Today we present you with - "16 Recent WWE Releases You’ve Already Forgotten : Where Are They Now? "
16. David Otunga
Whilst he still is technically with the company,
you wouldn’t be blamed for thinking that
that David Otunga had been given
the pink slip long ago.
Joining the WWE as part of the first season of NXT,
Otunga came in 2nd place behind Wade Barrett,
with the pair having major success in the Summer of 2010
as part of the Nexus.
A real-life attorney
it’s been quite a while since the Harvard graduate
laced up his boots
with his last match taking place in July 2015,
where he lost to R-Truth.
Nowadays, Otunga spends most days now as the host
for several WWE Network shows,
before being moved to the RAW Commentary team in April 2017.
After leaving to film a movie for 6 weeks,
the Harvard-graduate wasn’t invited back to the desk,
being replaced by Booker T,
seemingly a sign that WWE have nothing special planned for him.
15. Yoshi Tatsu
Yoshi Tatsu was never going to be the company’s next Steve Austin,
but the Japanese star definitely deserved
better during his 7-year stint with the WWE.
Debuting on the main roster in 2009,
Tatsu originally appeared in ECW,
putting on quiet, entertaining matches for the third brand.
An above average wrestler, it’s a real shame that the Japanese star
was barely featured in any feuds with those that he was
involved with lasting little over a month.
Hoping to revamp his career, Tatsu joined the new NXT in 2012,
though had his last televised victory in February that year,
2 years before he’d be given the boot by the company.
Even when he was released in June 2014,
Tatsu wasn’t given the spotlight,
being just one of a dozen Superstars released at the same time.
Upon his release, Tatsu has been able to turn things
around at several indie promotions,
working with New Japan,
CMLL and currently All Japan Pro Wrestling
where he recently held the company’s World Tag Team Championships.
14. Kaitlyn
As a body fitness Champion, Celeste Bonin
had plenty of accolades on her resume already
But in 2010, the Texan hoped to add to her titles,
, joining the WWE in season 3
of the original NXT.
Emerging the winner, Kaitlyn was
quickly snatched up by the SmackDown brand
and formed a team with fellow-nerd AJ Lee
as the Chick Busters.
After the two went their separate ways,
Kaitlyn would focus her efforts of championship gold
capturing the Divas Title in her hometown of Houston
defeating Eve Torres.
Dropping the title
5 months later to former friend AJ,
Kaityln retired from wrestling in January 2014,
to focus on her clothing line,
and her work as a spokesperson for Blackstone Labs
and Prime Nutrition.
Whilst both ventures have been a huge success for her
it’s clear that Bonin couldn’t shake the wrestling itch,
with her returning to the company
as part of the 2018 Mae Young Classic.
Whilst she would be eliminated by Mia Yim in the second round,
it seems that the WWE Universe haven’t seen
the last of Kaitlyn just yet.
13. Percy Watson
After the success of the first season of the original
reality-show version of NXT,
a second series was assured, with more new names
hoping to be the company’s next break out star.
Enter Percy Watson, a young face with a great physique
and an incredible personality that made him
arguably the best part of the series.
Whilst his matches were sometimes lacklustre
it was clear from the start that Watson was seemingly destined
to be a big character on the roster.
That is why it was so shocking that in 2013,
Watson was released by the WWE,
with Watson working several independent circuits after being cut.
What was just as shocking was that he was rehired in 2016,
though as a commentator instead of a wrestler.
Now working alongside Tom Phillips and Nigel McGuiness in NXT,
Watson has found a comfortable niche for himself
showcasing his mic skills
without taking painful bumps.
His gift of gab has also been displayed on 205 Live,
which Watson joined in April 2018, working alongside Vic Joseph.
With that said, it’s clear to anyone that listens
that Watson is having to holdback as an objective commentator,
and perhaps would be more suitable as a manger,
especially for someone who struggles on the mic.
12. Mason Ryan
From a first glance, Mason Ryan seemingly had everything
he would need to thrive as a Superstar.
