11 Hugely Talented WWE Stars Who Were Fired Too Soon

5. Luke Gallows

The former Festus improved significantly under the guidance of CM Punk, becoming his right hand man in the critically acclaimed Straight Edge Society faction. A big man with great agility and speed, he was the perfect muscle for the mouthy Punk, who often times needed help in battling the likes of Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker and Big Show. Able to stand up to any competitor based on size alone, he was absolutely an asset to Punk and the vision that he had for the SES. As was the case at the time with Punk, management seemed to go out of their way to the hold him back, to prevent him from reaching the next level of success in WWE. When the faction got as hot as it did, to the point that old ladies were referring to Punk as the devil, it was clear that there was a ton of money to be made with them as the lead antagonists in WWE. What that meant then was that Punk had to be humbled. After all, the group was his creation, his baby. The Straight Edge Society was routinely beat in handicap matches by Big Show until it was brought to a premature end in the fall of 2010. Rather than coming up with something else for Gallows to do, something that could have been useful to the company, they released the big man in November of that same year. At only 30 years old, it is still quite shocking that WWE could not have sidelined him for a few weeks, maybe months, and come up with something for him to do rather than letting him walk away and be of use somewhere else. Luckily for Vince McMahon's company, TNA did not know how to get the most out of Gallows either or they may have been kicking themselves over making a major mistake.
Contributor
Contributor

Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.