10 WWE Wrestlers Released In The Middle Of A Push

9. Emma

Aleister Black Tales
WWE.com

When WWE recollects how Stephanie McMahon ushered in the Women's Revolution by championing #GiveDivasAChance, one of the many flaws in the company's narrative is how it largely ignores Emma.

These days performing under her real name in IMPACT Wrestling, Tenille Dashwood continues to show why she should be viewed as a major asset to any women's division and to any wrestling promotion across the globe. Still, for whatever reason, WWE just didn't see much in the talented Australian.

Having spent six years under contract with Vince McMahon's promotion by that point in time, it was a little eyebrow-raising to see Emma fired by WWE in October 2017 - largely due to how prominent a role she'd had on TV in the weeks and months prior to that release.

It's one thing to be released after being featured regularly on TV, but Emma was constantly rubbing shoulders on Raw with heavy hitters like Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss. And not just that, she was Asuka's first WWE PPV opponent, facing the Empress of Tomorrow - with whom she'd put on a great match back at NXT TakeOver: London two years before - at the 2017 TLC show after Emma had toppled Banks, Bayley, Alicia Fox and Dana Brooke for the privilege.

The former Emmalina obviously lost to Asuka at TLC, then followed that up by losing a rematch on the next night's Raw before being released less than a week later.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.