With a dominating physique and muscles upon muscles,
it was destiny that he would be a huge star
in Vince McMahon’s world of the giants.
Unfortunately, a good look can only take someone so far,
as the Welshman was not very good inside the ring,
and was somehow even worse on the mic.
Joining CM Punk’s New Nexus in 2011,
Ryan lost a large majority of his matches,
losing to R-Truth by DQ in his RAW debut,
Randy Orton in March,
and Kane, again by DQ in May.
After suffering an injury,
the Welsh powerhouse returned in September after 4 months away,
and despite a fresh babyface turn,
the fans still could not care less about him.
Hoping to turn things around in 2013, Ryan joined NXT,
starting a winning streak in January by defeating Sakamoto,
though this didn’t lead to anything.
Being released in 2014,
Ryan spent a few months on the independent circuit,
including appearing at an IMPACT taping in 2015.
That same year, he joined the Inoki Genome Federation,
with the Japanese promotion featuring several
former WWE Champions,
including Kurt Angle,
Jinder Mahal
and Brock Lesnar.
Not only using his size in the ring,
the Welshman now also works for Cirque du Soleil,
where he amazes crowds as the chief archer of Kà.
11. CJ Parker
In NXT, there is clearly a lot more room for Superstars
to have input with their gimmicks,
with successful characters like Elias,
Tyler Breeze
and the Wyatt family
all coming from the developmental brand.
With that said, there are still some gimmicks
with the Full Sail crowd
and CJ Parker was one of them.
Originally appearing as a babyface from the 70s
the company quickly turned Parker heel,
changing him into a ruthless environmentalist
who would berate the fans in his efforts
to protect mother Earth.
The character quickly faltered
as few fans took him seriously,
and Parker requested his release in March 2015.
Now on the indies as Juice Robinson,
Parker has had much bigger thanks happen to his career
competing for New Japan,
Pro Wrestling Noah and CMLL.
A former IWGP United States Champion and aged just 29,
it’s clear that he has plenty yet to give to the industry
with rumours circulating that
the WWE are hoping to re-sign him.
If so, let’s hope that they’ve learnt from their mistakes,
and treat Parker as the Superstar he has clearly become.
10.Aksana
Joining the WWE as their first Lithuanian Superstar
there was allegedly a time when the company had high hopes for Aksana
seeing her as a future top Diva.
After all, when she joined the company in 2009,
Aksana was an accomplished bodybuilder,
winning 2 Silver medals at the Bodybuilding Amateur World Championships.
This success however, would not transition to WWE,
with the Lithuanian star never coming close
to being a big star in the company
and she was given the boot in June 2014.
Before being released,
she found some success teaming with Alicia Fox,
and whilst the team never set the world on fire
their FoxSana name was fantastic
for all fans of wordplay.
In 2012, Aksana probably made her biggest mark in the company
introducing Claudio Castagnoli,
who fans would quickly learn to love
as the Swiss Superman Cesaro.
Now on SmackDown Live,
Cesaro has had great success in his 6 years with the company
holding the United States
and Tag Team Championships
with this success all stemming from Aksana.
9. Corey Graves
There will soon come a time
when it is a long-forgotten fact
among casual fans
that Corey Graves was ever a wrestler.
Joining the WWE in 2011,
Graves had major success as part of NXT,
including a reign as NXT Tag Team Champion, alongside Adrian Neville.
Dropping the titles to the Ascension in September 2013,
Graves would quickly be side-lined with a series of concussions,
which sadly led to his retirement from wrestling in 2014.
Fortunately for the Pittsburgh-native
the company signed him as a commentator,
with Graves originally working behind the NXT desk,
before transitioning to RAW
and SmackDown Live.
Whilst it sad that Graves will never live out his life-long dream
of being WWE Champion,
it’s great to see the company not give up on someone
so passionate about the industry.
Whilst his work on Monday Nights often leads
to bickering amongst the commentary team
no-one can deny that Graves has been a huge success
since retiring as a Superstar.
