What Happened Next - 10 Wrestlers Who Were Cut In Epic 2014 Talent Releases
Some went back, some were never seen again and one became WWE champion.
June 12, 2014, was not a good day to be a WWE midcarder. On that single day, WWE released 11 employees from their contracts, sending them off alone into the depths of the wrestling wilderness. Most never returned.
It was a strange event. While the company does tend to let a couple of wrestlers go at the same time, it's rare to see so many dropped all at once. What made it even more surprising was that five other talents had just been released six weeks earlier (including Mason Ryan and Danny Burch). Part of their reasoning for the cuts may have been due to the fact that the brand split was effectively over and there wasn't as much need to have so many people under contract. Or, Vince McMahon may have just been having a bad day.
In that unfortunate June group, there were a few wrestlers who have returned to the company and found quite a bit of success. A couple others found employment in Impact Wrestling and ROH. Some quit chasing the dream altogether. Oh, there was a referee as well. He's not going to be ranked though.
Looking back at all those names released proves just how insane it is to confidentiality predict how a wrestler's career will pan out. No one would have guessed who would eventually achieve the most success of the entire group.