally talented tag partner main event WrestleMania, whilst he was lumped in a moribund re-run of The Rockers, Marty requested his release. It was happily granted.
Against all reasonable odds, given the personal obstacles Jannetty experienced in the interim, the aging Rocker resurfaced in 2005 as part of Shawn Michaels' programme with Kurt Angle. So impressed were WWE by Jannetty's form in a preparatory match with the Olympian that they offered him a new deal. Almost as soon as the ink dried, Jannetty was arrested, and the contract was torn up.
Over the next four years, Jannetty would be re-hired and fired twice more, the latter owing to an inability to travel due to a court order. The on/off again affair finally ended when he pitched his wagon to Konstantine Kyros' class-action concussion suit in 2016. There are some mistakes being Shawn Michaels' buddy can't fix.