5 Dumbest Firings In Wrestling

In this edition of The Wrestling Estate roundtable, we present our top five dumbest firings in wrestling history.

Chad Gelfand’s 5 Dumbest Firings in Wrestling

WCW Fires Brian Pillman

If “Congratulations, you played yourself” was a wrestling angle, this would be it. A plan originally devised by Eric Bischoff to help Pillman get over his “Loose Cannon” gimmick led to Bischoff ending up with egg on his face and Pillman legitimately leaving WCW to appear on ECW and sign with WWE.

WWE Fires Daniel Bryan

One of the hottest angles and faction debuts in WWE history immediately had a damper put on it after Daniel Bryan was fired for choking Justin Roberts with his necktie during Nexus’ iconic invasion. The Nexus was successful for a few more months and everything worked out for Bryan in the end, but imagine how much more heat the group would have had if this edgy Bryan was allowed to be part of it up to SummerSlam and beyond.

WWE Fires Jim Ross

J.R. is no stranger to being fired by WWE, but this one sticks out above the rest. Ross was fired for not being able to control a drunken Ric Flair during the WWE2K14 panel over SummerSlam 2013 weekend. Keep in mind that Flair has known substance abuse problems and was still grieving over the fatal overdose of his son Reid just a few months prior. Furthermore, Ross wasn’t even responsible for booking Flair on the panel in the first place.

WWE Fires Gallows and Anderson

The Good Brothers have explained this travesty in full detail on their Talk’N Shop live stream. What it boils down to is WWE released them during a pandemic and after they just signed five-year contracts that prevented them from joining AEW before the launch of Dynamite.

WWE Fires Serena Deeb

Who knew that WWE protected kayfabe in 2010? Serena Deeb was fired allegedly for “not living the gimmick” outside of the ring when it came to her Straight Edge Society ties. A bizarre turn of events for a company whose owner went on national television in 1997 and broke kayfabe in the most public fashion possible.

Neal Wagner’s 5 Dumbest Firings in Wrestling

WWE Fires Fit Finlay

The veteran and backstage producer was reportedly fired in 2011 for scripting Miz to interrupt the national anthem during a house show. I don’t agree with the stunt in general, but you can’t tell me that this didn’t go through a couple channels before it happened and got approved.

WWE Fires Jimmy Jacobs

While a member of the WWE creative team, Jacobs was fired for visiting some friends who happened to be outside the arena filming a web show and…invading Raw. Just stupid to get fired for that. Oh, I should mention it was the Bullet Club.

WWE Fires Muhammad Hassan

He literally just did his job. Muhammad Hassan drew heat and would had been a controversial world champion as once discussed, but the storyline was too polarizing for the time. After ill-timing of angle in which he and masked henchmen basically killed Undertaker, the networks stepped in and forced WWE to pull Hassan from the show. Having no other character for him, WWE decided to cut him.

WWE Fires Dawn Marie

Fired for getting pregnant while under contract. Lawsuit, lawsuit, lawsuit. Do this to Becky Lynch now and see how far you get.

WWE Fires Mr. Kennedy

This was supposed to be one of the next big characters, but bad luck and politics stood in his way. As discussed on Grilling JR, Kennedy had heat for injuring wrestlers (his fault or not), such as heavy hitters like John Cena and Randy Orton. According to rumor and innuendo, Orton went to everyone within ear shot and demanded Kennedy’s termination.

John Corrigan’s 5 Dumbest Firings in Wrestling

WCW Fires Steve Austin

Easily Bischoff’s biggest mistake in the business. You can argue that Austin wouldn’t have made it past the midcard while Hogan and friends were on top, but he was still too valuable to give to the competition.

WCW Fires Ric Flair

Jim Herd thought Ric Flair was too old in 1991. That’s before his first WWE run, the match with Vader, the series with Hogan (which drew WCW’s biggest buyrate at the time) and his feud with Savage in 1995-1996. Stick to stuffed crust, Herd!

WCW Fires Brian Pillman

Poor Bischoff got suckered into this one. Pillman used WCW to workshop the “Loose Cannon” gimmick, and then ECW and WWE got to profit off it.