8. JTG
When the WWE were
going to debut their new tag team ‘Cryme Tyme’,
it was probably a bad sign
company thought it was necessary to give a warning about racial stereotypes
before the team even appeared.
Seen as insensitive at the best of times,
and downright racist at the worst,
the teaming of Shad Gaspard and JTG were released in September 2007
though rehired six months later.
Whilst they never won Championship gold, the team were prominently featured,
working alongside John Cena in 2008
and feuding with Chris Jericho and the Big Show in 2009.
Splitting in 2010,
JTG quickly became an afterthought in the company,
with rumours speculating that
the New Yorker would find places to hide backstage,
to avoid being released.
Fans quickly saw the funny side of all this,
with ‘HowLongHasJTGBeenEmployed.Com’
allowing fans to count
the seconds of his tenure.
That tenure did end in 2012,
with JTG joking on Twitter that he should never have answered his phone,
though his release has allowed for him and Shad
to reunite on the indies.
7. Evan Bourne
The original Neville,
before Neville had even joined the company
Evan ‘Air’ Bourne was meant to be the ultimate high-flying
baby face.
After a stint as OVW Heayweight Champion,
Bourne joined the main roster in 2008,
where he held his own against much larger opponents
such as Big Daddy V
and Mark Henry.
Moving to RAW after the end of ECW
the Bourne continued his high-flying ways,
with the Shooting Star R-K-O
on RAW in April 2010
still being seen as one of the best counters in company history.
Unfortunately, Bourne was a
high’ flyer in every sense of the word,
being suspended twice for breaking the company’s Wellness policy.
Being released from WWE in 2014,
Bourne now competes under real name Matt Sydal,
competing for companies such as Ring of Honour,
Dragon Gate,
New Japan
Impact
where he is a former X-Division champion.
Whilst this success could make fans believe
the WWE want him back,
Sydal is staying as controversial as ever,
being jailed in Japan for carrying liquid Marijuana
in an incident that no doubt killed off any chances
of a WWE return.
6. Zahra Schreiber
We’ll never know just
how far Zahra Schreiber’s career would’ve gone,
though in her time with the company,
she had more than her fair share of controversy.
Joining the WWE in the Summer of 2014,
she appeared on Tough Enough,
worked as a ring announcer
and was briefly the manager for Solomon Crowe,
who now competes in Impact as Sami Callihan.
However, just a year into her WWE career,
Schreiber was released by WWE,
after several social media posts came to light.
In those posts, Schreiber had several pictures of Swastikas,
as well as several other pieces of Nazi paraphernalia.
As if that wasn’t enough, Schreiber would be a key player
in a love triangle that saw Seth Rollins
cheat on long-term girlfriend Leighla Schultz,
with Schultz posting nude images of the chea ting duo online.
Whilst Rollins survived this PR disaster,
winning the WWE World Championship a month later,
the company quickly cut ties with Schreiber,
who has worked with several indie promotions,
, including REAL Pro Wrestling
and DreamWave Wrestling.
Schriber is also now dating the company’s first openly lesbian Superstar
Sonya Deville, so let’s see where this relationship takes her.
5. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
Being a second-generation star in wresting
wresting can certainly open a lot of doors, but still can only take you so far.
As the son of the British Bulldog,
Davey Boy Smith Jr had a lot to live up to,
as his father had worked with some of the all-time greats
most notably Bret Hart at Summerslam 1992.
The younger Smith did not live up to his father’s standard though,
and after a brief reign as Tag Team Champion,
was quickly relegated to appearances on WWE Superstars.
Being released in 2011,
Smith would later say he’d lost his passion for the business,
but has competed on the indies ever since.
In 2018 though, Smith made headlines for all the wrong reasons
getting into an argument at a WrestleCon event with Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts.
Smith would eventually throw a cup of hot coffee at the Hall of Famer,
later fleeing the scene,
before a warrant was put out by the New Orleans Police.
Whilst charges were eventually dropped
after Smith apologised to Roberts,
this is definitely not the impression Smith
wanted to give fans,
many of whom will have forgotten about him
after his WWE release, 7 years ago.
