How WWE Failed EVERY Wrestler Released In 2021

Daniel Bryan's WWE contract expired. The company didn't release him like Black or Strowman, and he may end up re-signing, but one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time willingly chose to become a free agent after over a decade under Vince McMahon's employ. He had a longer, more successful WWE career than most on this list, scoring five World Championship reigns, but let's not forget that WWE ground this all-time talent down to the point that he was actively working to be removed from the WrestleMania 37 main event a few months ago.

We shouldn't need to mention the myriad times WWE went out of its way to ritually humiliate its "B+ player" during his tenure.

And you can't talk about humiliation in WWE without bringing up the veterans. In 2021, no class of wrestler is likelier to be made to look like a complete fool than the legends who've spent decades wearing themselves out for a company that doesn't respect them back. Is it any wonder that Paul Wight and Mark Henry chose to bail on WWE when their last appearances saw them cruelly buried by Randy Orton, of all people?

Henry, in particular, was made to look like the most pitiful, defenceless pube on Legends Night. It's incredible that WWE chooses to treat its old heroes this way when such nostalgia shows are the only thing capable of popping a good television rating in 2021.

Ezra Judge didn't work a single televised match. Big Show worked 874. Their experience levels and tenure couldn't have been more different, but both were screwed.

And no, it's not the talent's fault. It's never the talent's fault.

CONT'd...