10 WWE Wrestlers Released In The Middle Of A Push
6. Erick Rowan
Four months. Four. Months.
That's how long wrestling fans were teased with the mystery of what was in the cage that Erick Rowan carried around with him from week to week on Monday nights.
It's not Rowan's fault, but this whole thing was utterly painful for audiences to watch be dragged out for such a long period of time - only for the ultimate reveal to be that said cage was the home of a giant comedy spider.
Still, given the frequency that he was on TV during this time and how this mystery was made to be such a big deal, it's hard to argue that this wasn't, at least in WWE's mind, a big push for Erick Rowan.
Away from the covered cage itself, this period also saw the two-time SmackDown Tag Team Champ go on a run of squashing enhancement talent; a move that had previously been used to start serious momentum for many a behemoth, such as Braun Strowman and the ever-hangry Ryback.
When not battering job guys, Erick also got to battle the likes of Seth Rollins, Aleister Black and Drew McIntyre during this time, and it looked as if Big Red was finally on a steady path to be a solid singles act. That is, of course, until McIntyre squished Rowan's spider before the former Wyatt Family member was let go as part of WWE's mass releases of 15 April 2020.