WWE Fires Mr. Kennedy

How come Randy Orton doesn’t get the same shit that Triple H and Kevin Nash get for burying people? Kennedy remains one of the biggest “what ifs” in WWE history.

WWE Fires Jazz

Did you know that Jazz’ WWE run lasted only three years? Hamstrung by injuries for a big portion of that time, Vince McMahon must have seen money in her because when she was healthy, she was always near the Women’s Championship. Her release made no sense, and when she was brought back but barely used in the ECW relaunch, that made even less sense! How come WWE didn’t keep her? How come Impact never brought her in for the inaugural women’s revolution? She was a credible badass when the industry needed that most.

Juan Bautista’s 5 Dumbest Firings in Wrestling

WWE Fires Alberto Del Rio

After a member of backstage personnel made a racist joke regarding Del Rio being Mexican, Del Rio had slapped the individual. After legal threats, Del Rio was fired.

WWE Fires Dawn Marie

Not the first time and certainly not the last time WWE body shamed an individual. While Dawn Marie’s role on-screen had decreased, she was still under contract and even made an appearance at ECW One Night Stand. Unfortunately, when she became pregnant, the company fired her.

Impact Wrestling Fires MVP

While the Beat Down Clan (remember them?) was gaining momentum, MVP decided to heavily recruit Hernandez, formally of LAX. However, Hernandez was under contract with Lucha Underground at the time, and Impact management hadn’t done its due diligence. Being forced to erase weeks of tapings, management put the blame on MVP.

WWE Fires Mickie James

After a European tour, Mickie was fired due to apparently being late on buses. That was just WWE trying to justify the firing. As evidenced by the Piggy James angle, the real reason WWE cut her was because of her weight.

WWE Fires Serena Deeb

Outrageous then and even more so now, when WWE has built an entire network based off peaking behind the curtain, Serena Deeb was fired for drinking in public off camera while being part of the Straight Edge Society.

Steven Jackson’s 5 Dumbest Firings in Wrestling

WCW Fires Steve Austin

The fact that Steve Austin was fired by WCW is still one of the dumbest things in all of wrestling. Even before becoming Stone Cold, “Stunning” Steve was one of the best workers on the WCW roster, and firing him led into the most profitable boom period WWE had up to that point.

WWE Fires Curt Hennig

Mr. Perfect is one of my top 10 wrestlers of all time, and because of that, I needed to put him on this list. In 2002, when Curt was fired for being part of the now infamous “Plane Ride from Hell,” it was a decision I was not happy about to say the least! When he returned at the Royal Rumble in 2002, Curt was amazing, and instead of being suspended or fined, he was fired, which still rubs me up the wrong way.

Vince McMahon Fires Jeff Jarrett

I chose Jeff Jarrett being fired for two reasons: it was dumb and disgustingly egotistical. Vince McMahon’s firing of Jeff Jarrett during the Raw/Nitro simulcast was all about airing dirty laundry in public. The bad blood (at that point) between the two stemmed from Jarrett holding up McMahon for money before dropping the Intercontinental Championship to Chyna on his last day in the company in 1999. Plus, you look at how Jarrett went onto form TNA Wrestling (now Impact Wrestling) and you see how dumb Vince’s decision really was. Yes, Impact is no WWE, but Jeff showed way before AEW that you can make something from nothing and still compete with WWE.

WCW Fires Ric Flair

Without the NWA, there would be no Ric Flair. Without Ric Flair, there would be no NWA, and certainly no WCW. Everybody agrees with that except for Jim Herd. The former regional manager of a Pizza Hut should never have been anywhere near the wrestling business and firing your most over wrestler because he disagrees with all of your ridiculous proposals has to be his dumbest move. Flair went on to have a phenomenal run in the WWF, while WCW tried to fix the mess made by Herd.

WCW Fires Ricky Steamboat

Ricky Steamboat is a man I truly admire for his work ethic and his morals. He dedicated his life to wrestling, and to be fired from WCW by a package sent by Eric Bischoff is not only dumb, but incredibly degrading. Steamboat could have done WCW so much good backstage or as an agent. Instead, he was fired for no real reason and left wrestling for nearly a decade because of it.