10 WWE Wrestlers Released In The Middle Of A Push

6. Erick Rowan

Aleister Black Tales
WWE

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.

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.