4. Ted DiBiase Jr.
Much like Davey Boy,
Ted DiBiase Jr. had a lot to live up to
when he joined the WWE.
His father,
the Million Dollar Man’,
had been one of the company’s most dastardly heels,
even buying a brief reign as WWF Champion.
Aligning himself with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton as Legacy,
DiBiase was rumoured to receive a big push, which never came
failing in his feud with Rhodes, and tried,
unsuccessfully to get himself over
with the ‘DiBiase Posse’ campaign.
In 2013, Dibiase chose to leave the company
due to family commitments,
and has seemingly put his wrestling days behind him.
Nowadays, DiBiase works as the vice-president
of a business development insurance company
and part-times as a motivational speaker
in schools in Mississippi, Alabama,
where he lives with his wife and two children.
What is most interesting about his departure, is that for years
many fans assumed that
Ted would be a huge star in wrestling,
whilst his partner Cody would
quickly be released and forgotten.
With Rhodes now arguably
the hottest star in wrestling at the moment,
it’s funny just how wrong the fans can be.
3. Layla
If you asked WWE fans
when did Layla retire from wrestling,
they probably wouldn’t have a clue.
But on July 15th 2015
the British star hung up her boots for good,
after a series of injuries kept
on the bench for the better half of a year.
Originally working as a member of the Miami Heat Dance Squad,
Layla would win the 2006 Diva Search
to get her big break in the WWE.
Winning the Women’s Championship in 2010,
her team with Michelle McCool made the duo
the WWE’s resident Mean Girls,
though many fans saw
the story of making fun of Mickie James’s weight a step too far
as the company had in real life issues
with the beautiful James for her alleged weight problems.
After Laycool split in 2011
Layla would change her evil ways,
becoming a beloved babyface,
capturing the Divas Championship in 2012.
After losing the title,
the British star would be featured less and less,
eventually becoming just one of the roster,
before her retirement in 2015,
and married fellow former WWE Superstar Ricky Ortiz
in November that same year.
2. Brodus Clay
Another superstar who had come from the reality show era of NXT
Brodus Clay was touted by many to be the next big man of the company, following in the footsteps of the Big Show and Mark Henry.
Sadly, Clay’s WWE career arguably peaked at WrestleMania 27, when he stood on the outside of the ring,
during the show’s opener between then-World Champion Edge, and Clay’s NXT Pro, Alberto Del Rio.
Redebuting as the Funkasuarus in 2012, Brodus had some fun moments
though the gimmick quickly got old, with Clay eventually leaving in 2014, never holding a championship.
Since then, Brodus moved on to IMPACT, though resumed his henchman role there, much to the same quiet reaction as his time in WWE.
The super-heavyweight ex-Funkasaurus appears regularly on The Greg Gutfeld Show (under his TNA ring name of Tyrus),
The former bodyguard for Snoop Dogg often jokes around with his fellow panellists about key issues in politics and the media, proving that there is plenty of brain, to match his brawn
1. Brad Maddox
Joining the WWE in 2008, the career of Brad Maddox didn’t really pick up
until late 2012, but when it did, there was seemingly nothing that could stop him.
As the referee in a Hell In A Cell WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Ryback,
Maddox would stop the Big Guy in his tracks with a devastating low-blow, allowing the Second City Saviour to retain.
Being made RAW Genera Manager in 2013, Maddox maintained in the role for a year, before being released of his duties in May 2014,
and was infamously released from WWE in 2015, for calling the fans “cocky pricks” during a dark match.
As if he wasn’t already in the company’s bad books, Maddox would be involved in the awful leaked photos of WWE Superstar Paige,
being seen in several photos, alongside the New Day’s Xavier Woods.
Whilst he did receive a tombstone piledriver from the Undertaker on an episode of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
dressed as a Turkey no less, don’t expect to see Brad Maddox back in WWE, any time soon.
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superstars we might have forgotten come to your mind, if so, drop us a comment below and let us know
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